Google Keyword Planner vs Seed Keywords (2026): which should you pick?

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 Seed Keywords if

• Fits if you want to hear how customers would word a search, not how you would
• Works for building a seed list to check later in a keyword tool

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you don't have contacts willing to answer, as the list stays empty
• Not for you if you want volumes or difficulty, since it gives no data
• Too light for anything past the first brainstorm
• Watch out: there are no accounts, so a scenario is reached only through its URL, which you must bookmark
• Watch out: it's web only with no integrations, and results leave only as a CSV file

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.

Seed Keywords

• Gives no search volumes, difficulty or other metrics; the maker suggests checking the list in a main keyword tool.
• The list stays empty until people answer, so it depends on sharing the link with enough contacts.
• There are no accounts: a scenario is reached only through its unique URL, which the tutorial says to bookmark.

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.

Seed Keywords

Search scenarios

Pose a problem in your own words and ask what people would type into a search engine to solve it; the tutorial advises keeping the wording neutral.

Shareable answer link

Each scenario gets a unique URL to send by email, forums or social media. Anyone who opens it can answer, as many times as they like.

Results list and CSV download

The scenario's results page lists every suggested phrase, lets you delete entries and downloads the list as a CSV file.

Check phrases on Google

Each phrase links to a plain, exact-match or intitle search on a Google country domain you pick, to see what already ranks for it.

Google Keyword Planner

• Free$0

  Keyword ideas, monthly search volumes, top-of-page bid ranges and forecasts, for anyone with a Google Ads account.

Seed Keywords

• Free$0

  Create a scenario, share its link and see the answers on a results page with CSV download.