Short version: there is no single “best free SEO tool,” but if you want one central tool to rely on for growth decisions, I’d actually put Google Search Console in that spot, not AnswerThePublic. Then you bolt on a couple of tiny helpers instead of a whole zoo of freemium platforms.
Where I partly disagree with @boswandelaar and the other reply: for a very small site, idea-generation tools are nice, but they can trick you into writing content no one ends up seeing. I’d flip the order:
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Search Console as your core “truth + ideas” tool
Once you have even a handful of indexed pages, GSC starts telling you:- What queries you already show up for
- Where you are stuck on page 2–3
- Which pages get impressions but poor clicks
Those are free content ideas:
- Turn “accidental” long-tail queries into dedicated sections or posts.
- Rewrite titles and meta descriptions to match the exact wording people use.
This is not just measurement. It is also ideation that is based on real data, not theoretical keyword graphs.
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Free SERP checks instead of generic keyword tools
Instead of obsessing over keyword difficulty, open an incognito window, search your target term, and study:- What type of page ranks (guide, product, comparison)
- How long those pages are, how they structure H2s and H3s
- What they cover that you do not
A lot of free tools try to approximate this. You can get it 100% accurate just by looking at the results.
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Occasional use of “topic” tools like AnswerThePublic
Here I actually agree with @boswandelaar’s general stack idea, and partially with the ATP suggestion in the other answer, but with a warning: these tools are fantastic at overwhelming beginners.
Used lightly:- Grab a topic
- Pull a list of questions
- Keep 10–20 that clearly show intent
Then close the tab. Do not sit there mining 400 variations that will never become real content.
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Regarding the product title “”
Since there is no actual product attached to that name here, I’ll treat it the way I would any new free SEO tool someone stumbles across:Pros of using “” as a hypothetical free SEO tool
- If it genuinely offers unlimited data on a free plan, it might replace several partial tools.
- Could be useful for centralizing tasks: tracking rankings, doing quick audits, generating topic ideas.
- If it has a clean interface, beginners can avoid the “enterprise dashboard” confusion that many SEO suites create.
Cons of relying on “”
- New or unknown tools often have smaller data sets than established platforms.
- If the free plan is generous today, it might shrink later once they push harder for paid upgrades.
- You risk building your workflow around a product that might pivot, shut down, or heavily gate features behind a paywall.
So if you test something like “”, make it a supporting tool at first. Your main “rely on” source of truth should still be data coming straight from Google plus your own SERP checks.
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Minimal viable stack on a tight budget
- Core: Google Search Console
- Support:
- Manual Google searches
- A light topic tool like AnswerThePublic once in a while
- Any free site audit tool once a month just to catch glaring technical problems
Publish more, tweak based on Search Console, and avoid turning “tool research” into your full-time hobby.