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 five free options — with honest notes on where each one is useful and where it falls short.
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. Google Keyword Planner (For Cross-Reference)
Cost: Free (requires Google Ads account, no spend needed)
Best for: Validating search intent and finding related terms
Google Keyword Planner doesn't have App Store data — it shows Google search volume. But it's surprisingly useful for one thing: validating whether a keyword concept has real user demand before you commit to it in your App Store metadata.
If "pomodoro technique app" has significant Google search volume, there's a reasonable chance users search similar terms in the App Store. If a term has near-zero Google volume, it's probably not something users search for anywhere.
It's also good for discovering related terms and variations you might not have thought of — which you can then check via App Store autocomplete to confirm they surface there.
Limitation: This is Google data, not App Store data. Volume and competition numbers don't transfer directly. Use it for idea generation and intent validation, not for App Store-specific decisions.
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 $49 for 5 markets.