The best free App Store keyword research tools are App Store autocomplete, Apple Search Ads keyword planner, AppFollow's free tier, Astro, Sensor Tower's limited free data, and RespectASO. Used together, they help you find search terms, inspect competitor keywords, check character limits, and avoid wasted keyword-field space without paying for a full ASO suite.
Most App Store keyword research tools sit behind paid plans. AppTweak starts at $60/month. ASOdesk is similar. AppFollow has a free tier but limits how much data you can see. For an indie developer who just wants to understand which keywords to target before spending money, the paywalls arrive quickly.
The good news: you can do meaningful keyword research without paying for anything, if you know which tools to use and what each one is actually useful for.
Here are seven free options — with honest notes on where each one is useful and where it falls short.
If your goal is competitor research specifically, start with the companion guide: how to find competitor App Store keywords.
1. App Store Autocomplete (Built Into Your iPhone)
Cost: Free
Best for: Discovering what users actually type, in any language
The App Store's search bar surfaces autocomplete suggestions as you type — and those suggestions are Apple's own data on what people search. This isn't a tool you download; it's the App Store itself.
How to use it:
- Open the App Store on your iPhone
- Tap Search
- Start typing a keyword related to your app's category
- Watch the autocomplete suggestions that appear
Those suggestions reflect real search queries with enough volume for Apple to surface them. If "habit tracker free" appears as a suggestion, users are searching that phrase. If "habit tracker ios 17" doesn't appear, it's probably not a high-volume term worth targeting.
For international research, change your App Store region first: Settings → your name → Media & Purchases → View Account → Country/Region. Switch to Japan, Germany, or France, then repeat the autocomplete research in that language. You'll see what users in that market actually search.
Limitation: No volume data. You can see that a term is searched (it autocompletes), but not how often. You also can't easily see competitor rankings.
2. Astro (Free Tier)
Cost: Free tier available
Best for: Tracking your own keyword rankings after optimization
Astro is primarily a rank tracker, not a keyword discovery tool — but its free tier lets you monitor your app's position for specific keywords across multiple App Store markets. That makes it genuinely useful after you've done your keyword research and submitted updated metadata.
What the free tier covers:
- Keyword rank tracking for your app
- Per-country rank visibility
- Basic competitor tracking
Where it's limited: discovery. Astro's free tier isn't designed to help you find new keywords — it's designed to track keywords you already know about. Start with autocomplete or the other tools on this list to identify candidates, then use Astro to monitor whether your ranking moves after you update your metadata.
Limitation: Not a discovery tool. You need to know which keywords to track before it becomes useful.
3. AppFollow (Free Tier)
Cost: Free tier with limits
Best for: Getting a first look at keyword data before committing to a paid plan
AppFollow has a free tier that provides limited access to keyword research features. You can search for keywords, see rough popularity scores, and look at which keywords a competitor app ranks for — within a monthly quota.
For a single app in a single market, the free tier is often enough to run a basic keyword audit: find your category's main terms, see the rough volume and difficulty, and identify a few competitor gaps. Once you hit the quota, you're locked out until the next billing cycle.
The data quality is solid — AppFollow pulls from real App Store data and its volume scores are comparable to AppTweak for most markets.
Limitation: Hard monthly limits on searches and competitor lookups. Enough for an initial audit, not enough for ongoing research across multiple markets.
4. Sensor Tower (Limited Free Access)
Cost: Free for basic lookups
Best for: Quick category and app-level snapshots
Sensor Tower has a marketing-facing free tier that surfaces some app data without requiring a paid plan. You can look up an app by name and see rough download estimates, category rankings, and top keywords — though the keyword data is limited and some fields require a paid account.
It's most useful for a quick competitive scan: search your top competitors, see what category they rank in, and get a rough sense of their keyword footprint. The free data isn't granular enough to build a full keyword strategy from, but it's useful for initial orientation in a new category.
Limitation: The free tier is heavily limited. Sensor Tower's real value is in its paid enterprise features; free access is more of a teaser.
5. Apple Search Ads Keyword Planner
Cost: Free to access; no ad spend required
Best for: Apple's own search popularity score
Apple Search Ads is the closest thing to first-party App Store keyword volume data. Inside Apple Search Ads, you can enter a keyword and see Apple's search popularity score on a 0–100 scale. That score is not exact search volume, but it is directly tied to App Store search demand.
How to use it:
- Create or log into an Apple Search Ads account
- Start creating a campaign, but do not launch it
- Use the keyword suggestion/planner flow
- Enter your candidate keyword
- Record the popularity score and suggested related terms
This is useful when choosing between similar keywords. If "habit tracker" has a much higher popularity score than "routine tracker," you probably want the stronger term in your title or subtitle and the weaker variation in the keyword field.
Limitation: It shows popularity, not full ASO difficulty. You still need competitor checks to know whether your app has a realistic chance to rank.
6. RespectASO (Free Mac App)
Cost: Free core edition
Best for: Keyword scoring + country opportunity finder
RespectASO is a native Mac app with a genuinely useful free tier for indie developers. The core feature: enter a keyword and get a popularity score and difficulty estimate pulled from App Store data. The Country Opportunity Finder is particularly useful — enter a keyword and see which of 30 countries has the most realistic ranking opportunity for a small app, helping you decide where to localize first.
Limitation: Mac-only (Docker for self-hosting). Free edition has limited query volume. AI features require paid Pro plan plus your own API key.
7. Manual Metadata Audit (Free)
Cost: Free, no tools required
Best for: Auditing your keyword field for duplicates and character waste
After you collect keywords from autocomplete, AppFollow, or competitor titles, do a manual audit before submitting in App Store Connect. Read your title, subtitle, and keyword field side by side and look for any word that appears more than once — Apple only indexes each word once, so duplicates waste characters.
Most apps have 2–6 duplicate words on the first check. Fixing them can recover 15–30 characters — enough to add several new keywords without changing anything else.
What to check manually:
- Every word in the keyword field that also appears in the title or subtitle
- Total keyword field character count (aim for 95–100)
- No spaces after commas
- No articles or filler words (the, and, for, to)
When Free Tools Aren't Enough
Free tools work for:
- Initial keyword discovery in your primary market
- Validating that specific terms are searched
- Tracking rankings after you've optimized
- Getting a rough competitive picture
They fall short for:
- Accurate volume data across multiple markets
- Deep competitor keyword gap analysis
- International keyword research beyond what autocomplete surfaces
- Knowing which of two similar keywords is actually more searched
For a single app in a single market, the free approach is often sufficient to get a meaningful improvement over unoptimized metadata. For localizing across 5–10 markets with confidence, you generally need either a paid tool or someone who already has access to one.
That's exactly what LocalizeRank provides: per-market keyword research using professional tools, competitor gap analysis, and ready-to-paste metadata for every locale — without you needing a $60/month subscription of your own. Starting at $149 for 5 markets.
If you are researching keywords because you want to expand outside the US, use the App Store localization service. The workflow combines market selection, competitor keyword gaps, local-language metadata, and screenshot text in one Google Sheet.
FAQ
What free tools can I use for App Store keyword research?
The best free combination: Apple Search Ads for volume data (Apple's own scores, free with a developer account), App Store autocomplete for query discovery (just start typing and write down every suggestion), and AppFollow free tier for competitor keyword rankings. Together these give you research-quality data at zero cost.
Is there a free ASO keyword research tool?
Apple Search Ads is the most authoritative free tool — it shows Apple's own search popularity score (0–100) for any keyword. You don't need to run any ads or spend money; the keyword planner is free inside the Apple Search Ads interface. AppFollow also has a free tier with limited daily queries.
How do I find App Store keywords without paying?
Three methods at zero cost: (1) Apple Search Ads keyword planner — enter any term and get Apple's official volume score; (2) App Store autocomplete — type your main keyword slowly and record every suggestion, these are real user searches; (3) Competitor title and subtitle analysis — the words in the top apps' titles are the keywords they've validated work in that category.
What's the best tool for App Store keyword research?
For free research, Apple Search Ads + App Store autocomplete covers most needs. For paid tools, AppTweak provides the deepest keyword and competitor data. ASOdesk and AppFollow are good mid-tier options at lower price points. For international keyword research across 5–10 markets, a tool with multi-country support (AppFollow, ASOdesk, AppTweak) is worth the subscription.
Quick Check
Already have a keyword field? Read your title, subtitle, and keyword field side by side — look for any word that appears more than once and count your total characters. This takes under a minute and often recovers 10–30 wasted characters.
If you do not have a keyword list yet, start with App Store autocomplete and then read how to find competitor App Store keywords.
See Also
- How Apple's Keyword Field Actually Works (And What Most Devs Get Wrong)
- How to Find What Keywords Your App Store Competitors Rank For
- How to Do App Store Keyword Research for International Markets
- App Store Optimization Checklist for Non-English Markets
- How to Find Your Top 3 Competitor Keywords in 15 Minutes
- App Store Localization Service by Country
- LocalizeRank Pricing
