Almost every Pinterest tool ships a 5-day trial and calls it a “free plan.” The honest options that stay free past day 6 are rarer than you’d think. Here are seven we’ve actually used, ranked by what you get without paying.
Skip the trial farm: this list shows what each tool gives you on its permanent free tier, not what you get during a teaser week.
1. Pinterest Trends — the official free tool
Built by Pinterest, fed by every search on the platform. Shows you the 12-month seasonality curve, year-over-year growth, related keywords, and a comparison view for up to 4 terms. Region-specific (12 countries supported). Web-only, no app.
✅ Pros
- +Free forever, no signup, no card
- +Real Pinterest data straight from the source
- +12-month seasonality + YoY growth on every keyword
- +Compare up to 4 keywords side by side
⛔ Cons
- −No absolute search volume — only relative popularity
- −No competition / difficulty signal
- −No export, no API, no history
- −UI hides the best signals (the YoY bar is small)
Walkthrough: Pinterest Trends — how to use it (free tool walkthrough).
2. PinTool Free — 3 daily searches, no card
Disclosure: we make PinTool. The free tier exists because every other paid tool starts at $29/mo and we wanted creators to be able to validate the workflow before paying. Free forever: 3 keyword searches a day + 1 Profile Analyzer scan. No card required.
✅ Pros
- +Real Pinterest data + Pinterest Ads API volume buckets
- +Difficulty scoring + opportunity badges that Pinterest Trends doesn't expose
- +Profile Analyzer (1/day) — board breakdown, audit score, keyword footprint
- +12 regions, CSV export, daily reset
- +No credit card, no auto-trial, no countdown
⛔ Cons
- −3 searches/day caps real research sessions — upgrade or wait until tomorrow
- −Rank tracking and email alerts are paid features
Sign up free. Compare it side-by-side with Pinclicks in our Pinclicks vs PinTool comparison.
3. Pinterest search bar — the manual workaround
Type a seed in Pinterest’s search bar. The typeahead suggestions are real, popular queries. The “bubble filters” that appear above the results are even better — Pinterest’s own way of segmenting the topic. Free, no signup, but you can’t save anything.
✅ Pros
- +Zero friction — open Pinterest, type, read
- +Real queries from real Pinterest users
- +Bubble filters expose niche refinements other tools miss
⛔ Cons
- −No volume, no growth, no history
- −Manual — sessions take 20-30 min for what a tool does in 1 min
- −No export — copy-paste only
4. Google Keyword Planner — adjacent, not Pinterest-native
Free with any Google Ads account. The keywords overlap with Pinterest maybe 30% — Pinterest skews lifestyle, visual, commercial; Google skews informational. Still useful as a cross-check on absolute volume.
✅ Pros
- +Absolute monthly search volume
- +Free with a Google Ads account
⛔ Cons
- −Volume bucketed unless you spend $$$ on Ads
- −Not Pinterest-native — keywords that crush on Google often flop on Pinterest
5. AnswerThePublic — question discovery
Cross-platform question miner. Free tier limited to 1-2 searches per day. Surfaces question-form long-tails (“how to…”, “why does…”) that work as Pinterest pin titles.
6. Ubersuggest — small free tier, mostly Google
Neil Patel’s tool. 3 free searches a day on the free plan. Google-focused so the relevance to Pinterest is partial, but the related-keyword tree is solid for cross-referencing.
7. Pinclicks free trial — 5 days, then $29/mo
Listed for honesty: it’s a trial, not a free plan. After 5 days, $29 or you’re out. If you want a paid Pinterest tool with rank tracking, this is the established option — see our Pinclicks vs PinTool head-to-head.
The minimum free stack for Pinterest research
If you don’t want to pay anything, here’s what we’d use:
- Pinterest Trends — for the “when” question (seasonality, rising topics)
- Pinterest search bar — for the “what variations” question (long-tail discovery)
- PinTool Free — for the “how hard” question (difficulty + volume buckets, 3 searches a day) and the “who’s winning” question (Profile Analyzer, 1 scan a day)
That covers 80% of real Pinterest keyword research without spending a euro. The upgrades worth paying for, once you’re sure Pinterest works for you: rank tracking, email surge alerts, unlimited searches, and the WordPress blog connector that maps your pins to your posts.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a truly free Pinterest keyword tool?
Yes — Pinterest Trends (Pinterest’s own), PinTool Free (3 searches/day, no card), and manually using Pinterest’s search bar typeahead. Everything else either trials out after 5–14 days or requires a paid plan to access keyword research at all.
Does Pinterest Trends show search volume?
No. Pinterest Trends shows relative popularity over time but never absolute numbers. To get volume buckets (10K–100K, 100K–1M, etc.), you need a tool that pulls from the Pinterest Ads API — that’s what PinTool surfaces in its results table.
Is PinTool really free or is it a trial?
Truly free, no card required. The free plan gives you 3 keyword searches per day plus 1 Profile Analyzer scan per day. The cap resets at midnight UTC. Upgrade to Starter ($12/mo) only if you need more than 3 searches a day on a regular basis.
What’s better than Google Keyword Planner for Pinterest?
Anything that uses Pinterest’s own data. Google Keyword Planner shows you Google search behaviour, not Pinterest’s. The keywords that win on each platform are different ~70% of the time. Use Pinterest Trends and PinTool together, treat Google Keyword Planner as a cross-check.
Where to go from here
- Pinterest Trends walkthrough — the deep dive on the most underrated free tool on the list.
- The complete Pinterest keyword research guide — how to actually use these signals together.
- The 27-item Pinterest SEO checklist — what to do with the keywords once you have them.
Or skip ahead: try PinTool free on your niche right now.