Google Keyword Planner and seodata.dev both give you monthly Google search volume and competition, but they ask very different things of you before you see a number.
- Google Keyword Planner is Google’s own tool inside Google Ads. It’s free, but it needs a Google Ads account with billing details, and it shows rounded volumes; accounts without active campaigns often see ranges such as 1K–10K. Advertisers get bid ranges, spend forecasts and city-level targeting. Programmatic access goes through the Google Ads API, which needs a Google Cloud project, Basic access approval and allows one keyword-ideas request per second.
- seodata.dev needs no Google account. You get 20 lookups a day without signing up, 50 a day and 500 a month with a free key, and unlimited lookups for $4.99 a month. Each lookup returns a monthly volume figure, CPC, competition from 0 to 1 and similar keywords with their own volumes for 50+ countries, over a plain HTTP API or a remote MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor.
Keyword Planner is the better fit if you run Google Ads; seodata.dev is the better fit if you want exact per-keyword numbers without an Ads account, or inside an AI assistant.
At a glance
| seodata.dev | Google Keyword Planner | |
|---|---|---|
| To get started | Nothing, or an email for a free key | Google Ads account with billing information |
| Cost | Free tiers, then $4.99 a month | Free inside Google Ads |
| Search volume | Monthly figure per keyword | Rounded monthly averages; low-spend accounts often see ranges like 1K–10K |
| Other metrics | CPC, competition (0 to 1), similar keywords with their own volumes | Competition, top-of-page bid ranges, forecasts, up to 4 years of history via the API |
| Countries | 50+ | Every Google Ads location, down to cities |
| API | One HTTP call, no approval | Google Ads API: Cloud project, Basic access approval for keyword ideas, 1 request a second per account |
| AI assistant | Remote MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor | No keyword-ideas tool in Google’s Ads MCP server |
Based on Google’s help pages for Keyword Planner and its metrics, and the Google Ads API docs on access levels and quotas, checked 12 October 2026. Google doesn’t publish the spend threshold for exact volumes; the ranges are widely reported by accounts without active campaigns.
When Keyword Planner is the better choice
Keyword Planner is Google’s own data, and if you run Google Ads it’s hard to beat. You get bid ranges and click and conversion forecasts tied to a budget, location targeting down to individual cities, ideas seeded from a URL or a whole site, and the option to turn a plan straight into a campaign. If you already spend on ads, the volumes are free and as close to the source as it gets.
When seodata.dev is the better choice
seodata.dev is built for people who want the numbers without running ads. There’s no Ads account, billing setup or campaign needed, and the figures come back per keyword rather than as a range. Developers skip the Google Ads API onboarding, since one HTTP request returns volume, CPC and competition, and the free tier doesn’t ask for a key.
It also works where Keyword Planner can’t: inside an AI assistant. Connect the MCP server to Claude or ChatGPT and you can ask “which of these 20 product names gets the most searches in Germany?” and get an answer from real data, with similar keywords and their volumes alongside.
Try it
Paste this URL into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client to start without an account:
https://mcp.seodata.dev/mcpOr call the API:
curl "https://api.seodata.dev/v1/keyword?q=keyword+planner&country=us"The MCP setup guide walks through each client, and pricing covers the free key and Unlimited.