Ahrefs Keyword Generator & API: Bulk KD & Search Volume
Pricing
from $7.99 / 1,000 keyword checkeds
Ahrefs Keyword Generator & API: Bulk KD & Search Volume
Keyword ideas and questions from Ahrefs for many seed keywords, with search volume and difficulty, plus the exact Keyword Difficulty (KD), search volume, backlinks needed and top SERP pages for any keyword list. 181 countries. Tracks new ideas. Works on the free Apify plan.
Pricing
from $7.99 / 1,000 keyword checkeds
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Ahrefs Keyword Generator & API: Bulk KD & Search Volume
Get keyword ideas and question keywords from Ahrefs for a list of seed keywords, each with its search volume and keyword difficulty, and check the exact Keyword Difficulty (KD 0-100), search volume, backlinks needed to rank and the top-ranking pages for any keyword list. 181 countries. Turn on the tracker to see new keyword ideas and KD changes since the last run.
No Ahrefs account, no API key, no captcha tokens, no browser setup on your side. Works on the free Apify plan. Use it as a bulk Ahrefs keyword generator, a bulk keyword difficulty checker or an Ahrefs keyword API alternative for keyword research, content plans and SEO reports.
What you get
One row per keyword. Real example, seed coffee maker, United States, 17 October 2026:
| type | # | keyword | search volume | difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| idea | 1 | keurig coffee maker | 100K-1M | Easy |
| idea | 2 | coffee maker | 10K-100K | Hard |
| idea | 3 | ninja coffee maker | 10K-100K | Medium |
| idea | 5 | best coffee maker | 10K-100K | Medium |
| question | 1 | how to descale coffee maker | 1K-10K | Easy |
| question | 4 | how to make coffee without a coffee maker | 1K-10K | Easy |
With exact KD (mode ideas + exact KD or KD checker), Germany and United States, 17 October 2026:
| keyword | country | KD | search volume | ref. domains to rank | #1 page (DR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kaffeemaschine | de | 3 | 53,000 | 4 | mediamarkt.de (80) |
| ninja kaffeemaschine | de | 0 | 35,000 | 0 | amazon.de (93) |
| kaffeemaschine mit mahlwerk | de | 0 | 22,000 | 0 | beem.de (40) |
| keyword research | us | 41 | 611,000 | 58 | mangools.com (82) |
| seo tools | us | 82 | 319,000 | 399 | smallseotools.com (81) |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
seed, type, position | Seed keyword, idea or question (or keyword in the KD checker), place in Ahrefs' list |
keyword, country | The keyword and the search market |
searchVolumeRange, searchVolumeMin | Ahrefs' monthly search volume range (0-100, 100-1K, 1K-10K, 10K-100K, 100K-1M, 1M-10M, 10M+) and its lower bound for sorting |
difficultyLabel | Ahrefs' difficulty label of the idea: Easy, Medium, Hard |
keywordDifficulty | Exact Ahrefs KD 0-100 (checked keywords) |
searchVolume | Ahrefs' monthly search volume for the country (checked keywords, when a top page ranks first of all for this keyword) |
referringDomainsToRank | About how many websites must link to a page to reach the top 10 |
serpFeatures | SERP features on the page: ai_overview, questions, organic_shopping, videos, top_stories... |
topResults | Top Google results: position, URL, title; for the first 3 also DR, UR, referring domains, backlinks, organic traffic, ranking keywords, top keyword and its volume |
seedTotalIdeas, seedTotalQuestions | How many ideas and questions Ahrefs has for the seed in total |
isNew, keywordDifficultyChange, searchVolumeChange | Tracker on: new idea since the previous run; KD and volume change of a checked keyword |
dataUpdatedAt, checkedAt | When Ahrefs last updated the keyword, time of the run |
note, error | Unknown keyword or failed check message |
The KEYWORDS record (Storage → Key-value store) has one summary per seed or keyword: idea counts and, with the tracker, new and dropped ideas.
Modes
| Mode | What you get | Live checks |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword ideas (default) | 20 ideas + 20 questions per seed with volume range and difficulty label | 1 per seed |
| Ideas + exact KD | The same, and the top N ideas of each seed (1-40, default 5) get exact KD, search volume, backlinks needed and SERP | 1 + N per seed |
| KD checker | One row per keyword of your list: exact KD, search volume, backlinks needed, SERP features and top pages | 1 per keyword |
How it works
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Live check | Each seed is checked live in Ahrefs' own free Keyword Generator, each KD keyword in Ahrefs' free Keyword Difficulty Checker. The Actor passes the human check itself, so you pay nothing extra for captcha solving |
| 2. Exact numbers | The KD checker's answer carries the exact KD, the referring domains needed and the top results with their DR and traffic. The search volume is the volume Ahrefs shows for a top page whose main keyword is this keyword |
| 3. Tracker | With Track changes on, each seed's ideas and each checked keyword's KD and volume are remembered under the tracker name and compared on the next run |
Why this Actor
| This Actor | |
|---|---|
| Ideas and exact KD in one run | Yes: ideas + questions per seed, exact KD and volume for the top ideas |
| Free Apify plan | Yes: captcha solving is built in, not a paid third-party service |
| Bulk | Up to 1,000 seeds or keywords a run, duplicates checked once (also across seeds) |
| 181 countries | Volumes, KD and SERP of Google in the chosen country |
| New keyword ideas since the last run | Yes: isNew per idea, "only new" mode, KD and volume change |
| Unknown keywords | Free: you pay only for checks that return data |
Find easy keywords in a niche
- Put 5-20 seed keywords of your niche into Keywords.
- Choose Keyword ideas + exact KD and set Ideas per seed to check to 10.
- Open the Keyword ideas view, sort by
keywordDifficultyand keep the ideas with low KD and a highsearchVolume: they need the fewest backlinks (referringDomainsToRank).
Schedule it weekly with Track changes between runs and Return only new ideas to get only the keywords Ahrefs added for your seeds.
Pricing
Pay per event:
| Event | Free / Starter | Scale | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword checked (one live check: 40 ideas of a seed, or the exact KD, volume and SERP of one keyword) | $0.00999 | $0.00899 | $0.00799 |
| Run start (per GB of memory) | $0.003 | $0.003 | $0.003 |
Examples on the Free plan, default 2 GB memory:
| Run | Cost |
|---|---|
| 1 seed, 40 ideas and questions | $0.006 + $0.00999 = ~$0.016 |
| 1 seed + exact KD for its top 5 ideas | $0.006 + 6 × $0.00999 = ~$0.066 |
| 100 seeds, up to 4,000 ideas | $0.006 + 100 × $0.00999 = ~$1.00 |
| KD for 100 keywords | $0.006 + 100 × $0.00999 = ~$1.00 |
A keyword Ahrefs does not know and a failed live check are free; a keyword checked twice in one run (e.g. an idea of two seeds) is charged once. Set a maximum cost per run in Console and the Actor stops at it.
Speed and memory
Checks run in a browser: 1 at a time with the default 2 GB (2-4 checks a minute), 2 with 3 GB, 6 with 4 GB. The price per check is the same; more memory only adds the run start fee per GB. Each check takes 10-60 seconds because it passes Ahrefs' human check.
Other Ahrefs tools
| Actor | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ahrefs DR Checker & API | Bulk Domain Rating, referring domains, organic traffic and traffic value for thousands of domains, 12-month history, DR and traffic change tracker |
| Ahrefs Backlink Checker & API | Top backlinks with anchors and linking DR, total backlinks and referring domains for many domains or exact pages, new backlinks tracker |
| Ahrefs Traffic Checker & API | Organic traffic, traffic value, top pages, countries and keywords for websites, folders or single pages, by country, traffic change tracker |
FAQ
How many ideas per seed? 20 keyword ideas and 20 questions: what Ahrefs' free Keyword Generator shows. seedTotalIdeas tells how many Ahrefs has in total (the full list needs a paid Ahrefs plan). Use more specific seeds to get more ideas.
Why is the search volume of an idea a range? The free Keyword Generator gives ranges. For an exact number, check the keyword with the KD mode: the exact volume comes with the KD.
Why is searchVolume sometimes empty? It is filled when one of the top 3 pages has this keyword as its main keyword, which is the usual case for real queries. Rare long-tail keywords may not have it.
Are the numbers the same as on ahrefs.com? Yes, they come from Ahrefs' free tools at the time of the run. Volumes are Ahrefs' own estimates and can differ from Google Keyword Planner.
Bing, YouTube or Amazon keywords? Ahrefs' free YouTube, Bing and Amazon keyword tools are under maintenance (October 2026): this Actor gives Google keywords.
Is this the official Ahrefs API? No. The official Ahrefs API needs a paid Ahrefs plan with API units. This Actor reads the same public data Ahrefs shows in its free tools, for any number of keywords, without an Ahrefs account.
Use with the API and AI agents
Call the Actor from the Apify API, Python or JavaScript clients, Make, Zapier, n8n, or as a tool for AI agents through the Apify MCP server. Input is one JSON object, output is one JSON row per keyword.
