You do not need an expensive subscription to do good SEO. These free tools cover keyword research, website health, audits, page speed, technical checks, content and images — everything you need to optimise a website.
Keyword research
- Google Keyword Planner – search volume ranges, competition and keyword ideas. Free with a Google Ads account (you do not need to run ads).
- Google Trends – compare interest in topics over time and by region, including Indian states.
- Bing Webmaster Tools – Keyword Research – keyword volumes and ideas from Bing, free inside Bing Webmaster Tools.
- AnswerThePublic and AlsoAsked (free searches per day) – questions people ask around a topic.
- Google Search Console – the queries your site already appears for, with clicks, impressions and positions.
About “LSI keywords”: Google does not use Latent Semantic Indexing. Instead of chasing LSI tools, cover related subtopics and questions naturally so your page fully answers the search.
Analytics and website health
- Google Search Console – indexing (Pages report), sitemaps, Core Web Vitals, manual actions, security issues and search performance.
- Google Analytics 4 – visitors, traffic sources, engagement and key events (conversions).
- Bing Webmaster Tools – indexing, SEO reports, backlinks and keyword research for Bing — which also powers Yahoo and DuckDuckGo results.
Website audit tools
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free up to 500 URLs) – crawls your site for broken links, redirects, titles, meta descriptions, headings and more.
- Ahrefs Webmaster Tools – free site audit and backlink data for websites you own.
- Seobility and SEOptimer (free checks) – quick on-page SEO, usability and security reports.
Page speed and technical SEO
- PageSpeed Insights – real-user Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse lab data with fixes for mobile and desktop.
- Lighthouse (in Chrome DevTools) – performance, accessibility, best-practice and SEO audits.
- GTmetrix – detailed load-time waterfall to find slow resources.
- Google Rich Results Test and Schema Markup Validator – check structured data.
Other useful free SEO tools
| Task | Free tools |
|---|---|
| XML sitemap | Your CMS or SEO plugin (WordPress, Yoast, Rank Math) generates it automatically; XML-Sitemaps.com for small static sites (up to 500 pages). |
| Robots.txt | Edit it in your CMS or SEO plugin; check it with the robots.txt report in Search Console. |
| Grammar and readability | Grammarly (free), Hemingway Editor |
| Duplicate content / plagiarism | Grammarly plagiarism check (limited), Copyscape (free comparison), Siteliner for internal duplicates |
| Broken links | Screaming Frog, Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, Dead Link Checker |
| Image compression | TinyPNG / TinyJPG, Squoosh (also converts to WebP) |
| Rank tracking | Google Search Console (average position per query) |
| Graphics and infographics | Canva, Adobe Express |
| Competitor overview | Free versions of Semrush, Ahrefs and Ubersuggest (limited searches per day) |
| Browser extensions | MozBar, Detailed SEO Extension, SEO META in 1 CLICK |
Retired tools: Varvy and some older free tools from earlier lists have shut down, and Search Console’s old “HTML improvements” report has been replaced. The tools above are current alternatives.
Learn to use these tools on live websites in our SEO course, or get a professional audit through our SEO services. Also read: top Google Tag Manager Chrome extensions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free SEO tool?
Google Search Console. It shows how Google sees your site — indexing, errors, Core Web Vitals and the queries you rank for — straight from Google.
Can I do SEO with only free tools?
Yes. Search Console, GA4, Keyword Planner, PageSpeed Insights and Screaming Frog (free version) cover most needs for small and medium websites.
How do I check my website’s SEO score?
Tools like SEOptimer, Seobility and Lighthouse give scores, but focus on the actual issues they list — and on Search Console data — rather than the score itself.
