Learn about the features, benefits, and pricing of the best PPC keyword tools available right now.
Choosing the right keywords for your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns sharpens your ad targeting. And can improve your click-through rates and overall advertising ROI.
But how do you identify the best keywords?
With a PPC keyword research tool.
PPC keyword tools help you uncover new keyword ideas and offer insight into keyword cost per click (CPC), search volume, and competition.
In this post, we’ll break down key features of the seven best PPC keyword research tools available right now.
Top 6 PPC keyword tools
Before we dive into the details of our favorite PPC keyword research tools, here’s a quick overview of what they bring to the table.
“Selecting the right keywords for your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns improves your ad targeting. And increases your click-through rates and advertising ROI.
But how can you find the right keywords?
With a PPC keyword research tool.
PPC keyword tools help you generate new keyword ideas and provide insight into keyword cost per click (CPC), search volume, and competition level.
In this post, we’ll break down key features of the seven best PPC keyword research tools on the market right now.
Top 6 PPC Keyword Tools
Before we dive into the details of our favorite PPC keyword research tools, here’s a quick summary of what they all have to offer.”
Quick comparison: best PPC keyword tools
1. Semrush Keyword Magic Tool
The Keyword Magic Tool is a strong option for building large, detailed keyword lists for PPC campaigns—especially when you want to expand from a few core ideas into tightly themed ad groups.
From a single seed keyword, the tool generates an extensive list of related terms and organizes them into topic-based subgroups. That structure can make it easier to spot themes you can turn into separate campaigns, ad groups, and landing page angles.
This data is pulled from Semrush’s market-leading database of over 25.5 billion keywords.
To begin building a keyword list, enter a seed keyword and click “Search.”
This returns a list of related keyword suggestions. We searched for “running shoes.” And received more than 254K keyword ideas.
The table shows key metrics such as search intent, volume, keyword difficulty, and average CPC for each term—useful for quickly filtering out keywords that are either too expensive or too competitive for your budget.
As you review keyword suggestions, you can switch between match types such as “Broad Match,” “Exact Match,” and “Related.” That’s helpful when you want to balance discovery (broad) against control (exact).
Reviewing keyword groups and subgroups in the left-hand menu can also surface niche topics and new ideas for PPC ad groups. You can sort groups by the number of keywords in each group or by total monthly search volume.
Click the eye icon next to a group to exclude it from your list.
You can also filter for question-based keywords by selecting the “Questions” button—often a good route for finding high-intent searches that map well to specific ad copy and landing page messaging.
To save keywords to your list, select the checkbox next to the keyword and click “Send keywords.”
What we like
Keyword Magic Tool is a strong choice for running deep keyword research for PPC campaigns. Its large database, clean interface, and filtering options make it easier to uncover niche topics and high-potential terms.
It’s also one of the better tools for building a master keyword list you can refine into structured campaigns.
Pricing
Keyword Magic Tool is included in all Semrush plans. But the number of daily reports, results per report, and seed keywords per hour depends on the plan you’re on.
Here are the pricing and limits:
Free: $0.00/month (10 reports per day, 10 results per report, 10 seed keywords per hour)
Pro: $139.95/month (3,000 reports per day, 10,000 results per report, 100 seed keywords per hour)
Guru: $249.95/month (5,000 reports per day, 30,000 results per report, 100 seed keywords per hour)
Business: $499.95/month (10,000 reports per day, 50,000 results per report, 100 seed keywords per hour)
2. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a free tool from Google designed for keyword discovery and PPC planning.
To use Keyword Planner, you’ll first need a free Google Ads account. But you don’t have to create a campaign to use the tool for PPC keyword research.
Go to Google Ads and click “Start now” to sign in.
Next, confirm your account settings and click “Submit.”
At the confirmation page, click “Explore your account.”
With your Google Ads account set up, click “Tools” in the menu bar. Then, under “Planning,” select “Keyword Planner.”
Next, click “Discover new keywords.”
From here, enter your starting keywords or a web address. We’ll use the “Start with keywords” option in this example.
Once you’ve entered your starting terms, click “Get results.”
Pro tip: When starting with keywords, you can enter your website’s URL to filter out keyword ideas that aren’t relevant to your business.
Keyword Planner then produces a list of related terms ranked by relevance. You’ll also see metrics like average monthly searches (as a range) and historical benchmark costs for top-page bids for each keyword.
What we like
Keyword Planner is a straightforward tool for finding keywords closely related to your business. It can also double as a competitor research option.
Choose “Start with website” when beginning your keyword research. Then enter a competitor’s URL and click “Get results”.
Pricing
Google Keyword Planner is free to use with a Google Ads account. However, you’ll need an active Google Ads campaign to view precise keyword search volume data.
3. SpyFu
SpyFu is a marketing suite that focuses heavily on PPC and SEO competitive insights. It’s particularly useful when your keyword strategy is informed by what rivals are already paying for—and where gaps may exist.
The platform includes competitor intelligence features that let you view other domains’ paid keywords and ad spend history.
Start by entering a domain in the search bar at the top of the screen and click “SEARCH.”
Under the “PPC Overview” section, you’ll see a high-level breakdown of the domain’s PPC activity.
This report includes metrics like the domain’s total number of unique paid keywords, estimated monthly PPC clicks, and an estimate of monthly PPC spend.
Scroll down to see the domain’s top-performing paid keywords. You’ll get metrics like average CPC, an estimated monthly cost of targeting the keyword, and what share of clicks go to paid results.
Under the “Competitors” section, you’ll see the domain’s top PPC competitors with keyword overlap plotted in a graph.
What we like
One useful SpyFu feature is the ability to spot keyword opportunities based on what competitors are buying—but you aren’t.
Under “Kombat,” click the “Consider Buying” option.
You’ll then see a list of keywords your competitors are purchasing that you may want to target too.
Pricing
SpyFu has two paid plans: Basic and Professional.
Basic: $39/month
Professional: $79/month
The Basic plan caps reports at 10,000 rows, while Professional includes unlimited report data and up to 15 years of historical keyword data.
4. Microsoft Advertising Keyword Planner
Microsoft Advertising Keyword Planner is designed for keyword discovery and PPC management within the Microsoft Search Network (including Bing).
Like Google Keyword Planner, it allows you to find keywords by entering a seed phrase or website URL. You can also explore keyword ideas based on categories related to your product or service.
Keyword suggestions include data such as search volume, estimated cost, competition, and suggested minimum bid.
To begin, log into your Microsoft Advertising account (or create one if needed). Then select “Tools” > “Keywords.”
Then click “Search for new keywords using a phrase or website.”
Fill out the form and click “Get suggestions.”
This produces a broader list of keyword suggestions.
What we like
Microsoft Advertising Keyword Planner provides keyword data unique to the Microsoft Search Network. That can help you create more targeted campaigns—and in some cases, potentially lower-cost opportunities compared with Google Ads.
Pricing
Microsoft Advertising Keyword Planner is free to use with a Microsoft Advertising account.
5. Keywords Everywhere
Keywords Everywhere is a paid browser extension for Google Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.
The extension shows search volume, CPC, and competition data directly on the search engine results page (SERP) when you search for a keyword.
It also provides traffic metrics for each result, including estimated traffic and the number of keywords the page ranks for.
On the right-hand side of the SERP, the tool shows additional widgets. These include a search volume trend chart going back to 2004, topical keywords, and related terms that have been trending over the past 30 days—plus long-tail keyword ideas.
What we like
Keywords Everywhere makes it easy to see keyword data directly in your browser, which is useful for quick, on-the-fly analysis while you research topics, competitors, or product categories.
Pricing
Keywords Everywhere uses a credit system where one credit equals one keyword. It offers four subscription plans, each with a different yearly credit allowance:
Bronze: $2.25/month (100,000 credits/year)
Silver: $6.00/month (400,000 credits/year)
Gold: $25.00/month (2 million credits/year)
Platinum: $80.00/month (8 million credits/year)
See the complete picture of your search visibility.
Maximize ROI with the best PPC keyword tools
Using the right PPC keyword tools gives you a stronger foundation for building profitable campaigns—especially when budgets are tight, and every click has to count.
These tools can help you create a more targeted, cost-efficient PPC strategy by uncovering new keyword opportunities, surfacing key metrics, and revealing competitor activity that may influence your next move.
Now it’s time to tap into the power of solutions like PPC Keyword Tool, Keyword Magic Tool, and Keyword Overview to optimize your campaigns, drive more qualified traffic, and get the most out of your advertising budget.