# Free Keyword Research Tools for SaaS Teams > A breakdown of free keyword research tools by job: ideas, volumes, intent, and questions, plus a free workflow small SaaS teams can run without paid software. Source: https://comppound.com/blog/free-keyword-research-tools-for-saas-teams (published 2026-10-30) Say you run a SaaS company with a blog and no system behind it. You know your buyers search for the problems your product solves, but you do not know which phrases to target first, and you do not have budget for a paid tool. The first question is which free tool does what. Free keyword tools split into four jobs: finding ideas, showing search volume, checking intent, and surfacing questions people actually ask. None of them does all four well, so a free workflow means combining two or three and accepting where each one falls short. ## Google search suggestions Type a phrase into Google and watch the dropdown before you press enter. Those suggestions are searches other people have already run, which makes them one of the fastest free sources of actual search language. For a SaaS company, that means typing your category plus a qualifier, like "project tracking for" or "how to track," and collecting the completions that match a page you could build. The limit is that there is no volume, difficulty, or intent data attached. You know the phrase exists, not whether enough people search it to justify a page. Use it for idea generation only, and move promising phrases to a tool that can show volume before you commit to writing. ## Google Keyword Planner Keyword Planner lives inside Google Ads and is built for advertisers, not organic teams. It gives you search volume ranges, related keyword ideas, and basic intent signals based on the query itself. For a SaaS team, that is useful for checking whether a phrase from Google suggestions has enough demand to matter, and for seeing which terms Google groups together as related. The catch is that the volume numbers are ranges, not exact counts, and they get wider for low-volume terms. [B2B SaaS](/blog/what-is-programmatic-seo-a-b2b-saas-guide-to-scaling-organic-traffic) often lives in that low-volume zone, so treat the numbers as directional. Also, the interface pushes you toward campaigns you do not need. Ignore the campaign setup and use the keyword planner tab only. ## AnswerThePublic ![The four-step free keyword research workflow applied to one SaaS feature page](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1599658880436-c61792e70672?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMDMwMjQ2fDB8MXxzZWFyY2h8Mnx8ZnJlZSUyMGtleXdvcmQlMjByZXNlYXJjaCUyMHRvb2xzfGVufDB8MHx8fDE3OTMzMzM5MzB8MA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080) *Photo by [Myriam Jessier](https://unsplash.com/@mjessier?utm_source=comppound&utm_medium=referral) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=comppound&utm_medium=referral)* AnswerThePublic scrapes autocomplete data and arranges it into questions, prepositions, and comparisons. It is strongest for the third job: finding the exact questions buyers ask before they are ready to compare vendors. A SaaS team writing middle-of-funnel content can turn those question phrases into FAQ sections, comparison angles, or help-center articles that AI answers often cite. The free version caps daily searches, and it still does not give you reliable volume. Use it after you have a topic, not before. Pick one page you already plan to write, enter its core term, and pull the question phrases that fit naturally into that page. Do not build a content calendar around it because you cannot tell which questions actually bring traffic. ## AlsoAsked AlsoAsked visualizes the "People also ask" boxes as a branching tree. It shows how one question leads to another, which helps you map the sequence a buyer moves through when researching a problem. For SaaS, that sequence often starts with a broad pain point and ends with a specific feature or integration. The free limit is tight, often just a few searches per day. Use it sparingly, on your highest-value pages only. Like AnswerThePublic, it tells you what people ask but not how many people ask it. Treat it as a structure tool, not a volume tool. ## Google Search Console Search Console shows the phrases people already use to find your site, complete with clicks, impressions, and position. It is the only free tool here that gives you real performance data rather than estimates. For a SaaS blog, it reveals which topics are already working, which pages rank on page two with low click-through, and which queries bring the wrong kind of visitor. The main limit is that it only shows what you already rank for. It cannot suggest new topics you have never written about. Use it after you have published, not before. Look for queries with high impressions and low clicks, then decide whether to rewrite the page or write a new one that targets that phrase directly. ## Choose by what you need Choose Google suggestions when you need raw ideas and have nothing yet. Choose Keyword Planner when you need to check whether those ideas have search volume. Choose AnswerThePublic or AlsoAsked when you need question phrases for an existing page. Choose Search Console once you have content live and need to see what is actually working. We run this same combination for our clients because it separates judgment from volume. Automation can gather the list, but someone still has to decide which phrase fits a real page and which is just a popular search with no buyer intent. Take a company that sells workflow automation software to finance teams. They start with Google suggestions for "automate expense" and see "automate expense approval" and "automate expense receipts." Keyword Planner shows both phrases have search volume, but only one maps to a feature they actually have. AnswerThePublic surfaces "how long does expense approval take," which becomes an FAQ on the feature page. Search Console later shows the page ranks for "expense policy software," a phrase they did not target, so they add a section about policy rules. That order matters. Starting with volume before you know your product's actual edges leads to pages that rank for traffic no one buys from. [See how we do it](/services/seo-growth) ### How to capture Google suggestions efficiently 1. Open an incognito window to avoid personalization. 2. Enter a seed phrase that matches the core of the page you are planning, e.g. **“invoice automation for”**. 3. Scroll through the dropdown list and copy each suggestion into a spreadsheet column labeled *Idea*. 4. For each suggestion, add a quick note on the buyer stage it seems to address (awareness, evaluation, purchase). Because the list can be long, limit yourself to the first 8‑10 completions that contain a clear intent signal, phrases that include verbs (“track,” “manage,” “optimize”) or qualifiers (“free,” “enterprise”). This keeps the idea set manageable for the next step in the workflow. ### Turning Keyword Planner ranges into actionable decisions Keyword Planner’s volume ranges are expressed as intervals (e.g., 10 – 100 searches per month). To decide whether a phrase is worth a page: - **Set a baseline**: For a B2B SaaS niche, a phrase that consistently lands in the 10‑100 range can still be valuable if the intent is highly specific (e.g., “SOC 2 compliance checklist”). - **Compare related terms**: Look at the “Related” column. If a related term shows a higher range, consider targeting the broader concept and weaving the lower‑volume phrase into subsections. - **Cross‑check with Search Console**: After you publish a draft, revisit Search Console to see if the term’s impressions appear organically. If you see impressions but low clicks, the phrase may be a good candidate for a FAQ or schema addition. This two‑step validation, range check → performance confirmation, prevents you from building pages that never attract qualified clicks. ### Getting more mileage from AnswerThePublic Even though the free version caps daily searches, you can stretch its utility: - **Batch queries**: List 5‑7 core topics (e.g., “workflow automation,” “expense approval,” “budget tracking”) and run them all in one session. Export the CSV and merge the results, then de‑duplicate. - **Prioritize question formats**: In the output, focus on “how,” “why,” and “what” questions that align with the buyer’s problem stage. For a “budget tracking” feature page, a question like “how does budget tracking reduce overspend?” can become a dedicated sub‑section with clear, answer‑focused copy. - **Reuse for schema**: The question phrasing from AnswerThePublic maps directly to FAQ schema markup, which AI search engines preferentially surface in answer boxes. Once you write the answer, add the JSON‑LD snippet to the page to increase the chance of citation. ### Extending AlsoAsked beyond the free limit When you hit the daily cap, keep a running master list of the trees you’ve already built. For each high‑value page, store the top‑level question and its child questions. When you return the next day, you can quickly add new branches to existing trees rather than starting from scratch. Additionally, use the “People also ask” box on Google SERPs for the same seed queries. Manually copy the displayed questions into your spreadsheet; they often mirror what AlsoAsked would have shown, giving you a low‑tech fallback that still captures the sequential flow of buyer queries. ### Leveraging Search Console for AI‑ready content Beyond raw impressions, look for two specific signals in Search Console that hint at AI citation opportunities: - **Rich result impressions**: If a page shows impressions for a structured data type (e.g., FAQ, How‑To), it means Google is already interpreting the content for AI answers. Strengthen those sections with clearer, concise answers and ensure each answer stands alone as a complete sentence. - **Query variants with “vs” or “vs.”**: Queries like “X vs Y” often appear in the “People also ask” feature. When you spot such variants, consider adding a comparison table or a dedicated “Why choose X over Y” section, content that AI frequently pulls into answer snippets. ### A quick, repeatable workflow for a SaaS content sprint | Step | Tool | Primary Goal | Output | |------|------|--------------|--------| | 1 | Google suggestions | Generate raw seed ideas | List of 8‑10 candidate phrases | | 2 | Keyword Planner | Validate search demand | Volume range, intent flag | | 3 | AnswerThePublic / AlsoAsked | Harvest question phrasing | FAQ list, comparison angles | | 4 | Draft page | Build core copy with integrated FAQs | Markdown file with headings | | 5 | Search Console (post‑publish) | Confirm real‑world performance | Impressions, CTR, rich result data | | 6 | Iterate | Refine based on data | Updated page, schema markup | Running this loop each sprint, typically every two weeks for a small SaaS team, keeps the editorial calendar aligned with what real users are asking and what Google actually serves. The process is manual enough to capture judgment, yet systematic enough that a single writer or a tiny team can execute without paying for premium tools. ### Common pitfalls and how to avoid them Comppound helps small SaaS teams run this exact workflow inside a documented editorial system instead of guessing which free tool to open first. [See how we do it](/services/seo-growth). ## Keep reading - [AI Keyword Research for SaaS: A Practical Step‑by‑Step Guide](/blog/ai-keyword-research-for-saas-a-practical-stepbystep-guide) - [Choosing Between SaaS Keyword Tools: AI vs Traditional](/blog/choosing-between-saas-keyword-tools-ai-vs-traditional) ## Frequently asked questions ### Which free keyword research tool is best for SaaS? There is no single best tool because each one does a different job. Google suggestions work for ideas, Keyword Planner checks volume, AnswerThePublic and AlsoAsked surface questions, and Search Console shows what already brings traffic. Start with the job you need done today rather than looking for one tool that does everything. ### Can I run keyword research without any paid tools? Yes. Combining Google suggestions, Keyword Planner, AnswerThePublic, and Search Console covers idea generation, volume checks, question mining, and performance data without paying for software. The trade-off is that you must move data between tools yourself and accept that none of them gives you a complete picture on its own. ### How do I know if a free keyword is worth targeting? Check whether the phrase maps to a page you can realistically build, then look at whether your product actually solves the problem behind the search. Volume alone does not make a keyword worth targeting. A low-volume phrase that matches a buying intent is usually more valuable than a high-volume phrase that brings readers who will never buy. ## About Comppound Comppound runs SEO and AI search for B2B SaaS companies: a person sets the plan and reviews samples and every high-risk page, and AI speeds up production. - [Check a page free](https://comppound.com/tools/seo-checker): Check one of your pages before you change anything else - [See pricing](https://comppound.com/pricing): Want the content written, reviewed and published for you?