The best ASO tool, and what every one of them costs
One default answer, the 8 cases where a different tool wins, and all 19priced from each vendor’s own page.
The short answer
For independent App Store research and listing planning, ASO Studio: $59 a year, flat, with no cap on apps, keywords or storefronts, and a free App Rating check that needs no account.
Buy something else if
- You have no budget at allAppFollow
- You ship on Google Play too, or several people need to log inAppTweak
- You need consolidated downloads and revenue reporting across both storesAppfigures
- You need enterprise market intelligence across stores and countriesSensor Tower
- You want to see rivals' ads, videos and onboarding, not just their keywordsAppKittie
- You need deeper Apple Search Ads automation and competitive ad intelligenceMobileAction
- You need a full API to drive it from a serverSonar
- You are an agency with a roster of client appsApp Radar
All 19 tools, ASO Studio included, on one price axis. Entry prices span a factor of sixteen, three tools cost nothing to start, and four vendors publish no figure at all.
One dot per tool. Four questions cut this market further than any feature list does.
The 8 exceptions
When a different tool is the right buy.
- 01
Best for
No budget at all
AppFollowAppFollow
FreeASO from $19 a month, Team $599
AppFollow has the most generous free plan in App Store Optimization: two apps with keyword tracking, ten competitors, 100 review replies a month and unlimited users, permanently, with no card.
Free plans in this category are usually a trial wearing a different name. AppFollow's is a real plan that does not expire, and Applyra's runs it close at one app and five keywords. AppDrift and FoxData both publish open ASO calculators you can use with no account at all.
Not for you ifSeven days of history on the free plan is too short to see whether a change worked, and AppFollow's centre of gravity is review management rather than keyword work. Treat the free plan as a way to find out whether you need a paid one.
Runner-upApplyra, whose free plan is smaller but whose paid step up is the cheapest on the page.
For comparison, ASO Studio's free tool is the App Rating checker: it scores any App Store app out of 100 against the leaders in its own category with no account, but it is a one-shot audit rather than keyword tracking.
- 02
Best for
A marketing team on both stores
AppTweakAppTweak
$949a year on Essential, up to $549 a month
AppTweak is the best ASO tool for a marketing team: seats, both app stores, ad and creative intelligence, and up to two years of keyword history that predates your account.
Everything in the indie tier assumes one account and no approvals. AppTweak assumes a department, with shared reporting, alerting into Slack, and backdated history, which is the single thing no new tool can manufacture for you at any price.
Not for you ifThe entry plan caps keywords and ships one seat, and the value only appears once several people are logged in. Without a team behind it, it is the wrong shape of bill by an order of magnitude.
Runner-upApp Radar, which tiers on apps, keywords, competitors and seats together and quotes in euros.
- 03
Best for
Cross-store downloads and revenue reporting
AppfiguresAppfigures
$9.99a month on Connect, keyword tracking from $44.99, research from $149.99
Appfigures connects to App Store Connect and Google Play and reports your real installs, revenue and subscription metrics, rather than estimating them.
Every tool on this page models a competitor's numbers from public signals, because Apple reports an app's downloads to its own developer and to nobody else. Appfigures combines connected account reporting with competitor estimates. ASO Studio can also read your own App Store Connect data; cross-store reporting and the reporting workflow are the distinction.
Not for you ifThe keyword tooling most people arrive for sits well above the entry plan: rank tracking starts on Monitor at $44.99 a month and the research tools on Optimize at $149.99. Budget for those, not for the headline figure on the pricing page.
Runner-upASO.dev, which automates against the App Store Connect API rather than reporting on it.
- 04
Best for
Enterprise market intelligence
Sensor TowerSensor Tower
Not publishedcustom quote per customer
Sensor Tower holds the download and revenue estimate set the rest of the industry quotes, with the category and country depth to match.
Consider Sensor Tower when a team needs a broad market-intelligence dataset across stores and countries. ASO Studio also compares App Store categories and niches before launch, using modeled estimates over stated samples. The distinction is the dataset and reporting scope, not whether an indie app can research a market.
Not for you ifNo published price. The free sign-up shows limited data, and the full product is priced per customer with a salesperson attached, so the answer to how much is a call.
Runner-upFoxData, which sells a similar shape of intelligence in separately priced products.
- 05
Best for
How rivals are actually marketing themselves
AppKittieAppKittie
$588a year billed yearly, or $79 a month
AppKittie shows you the Meta, Google and Apple Ads creatives a competitor is running, roughly what they are spending by country, the videos and creators driving their organic installs, and their onboarding and paywall screen by screen.
Every other tool on this page answers what a rival ranks for. That is one channel, and for most paid apps it is not the one carrying the growth. AppKittie is the only tool here at any price that puts the creative, the spend and the funnel in the same place as the keywords, and it covers both stores while doing it.
Not for you ifThe keyword half is the shallowest thing you are buying: 26 countries against every storefront the Apple-only tools read, and the free plan carries no keyword tracking at all. At $588 a year billed yearly, or $79 a month, you are paying for the ad and creative side, so buy it for that or not at all. The spend, revenue and download figures are modeled from public signals like everyone else's.
Runner-upAppTweak, whose ad and creative intelligence is deeper still, if you already need its team features and can justify $949 a year.
ASO Studio mines competitor reviews for product opportunities and manages your own Apple Search Ads campaigns alongside organic rankings. It does not show competitors' advertising creatives, estimated ad spend, social videos, or paywall recordings.
- 06
Best for
Apple Search Ads alongside organic
MobileActionMobileAction
$15a month on ASO Lite, Pro $239
MobileAction puts Apple Search Ads campaign management in the same account as the keyword research feeding it.
Paid and organic App Store search run on the same terms, so the useful thing is one tool that reads both at once. Ads products are MobileAction's centre rather than a bolt-on, and the ASO side starts cheap enough to try first.
Not for you ifThe keyword depth people actually compare it on sits a couple of tiers above the entry plan, so the price you start at is not the price you end up paying.
Runner-upSplitMetrics Optimize, if creative and store-page testing matters more to you than the keyword side.
ASO Studio also creates and edits your own Apple Search Ads campaigns, ad groups, keywords, bids, and budgets, with a preview before changes are sent. It compares paid spend with organic ranks and reads Apple's search popularity when connected. Choose based on the additional automation and intelligence you need.
- 07
Best for
Wiring ASO into scripts and AI agents
SonarSonar
$290a year on Indie, Agency $149 a month
Sonar ships a REST API, a CLI and an MCP server at its indie price, which is the widest automation surface published at this end of the market.
Most ASO tools put an API one tier above the plan you were going to buy, or do not publish one at all. Sonar gives you all three, so an agent, a cron job and a build script can read the same data without an upgrade.
Not for you ifIt is a hosted web app, so everything your agent reads travels through someone else's servers. If that is the objection, the answer is a local server rather than a bigger plan.
Runner-upASO Studio, whose MCP workspace runs on your Mac. Data returned to a connected assistant is shared with that assistant; its own data handling applies.
- 08
Best for
An agency with a roster of client apps
App RadarApp Radar
€690a year on Essentials, up to €299 a month
App Radar tiers on apps, keywords, competitors and seats at once, which is the combination a client roster actually grows on.
Agencies break the pricing model of most of these tools, because they add apps and people in the same month. App Radar prices for both together, and Sonar's Agency plan does the same thing at a lower ceiling if the roster is small.
Not for you ifPrices are quoted in euros, the trial is seven days and it asks for a card up front. Work the figure out in your own currency before you commit to a year of it.
Runner-upGummicube, if you would rather hand the work to an agency than run one.
The full table
Every ASO tool, and what it really costs.
Priced from each vendor’s own page. Where a vendor publishes nothing, the row says so rather than estimating.
Under $300 a year
Built for the person doing the work.
Independent developers, small studios and consultants: anyone buying the tool for themselves rather than for a department. This is the tier ASO Studio competes in, and several of these are genuinely good tools.
| Tool | Starts at | How they charge | Stores | Free | Agents | Runs as | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ASO StudioASO Studiothis site | $59a year, everything included | One flat plan, unlimited apps and keywords | App Store, Google Play coming soon | Free toolsApp Rating checker, no account | MCP | Mac app | October 4, 2026 |
 AstroAstroCompare | $108a year, billed annually | One flat plan, unlimited keywords and apps | App Store only | None | MCP | Mac app | October 4, 2026 |
 AppSprintAppSprintCompare | $144a year, unlimited apps | One yearly plan, unlimited apps | App Store only | None | MCP | Mac app | October 4, 2026 |
 ApplyraApplyraCompare | FreeUnlimited $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year | Free tier plus one paid plan | App Store and Google Play | Free plan1 app, 5 keywords, no expiry | MCP | Web | October 4, 2026 |
| SonarSonarCompare | $290a year on Indie, Agency $149 a month | Tiered by apps and keywords | App Store and Google Play | Trial7 days, no charge until it ends | MCP | Web | October 4, 2026 |
 ASO.devASO.devCompare | $15a month on Console billed yearly, up to $149, per seat | Four per-seat tiers by features | App Store and Google Play | Trial | MCP | Mac app | October 4, 2026 |
 AppDriftAppDriftCompare | Freepaid plans from $9.99 a month or $99 a year | Free tier plus paid plans | App Store and Google Play | Free planFree tier plus open ASO tools, no account | MCP | Web | October 4, 2026 |
 AppVectorAppVectorCompare | Freepaid plans from $49 a month | Tiered by apps, keywords, credits and seats | App Store and Google Play | Free plan1 app, 10 keywords, no card | API | Web | October 4, 2026 |
 GrowASOGrowASOCompare | $149a year on Premium, Professional $199 | Two tiers, monthly or annual, unlimited keywords and apps | App Store and Google Play | TrialNo card required | None | Web | October 4, 2026 |
$100 to $17,000 a year
Built for marketing teams.
Seats, dashboards, review management and ad intelligence, priced accordingly. Worth it with a team behind you and hard to justify without one.
| Tool | Starts at | How they charge | Stores | Free | Agents | Runs as | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 FoxDataFoxDataCompare | $9.90a month on Starter, $101 billed yearly; Growth $159 | Tiered by apps and keywords; ad intelligence on Pro; bulk API quoted | App Store and Google Play | TrialPlus a set of open ASO tools | API | Web | October 4, 2026 |
| AppTweakAppTweakCompare | $949a year on Essential, up to $549 a month | Tiered by keywords, seats and history | App Store and Google Play | Trial7 days; the free plan has no keyword tools | MCP | Web | October 4, 2026 |
| AppFollowAppFollowCompare | FreeASO from $19 a month, Team $599 | Tiered by apps and features, unlimited users | App Store and Google Play | Free plan2 apps, 10 competitors, 7 days of history | MCP | Web | October 4, 2026 |
| App RadarApp RadarCompare | €690a year on Essentials, up to €299 a month | Tiered by apps, keywords, competitors and seats | App Store and Google Play | Trial7 days, card required | API | Web | October 4, 2026 |
| AppfiguresAppfiguresCompare | $9.99a month on Connect, keyword tracking from $44.99, research from $149.99 | Tiered by keywords and intelligence access | App Store and Google Play | Free plan5 apps, analytics only, no keyword tools | MCP | Web | October 4, 2026 |
| MobileActionMobileActionCompare | $15a month on ASO Lite, Pro $239 | Tiered by features, plus Apple Search Ads products | App Store and Google Play | Trial7 days, card required | MCP | Web | October 4, 2026 |
| AppKittieAppKittieCompare | $588a year billed yearly, or $79 a month | One plan, 3 seats and 5,000 API credits included | App Store and Google Play | Free plan10 searches a day, no ASO | MCP | Web | October 4, 2026 |
Call for a quote
Built for a procurement process.
Priced per customer with a salesperson attached. None of the three publish a price, which is itself the most useful thing to know about them.
| Tool | Starts at | How they charge | Stores | Free | Agents | Runs as | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sensor TowerSensor TowerCompare | Not publishedcustom quote per customer | Custom pricing, quoted per customer | App Store and Google Play | Free plan | MCP | Web | October 4, 2026 |
 SplitMetrics OptimizeSplitMetrics OptimizeCompare | Not publishedcontact sales for a custom plan | Custom plan | App Store and Google Play | None | None | Web | October 4, 2026 |
 GummicubeGummicubeCompare | Not publishedagency engagement, quoted per client | Managed service with a data platform | App Store and Google Play | None | None | Agency | October 4, 2026 |
How to read this
Pick on the shape of the bill.
The tools differ less on features than the pricing pages suggest. What actually decides it is how they charge and which stores they cover.
- 01
Do you ship on Android?
Astro and AppSprint are Apple only. ASO Studio covers the App Store, with Google Play coming soon. Everything else covers Google Play today.
- 02
Are you a team or a person?
Seats are what the mid-market tier is really selling. If nobody else needs to log in, you are paying for an empty chair.
- 03
Does the price move with your work?
Per-keyword and per-app tiers punish you for researching more. Flat annual pricing does not. That gap widens the longer you use the tool.
- 04
Do you need history you do not have yet?
Backdated keyword history is the one thing no new tool can give you. If you need two years of it, that is an AppTweak or Sensor Tower problem.
How this grows with you
Built with the people who use it.
Ask for what you need, and talk to the person who will build it.
- 01
The person who builds it reads your email
One developer writes ASO Studio and answers the inbox. A feature request does not enter a queue, get scored against a quarterly plan, or come back as a link to a public roadmap. It goes to the person who would have to write it.
- 02
Market Trends is already recording
The index behind it has kept a row for every category, in every storefront, every day since August 20, 2026, on every install and whether or not your Mac was running. The page stays covered until the history is long enough to draw honestly, which means every week between now and then is depth you get for free on the day it opens.
- 03
New pages go into the same plan
Everything shipped so far went into the one $59 a year plan. There is no Pro tier, no per-seat upgrade and no feature held back for one, so the app getting bigger has never meant the invoice getting bigger.
An offer, from Joe
Tell me what is missing and I will walk you through the app myself.
Send a request below and you get two things. The request goes straight to me, and I will tell you honestly whether I am going to build it rather than leaving you to guess. And if you want it, I will take you through ASO Studio personally, on a call or a screen share, whenever suits you.
That is not a sales call and there is nothing to buy on it. I want to watch the app being used by somebody who is not me, and that is worth more to me than it is to you.
Joe · @joearizzo
Where these numbers come from. Every figure on this page was read off the vendor’s own pricing page on October 4, 2026, and each row’s Checked column links its source. Where a vendor publishes nothing, the page says so rather than estimating. Nobody here pays to be listed and there are no affiliate links on this site.
What people ask next
Best ASO tool questions.
What is the best ASO tool?
For App Store keyword research you run yourself, ASO Studio, unless one of eight specific things applies to you.
ASO Studio is $59 a year, flat, with no cap on apps or keywords and nothing to set up, and the App Rating check is free without an account, so it is both the cheapest option on this page and the cheapest one to be wrong about.
Eight things override that, and each has a better tool. Google Play as well as the App Store, or team seats: AppTweak. A genuinely free plan: AppFollow. Your own downloads and revenue across both stores: Appfigures. Sizing a market you do not ship in: Sensor Tower. Seeing a rival's ads, videos and onboarding rather than their keywords: AppKittie. Apple Search Ads depth: MobileAction. A full automation API: Sonar. A roster of client apps: App Radar.
If none of those eight apply to you, the case for spending many times more is thin, and every one of those tools would tell you the same.
How much do ASO tools cost?
From free to about $17,000 a year, and three vendors will not tell you until you call.
Seven tools publish a permanent free plan, though three of the seven include no keyword tools at all. The cheapest paid option is $9 a month, the cheapest flat annual plan is ASO Studio at $59 a year, and the mid-market tier runs from roughly $100 a year to $6,600. Enterprise tools publish nothing at all and quote per customer.
The jump from a couple of hundred dollars a year to four figures does not buy better keyword data. It buys team seats, Google Play, advertising and creative intelligence, and keyword history from before you signed up.
What is the best free ASO tool?
AppFollow publishes the most generous free plan: two apps with keyword tracking and unlimited users, permanently, with no card. Applyra's free plan covers one app and five keywords. AppDrift and FoxData both offer open ASO calculators with no account at all, and ASO Studio's App Rating checker scores any App Store app out of 100 with no sign-up. None of these will carry a serious keyword programme, but all of them will tell you whether you need to pay for one.
Which ASO tool is best for indie developers?
The indie tier runs from free to about $300 a year and several of the tools in it are good. The distinction that matters is metering: most charge by keywords, apps or seats, so the bill grows with the work. ASO Studio, Astro and AppSprint are the three flat-priced Mac apps, and ASO Studio is the cheapest of them at $59 a year against $108 and $144. Applyra, AppDrift and AppVector all have permanent free plans covering both stores, and Sonar is the one with a full API at that price. If you are Apple only and want a fixed number on the invoice, the choice is really between those three Mac apps.
Why does every list of the best ASO tools name a different winner?
Because most of them are published by one of the tools, or by an affiliate paid per signup. Read whose site a roundup is on before you read the ranking. This page is on a vendor's site too: ASO Studio is one of the nineteen tools here, and it is named for one of the nine jobs, the one it is built for.
How much should an ASO tool cost?
The published range is about $9 a month at the bottom to $549 a month at the top, with three vendors publishing nothing and quoting per customer. A solo developer has no reason to spend more than a couple of hundred dollars a year, and the jump to four figures buys team seats, Android, ad intelligence and backdated history rather than better keyword data.
Do ASO tools show real App Store search volume?
No, and none of them can. Apple publishes no search-volume figures for the App Store, so every popularity or demand number in every tool is modelled from public signals such as how readily the store surfaces a term, how many apps compete for it and how large those apps are. The one exception is Apple Search Ads, which hands connected advertisers Apple's own 1 to 100 search popularity for a term.
Do I need an ASO tool at all?
Not to start. You can check demand and competition by hand in the App Store itself, one term at a time. A tool earns its price once you are comparing dozens of terms and want them scored the same way every time, and the first time it stops you spending your app name on a keyword nobody searches it has usually paid for itself.
Is there a free ASO tool?
Yes, four of them publish a permanent free plan with keyword tracking rather than a trial: AppFollow covers two apps, AppVector one app and ten keywords, Applyra one app and five keywords, and AppDrift has a free tier alongside 24 open tools. AppKittie, AppTweak and Appfigures also have free plans, but theirs cover app browsing, download estimates or your own analytics, with no keyword tools at all. FoxData also publishes free ASO tools, and Sensor Tower offers a free sign-up with limited data. Everything else here is a trial or nothing.
Why do some ASO tools not show a price?
Sensor Tower, SplitMetrics and Gummicube all quote custom pricing per customer, so the figure depends on the customer and the pricing page sends you to a form. That is a real answer about how they sell, and it is recorded here as unpublished rather than filled in with a guess.
What is the cheapest ASO tool?
Among tools you pay for, Astro starts at $9 a month billed annually and FoxData at $9.90, and ASO Studio is the cheapest flat annual plan at $59 a year with no cap on apps or keywords. Among free plans, AppFollow publishes the most generous one. Cheapest and best value are not the same question: a $9 plan metered by keyword can cost more by December than a flat one.
Do these prices include Google Play?
For sixteen of the nineteen, yes, the plan covers both stores. Astro and AppSprint are Apple only. ASO Studio covers the App Store today, with Google Play coming soon.
How often are these prices checked?
Every figure here was read off the vendor's own pricing page on October 4, 2026, and each row links to the exact page it came from. Prices in this category move, so check the date above the table and follow the link before you buy on the strength of a number you read here.
If none of the 8 applied
Then you already know which one this is.
$59/yr a year covers every app and keyword you track, and the App Rating check is free with no account, so you can check the reasoning before you spend anything.