Google Keyword Search Volume Checker & API: Ahrefs Alternative

Get Google monthly search volume, CPC, competition, keyword difficulty, search intent and up to 8 years of monthly history for up to 10,000 keywords per run, in 94 countries: a Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs and Semrush alternative without a subscription or a Google Ads account. You only pay for keywords that have data (plus AI search volume, if you turn it on): keywords with no data are returned for free, so you know they were checked.

Need new keywords rather than metrics for your own list? Switch to ideas mode: each keyword becomes a seed and you get related keyword ideas with the same metrics.

Typical uses

• Prioritise a content plan: volume, difficulty and intent for every keyword idea in one table.
• Estimate ad budgets with CPC and top-of-page bid ranges per country.
• Spot seasonality and rising topics with up to 8 years of monthly history.
• Enrich keyword lists in Google Sheets, n8n / Make workflows or AI agents.

Why this one

• All the metrics in one row: volume, CPC, competition, difficulty, search intent, SERP features and up to 8 years of monthly history together, not volume alone.
• Big lists in one run: up to 10,000 keywords (or 100 seeds in ideas mode), not a few dozen rows.
• No fee per run and no charge for keywords without data: a test with 5 keywords costs 5 results at most (plus AI search volume, if you turn it on).
• Hard cost cap: the run stops before the maximum cost you set.

What you get for each keyword

Field	Description
keyword	Your keyword, lowercased with single spaces
found	false when no data exists for the keyword (not billed)
note	Only on found: false rows: why the keyword has no data
searchVolume	Average monthly Google searches
cpcUsd	Average cost per click, in USD
competition, competitionLevel	Google Ads competition, 0 to 1, and LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH
lowTopOfPageBidUsd, highTopOfPageBidUsd	Typical top-of-page bid range
keywordDifficulty	0 (easy) to 100 (hard) to rank organically
searchIntent	informational, navigational, commercial or transactional
trendMonthlyPct, trendQuarterlyPct, trendYearlyPct	Change in search volume, in percent
serpFeatures, searchResultsCount, serpUpdatedAt	Google result types on the keyword's results page (e.g. organic, people_also_ask, popular_products), the result count, and when that page was last checked by the data source (often a few weeks or months ago). No extra cost; null when not available
monthlySearches	Monthly volumes, most recent first: 12 months by default, up to 96 (no extra cost)
aiSearchVolume, aiMonthlySearches	Only with includeAiSearchVolume (from October 24, 2026): estimated monthly use of the keyword in AI tools, and its monthly history
dataUpdatedAt	When the underlying data was last refreshed
observedAt	When this run fetched it

Missing values are always null, never guessed.

Input

{
  "keywords": ["coffee maker", "espresso machine", "french press"],
  "country": "US",
  "languageCode": "",
  "historyMonths": 12
}

• keywords: one per line. Max 80 characters and 10 words each. Duplicates are removed for free (case-insensitive). Best results with phrases people really type into Google (1 to 4 words): very long-tail, misspelled or brand-new phrases often have no data (returned with found: false, not charged). On the free Apify plan, only the first 20 keywords of each run are looked up (paid plans: no limit).
• country: two-letter code of one of 94 countries: the US, Canada, the UK and most of Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa (full list in the input form).
• languageCode: optional. Defaults to the country's main language (German for Switzerland, French for Belgium). Regional variants are written like zh-TW. A language the data source doesn't offer for that country stops the run with a clear message and no charge.
• historyMonths: months of monthly history per keyword, 0 to 96. Default 12.
• includeAiSearchVolume: search volume mode only, off by default, available from October 24, 2026 (see below).
• mode: volume (default) or ideas (see below).
• maxIdeasPerSeed: ideas mode only, 5 to 1,000. Default 50.

AI search volume (from October 24, 2026)

Turn on includeAiSearchVolume to see how often each keyword is used in AI tools and chat assistants (an estimate from the data source), next to its Google search volume: aiSearchVolume (estimated monthly figure) and aiMonthlySearches (as many months as historyMonths). Useful to decide which topics to cover for AI search (GEO) as well as for Google.

• Billed per keyword with a positive AI search volume (an extra event, see the Pricing tab); null or 0 is free. Keywords without Google data are not sent.
• Available for all 94 countries in their default language (data source location lists read on 2026-10-12); another language may have no AI figure (then null, free, with a warning).
• Before October 24, 2026 the option is accepted but ignored (the run says so and charges nothing for it).
• Needs a paid Apify plan: on the free plan the option is ignored (the run says so).

Ideas mode

Set "mode": "ideas": each line of keywords is a seed (up to 100 seeds per run), and the run returns up to maxIdeasPerSeed related keyword ideas per seed, most relevant first, with exactly the same fields as above plus seedKeyword.

{ "keywords": ["coffee maker"], "mode": "ideas", "maxIdeasPerSeed": 50, "country": "US" }

• Each idea with data is billed like one keyword. An idea found by two seeds is returned and billed once (for the first seed); the seed itself is not returned as an idea.
• A seed with no idea gives one free row with found: false and a note.
• Ideas come with 12 months of history at most (the data source keeps 12 months for ideas).
• If many seeds in a row return no idea, the run stops early and tells you which were not searched (nothing is charged for them).

Output example

Real row from a run on 2026-10-07 (US, historyMonths: 3; the three serp… fields from a check on 2026-10-12):

{
  "keyword": "coffee maker",
  "found": true,
  "country": "US",
  "languageCode": "en",
  "searchVolume": 201000,
  "cpcUsd": 0.79,
  "competition": 1,
  "competitionLevel": "HIGH",
  "lowTopOfPageBidUsd": 0.25,
  "highTopOfPageBidUsd": 1.23,
  "keywordDifficulty": 32,
  "searchIntent": "transactional",
  "trendMonthlyPct": 22,
  "trendQuarterlyPct": 22,
  "trendYearlyPct": 0,
  "serpFeatures": "popular_products, organic, product_considerations, perspectives, people_also_ask, related_searches, images",
  "searchResultsCount": 293,
  "serpUpdatedAt": "2026-07-30T03:52:04.000Z",
  "monthlySearches": [
    { "month": "2026-08", "searchVolume": 165000 },
    { "month": "2026-07", "searchVolume": 135000 },
    { "month": "2026-06", "searchVolume": 135000 }
  ],
  "dataUpdatedAt": "2026-09-15T12:07:43.000Z",
  "observedAt": "2026-10-07T10:29:36.658Z",
  "schemaVersion": "1.0"
}

Pricing

You pay per keyword with data. No subscription, no fee per run. See the Pricing tab for the current prices. Price change on October 24, 2026: new optional AI search volume event, $0.005 (FREE) / $0.004 (BRONZE) / $0.003 (GOLD+) per keyword with a positive AI volume, only when Include AI search volume is on. The keyword price does not change. Keywords without data, duplicates and invalid keywords are never billed. Input mistakes (unsupported country or language, empty list) stop the run with a clear message and cost nothing. The run never spends more than the maximum cost you set: it stops looking up keywords before reaching it.

Compared with the two most-used Actors that also charge per keyword (their public prices on October 27, 2026, Apify Starter plan, every keyword with data):

Keywords	This Actor	Per-keyword Actor #1	Per-keyword Actor #2
10	$0.08	$0.11	$0.30 (incl. a $0.19 lookup fee)
100	$0.80	$1.07	$1.29
1,000	$8.00	$10.67	$11.19
100 + AI search volume	$1.20	$2.13	not offered

From about 40 keywords per run, Actors that charge one flat fee per batch of up to 1,000 keywords cost less; this one is built for short lists, such as the ones AI agents send, and never charges keywords without data.

Free Apify plan: each run looks up the first 20 keywords (ideas mode: the first 2 seeds, 20 ideas each), and 5 runs per day (UTC) look up data, so you can test the output; later runs that day look nothing up and return one free row per keyword saying why. A paid Apify plan removes these limits.

Run summary

Each run also stores a summary in the key-value store (OUTPUT): keywords submitted, found, not found, billed, duplicates removed, invalid keywords with the reason, and any keyword skipped because of the free-plan or budget limit (with AI search volume on: aiSearchVolumesFound and aiSearchVolumesBilled). In ideas mode: mode, seeds submitted and searched, seeds without ideas, ideas found and billed, duplicate ideas removed, and seeds skipped (free plan, budget, or too many seeds without ideas).

Track your keywords every month

The data source refreshes keyword data once a month, so a monthly run is all a tracking list needs:

1. Run the Actor once with your list, then click Save as a new task (your keywords, country and settings are kept).
2. In the task, click Schedule and pick the same day each month.
3. Send each run to your tool: the task's Integrations tab (Google Sheets, Slack, a webhook…), or the n8n / Make Apify nodes. Compare searchVolume and the trendMonthlyPct / trendYearlyPct columns from one month to the next to see which topics rise or fall. You pay only for the keywords with data in each run (see Pricing).

Use it from code, automations or AI agents

API (one call, results returned directly):

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/plainrows~keyword-search-volume/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keywords": ["coffee maker", "espresso machine"], "country": "US"}'

n8n, Make, Zapier: use the Apify integration and pick plainrows/keyword-search-volume as the Actor; map the dataset items to your sheet, CRM or database.

AI agents (MCP): add https://mcp.apify.com?tools=plainrows/keyword-search-volume to Claude, Cursor or any MCP client. The agent gets a typed tool with the input and output schemas of this page and pays per result.

Limits

• Data comes from Google Ads keyword data via a commercial SEO data provider and is refreshed monthly. Very new or very rare keywords may have no data.
• Search volumes are averages and estimates, not exact counts.
• This tool is not affiliated with Google, Ahrefs or Semrush.

FAQ

How do I check the search volume of many keywords at once? Paste them in keywords, one per line (up to 10,000 per run), pick the country and run. You get one row per keyword with monthly volume, CPC, competition, difficulty, intent and monthly history.

Is this the same data as Google Keyword Planner? It comes from Google Ads keyword data through a commercial SEO data provider, refreshed monthly. You get exact monthly averages instead of Keyword Planner's ranges, without a Google Ads account.

Is this an Ahrefs or Semrush alternative? For keyword metrics, yes: search volume, CPC, competition, keyword difficulty (0-100), intent and monthly history for up to 10,000 keywords per run, without a subscription or an Ahrefs or Semrush account. Difficulty is computed by the data provider on its own 0-100 scale, so it will not match Ahrefs KD or Semrush KD% exactly.

Can it find new keyword ideas, not only volumes? Yes: set mode to ideas. Each keyword becomes a seed and you get up to 1,000 related ideas per seed with volume, CPC, competition, difficulty, intent and 12-month history, billed per idea with data at the same price as a keyword. Ideas are deduplicated across seeds.

Which countries and languages? 94 countries, in the country's main language or another one the data source offers there.

What does it cost for 1,000 keywords? $8.00 on the Apify Starter plan if all 1,000 have data ($7.00 on Scale, $6.00 on Business), plus AI search volume if you turn it on; keywords without data are free, and there is no subscription and no fee per run. See the Pricing tab for the current prices.

Can I use it in Google Sheets, n8n, Make or an AI agent? Yes: through the Apify API, the Apify integrations for n8n, Make and Zapier, or the Apify MCP server (see above).

Is this a keyword data API or a keyword metrics API? Yes: send a list of keywords in one API call and get the keyword data back as JSON or CSV, one row per keyword, with the keyword metrics SEO tools show: search volume, CPC, competition, keyword difficulty, search intent and monthly history.

More PlainRows tools

Same pay-per-result pricing, same clean JSON, built to chain together in n8n, Make, Zapier or AI agents.

• SEO and keywords: Keyword Planner Alternative (Bulk Search Volume & CPC) · Google Keyword Planner API (Google Ads Search Volume & CPC) · Google Autocomplete & People Also Ask · Google Trends Explorer · Google Trends Keyword Discovery (Rising & Related) · Website Organic Traffic & Top Keywords · Competitor Keywords API (Ranked Keywords) · Bulk Website Traffic Checker · PPC Competitor Keywords (SpyFu Alternative) · Bulk Domain Authority Checker · Backlink Checker · Backlink API (Referring Domains & Backlinks Data) · Broken Link Checker · SEO Audit API (On-Page SEO Checker) · AI Search Visibility Tracker (ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode) · AI Overview Tracker (Google AI Overview Citations) · Perplexity Search API (Answers & Citations) · ChatGPT Search Scraper (Answers & Citations) · Google AI Mode API (Answers & Citations) · Gemini Search Scraper (Answers & Citations) · AI Citations Finder (LLM Mentions in ChatGPT & AI Overviews) · Keyword Rank Checker (Google SERP Position) · Google Search API (SERP Scraper & Web Results) · Bing Search API (Bing SERP & Web Results)
• Leads and companies: Google Maps Scraper · Google Maps Email Extractor · Google Maps Businesses Without Website · Yellow Pages Australia Scraper · Website Technology Checker · Website Email Extractor · Contact Details Scraper (Emails, Phones, Socials) · ATS Jobs Scraper (Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby) · Workday Jobs Scraper · Greenhouse Jobs Scraper · Lever Jobs Scraper · Ashby Jobs Scraper · Google Jobs Scraper · Reed.co.uk Jobs Scraper (UK) · jobs.ch & jobup.ch Jobs Scraper (Switzerland) · Arbeitsagentur Jobs Scraper (Germany) · Gupy Jobs Scraper (Brazil) · Catho Jobs Scraper (Brazil) · Vagas.com.br Jobs Scraper (Brazil) · Jobs.cz Scraper (Czech Republic) · Remote Jobs Scraper (Himalayas, RemoteOK, Jobicy) · Google Ads Scraper (Transparency Center) · Company Registry Lookup (SIRENE, LEI, Brreg) · Public Tenders Search (EU TED & UK)
• E-commerce and travel: Amazon Product Search Scraper · Amazon Keyword Research (Search Volume & Reverse ASIN) · Google Shopping Prices Scraper · Google Hotels Prices Scraper · Google Hotels Scraper · Tripadvisor Reviews Scraper · Trustpilot Reviews Scraper
• Marketplaces and classifieds: Property Finder Scraper (UAE) · Redfin Scraper (US Homes for Sale) · Otomoto Scraper (Polish Car Listings) · Otodom Scraper (Poland Property) · Imovirtual Scraper (Portugal Property) · Standvirtual Scraper (Portugal Cars) · Immoweb Scraper (Belgium Property) · Blocket Scraper (Sweden) · FINN.no Scraper (Norway) · coches.net Scraper (Spain Cars) · 2dehands Scraper (Belgium) · Storia Scraper (Romania Property) · Autovit Scraper (Romania Cars) · FINN.no Car Scraper (Norway Cars) · DBA Scraper (Denmark) · Tori.fi Scraper (Finland)
• Content and media: Google News Scraper · YouTube Search Scraper · YouTube Search API (JSON) · YouTube Comments Scraper · Google Images Scraper · Website Screenshot API · PDF to Markdown Converter (PDF to Text for AI & RAG) · Google Maps Reviews Scraper · Google Reviews Scraper · App Store & Google Play Reviews Scraper · App Store & Google Play App Details Scraper · Google Play Reviews Scraper · App Store Reviews Scraper

Compared with other APIs: Which of your keywords show a Google AI Overview? (bulk check) · Semrush API alternative

Support

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