Free keyword research tool
Type one topic. Get the phrasings people actually search, sorted into know, compare, do and go, ready to cluster and export. No account, and not one invented number.
No invented numbers. KeywordForge has no live search data, so it never shows search volume, difficulty or CPC. Check volumes in Google Keyword Planner, Search Console or a paid index such as Ahrefs or Semrush, then bring them to the prioritiser.
From a seed to a publishing plan
Keyword research is a pipeline, not a single search. Each step below is its own tool; your list travels between them through My list or plain copy-paste.
- 01GenerateSeed → dozens of phrasings, labelled by intent.
- 02CleanStrip duplicates, junk and off-topic terms.
- 03ClusterOne group of keywords = one page to write.
- 04Check intentMatch the page type to what searchers want.
- 05Size itBring real volumes, rank the shortlist.
- 06BriefHand the writer an outline and questions.
What a free tool can honestly do
Paid suites like Ahrefs and Semrush earn their price with one thing: a huge index of real search and ranking data. No free tool can fake that. What language models and plain logic can do well is the slow, manual half of keyword research:
- Ideation. Surfacing the questions, comparisons and buying phrases around a topic you would not think of at 4pm on a Thursday.
- Grouping. Deciding which of 300 keywords belong on the same page. This is where most content plans go wrong.
- Intent. Spotting that "best standing desk" wants a comparison list, not a product page.
- Snippets. Writing title tags and descriptions that fit before Google cuts them off.
What it can't do is tell you how many people search a phrase. When a free tool shows a precise monthly volume without saying where it came from, ask where it came from.
Where each number really comes from
| Metric | Honest source |
|---|---|
| Search volume | Google Keyword Planner (ranges unless you spend), Ahrefs, Semrush |
| Your impressions | Google Search Console, Performance report |
| Trend and seasonality | Google Trends (relative, 0–100) |
| Difficulty | The page-one results themselves; see our difficulty checker |
| CPC | Keyword Planner's top-of-page bid range |
Questions people ask
Is this keyword research tool really free?
Yes. There is no account, no trial and no credit system. The pattern tools run in your browser; the AI features run on a low-cost model with a fair-use limit per visitor.
Why don't you show search volume or keyword difficulty?
Because we have no licensed click-stream or Google Ads data, and any number we displayed would be a guess dressed up as data. Use Google Keyword Planner (free with a Google Ads account), Google Search Console for keywords you already rank for, or a paid index such as Ahrefs or Semrush, then paste the numbers into our search volume prioritiser.
Where do the keyword ideas come from?
Two places. Pattern ideas combine your seed with question words, formats and comparison modifiers, so they are predictable and instant. AI ideas come from a language model (OpenAI GPT-6 Luna via Vercel AI Gateway) prompted to list phrasings real searchers use. Treat both as candidates to validate, not as proof of demand.
How is the search intent label decided?
The AI labels each idea it suggests; pattern ideas are labelled by visible rules, such as "best" and "vs" meaning Compare, and "buy" or "price" meaning Do. The search intent checker shows the exact trigger word for every label.
Can I save or export my keywords?
Every result can be copied, downloaded as CSV (with an empty search_volume column ready for real data) or saved to My list, which lives in your browser's local storage and never reaches our server.
What should I do after generating ideas?
Remove duplicates and off-topic terms, cluster what is left so each cluster becomes one page, check intent against the live results, then pull real volumes for the clusters worth writing. The guide on how to do keyword research walks through it.