Skip to content
ZAIQZAIQ

Keyword research API: Search volume, CPC and difficulty for any keyword list, $1 per 1,000.

This keyword research API returns Google monthly search volume, CPC, competition, keyword difficulty, search intent and the last 12 months of searches for any keyword list in 60 countries, or grows hundreds of keyword ideas from your seed terms. It is the Google Ads keyword data you would read in Keyword Planner, without a Semrush or Ahrefs subscription.

Chad EtkindCo-founder and AI engineerUpdated 26 October 2026
Run it on Apify→See the API call
$1
per 1,000 keywords, plus $0.04 per data lookup of up to 700 keywords
60
countries, including the US, UK, Australia, India and South Africa
12 months
of monthly searches, with the monthly, quarterly and yearly trend

What it returns

Search volume
Average monthly Google searches, plus each of the last 12 months.
CPC and competition
Cost per click, top-of-page bid range, and the advertiser competition level and index.
Keyword difficulty
A 0 to 100 score for how hard the keyword is to rank for.
Search intent
Informational, navigational, commercial or transactional, with any secondary intents.
Keyword ideas
Hundreds of ideas that contain your seed terms, or Google's related searches, highest volume first.

What teams use the Keyword research API for

01

SEO content plans

Size every topic in a content plan and pick the ones worth writing.

02

PPC budgets

Estimate cost per click and demand before you build a campaign.

03

Bulk enrichment

Add volume, difficulty and intent to thousands of keywords from a crawl or a competitor export.

04

Agents and automations

Let an AI agent or a no-code flow fetch keyword data on demand through the Apify API.

Price

  • $0.001 per keyword with its metrics: $1 per 1,000 keywords.
  • $0.04 per data lookup. One lookup covers up to 700 keywords, or one seed in the ideas mode.
  • 1,000 keywords cost $1.08 in all; 200 keyword ideas from one seed cost $0.24. Apify adds a $0.00005 start charge per run.

You pay through your own Apify account, and you can cap any run with a maximum cost.

Call it from your code

Send the input as JSON and get the rows back in the same request, or start the run on a schedule from the Apify Console. Replace YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN with the API token from your Apify account settings.

cURL
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/zaiq~keyword-research/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keywords":["robot vacuum","best robot vacuum for pet hair"],"country":"US"}'
Python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("zaiq/keyword-research").call(run_input={"keywords": ["robot vacuum", "best robot vacuum for pet hair"], "country": "US"})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row)

The same Actor runs from JavaScript, Make, Zapier, n8n and AI agents through Apify's MCP server. The full input list is on its Apify Store page.

Sample row

One row, shortened, with names and addresses replaced
{
  "keyword": "robot vacuum for pet hair",
  "searchVolume": 14800,
  "cpc": 1.42,
  "competition": "HIGH",
  "keywordDifficulty": 38,
  "intent": "commercial",
  "trend": {
    "monthly": 22,
    "quarterly": 0,
    "yearly": 49
  },
  "monthlySearches": [
    {
      "year": 2026,
      "month": 9,
      "searches": 18100
    }
  ]
}

Also on ZAIQ

Google Trends API →

See how interest in those keywords moves over time and by region.

Keyword research API: questions

Where does the search volume come from?

From Google Ads keyword data, the same source Keyword Planner uses, refreshed monthly and rounded the way Google rounds it. Keyword difficulty and intent come from a search-data provider.

Is this a Google Keyword Planner API?

It returns the Keyword Planner metrics (volume, CPC, competition and monthly searches) without a Google Ads account or developer token, and adds difficulty and intent.

How many keywords can I send?

As many as your Apify budget allows. Each lookup covers up to 700 keywords, so 1,000 keywords cost $1.08: two lookups and 1,000 keyword rows.

Can I research keywords for South Africa?

Yes. South Africa is one of the 60 countries, alongside the US, UK, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, France, Spain, Brazil and Japan.

More data APIs from ZAIQ

Google Trends API

Interest over time, regions and related searches for any term and country. $0.70 per 1,000 rows.

Google Jobs API

Listings, salary ranges, highlights and every apply link from Google Jobs. 10 jobs for $0.03.

Google Hotels API

Nightly prices, stay totals, ratings and booking-site offers for any place and dates.

SEO audit API

Technical SEO and AI crawler readiness, scored page by page, with an HTML report. $0.01 a page.

AI visibility tracker

Brand mentions, citation share and cited sources across six AI engines. $0.10 an answer.

Media monitoring tool

New brand mentions across news, Reddit, YouTube and forums, with sentiment. From $0.003 a mention.

Startup funding API

Recently funded companies with rounds, investors, Form D amounts and hiring signals. $0.02 a company.

All data APIs →

Every API on one page, with what each returns and costs.

Run the Keyword research API on Apify.

Open it on the Apify Store, paste your input and run it in the browser, or copy the call above into your own code. You pay per result, only for what comes back.

Open it on Apify→