App Store Keyword Popularity Scores & ASO API

🔍 Real-time keyword popularity data from Apple Search Ads

Get real Apple App Store keyword popularity scores (5–100) — the same data available inside the Apple Search Ads dashboard — through a simple API. No Apple account required.

For every keyword you submit, you get:

• Popularity score (5–100) — Apple's official keyword search volume indicator
• Difficulty score (0–100) — computed competition metric calibrated against professional ASO tools (r=0.87, MAE=6.5)
• Top ranking apps — the apps currently dominating each keyword
• Related searches — autocomplete suggestions from Apple's search engine
• Keyword recommendations — discover 30–80 new keyword ideas from a single seed term, each with its own popularity score

All data is queried live from Apple's servers — not estimated, not scraped from third-party databases.

💡 Why use this tool?

Apple App Store keyword popularity data is locked behind expensive platforms:

Platform	Monthly Cost	API Access
SensorTower	$2,000+/mo	Enterprise only
AppTweak	$79–549/mo	Extra $166+/mo
MobileAction	$69–239/mo	Enterprise only
App Radar	€69–299/mo	Enterprise only

This tool provides the same underlying Apple Search Ads keyword data at a fraction of the cost — $0.02 per keyword with no subscription and no commitment.

Who is this for?

• Indie developers optimizing their App Store listing with real keyword data
• ASO consultants and freelancers who need keyword popularity scores without enterprise contracts
• Mobile marketing agencies running keyword research at scale via API
• Data teams building ASO pipelines, dashboards, and automated reports
• Researchers studying App Store search trends across 57 storefronts

If you've been looking for an alternative to AppTweak or an alternative to SensorTower that provides real Apple keyword data without a subscription, this is it.

⚡ Features

• Apple keyword popularity scores — Direct from Apple Search Ads internal API, scores from 5 (low) to 100 (high)
• Keyword difficulty ratings — Computed 0–100 score based on competition strength, demand signals, and market quality
• Top ranking apps — See which apps dominate each keyword, with ratings, review counts, and pricing
• Related searches — Apple autocomplete suggestions to expand your keyword list
• Keyword recommendations — Enter one seed keyword, get 30–80 suggestions with popularity scores
• 57 storefronts — Full international coverage from US, UK, and Japan to Nigeria, Vietnam, and Lithuania
• Field filtering — Request only the data you need (popularity, difficulty, topApps, relatedSearches) for faster results
• Smart caching — Results cached for 24 hours across runs, so repeat lookups are instant and free
• Spending control — Set a maximum budget per run; the tool stops gracefully when your limit is reached

How to use

Quick start

1. Try for free — Click "Try for free" above. Apify's free plan gives you $5/month in credits, enough for ~250 keyword analyses at no cost.

2. Choose your action — Pick Keyword Analysis to analyze specific keywords, or Keyword Recommendations to discover new keyword ideas from a seed term.

3. Enter your keywords — For analysis, type up to 100 keywords. For recommendations, enter a single seed keyword. Select your target storefront (country).

4. Run and download — Click "Start", then export your results as JSON, CSV, or Excel. Or call the Apify API to integrate into your workflow.

API usage

Call this tool programmatically via the Apify REST API or any of the official Apify client libraries (Python, JavaScript, etc.). See the Input parameters section below for full examples per action.

Input parameters

Keyword Analysis

Analyze specific keywords for popularity, difficulty, competition, and related searches.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description	Example
action	string	Yes	Must be "keyword-analysis"	"keyword-analysis"
keywords	string[]	Yes	Keywords to analyze, 1–100 per run	["fitness app", "workout tracker"]
storefront	string	No	App Store country code (uppercase). Defaults to US	"GB"
fields	string[]	No	Which data to include. Omit for all fields. Options: popularity, difficulty, topApps, relatedSearches	["popularity", "difficulty"]

Note: Do not pass seedKeyword or limit with keyword-analysis — the actor will reject them with a clear error message.

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/asodev~app-store-keyword-tool/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "action": "keyword-analysis",
    "keywords": ["photo editor", "video editor"],
    "storefront": "JP"
  }'

Keyword Recommendations

Discover new keyword ideas from a single seed keyword.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description	Example
action	string	Yes	Must be "keyword-recommendations"	"keyword-recommendations"
seedKeyword	string	Yes	Seed keyword to generate recommendations from	"fitness"
storefront	string	No	App Store country code (uppercase). Defaults to US	"DE"
limit	integer	No	Max recommendations to return (1–80, default 50)	10

Note: Do not pass keywords or fields with keyword-recommendations — the actor will reject them with a clear error message.

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/asodev~app-store-keyword-tool/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "action": "keyword-recommendations",
    "seedKeyword": "meditation",
    "storefront": "DE",
    "limit": 10
  }'

Output format

Keyword Analysis

Each keyword produces one result object per storefront:

{
  "keyword": "fitness app",
  "storefront": "US",
  "popularity": 62,
  "difficulty": 78,
  "confidence": "high",
  "totalApps": 1450,
  "topApps": [
    {
      "name": "Fitbod Gym & Home Workout",
      "appId": 1041571171,
      "developer": "Fitbod Inc.",
      "rating": 4.8,
      "ratingCount": 56200,
      "price": 0,
      "genre": "Health & Fitness"
    },
    {
      "name": "Nike Training Club: Fitness",
      "appId": 301521403,
      "developer": "Nike, Inc",
      "rating": 4.7,
      "ratingCount": 412000,
      "price": 0,
      "genre": "Health & Fitness"
    }
  ],
  "relatedSearches": [
    "fitness app free",
    "fitness tracker",
    "workout app",
    "gym workout plan"
  ]
}

Keyword Recommendations

Each recommendation includes the storefront and its source (Apple's recommendation engine or autocomplete):

{
  "keyword": "home workout plan",
  "storefront": "US",
  "popularity": 51,
  "source": "recommendation"
}

A single seed keyword typically returns 30–80 recommendations, each with a real Apple popularity score. The storefront field always matches the storefront you requested (or "US" if omitted).

💰 How much does it cost?

Simple, flat pricing — no tiers, no hidden fees:

Event	Price	What you get
Keyword Analysis	$0.02 per keyword	Popularity + difficulty + top apps + related searches (all fields included)
Keyword Recommendations	$0.10 per seed keyword	30–80 keyword suggestions, each with a popularity score

Cost examples

What you're doing	Keywords	Cost
Quick research for one app	100 keywords	$2.00
Weekly ASO report	500 keywords	$10.00
Full keyword audit	1,000 keywords	$20.00
Agency batch analysis	5,000 keywords	$100.00
Discover new keywords	10 seed keywords	$1.00

🎁 Free tier

Apify's free plan includes $5/month in platform credits. At $0.02 per keyword, that's approximately 250 free keyword analyses per month — enough to evaluate the tool and run basic ASO research at zero cost.

Spending control

Set a maximum budget per run using Apify's built-in spending limits. The tool stops gracefully when your cap is reached — you'll never be charged more than you expect.

📊 How is this different from AppTweak / SensorTower?

Feature	This Tool	AppTweak	SensorTower	Astro
Apple popularity scores (5–100)	Yes (direct from Apple)	Yes (direct from Apple)	Estimated	Yes (direct from Apple)
Keyword difficulty	Yes (0–100)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Keyword recommendations	Yes (direct from Apple)	Yes	Yes	No
Top ranking apps	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Related searches	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Search volume estimates	Planned	Yes (since 2016)	Yes	No
API access	Yes (Apify REST API)	Extra $166+/mo	Enterprise only	None
Storefronts	57	60+	60+	60+
Pricing	$0.02/keyword	$79–549/mo	$2,000+/mo	$9/mo
Commitment	None (pay per use)	Monthly subscription	Annual contract	Annual
Data source	Apple Search Ads API	Apple Search Ads API	Proprietary estimates	Apple Search Ads API

This is a focused iOS keyword popularity score API and ASO keyword research tool. Enterprise platforms offer more features (historical trends, competitor tracking, account management). This tool does one thing well: get you real Apple keyword data at the lowest possible cost.

Data sources

All data comes directly from Apple:

1. Apple Search Ads internal API — The same endpoint that powers the Apple Search Ads dashboard. Returns official keyword popularity scores (5–100) and keyword recommendations. This is real Apple Search Ads keyword data, not estimates.

2. iTunes Search API — Public API for app metadata, rankings, and search results. Used for top ranking apps and total result counts.

3. iTunes Search Hints API — Apple's autocomplete suggestions. Used for related searches and to supplement keyword recommendations.

Data is queried in real time on every run. Cached results (24-hour TTL) are served when available to save time and cost, but the underlying data is always fresh from Apple.

Supported storefronts

This tool supports all 57 App Store storefronts where Apple Search Ads operates. Pass the two-letter country code (uppercase) as the storefront parameter. Defaults to US if omitted.

Americas (8 storefronts)

Code	Country
US	United States
CA	Canada
BR	Brazil
MX	Mexico
CO	Colombia
CL	Chile
AR	Argentina
PE	Peru

Europe (27 storefronts)

Code	Country
GB	United Kingdom
DE	Germany
FR	France
ES	Spain
IT	Italy
NL	Netherlands
SE	Sweden
NO	Norway
DK	Denmark
FI	Finland
PT	Portugal
CH	Switzerland
AT	Austria
BE	Belgium
IE	Ireland
PL	Poland
CZ	Czech Republic
HU	Hungary
RO	Romania
GR	Greece
TR	Turkey
UA	Ukraine
RU	Russia
SK	Slovakia
HR	Croatia
BG	Bulgaria
LT	Lithuania

Asia-Pacific (15 storefronts)

Code	Country
JP	Japan
KR	South Korea
CN	China
IN	India
AU	Australia
NZ	New Zealand
SG	Singapore
HK	Hong Kong
TW	Taiwan
TH	Thailand
ID	Indonesia
PH	Philippines
MY	Malaysia
VN	Vietnam
PK	Pakistan

Middle East & Africa (7 storefronts)

Code	Country
IL	Israel
SA	Saudi Arabia
AE	United Arab Emirates
ZA	South Africa
EG	Egypt
NG	Nigeria
KE	Kenya

Tips and limitations

• Popularity score range: Apple returns scores from 5 (lowest reported) to 100 (highest). Keywords with near-zero search volume return no score — this means the keyword has effectively no search traffic.
• 100 keywords per run: The Apple API accepts up to 100 terms per request. For larger batches, run the tool multiple times or use the API to automate sequential runs.
• Caching: Results are cached for 24 hours across runs. Repeat lookups within the cache window are instant and free (no charge). Cache misses query Apple live.
• Difficulty methodology: The difficulty score (0–100) is a computed metric based on competition strength (rating counts of top apps), demand signals, and market quality factors. It has been calibrated against professional ASO tools with a correlation of r=0.87 and mean absolute error of 6.5 points.
• Rate limiting: The tool manages Apple's rate limits automatically. Large keyword batches are processed with built-in throttling to avoid disruptions.
• Uppercase storefronts: Country codes must be uppercase (e.g., US, not us). The input form handles this automatically, but API users should ensure correct casing.

FAQ

Is this the same data as the Apple Search Ads dashboard? Yes. The popularity scores come from the same internal Apple Search Ads API endpoint. The numbers you see here are identical to what you'd see in Apple's dashboard.

Do I need an Apple Search Ads account? No. This tool handles authentication internally. You just provide keywords and get results.

How fresh is the data? Real-time. Each run queries Apple's servers directly. Results are cached for 24 hours for performance, but the underlying data source is live.

Can I set a spending limit? Yes. Use Apify's built-in spending limits to cap your budget per run. The tool stops gracefully when the limit is reached and returns all results collected so far.

Can I access this via API? Yes. Use the Apify REST API or official client libraries (JavaScript, Python) to integrate keyword data into your ASO pipeline, CI/CD, or analytics dashboard. This is a full keyword popularity score API and App Store Optimization API.

How accurate is the difficulty score? The difficulty score is calibrated against Astro (a professional macOS ASO tool) across 232 keywords. Correlation: r=0.87. Mean absolute error: 6.5 points on a 0–100 scale. Confidence levels (high/medium/low) are provided with each score.

What happens if Apple changes their API? The tool is actively maintained. If Apple modifies their internal endpoints, updates will be pushed promptly. Session management runs on dedicated infrastructure with monitoring and alerts.