Keyword Catcher vs Keyword Chef (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Keyword Catcher and Keyword Chef share a 2.2 GPA, neither has a free plan, and Keyword Catcher starts cheaper, at $15 a month against $29 a month.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Keyword Catcher
Long-tail keyword finder with one-click SERP analysis
Keyword Chef
Credit-based long-tail keyword finder for bloggers and niche sites
Which one is for you
Pick Keyword Catcher if
- Fits if you run a niche site and hunt long-tail keywords with weak results on page one
- Works for writers who want a post outline next to each keyword
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: finding keywords spends credits too, though the homepage calls keyword generation free
- Tight if you want to try it properly, as new accounts get just 10 free credits
- Watch out: prices are shown per month, but the site also calls it pay as you go with credits that never expire, and doesn't say which
- Pricey if you track AI answers, as the Brand Tracker costs 10 credits per prompt per engine and covers only ChatGPT and Gemini
- Not for you if you want the data in other tools, as there's no integration or API on record
Pick Keyword Chef if
- Fits if you run a niche site and want topics where forums rank on page one
- Works for occasional research, as pay-as-you-go credits never expire
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you write in anything other than English, as that's all it supports
- Tight if you target a country outside its 7, which only get global volume
- Pricey if you want Niche Insights without a subscription, as that's $97 a year on its own
- Watch out: monthly credits don't roll over, and pay-as-you-go credits cost more per keyword
- Watch out: the free trial allows only 30 SERP lookups and no bulk SERP checks
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAKeyword CatcherFair | 2.2GPAKeyword ChefFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $15 for 1,500 credits, between this category's cheaper quarter and its middle. Prices are shown per month, but the site calls it pay as you go and says credits never expire, so the billing basis isn't clear. | CStarter is $29 a month for 5,000 keywords, at the dearer end of this category. If you only dip in now and then, $20 buys 1,200 credits once and they never expire. Monthly credits don't roll over. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan. New accounts get 10 free credits with no payment details, which is ten keyword analyses, and then you're buying. | CNo free plan, but the trial needs no card and has no time limit: 1,000 credits and up to 30 SERP lookups. That's enough to see if it suits you, not to run on. |
| Features | CLong-tail ideas, filters for weak content, new domains and slow pages, page-one analysis with volume and trend, AI outlines, daily rank tracking and an AI Brand Tracker. It does long-tail hunting fully, but that's a smaller job, and the Brand Tracker covers only ChatGPT and Gemini. | CAutomatic filtering, a SERP Score for weak results on page one, bulk SERP checks, wildcard searches and Niche Insights. It does long-tail hunting fully, but the listing names the gaps: English only, and country volume for just 7 countries. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but there's nothing to connect: type a seed, filter the list and click a keyword to read its results and outline. | BNo rating on record, but there's nothing to set up. Type a seed and it does the sorting for you, grouping what's left into questions, best-of and how-to. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with no desktop or phone app, and no integrations or API on record. | CWeb only. No desktop or phone app, and no integrations or API on record. |
| Best for | long-tail keywords with page-one checks | low-competition long-tail keywords for bloggers |
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: Keyword Catcher and Keyword Chef. How we grade
Price against what you get
Keyword Catcher starts at $15 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Keyword Chef starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Keyword Catcher starts $14 a month lower. Of the other keyword research tools on the chart, 5 score higher than Keyword Catcher for less, and 9 score higher than Keyword Chef 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
- Keyword Chef can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Keyword Catcher also covers rank tracking and AI search visibility.
At a glance
| Keyword Catcher | Keyword Chef | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $15 per month for 1,500 credits | $29 per month for 5,000 credits, or $20 once for 1,200 credits |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 10 free credits for new accounts, with no payment details required | Free trial: 1,000 one-time credits with no time limit and up to 30 SERP lookups; no credit card needed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | GHA LTD | Keyword Chef |
| Price read from | app.keywordcatcher.com | app.keywordchef.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Keyword Catcher
- Prices are shown per month, but the site calls it pay as you go and says credits never expire; the billing basis is not spelled out.
- Finding keywords and analyzing results both spend credits, despite the homepage calling keyword generation free.
- The AI Brand Tracker covers only ChatGPT and Gemini, at 10 credits per prompt per engine on every plan.
- Payments go through PayPal, which also takes major cards.
Keyword Chef
- Only English is supported, and country-level search volume covers just 7 countries; other countries get global volume.
- Monthly credits do not roll over, while pay-as-you-go credits never expire but cost more per keyword.
- The free trial allows only 30 SERP lookups and no bulk SERP checks.
- Niche Insights is not included with pay-as-you-go credits; on its own it costs $97 a year.
Key features
Keyword Catcher
- Long-tail keyword generator
- Turns a seed keyword into hundreds of long-tail ideas and picks out those with higher volume and less competition.
- Keyword filters
- Filters narrow a list to keywords whose results show weak content, new domains or slow pages.
- SERP analysis
- For each keyword, shows the top organic results with average word count and load time, monthly volume, its trend and related keywords.
- AI post outlines
- Every analyzed keyword comes with an AI-written outline for a post at no extra cost.
- Rank Tracker
- Checks daily whether your pages are climbing or dropping for tracked keywords.
- AI Brand Tracker
- Checks whether ChatGPT and Gemini recommend your brand for up to 10 prompts at a time, on demand or daily, at 10 credits per prompt per engine.
Keyword Chef
- Automatic keyword filtering
- Removes broad, competitive and junk keywords and groups the rest into categories such as questions, best-of and how-to.
- SERP Score
- Counts the easy-to-outrank results, such as forums and user-generated content, on page one for each keyword, and can be customized.
- Bulk SERP checks
- Paid users can pull the search results for every keyword in a report at once with Get All SERPs, at no extra credit cost.
- Wildcard search
- Search patterns like 'best * for chefs' or 'can you cook * in the oven' to find best-of topics and clusters, with minus signs to exclude words.
- Keyword import
- Upload keywords from other tools to check their volume and SERP Score.
- Niche Insights
- Ten years of trend data, keywords by intent, topic lists, products and affiliate brands for a niche. Included in monthly plans or $97 a year on its own.
Plans
Keyword Catcher
Starter$15
per month for 1,500 credits
SERP analysis, volume and trend data and AI post outlines. One credit analyzes one keyword's results.
Growth$45
per month for 10,000 credits
The same features with 10,000 credits.
Plus$65
per month for 50,000 credits
The same features with 50,000 credits.
Keyword Chef
Starter$29
per month for 5,000 credits
1 credit is 1 keyword in a report. Monthly credits expire each cycle; includes Niche Insights, Domain Age and queue priority.
Plus$69
per month for 20,000 credits
The same features as Starter, at about $0.0034 a credit.
Pro$119
per month for 50,000 credits
The same features as Starter, at about $0.0024 a credit.
Pay As You Go Starter$20
one-time, for 1,200 credits that never expire
Lifetime credits for occasional use. Pay-as-you-go packs do not include Niche Insights.
Pay As You Go Plus$100
one-time, for 10,000 credits that never expire
Lifetime credits at $0.01 each, without Niche Insights.
Pay As You Go Pro$250
one-time, for 50,000 credits that never expire
Lifetime credits at $0.005 each, without Niche Insights.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Keyword Catcher or Keyword Chef?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Keyword Catcher is cheaper to start with: $15 a month, against $29 a month for Keyword Chef. Keyword Catcher starts at $15 per month for 1,500 credits, and Keyword Chef starts at $29 per month for 5,000 credits, or $20 once for 1,200 credits.
Which has a free plan, Keyword Catcher or Keyword Chef?
As of Oct 23, 2026, neither Keyword Catcher nor Keyword Chef has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
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.