Free Rank Tracking Tools – A Complete List for 2020

Photo by Carlos Muza

Originally Posted On: https://nichescanner.com/seo/free-rank-tracking-tools/

Cloud-based rank trackers with a free plan:

• MonitLabs (25 keywords for free)
• SerpFox (10 keywords for free)
• WhatsMySerp (10 keywords for free)

Self-hosted rank trackers with a free version

• SerpoScope (open source)
• SeoPanel (open source)
• SEO PowerSuite (limited free version)
• Traffic Travis (limited free version)
• RankAware (limited free version)

When it comes to rank tracking in general, you can go with three basic options:

1. Cloud-based rank trackers

These tools are the most convenient way to track your rankings. You need to sign up for an account and they will do the rest for you. They will check the rankings every day and store the data for you. You do not need to set up or install anything. You just add your website(s) and keywords you want to track and you are done.

2. Self-hosted solutions

If you choose self-hosted rank tracker you need to install it on your own hosting/server. This should not be the same hosting where you host your website. It could seriously slow it down. You can also install such a tool on your own computer but that would require you to manually run it every time you want to check the rankings. An additional thing to consider is the cost of the proxy servers. If you plan on monitoring more than just a few keywords then you need some proxies to rotate your IP in order to avoid Google blocks. Google, as well as other search engines, do not like to be crawled so if you run too many queries from one IP address they will block you.

3. All the rest (browser extensions, AddOns to other tools, etc.)

I am not a big fan of tracking keyword rankings using browser extensions. It shows you personalized results (affected by your language, location, and browsing history). It is also not very convenient. Your rankings are not checked on autopilot and you do not have access to charts with stored data and positions history. Also, contrary to most solutions in the 1st and 2nd category you will not receive automatic notifications when your rankings drop significantly. Unlike with self-hosted rank trackers, you can’t use proxies so you can track only a handful of keywords. But if you only need to check your rankings every now and then and don’t mind doing it manually this still might be an option for you.

MonitLabs – It offers a free plan limited to 25 daily tracked keywords. The user interface is well organized. You can see a ranking history for any tracked phrase. It also has a nice dashboard with quite a lot of useful data. MonitLabs offers all the standard features like alerts, reports, and subaccounts. Besides tracking your rankings MonitLabs will track also all your competitors in the first 100 results. It handles tracking keyword rankings in Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

The entry-level for the paid version is $6.90 for 100 daily monitored keywords.

SerpFox – It has a free plan limited to 10 daily monitored keywords. The user interface is simple and clean. SerpFox also offers all the standard features like alerts, reports, and subaccounts for customers. What I miss is a more informative dashboard that would present some more data insights to quickly assess the overall ranking progress for a website. With SerpFox you can track your rankings in Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

The entry-level for the paid version is $10 for 100 daily monitored keywords.

WhatsMySerp – The free plan is limited to 10 keywords (monitored daily). The user interface is minimalistic and intuitive. The tool does not offer too many features but it gets the job done. It tracks your rankings and it is dead simple. For now, it tracks positions only in Google.

The entry-level for the paid version is $4.99 for 25 daily monitored keywords.

I know this is about free rank trackers but if none of the above fits you then well… that is all there is for free. At least when it comes to cloud-based trackers. The rest of rank trackers just have a free trial. So, other options you can explore are TinyRanker, SerpYou, Rankitor, RankTracker, AccuRanker (see review), AuthorityLabs, SeRanking, RankRanger, or SeoProfiler (see review). All of them are decent. The last three are more like all-in-one SEO tools and their prices reflect that.

If you have a spare server/hosting power and don’t mind doing a little bit of maintenance on your own, then you may take a look at the solutions below.

SerpoScope – This one is really free. It is not only free but it is an Open Source software as well! This tool is a rank tracker coded in Java. You can access the whole source code. But it is also the most complicated solution. You either need to have some coding experience or hire someone to set up and maintain this tool for you. Given the fact that you came here looking for a free solution, I assume it is probably not an option for you. But if by any chance, you are a Java developer then this might be something you were looking for. It is released under MIT license so you can even modify and resell this software if you want to.

SeoPanel – Another open-source project. I know it has features for keyword tracking but I never tried it.

SEO PowerSuite – Free version has several limitations but if you just want to monitor a handful (like 20 to 30) of phrases it will be enough. Just remember not to overdo it because you may end up being blocked by Google. To monitor a bigger number of keywords you need to use proxies. The tool will automatically rotate them. The full version of the tool costs $699/year. There is also a version for $299 but this version does not let you export your data (sic!) and does not contain a White Label Reporting feature. You can see the versions comparison here.

Traffic Travis – Full version of the tool costs $97 paid as a one-time fee. The free version exists but it is restricted in terms of how many projects you can have, and in a few other ways. Although, like with SEO PowerSuite if your needs are limited you are good to go with a free version. Just remember to use proxies if you are going to add more phrases.

RankAware – In theory, they only have a free trial. But they also claim that free trial never ends so…  The free version is limited to only one website. You can track unlimited keywords but again, the same story – you need proxies for that. Free version is limited to non-commercial use. It handles Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The full version costs $49.97 per year.

SeoBook plugin – It was a Firefox extension but it has been discontinued.

RankTank Google Sheets AddOn – Never tried it but looks interesting. Maybe not for automated tracking but if you just need to check your rankings once every few days/weeks and prefer to have your data saved into your Google Sheets it might be worth giving it a try.

Rank Checker for Google – Chrome extension provided by GWM marketing agency. It does not look like the tool which is actively maintained.

Google Rank Tracker – Chrome extension. Never tried, given the fact that contact email is from a regular Gmail account it looks like a hobby project.

Seo SERP Instant Rank Checker – Another Chrome extension. Most likely also done as a hobby project.

I hope this was helpful. I will try to keep this post up to date, so you can come back here later to see if there are any new free options for monitoring keyword rankings.