Google Keyword Planner remains the most credible free option because it pulls directly from Google Ads data. You need a Google Ads account to access it, but you don't need to run campaigns. It shows search volume ranges (like 1k–10k) rather than exact numbers unless you're spending money, but that's enough to prioritize targets. Google Search Console is another first-party tool that shows which keywords already drive impressions and clicks to your site, making it invaluable for finding quick wins you're ranking 8–20 for. Bing Webmaster Tools gives similar query data for Bing traffic, which represents roughly 3–6% of Canadian search volume depending on the region. It's worth the ten-minute setup if you're targeting older demographics or enterprise buyers. Third-party free tools include Ubersuggest (Neil Patel's platform), which offers a handful of daily searches and basic difficulty scores. AnswerThePublic visualizes question-based queries scraped from autocomplete data, useful for content ideation around "how to" and "what is" queries. KeywordTool.io surfaces autocomplete suggestions across Google, YouTube, and Amazon without a login, though volume data sits behind a paywall. The tradeoff with free tools is limited daily queries, no historical trends, and often missing critical metrics like click-through rate or SERP feature presence. You won't see if a keyword triggers a featured snippet, local pack, or zero-click result, all of which drastically affect whether a keyword is worth chasing. At Ottawa SEO, we layer free tools for early-stage research but subscribe to Ahrefs or Semrush once a client's portfolio grows past 50–80 pages. Free tools help validate hypotheses and catch low-hanging fruit, but they don't replace a proper competitive gap analysis or cannibalization audit. If you're running a local business with 10–20 service pages, Google Keyword Planner plus Search Console covers 80% of what you need. Beyond that, you're trading time for money, manually stitching together data that paid tools aggregate in seconds.