eRank’s Free plan gives you 5 keyword lookups, 5 listing audits, and 1 AI Listing Helper use per day, tied to a single shop of up to 50 listings, with no expiration date on any of it.
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Table of Contents
- Why Revisit the Free Plan Now
- What’s Actually Free in September 2026
- How to Get the Most Out of a 5-Lookup Daily Limit
- Where the Free Plan Runs Out
- How eRank’s Free Plan Compares
- A Shop That Outgrew It in Six Weeks
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Key Takeaways
- The Bottom Line
Why Revisit the Free Plan Now
We’ve covered eRank’s full walkthrough, its paid-tier value, and three features most sellers never turn on. What we haven’t done is sit down with just the Free plan and ask whether it still holds up on its own, without a Basic or Pro subscription behind it.
That question matters more heading into Q4. Sellers weighing a new tool subscription against ad budget and inventory costs want to know exactly what they get for $0 before they commit to anything paid. This piece walks through eRank’s current Free plan feature by feature, where the daily caps actually bite, and how it stacks up against the free alternatives sellers ask about most.
Here’s exactly what you’re getting for free, and at what point it stops being enough.
What’s Actually Free in September 2026
eRank’s pricing page lists the Free plan at $0 a month, with no time limit on how long you can stay on it. That’s worth stating plainly, because several Etsy SEO tools market a “free trial” that expires after 7 or 14 days. eRank’s Free tier isn’t a trial. It’s a permanent tier with hard daily caps.
As of this month, the Free plan includes:
- 5 keyword lookups per day: search any term and see estimated Etsy search volume, competition score, and click-through data
- 5 listing audits per day: eRank scans one of your active listings against its SEO checklist and flags missing tags, thin descriptions, and title-length issues
- 1 AI Listing Helper use per day: a single AI-assisted listing rewrite suggestion
- 1 connected shop, capped at 50 listings
The 5-lookup cap is the real constraint, not the shop connection. Most solo sellers only run one shop anyway, so that part of the Free plan rarely feels restrictive. The daily lookup and audit counts are where sellers hit the wall, usually within the first week of actually using the tool during a listing refresh.
Here’s the deal: none of this is throttled-down or crippled functionality. The Keyword Tool on Free shows the same trend and competition data as the paid tiers. You just get five searches with it instead of 100 or 200.
How to Get the Most Out of a 5-Lookup Daily Limit
Five keyword searches a day sounds thin until you plan around it. Sellers who stay on Free longest treat it like a rationed resource instead of trying to brainstorm freely.
Step 1: Batch your keyword candidates before you open eRank
What: Write down 15-20 candidate phrases from your own product knowledge, competitor titles, and buyer messages before you log in. Why: If you search one term at a time and follow whatever eRank suggests next, you’ll burn all 5 lookups on tangents instead of your actual priority list. How: Keep a running note (a spreadsheet tab or even a phone note) of keyword candidates as they occur to you during the week, then spend your 5 daily lookups on the top 5 from that list. Example: A candle seller restocking for fall keeps a running list of phrases like “fall candle gift set” and “cozy home candle bundle,” then checks the top 5 against eRank once a day rather than searching reactively.
Step 2: Run your audits on your worst-performing listings first
What: Use your 5 daily listing audits on the listings with the lowest views or the oldest last-edit date, not your newest ones. Why: A newly created listing has usually already had a title and tags chosen deliberately. An old listing that hasn’t been touched in eight months is more likely to have a stale title or a missing attribute. How: Sort your Etsy Shop Manager listings by “date created, oldest first” and work through that list with one audit slot a day. Example: A seller with 40 active listings spends eight days auditing the 10 oldest listings before touching anything newer, and finds three with titles still referencing a discontinued product line.
Step 3: Spread lookups across a full week instead of one sitting
What: Resist the urge to try to “finish” your keyword research in one Free-plan session. Why: 5 lookups a day compounds to 35 a week. Trying to cram a season’s worth of research into one day wastes the daily reset. How: Set a recurring 10-minute block, same time each day, to run that day’s 5 lookups and log the results. Example: A seller planning October listings spends 10 minutes every morning for two weeks, ending up with 70 logged keyword results instead of the 5 they’d get from a single rushed session.
Where the Free Plan Runs Out
The Free plan is genuinely useful for a shop under roughly 50 listings doing occasional keyword checks. It stops being enough in a few specific, predictable situations.
You’re planning a full seasonal relaunch, not a single listing. If you’re retitling 20 listings ahead of a fall or holiday push, 5 lookups a day means that project alone takes a month. Sellers in this position usually upgrade to Basic ($5.99/month, 100 lookups a day) for the weeks they’re actively doing the work, then can drop back down after.
You’re running more than one shop. The Free plan connects exactly one shop. Sellers running a primary shop and a side or seasonal shop hit this limit immediately, not gradually.
You want to track competitors. eRank’s competitor-monitoring feature isn’t part of the Free plan at all; it starts on Basic with 5 monitored competitors. If competitive benchmarking is the reason you’re evaluating eRank, Free won’t show you what that feature actually does.
You’re past 50 listings in your shop. The connected-shop cap isn’t just a UI limitation. Shops above 50 listings on the Free plan won’t get a complete audit picture of their catalog.
None of this is a knock on the Free plan for what it’s built to do. It’s meant to let a new or small shop test the tool with real data, not to run a full-catalog SEO program indefinitely.
How eRank’s Free Plan Compares
Sellers evaluating eRank’s Free tier are usually comparing it against one of two things: eRank’s own paid plans, or a competing tool’s free offer.
| Tool / Plan | Cost | Daily Keyword Lookups | Free Tier? |
|---|---|---|---|
| eRank Free | $0/month | 5 | Yes, no expiration |
| eRank Basic | $5.99/month ($5.50 annual) | 100 | N/A |
| eRank Pro | $9.99/month ($7.92 annual) | 200 | N/A |
| Marmalead | $19/month | Uncapped (paid only) | 14-day trial, no permanent free plan |
We covered Marmalead’s own free-alternatives comparison in detail already, and the core distinction holds: Marmalead has never offered a permanent free tier, only a time-limited trial. eRank is one of the few Etsy SEO tools where “free” means an ongoing plan rather than a countdown clock. If you’ve already read our eRank vs. Marmalead comparison and are specifically asking “can I use eRank for actual results without paying,” the answer this month is yes, within the 5-lookup ceiling described above.
For sellers who’ve outgrown Free and are deciding between eRank’s own paid tiers, our eRank full walkthrough and our look at whether eRank is still worth paying for both go deeper than this piece is meant to. If your workflow depends on bulk listing edits rather than keyword research specifically, our guide to evaluating a bulk editing tool covers a different category of tool entirely.
A quick disclaimer on pricing: the figures above reflect eRank’s published pricing as of this writing and are subject to change without notice. Always confirm current pricing directly on eRank’s pricing page before making a purchase decision. Crafts Daily Wire is not affiliated with eRank, Etsy, or Marmalead, and none of the coverage in this article is sponsored.
A Shop That Outgrew It in Six Weeks
A one-person jewelry shop with 32 listings started on eRank’s Free plan in late July, using it strictly for the 5 daily lookups while researching titles ahead of a fall collection launch.
For the first three weeks, Free covered the workflow fine. The seller ran 5 lookups a day, five days a week, logging results in a spreadsheet, and used the daily audit slot to review one older listing at a time.
By week four, the seller had 18 new listings to write for the fall launch on top of the existing 32, pushing total shop size past the plan’s 50-listing ceiling and making a full audit pass impossible without upgrading. The seller moved to Basic for $5.99 that month, ran the 100-lookup daily allowance to finish keyword research on all 18 new listings within four days instead of a projected four weeks, then stayed on Basic through the fall season before deciding whether to keep the subscription into winter.
The lesson isn’t that Free is inadequate. It’s that Free is sized for steady-state shops, not launch weeks, and knowing that ahead of time means budgeting the $5.99 for the specific month you’ll need it rather than being surprised by the wall.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is eRank’s free plan actually free forever, or is it a trial?
It’s a permanent plan with no expiration date, not a time-limited trial. You can stay on it indefinitely as long as its daily limits work for your shop.
How many keyword searches do you get on eRank’s free plan?
5 keyword lookups per day, resetting daily, according to eRank’s own pricing page.
Does the free plan include listing audits?
Yes, 5 listing audits per day are included at no cost, checking your listings against eRank’s SEO checklist.
Can I connect more than one Etsy shop on the free plan?
No. The Free plan connects a single shop with up to 50 listings. Additional shops require a paid plan.
Does eRank’s free plan include competitor tracking?
No. Competitor monitoring starts on the Basic plan, which allows tracking 5 competitor shops.
How much does eRank cost if I need more than the free plan offers?
Basic is $5.99 a month ($5.50 a month billed annually), Pro is $9.99 a month ($7.92 annually), and Expert is $29.99 a month ($22.50 annually), per eRank’s published pricing.
Is eRank’s free plan enough for a brand-new Etsy shop?
For a shop with fewer than 50 listings doing occasional keyword checks, yes. For a shop actively relaunching or retitling a large batch of listings at once, the 5-lookup daily cap will feel restrictive fast.
How does eRank’s free plan compare to Marmalead?
Marmalead doesn’t offer a permanent free plan, only a 14-day free trial before its $19-a-month subscription begins. eRank’s Free tier has no expiration date, though its daily limits are tighter than a paid Marmalead account.
Do I need technical skills to use eRank’s free plan?
No. The Keyword Tool and Listing Audit are both built around simple search boxes and checklist-style results; no setup beyond connecting your Etsy shop is required.
What’s the most common mistake sellers make on the free plan?
Burning all 5 daily lookups on reactive, one-off searches instead of batching a keyword candidate list ahead of time, which wastes the daily allowance on tangents.
Will eRank’s free plan work for a shop with more than 50 listings?
Not for a complete audit. The Free plan’s shop connection is capped at 50 listings, so larger shops will need Basic or higher for full catalog coverage.
Does the free plan expire or downgrade automatically?
Not based on anything published in eRank’s current pricing terms. It remains available at $0 with no listed end date, though sellers should confirm current terms directly with eRank since software pricing changes without notice.
Key Takeaways
- eRank’s Free plan is a permanent tier, not a trial, and includes 5 keyword lookups, 5 listing audits, and 1 AI Listing Helper use per day
- The Free plan connects exactly one shop, capped at 50 listings
- Competitor tracking isn’t included on Free at all; it starts on the $5.99/month Basic plan
- Batching keyword candidates before logging in makes the 5-lookup daily cap go much further
- Sellers relaunching or retitling a large batch of listings at once will likely need to upgrade temporarily rather than permanently
- Marmalead, by contrast, offers only a 14-day trial with no permanent free option
- Always confirm current pricing directly with eRank, since plan terms and prices are subject to change
The Bottom Line
eRank’s Free plan in September 2026 is still a real, permanently available option for a small Etsy shop doing steady, occasional keyword and listing-audit work. It is not sized for a full seasonal relaunch, multi-shop operations, or competitor benchmarking.
If your shop fits the first description, stay on Free and pace your 5 daily lookups with a candidate list prepared in advance. If you’re heading into a listing overhaul this fall, compare eRank’s Basic plan against your specific workload before the season starts rather than mid-launch.
Related Articles
- eRank for Etsy Sellers: A Full Walkthrough: the complete feature rundown across every eRank plan
- eRank for Etsy Sellers: Is It Still Worth Paying For?: our take on the paid tiers specifically
- How to Pick an Etsy SEO Tool in 2026: eRank vs. Marmalead: a direct head-to-head for sellers choosing between the two
About This Research
Dima Makarenko is the Technical Founder of Stable Commerce and a 20-year eCommerce operator who writes Crafts Daily Wire’s daily coverage of Etsy seller tools, tactics, and platform changes.
This article is based on eRank’s published pricing and plan-feature pages as accessed in September 2026, cross-referenced against Marmalead’s public pricing for comparison. Tool coverage on Crafts Daily Wire is evaluative and independent; we are not affiliated with eRank, Etsy, Inc., or Marmalead, and this coverage is not sponsored.
Content reviewed and updated: 2026-09-08
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