Best Free ASO Tools (2026): 13 Options Compared by Job

What counts as a free ASO tool

Four kinds of offer get called “free”, and they are not the same commitment. First-party store features are free because they come with publishing: you pay Apple’s $99 yearly developer membership or Google’s $25 one-time registration, and the tools are included. Freemium tools have a permanent free plan with tight limits and paid upgrades. A beta is free for now without a promise of permanent pricing. A free trial is a paid product you can use for a few days, often with a card on file.

This guide lists only the first three as free tools. Popular trial-only products are in a separate section near the end, so you can see what you would be signing up for.

Keyword research: Apple Ads search popularity

Apple Ads (renamed from Apple Search Ads in April 2025) shows a search popularity score from 1 to 5 in its keyword recommendations, based on App Store searches. It is a first-party, relative signal of iOS keyword demand; third-party popularity scores use their own scales and inputs, so label which one you quote.

Limits: it is a coarse five-step scale, not a search count, and it is iOS only. Apple’s pages document the score inside an Apple Ads account but do not state whether it is visible without an active campaign, so check in your own account. Best for: shortlisting iOS keywords before you spend time on a tracker.

Measuring your listing: App Store Connect Analytics

App Store Connect Analytics is included with the Apple Developer Program. It reports impressions, product page views, conversion rate, first-time downloads, redownloads, proceeds and retention for apps you own, and splits acquisition by source, including App Store search, App Store browse, app referrers and web referrers.

Limits: it does not show which search terms people used, and it covers only your own apps. Best for: checking whether a metadata or screenshot change moved conversion, using first-party numbers rather than estimates.

iOS listing tests: product page optimization and custom product pages

Product page optimization lets you test up to three treatments of your icon, screenshots and app previews against the original page. A test runs for up to 90 days or until you stop it. Custom product pages let you publish up to 70 additional versions of your page for different audiences or ad campaigns.

Limits: tests split organic traffic, so low-traffic apps may wait a long time for a clear result, and text metadata such as the title is not part of the test. Best for: validating screenshot and icon ideas with real App Store visitors.

Android search terms: Google Play Console

After the $25 one-time registration, the Play Console’s store performance reports include a search term dimension: the term a user searched before reaching your store listing on Google Play. That makes it the most direct free source of Android keyword evidence for an app you already publish.

Limits: it covers your own apps and only Google Play search, and Google has changed which metrics it pairs with search terms during 2026, so read the current help text before comparing periods. Best for: finding the Android terms that already bring visitors.

Android listing tests: store listing experiments

Store listing experiments in the Play Console test up to two variants of graphics or localized text against your current listing. You can run one default-graphics experiment or up to five localized experiments at the same time, and experiments stop automatically after six months.

Limits: like Apple’s tests, results need traffic, and a variant that wins on installs may not win on retention. Best for: testing short descriptions, icons and screenshots on Android without any third-party tool.

Competitor and market context: AppGazers

AppGazers is a research workspace for App Store and Google Play with a free plan and paid Basic and Pro plans. For ASO it provides keyword popularity, difficulty and opportunity heuristics by country, the apps that rank for each term, related searches and keyword rank history, alongside the context that explains a ranking: modeled downloads and gross in-app spend with 80% bands, reviews, chart history and public Meta (EU/UK) and Google ad creative. It also has a remote MCP server for ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini CLI.

Limits: keyword scores are a 0–100 heuristic, not official search counts; estimates are modeled; and it does not publish metadata, run store A/B tests or reply to reviews. The workspace needs Google sign-in. Best for: deciding which keywords and competitors are worth attention before you change a listing.

Use AppGazers to list ten [iOS/Google Play] keywords for [app concept] in [country]. For each, return popularity, difficulty and opportunity exactly as labeled, the top three ranking apps, and one recurring complaint from their 1–2 star reviews. Mark every estimate as an estimate.

Free download and revenue estimates: AppTweak Market Intelligence Starter

AppTweak’s ASO plans are paid, with a 7-day trial that requires billing details (Essential is listed at $949 a year), but its separate Market Intelligence Starter plan is free. AppTweak describes it as download and revenue estimates for apps and publishers at no cost, with the past month of data and three seats.

Limits: the free plan is market estimates, not keyword tracking. Best for: a second opinion on a competitor’s size next to your keyword research.

Reviews plus basic ASO: AppFollow free plan

AppFollow’s pricing page lists a $0 plan with two sources, an AI summary, entry-level review replies, ASO tools and seven days of history. Paid plans add sources, history and support automation, and there is a 10-day trial of premium features.

Limits: seven days of history is short for keyword trends. Best for: a small team that wants review alerts and replies with some ASO tooling in one free account.

Small iOS keyword tracking: ASO Suite

ASO Suite lets you track up to 20 keywords in two regions for free. Its Pro plan is a flat $99 a year for unlimited keywords and regions, one of the simplest upgrade paths in this list. The site also offers two small free utilities: an App Store ID finder and a QR code generator.

Limits: twenty keywords is enough for one focused app, not a portfolio. Best for: indie iOS developers who want a minimal tracker with a cheap annual upgrade.

Cross-store tracking with competitors: ASOMobile

ASOMobile’s free plan needs no card and includes 20 keywords, two apps, one teammate, 10 competitors and 100 review responses. That is a generous competitor allowance for a free tier.

Limits: no AI features or API credits on the free plan. Paid tiers were labeled by billing period when we checked: Indie, Pro, Max and Maximum cost $59, $119, $229 and $299 a month billed monthly, or $47, $95, $183 and $239 a month billed annually. Best for: tracking a small keyword set for two apps and watching competitors on the same terms.

One app, daily ranks: AppDrift

AppDrift’s free plan is labeled “$0 forever” and includes one app, five keywords tracked daily, 50 AI tokens once, and free screenshot templates with unlimited exports. Paid plans start at $9.99 a month or $99 a year.

Limits: five keywords is a starter allowance. Best for: watching daily movement on your five most important terms and producing store screenshots without a design tool.

One app with a competitor: Applyra

Applyra offers a permanent free plan with one app, five keywords, one competitor, 25 keyword inspections a month and seven days of history, with no card required. The paid plan is $9.99 a month or $8.33 a month billed yearly.

Limits: short history and a single competitor. Best for: a new app that wants to track a handful of terms against its closest rival.

A larger free keyword set: ASOdesk

ASOdesk’s homepage lists a $0 plan with “limited access”: 200 keywords, one app, 100 review replies a month, nine competitor apps per country and 100 API credits a month. Its pricing page shows only the paid plans, each with a 7-day trial that needs no card; Pro was $59 a month, or $47 a month billed annually, on October 6, 2026.

Limits: one app, and the free plan is described on the homepage rather than the pricing page, so confirm what it includes when you sign up. Best for: tracking a larger keyword set for a single app at no cost.

Popular ASO tools with a trial or demo only

These are capable products, but on October 6, 2026 their own pages showed a trial or a limited demo rather than a free ASO plan like those above. Include them in a shortlist if you have budget; do not plan a $0 workflow around them.

• App Radar: 7-day trial that requires a credit card; Essentials from €58 a month billed annually.
• MobileAction: 7-day trial for ASO plans with billing details; its free plan is an Apple Ads campaign tool, not ASO tracking.
• Astro: Mac app with a limited free demo version (its terms say the app reverts to the demo after a subscription ends); full access is $108 billed annually.
• Appfigures: a free Starter plan for analytics on apps you connect (five apps, no competitors), plus a no-card trial of its Optimize plan; download and revenue estimates sit in its higher paid plans.

• App Radar alternative compared
• SplitMetrics alternative for market research
• AppGoblin alternative compared

A $0 ASO stack by job

If you publish on both stores, this combination covers research, tracking, testing and measurement without a subscription. Expect to spend your time, not money: free tiers trade convenience for limits.

• Keyword ideas and demand: Apple Ads popularity for iOS, Play Console search terms for Android, AppGazers for difficulty and who ranks.
• Daily rank tracking: one of AppDrift, Applyra, ASO Suite or ASOMobile for your top 5–20 terms; ASOdesk’s free plan allows a larger set of 200 keywords.
• Listing tests: product page optimization on iOS and store listing experiments on Google Play.
• Measurement: App Store Connect Analytics and Play Console reports, before and after each change.
• Competitor context: AppGazers or the AppTweak Market Intelligence Starter plan for modeled competitor size.

How we compared these tools

We compared each tool’s free allowance and documented features on its own pricing or help page on October 6, 2026, and grouped tools by the ASO job they serve. We did not run keyword-accuracy or rank-freshness benchmarks, and we do not rank vendors by data quality. No vendor paid for inclusion. AppGazers is our product; its limits are described in the same terms as everyone else’s.

Official sources reviewed

• Apple Ads: keyword best practices — Keyword popularity based on App Store searches; checked October 6, 2026.
• Apple Ads: help glossary — Search popularity shown on a 1–5 scale; checked October 6, 2026.
• Apple: App Store Connect analytics dashboard — Metrics and source definitions; checked October 6, 2026.
• Apple: product page optimization — Up to three treatments, 90-day tests; checked October 6, 2026.
• Apple: custom product pages — Up to 70 additional product pages; checked October 6, 2026.
• Apple Developer Program enrollment — 99 USD per membership year; checked October 6, 2026.
• Google Play: store listing experiments — Variant and concurrency limits; checked October 6, 2026.
• Google Play: store performance reports — Search term dimension; checked October 6, 2026.
• Google Play Console registration — US$25 one-time registration fee; checked October 6, 2026.
• AppTweak pricing — Market Intelligence Starter free plan and ASO trial; checked October 6, 2026.
• AppFollow pricing — Free plan limits; checked October 6, 2026.
• ASO Suite pricing — Free 20-keyword plan and $99/year Pro; checked October 6, 2026.
• ASOMobile pricing — Free plan limits; checked October 6, 2026.
• AppDrift pricing — Free plan limits and paid prices; checked October 6, 2026.
• Applyra pricing — Permanent free plan and paid price; checked October 6, 2026.
• ASOdesk — Limited $0 plan, shown on the homepage; checked October 6, 2026.
• ASOdesk pricing — Paid plans and trial terms; checked October 6, 2026.
• App Radar pricing — Trial terms; checked October 6, 2026.
• MobileAction pricing — Free Apple Ads tool and ASO trials; checked October 6, 2026.
• Astro — Annual price; checked October 6, 2026.
• Astro terms — Limited free demo version; checked October 6, 2026.
• Appfigures pricing — Free Starter plan scope; checked October 6, 2026.