Competitor Keyword Research Tool — SpyFu Alternative

What is Competitor Keyword Research Tool — SpyFu Alternative?

Research competitor organic and paid keywords from a domain. Export ranking URLs, available ad copy, search metrics, estimated traffic and paid cost, plus competitor or backlink reports for SEO and PPC analysis. For SEO and PPC analysts, dataset rows represent the selected domain summary, keyword, advertisement, competitor, page, or backlink report.

Workflow: put the results to work

Begin with a competitor domain and its overview, then inspect organic or paid keywords according to your research goal. Review available ad copy with its query context before briefing PPC work. Traffic and paid-cost fields are estimates rather than the competitor's private analytics.

Best fit for this Actor

• Score a competitor domain's organic traffic estimate, paid keyword count, estimated paid cost, and backlink summary in one row.
• Export the paid keywords a domain bids on, including ad title, ad description, rank, volume, and estimated paid cost.
• List overlapping SEO or PPC competitors, then inspect their top pages.

This Actor and SEMRush Alternative use the same SEO data backend. Use this Actor when the job centres on paid keywords, ad copy, PPC competitors or top pages; for organic domain overviews, organic keywords and keyword ideas, use SEMRush Alternative instead. When you already have a finished keyword list and only need volume plus CPC, start with Keyword Search Volume API. For Google Ads Transparency creatives, use Google Ads Transparency Scraper.

Quick start input

{
  "mode": "domain_overview",
  "target": "shopify.com",
  "locationName": "United States",
  "languageCode": "en",
  "maxResults": 5
}

target accepts a bare domain or a full URL. Keyword overview uses keywords instead of target.

Input reference

Field	Type	What it controls
mode	enum	domain_overview, organic_keywords, paid_keywords, competitors, keyword_overview, top_pages, or backlinks. Default domain_overview.
target	string	Domain or URL for domain, keyword-list, competitor, page, and backlink modes. Example: shopify.com.
keywords	array	Seed phrases for keyword_overview. Example: ["shopify"].
competitorChannel	enum	both, paid, or organic for competitors mode. Default both.
locationName	string	Country name. Default United States.
languageCode	string	Language code such as en. Default en.
maxResults	integer	Row cap 1–100. Default 5. Domain overview still writes at most one row.

Owner API credentials are already configured for Store runs. This Actor does not accept user API keys.

What data you receive

One dataset item is one domain, keyword, competitor, page, or backlink row.

{
  "mode": "domain_overview",
  "target": "shopify.com",
  "domain": "shopify.com",
  "locationName": "United States",
  "languageCode": "en",
  "organicKeywordCount": 149968,
  "organicTraffic": 45000,
  "paidKeywordCount": 36,
  "estimatedPaidCostUsd": 2200,
  "backlinks": 9000,
  "referringDomains": 1200,
  "source": "spyfu_alternative/domain_overview",
  "status": "OK",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-08-22T00:00:00.000Z"
}

Field	Meaning
organicTraffic / paidTraffic	Organic and paid traffic estimates
estimatedPaidCostUsd	Estimated paid traffic value or per-keyword paid cost
adDescription	Public paid-ad description when mode is paid_keywords
source	Mode provenance label for the row

OUTPUT and RUN_SUMMARY in the default key-value store hold outcome, itemsPushed, chargedEventCounts, and providerCostUsd. Download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML.

Use through the API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/khadinakbar~spyfu-alternative/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode":"domain_overview","target":"shopify.com","maxResults":5}'

Use with AI agents through Apify MCP

Run a SpyFu-style domain overview for shopify.com in the United States. Return organicTraffic, paidKeywordCount, estimatedPaidCostUsd, backlinks, referringDomains, source, and fetchedAt. Read OUTPUT.outcome and itemsPushed. Treat estimatedPaidCostUsd as estimated paid traffic value.

Connect via https://mcp.apify.com. Review the Pricing tab for the current request and result event rates with Apify platform usage included.

Connect the workflow

• When you already have phrases and only need volume plus CPC, then use Keyword Search Volume API.
• For keyword ideas after you pick a seed, continue with SEMRush Alternative.
• For Google Ads Transparency creatives after you identify an advertiser, continue with Google Ads Transparency Scraper.

How it works

1. Normalize the domain or keyword list for the selected mode.
2. Call the matching upstream SEO API endpoint for that mode.
3. Charge seo-api-request after each successful task.
4. Charge seo-record, then write each validated dataset row.

Best results

• Use a real hostname such as shopify.com rather than a SpyFu app URL.
• Keep maxResults at 5 while you confirm the output shape, then raise it for exports.
• Treat traffic, volume, paid cost, and rank as model estimates for public keywords and domains you are authorized to research.
• A valid query with no match finishes SUCCEEDED with VALID_EMPTY.

Builder's note

I designed this Actor around the PPC side of competitor research: paid keywords with their ad copy, paid competitors and top pages, alongside the organic modes. Domain overview merges two upstream tasks into one billed row so a first run stays cheap to preview, and every metric is a model estimate from a commercial SEO data source rather than a competitor's private analytics.

Legal and responsible use

Use this Actor with public SEO and PPC research you are authorized to run. Metrics are independent of SpyFu, Inc. Follow applicable law and the data source terms, and keep the output in your own compliance workflow.

Issues and feature requests: use the Actor Issues tab on Apify.

Pricing and run costs

This Actor uses Pay per event with Apify platform usage included. The Pricing tab lists the current event rates and billing terms.

Event	Billing unit	When it applies
apify-actor-start	Actor Start	Charged when the Actor starts running. Number of events charged depends on Actor memory (one event per GB, minimum one event).
seo-api-request	SEO API request	Charged once for each successful upstream SEO API task used to build the report.
seo-record	SEO record	Charged once for each validated domain, keyword, competitor, page, or backlink row persisted to the dataset.

Run cost is the sum of the charged events; Apify platform usage is included. Review the run charge limit and requested result count before starting.

Independent alternative

This Actor provides the specific workflow described above. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by SpyFu; the named product and its trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Managed research allowance

Free Apify callers share a $0.10 supplier-cost allowance per rolling 30 days across these managed research tools, within a $1 daily and $10 rolling family free pool. Results and supported search options stay unchanged within that allowance. Once exhausted, no further owner-funded research is requested; the existing start fee can still apply. Paid callers keep the existing prices and platform-usage payer. Identical supplier work inside one run can reuse its completed response, without sharing data between users or runs. Existing result-event billing remains unchanged; no new research-credit fee is added.

Paid routes priced per upstream request retain one supplier task per billed request. Completed same-run reuse applies where it preserves the existing billable unit.