Google Keyword Planner vs SearchVolume.io (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick Google Keyword Planner: it is third in our ranking of keyword research tools, and it grades higher too, 2.8 against 2.4.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Google Keyword Planner grades higher on value for money and platforms. SearchVolume.io grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Google Keyword Planner
Free keyword ideas, search volumes and bid estimates inside Google Ads
SearchVolume.io
Free bulk search volume checker with a paid AI keyword platform
Which one is for you
Pick Google Keyword Planner if
- Fits if you're planning Google search ads and need a budget
- Works for getting volumes for a list of keywords without paying, if you have an Ads account
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want SEO difficulty or a rival's rankings, as it shows neither
- Not for you if you'd rather not enter billing details just to research keywords
- Tight if your niche is tiny or in health or finance, as those keywords may return nothing
- Watch out: volumes are rounded 12-month averages, and each keyword is capped at 80 characters and 10 words
- Watch out: the Ads account must be in Expert Mode, and the screens are made for ad campaigns
Pick SearchVolume.io if
- Fits if you have a keyword list and just want the Google volumes for it
- Works for a freelancer who needs up to 500 lookups a month on Lite at $29
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if your research comes in bursts, since unused credits don't roll over
- Skip it if you want rank tracking, audits or backlinks, which it doesn't do
- Pricey if you were hoping for a yearly discount, as only monthly prices are shown
- Watch out: when credits run out you wait for the next cycle or upgrade, to $69 for 2,000
- Not for you if you want the data in other tools, as there's no API or integration on record
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAGoogle Keyword PlannerGood | 2.4GPASearchVolume.ioFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, from Google itself, with keyword ideas, monthly volumes, bid ranges and forecasts, and an API for developers. Nothing in it costs money; the catch is the Ads account it needs. | CLite is $29 a month for 500 credits, right at this category's dearer quarter, and there's no yearly discount. One lookup is one credit even when it returns thousands of rows. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree with no cap, but you need a Google Ads account with billing details entered and setup finished before ideas show, and Smart Mode accounts have to switch to Expert Mode. | BThe bulk checker is free: up to 800 keywords at a time, exported to Excel, no Google Ads account needed. If volumes are all you need, you could live on it. The platform itself has a 7-day trial. |
| Features | CIdeas from words or a site, volumes for your own list, top-of-page bid ranges and budget forecasts. It's built for ads, though: no organic difficulty, no competitor rankings, and low-volume or sensitive keywords may show nothing. | CAn AI keyword assistant, competitor keywords from a database it puts at over 7 billion, related and long-tail ideas with difficulty and CPC, and a cannibalization check, in 40 languages. Research only: no rank tracking, audit or backlinks. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. The tool itself is simple, but getting to it means a Google Ads account, billing details and Expert Mode, and the screens are made for ad campaigns. | BNo rating on record. The free tool is paste a list, get numbers, and the platform's tools are lookups too, with nothing to connect. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, inside Google Ads, with keyword ideas, historical volumes and forecasts also available through the Google Ads API. No desktop or phone version on record. | CWeb only, with no integrations or API on record. Results go out to Excel. |
| Best for | free search volumes and ad cost estimates | free bulk search volumes |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Google Keyword Planner and SearchVolume.io. How we grade
Price against what you get
Google Keyword Planner has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SearchVolume.io starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Google Keyword Planner starts $29 a month lower. Of the other keyword research tools on the chart, none scores higher than Google Keyword Planner for less, and 9 score higher than SearchVolume.io for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| Google Keyword Planner | SearchVolume.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $29 per month for 500 credits |
| Free plan | Free with a Google Ads account. Billing details must be entered and account setup finished before keyword ideas can be used. | The free bulk tool on the homepage gives average monthly search volume for up to 800 keywords at a time, with export to Excel. The research platform itself is paid. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial of the paid plans |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Search Volume | |
| Price read from | business.google.com | searchvolume.io |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Google Keyword Planner
- Needs a Google Ads account with billing details entered and setup complete, and accounts in Smart Mode must switch to Expert Mode.
- Built for ad planning: it shows bid estimates and ad forecasts, not organic difficulty scores or competitor rankings.
- Keywords with very low volume or in sensitive areas such as health or finance may return no results.
- Each keyword is limited to 80 characters and 10 words.
SearchVolume.io
- Credits reset monthly and do not roll over; one lookup costs one credit even when it returns thousands of rows.
- The pricing page shows monthly prices only, with no annual option.
- There is no rank tracking, site audit or backlink report in the plans listed.
- When credits run out you wait for the next billing cycle or upgrade.
Key features
Google Keyword Planner
- Keyword ideas from words or a site
- Enter phrases about a product or service, or any website, and get a list of related keyword ideas to filter, group by theme and save to a plan.
- Average monthly searches
- Shows how often a keyword and its close variants are searched, averaged over 12 months by default, by location and network. Volumes are rounded and exact-match only.
- Top-of-page bid ranges
- Low and high bid estimates, roughly the 20th and 80th percentile of what advertisers paid for a top-of-page ad over the last 30 days.
- Forecasts by budget
- A saved plan forecasts clicks, impressions, cost and conversions for a chosen budget and bid strategy, refreshed daily from the last 7 to 10 days of data.
- Volumes for your own list
- Paste or upload a CSV of keywords to get search volumes and forecasts for them, then turn the plan into a Search campaign.
- Google Ads API access
- Developers can request keyword ideas, historical metrics and forecasts through KeywordPlanIdeaService in the Google Ads API.
SearchVolume.io
- Free bulk search volume
- Paste up to 800 keywords and get each one's average monthly Google search volume, then export the list to Excel.
- AI Keyword Assistant
- Suggests keywords to target from seed keywords or a written prompt.
- Keyword cannibalization check
- Groups keywords that show the same pages in Google's results, so one page can target them instead of several competing pages.
- Competitor keywords
- See the keywords a competing site ranks for, drawn from a database the vendor puts at over 7 billion Google keywords.
- Related and long-tail ideas
- Semantically related and long-tail keyword ideas from a seed, with search volume, difficulty and Google Ads cost.
- 40 languages
- Keyword data in 40 languages, from Arabic and Bengali to Ukrainian and Vietnamese.
Plans
Google Keyword Planner
Free$0
Keyword ideas, monthly search volumes, top-of-page bid ranges and forecasts, for anyone with a Google Ads account.
SearchVolume.io
Free tool$0
Bulk search volume for up to 800 keywords at a time, exportable to Excel.
Lite$29
per month for 500 credits
All platform tools for one marketer, with email support. A credit is one lookup or one keyword analyzed.
Standard$69
per month for 2,000 credits
The same tools with 2,000 credits a month. Unused credits do not roll over.
Scale$119
per month for 5,000 credits
5,000 credits a month, with email and video call support.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Google Keyword Planner or SearchVolume.io?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Google Keyword Planner is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $29 a month for SearchVolume.io. Google Keyword Planner is free, and SearchVolume.io starts at $29 per month for 500 credits.
Which has a free plan, Google Keyword Planner or SearchVolume.io?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Google Keyword Planner and SearchVolume.io have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.