Search Fuel Space / Keyword Planner alternative

Guide

A Google Keyword Planner alternative for when you need the plan, not just the keywords

Google Keyword Planner is free, and it is where most PPC work starts. It gives you keyword ideas and search volume. Then you are on your own: the structure, the budget, the negatives, the ads and the explanation your client will ask for.

Written by Ericka Karen, a paid search manager since 2016 who has planned Google Ads search campaigns since 2019, and the person behind the rules in Search Fuel Space.

Key takeaways

Google Keyword Planner is free and returns keyword ideas with search volume, but it stops at the list.
It does not group keywords into campaigns and ad groups, split the budget, or explain the plan to a client.
Search Fuel Space uses Google Ads keyword data and returns the full search campaign plan, with the reason for each decision.

What Keyword Planner does well

It is free and it runs on Google's own data.
It pulls ideas from a word, a phrase or a website URL.
It filters by location and language, and it forecasts clicks and cost for a list of keywords.

For checking one term, or pulling a quick list for an account you already know well, it is enough. Nobody needs to pay for that.

Where it stops

Volume comes as a range (like 1K to 10K) on accounts that do not spend much, which is exactly the situation of a new client.
It mixes people ready to buy with people who only want to learn, in the same list.
It does not group keywords into ad groups and campaigns, or tell you how many campaigns your budget can actually carry.
It does not know what the client's website can prove, so it cannot tell you which extensions and claims are safe.
It gives you nothing to show the client: no reasons, no document, only a spreadsheet.

That gap is the part of an account build that takes hours, and the part a chatbot fills with confident guesses. Ask one for a Google Ads plan and upload the keywords: most of them come back marked as low search volume.

Keyword Planner and Search Fuel Space, side by side

TaskKeyword PlannerSearch Fuel Space

Keyword ideasYes, from a word or a URLYes, from what the client's website actually sells

Search volumeA range (like 1K to 10K) unless the account spends enoughA monthly number for every keyword

Search intentNot shownEvery keyword sorted into buying, comparison, brand or informational

Campaigns and ad groupsYou build themGrouped by theme, with the reason for each split

Budget on day zeroYou decideSplit by volume and intent, before the account has history

Negative keywordsYou write themIncluded

AdsNot includedThree complete responsive search ads per ad group

ExtensionsNot includedChecked against what the site can prove

What stays outNot shownEvery theme left out, with the reason

For your clientA spreadsheet exportA document with your brand on it

Into Google AdsSave to a plan, then build the rest yourselfA file to import into Google Ads Editor

PriceFreeUSD 24.99 per plan at the founding price

Search Fuel Space uses Google Ads keyword data too. The difference is what happens after the data comes in.

When you need a plan instead of a keyword list

A new client

No account history to lean on. The budget has to be split before the first click.

A new service, product or location

The new campaigns start with no history of their own, even inside an old account.

Campaigns that stopped delivering

A new plan built from today's search data, not from what the old structure assumed.

A structure you want to test

Run the plan as the challenger in a Google Ads experiment, next to what is live, and let the numbers decide.

How it works

You send the website, the budget and the location. That is the whole brief.
It reads the site and pulls the search data. Every keyword gets its monthly volume and its intent, and what has no buying intent stays out.
You get the plan. Campaigns, ad groups, a day-zero budget split, negative keywords, three responsive search ads per ad group and extensions checked against the site, each decision with its reason, in a document with your brand and a file for Google Ads Editor.

It plans. You execute. It never touches your Google Ads account.

Questions

Does Search Fuel Space replace Google Keyword Planner?

No. Keyword Planner stays the free place to check a term or pull ideas. Search Fuel Space starts where it stops: it turns the keywords into campaigns, ad groups, a budget split, negative keywords, ads and a document your client can read.

Where does the search volume come from?

From Google Ads keyword data, for the country and language of the plan. It is a monthly number for each keyword, not a range and not an AI estimate.

Does it touch my Google Ads account?

No. It plans and never logs into the account. The plan comes with a file to import into Google Ads Editor, and you review and upload it yourself.

How much does it cost?

Keyword Planner is free. A Search Fuel Space plan is USD 24.99 at the founding price (EUR 24.99 in the eurozone), for the first 100 spots or 15 days after launch. After that, USD 29.99.

Your next new account does not have to start on a blank page.

Join the waitlist. When the platform opens, you hear first and buy first, at the founding price, and you keep that price on future plans.

Get the founding price