# Keyword Search Volume, CPC & Difficulty (`serbiandev/keyword-metrics`) Actor

Search volume, CPC, competition, keyword difficulty and search intent for up to thousands of keywords per run. Keywords without data are not charged.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/serbiandev/keyword-metrics.md
- **Developed by:** [Dušan Jolović](https://apify.com/serbiandev) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Marketing
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

### What does Keyword Search Volume, CPC & Difficulty do?

It returns search volume, cost per click, paid competition, keyword difficulty and search intent for a list of keywords in one run. Paste up to thousands of keywords, pick a country and a language, and get a table you can download as CSV, Excel or JSON, or pull through the Apify API.

Use it for keyword research, content planning, PPC budgeting and SEO reports, without a Semrush or Ahrefs subscription.

### What data do you get?

| Field | Meaning |
|-------|---------|
| `searchVolume` | Average monthly searches over the last 12 months |
| `monthlySearches` | Searches for each of the last 12 months |
| `trendMonthly`, `trendQuarterly`, `trendYearly` | Change in search volume, in percent |
| `cpc` | Average cost per click in USD |
| `competition`, `competitionLevel` | Paid search competition, 0 to 1 and LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH |
| `lowTopOfPageBid`, `highTopOfPageBid` | Range of the top-of-page bid in USD |
| `keywordDifficulty` | How hard it is to rank organically, 0 to 100 |
| `searchIntent`, `secondaryIntents` | Informational, navigational, commercial or transactional |
| `lastUpdated` | When the keyword's data was last refreshed |

The data comes from the DataForSEO keyword database, which is built from Google Ads data and refreshed monthly. It is not a live Google Keyword Planner session, so it needs no Google Ads account.

### How much does it cost?

You pay per keyword that returns data, plus a small fee per request:

- **$0.002 per keyword with data** ($2 per 1,000 keywords)
- **$0.02 per request**, and one request covers up to 700 keywords

A run of 1,000 keywords costs at most $2.04. Keywords without data, duplicates and invalid keywords cost nothing.

Apify free plan users can look up 20 keywords per run. Any paid Apify plan removes the limit.

### How to use it

1. Paste your keywords into **Keywords**, one per line.
2. Set **Location**, for example `United States`, and **Language**, for example `English`.
3. Click **Start** and download the results from the **Output** tab.

Input as JSON, for the API or a schedule:

```json
{
    "keywords": ["keyword research", "seo tools", "best running shoes"],
    "locationName": "United States",
    "languageName": "English"
}
```

### Output example

A real result from October 2026, with 3 of the 12 months shown:

```json
{
    "keyword": "best running shoes",
    "found": true,
    "searchVolume": 60500,
    "cpc": 1.16,
    "competition": 1,
    "competitionLevel": "HIGH",
    "lowTopOfPageBid": 0.21,
    "highTopOfPageBid": 1.67,
    "keywordDifficulty": 28,
    "searchIntent": "commercial",
    "secondaryIntents": ["transactional"],
    "trendMonthly": 0,
    "trendQuarterly": 22,
    "trendYearly": 0,
    "monthlySearches": [
        { "year": 2026, "month": 9, "search_volume": 60500 },
        { "year": 2026, "month": 8, "search_volume": 60500 },
        { "year": 2026, "month": 7, "search_volume": 49500 }
    ],
    "location": "United States",
    "language": "English",
    "lastUpdated": "2026-10-15 20:18:08 +00:00",
    "error": null
}
```

A keyword without data has `"found": false`, empty metrics and a note in `error`. It is not charged.

### Which locations and languages work?

Use the English name of the country and the language: `United States`, `United Kingdom`, `Canada`, `Australia`, `Germany`, `France`, `Spain`, `Italy`, `Netherlands`, `Brazil`, `India` and most other countries. The full list is in the [DataForSEO locations and languages reference](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/dataforseo_labs/locations_and_languages/). A misspelled name stops the run with a message that says so, and no keywords are charged.

### FAQ

**Why is a keyword not found?** The database covers keywords that people search for. Very rare or brand-new phrases may have no data yet. You are not charged for them.

**Can I run it on a schedule or from my code?** Yes. Use Apify schedules, the Apify API, or integrations such as Make, Zapier and Google Drive.

**How do I limit what a run costs?** Set **Maximum cost per run** in the run options. The run stops at that amount and keeps the results it has.

**Something is wrong with the data.** Open an issue on the Issues tab with the keyword, the location and the run link.

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Keywords to look up, one per line. Up to 80 characters and 10 words each. Duplicates are removed and keywords are lowercased. Apify free plan runs look up the first 20 keywords; any paid Apify plan removes the limit.

## `locationName` (type: `string`):

Country, spelled as in the DataForSEO list, for example "United States", "United Kingdom" or "Germany".

## `languageName` (type: `string`):

Language of the searches, for example "English", "German" or "Spanish".

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "keyword research",
    "seo tools",
    "best running shoes"
  ],
  "locationName": "United States",
  "languageName": "English"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "keywords": [
        "keyword research",
        "seo tools",
        "best running shoes"
    ],
    "locationName": "United States",
    "languageName": "English"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("serbiandev/keyword-metrics").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "keywords": [
        "keyword research",
        "seo tools",
        "best running shoes",
    ],
    "locationName": "United States",
    "languageName": "English",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("serbiandev/keyword-metrics").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "keywords": [
    "keyword research",
    "seo tools",
    "best running shoes"
  ],
  "locationName": "United States",
  "languageName": "English"
}' |
apify call serbiandev/keyword-metrics --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,serbiandev/keyword-metrics"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/FNQnrs3YroTSaNzkB/builds/CdBOMuslxgvnPdfzm/openapi.json