What’s the best free keyword research tool for 2015?

General
1

I’m working on optimizing a small blog and my budget is practically zero, so I’m trying to find the best free keyword research tool specifically from around 2015 that still works well today. I’ve tried a few modern tools with limited free features, but they either lock key data behind paywalls or cap my searches too quickly. Can anyone recommend reliable, truly free keyword research tools that were popular in 2015 and are still worth using for SEO now, especially for finding low-competition keywords and search volume estimates?

2

Short answer for 2015-era tools that still work now and cost zero:

  1. Google Keyword Planner

    • Was the main tool in 2015. Still works.
    • Needs a Google Ads account, but you do not need to run ads.
    • Good for: search volume ranges, related terms, CPC hints.
    • Weak for: long tail details and super accurate volume.
    • How to use it quick:
      • Go to Keyword Planner → Discover new keywords
      • Put your seed topic, like “vegan lunch recipes”
      • Sort by “Avg. monthly searches” and then eyeball low competition words
      • Export the list and filter in Sheets by “Competition = Low”

  2. Google Autocomplete + “Searches related to”

    • Was useful in 2015. Still useful.
    • Type your main keyword, add “a b c d” to see variations.
    • Scroll to the bottom for “Related searches”.
    • Those are actual user queries. Good long tail ideas.
    • Use these as titles and H2s on your posts.

  3. Google Trends

    • Old but still fine.
    • Good for: deciding which of two topics you target first.
    • You see if a topic is going up or down.
    • Example: compare “meal prep” vs “weekly meal plan”.
    • Pick the one with higher and stable interest for your main post.

  4. Ubersuggest, 2015-style use

    • Back in 2015 it pulled straight from Google suggest.
    • Now it is more commercial, but the free tier still gives some ideas per day.
    • Use it only to grab some extra variants, not as your only tool.

  5. KeywordTool.io free version

    • Originated around that time.
    • Free version gives keyword ideas from autocomplete.
    • Paid unlocks volume, so use it paired with Keyword Planner.
    • Workflow: get long tail list here, then check rough volume in Keyword Planner.

Practical workflow for a small blog with no budget:

  1. Start with 5 to 10 seed topics from your niche.
  2. Run them through Keyword Planner to get a base list.
  3. Expand long tails using Google Autocomplete plus KeywordTool.io free.
  4. Use Google Trends when you need to pick which topic you write first.
  5. Prioritize: low competition in Keyword Planner, longer phrases, and topics you can write strong content on.

If you want one single “best free” that matches your 2015 requirement and still works now, pick Google Keyword Planner and then support it with autocomplete. Everything else is extra.

3

I’m gonna be the mildly annoying person who says: I only half‑agree with @waldgeist.

Yeah, Keyword Planner + autocomplete is solid, but for a tiny blog in 2025 working with 2015‑era type tools, the “best” combo is often whatever gives you real queries + low competition clues with the least friction. Keyword Planner got more and more vague over the years, and for a small site it can be kinda meh on long tails.

A few extras that actually came from that era and still pull their weight:

1. Old‑school Google Search Console (now just Search Console)
Not exactly “research” in the classic sense, but it’s criminally underrated for a zero‑budget blog.

  • Once you have even a little traffic, the “Performance → Queries” report shows the actual phrases people used.
  • Sort by impressions, look for keywords where you’re on page 2–3.
  • Those are your easiest wins: update the post, add a better H1/H2, cover subtopics you’re missing.
    It’s like retro‑keyword research from your own data.

2. AnswerThePublic (free tier)
Launched around that era, still has a limited free tier.

  • Super useful for question‑based, long‑tail keywords.
  • You get “how”, “what”, “why”, “can”, etc. questions that make perfect blog post titles and H2s.
  • Then you just cross‑check any promising ones in Keyword Planner or even just eyeball SERPs.
    I personally get more “content ideas” from this than from Keyword Planner.

3. Old‑fashioned SERP analysis
Honestly, this beats half the tools for a small blog:

  • Search your seed term in Google.
  • Look at “People also ask” and “Related searches”.
  • Open the top 5 results and skim their H2s and FAQs.
  • You’ll spot keyword variants and intent clues that tools don’t show well.
    Not fancy, but in practice this dictates what actually ranks.

4. Soovle / meta‑autocomplete tools
These existed around 2015 and some still work. They scrape autocomplete from multiple platforms (Google, YouTube, Amazon, etc.).

  • For a blog, mixing Google + YouTube suggestions can give you new long tails.
  • Again, use any volume data from Keyword Planner just as a sanity check, not gospel.

5. Your own comments, emails, DMs
Extremely low tech, but:

  • Look at how people actually phrase questions when they talk to you, comment, or email.
  • Those long, messy phrases are perfect “2015‑style” long‑tail keywords.
  • Drop them into titles, FAQs, and headings.

Personally, if I had your constraints, my stack would be:

  • Search Console for existing queries
  • AnswerThePublic for questions
  • Google SERP (People Also Ask + Related Searches) for intent & structure
  • Keyword Planner only as a rough volume / CPC cross‑check, not as the main brain

So yeah, Keyword Planner is still “the” free classic, but for a tiny blog in 2025, I’d treat it like a reference tool, not the main engine. The stuff that actually moves rankings is usually hidden in SERPs and your own data, not a neat volume column.

4

I’d push this in a slightly different direction than @waldgeist and the follow‑up.

If you specifically want “2015‑era” tools that still work and are free or nearly free today, the underrated workhorse is actually a combo of:

  • Ubersuggest (the old-school free version / limited free tier)
  • Bing Webmaster Tools
  • Keyword.io–style autocomplete scrapers

Since you asked about “best free keyword research tool,” I’d actually treat Ubersuggest as that central tool and everything else as supporting cast.

Why Ubersuggest is still solid

It started life around that 2013–2015 window as a pure autocomplete expander and gradually turned into a full suite. The free tier is throttled now but still useful for a small blog if you’re patient.

Pros of Ubersuggest (your de facto “best free keyword research tool for 2015” that still works)

  • Actually built on autocomplete roots, which is very “2015 keyword research” friendly
  • Shows related keywords, questions, prepositions and comparisons that are perfect for long tails
  • Provides basic difficulty metrics so you are not blindly guessing competition
  • Gives content ideas via top pages so you can see what already works for similar topics
  • Still usable on a zero budget if you spread queries out and focus on a small set of main topics

Cons of Ubersuggest

  • Free plan is heavily limited on daily searches and report depth
  • Metrics are not as precise as modern paid suites like Ahrefs or Semrush
  • Some data is modeled, so very low volume terms can be hit and miss
  • Interface nudges you toward upgrading, which can get annoying when you are just bootstrapping

Use it as your hub: get seed ideas, difficulty ballparks and a list of variants. Then complement it with the tactics others mentioned without repeating all those steps.

Where I’d slightly disagree with the Keyword Planner focus

Keyword Planner used to be the obvious free answer. For a tiny blog in 2025, anchored to 2015 tools, I’d argue:

  • The volume buckets are now too fuzzy to lean on for anything except “is this totally dead or not.”
  • It tilts toward higher‑commercial queries, which can distract you from realistic long‑tail wins.

So instead of relying on it as “the tool,” I’d use it as a loose sanity check only after Ubersuggest and autocomplete scrapers give you a list.

Complementary “old but gold” sources that haven’t been stressed yet

  1. Bing Webmaster Tools

    • Feels like the forgotten cousin of Google Search Console.
    • For some niches, Bing sends surprisingly decent traffic.
    • The query data can surface different angles than Google and sometimes surfaces easier, less competitive terms.

  2. Keyword.io / similar autocomplete scrapers

    • They act like a lightweight version of what Ubersuggest originally did.
    • Point them at Google and YouTube and you get that classic 2015-style keyword dump for very specific seed phrases.

  3. Industry forums & niche subreddits (manual mining)

    • Search your main topic term and sort threads by top / all time.
    • Look for recurring question wording. Those exact phrases often map directly to low‑competition long tails.
    • This is slower, but for a small blog limiting yourself to a handful of extremely on‑point posts, it pays off.

So if I had your constraints and wanted something that feels authentic to that 2015 era but still usable now, I’d:

  • Use Ubersuggest as the primary “tool”
  • Backfill with Keyword Planner only for rough volume confirmation
  • Pull extra phrasing and ideas from Bing Webmaster Tools, autocomplete scrapers and community threads

That stack is light, cheap and enough to meaningfully optimize a small blog without drowning in data or needing modern paid suites.