The best KW Tools. Spyfu vs keywordspy vs SEMrush

Agree with me or not but google keyword tool is the best keyword tool , It is the mother off all keywords tools on which all these tools depend.

Market Samurai

Do not use MS for kw research
use google kw tool for that, much faster and you are not going through an intermediary

MS is great for analyzing top 10 competition

I personally just use the google keyword tool and my brain, i find this is the best combination for usable good results

Google Adwords Keyword Tool is what I use ..accurate & offers your good ideas for your search terms..Also its free...

There have been 10s or 20 maybe 30 similar threads like this on the Adsense board, the consensus was most people use google kw tool for kw research, including me, even after i bought MS. But google kw tool can not give you a once in a glance snapshot of the top ten competition that shows number of BL, etc etc etc etc, MS can do this and I think its 140 bucks one time, the others are a monthly fee

Thanks for your help. I was just curious because I have used them all as the free versions. Some of the paid kw tools are a little more user friendly and seem to show more data on the surface. MS was my last choice only because it was sooooo slow. I may have to reconsider. I really like google's kw tool but it just doesn't provide the same data. (specifically past ads, kw's, budgets and etc.)

Would you say google kw tool is the best even if you have no plans on using google for advertising?

dswconsulting,
I think you're asking great questions and I'm glad this is an update of similar questions asked long ago.

It' doesn't appear that anyone who answered above has really looked at the breadth of things that keywordspy can do. SEO Elite is also great. I find Market Samurai (which I own) somewhat limited but still very useful for just looking at keywords. But if you're just considering basic things like choosing keywords, mostly using your common sense brain for topics you know well is, I agree, mostly what you need. But I want to know what the top affiliates are doing, what keywords they are choosing, what ad copy they're using, how to avoid mistakes, etc., etc. That's were I think a tool like KeywordSpy comes in very handy. That website can do some amazing things, and save tons of hours. I have found my SEO work MUCH more successful when I first look at exactly what the top affiliates are doing. Having the answer first, while trying to learn, is a great way for me to understand SEO. Plus, I don't have to rely on whether or not some "guru" is going to really reveal to me what tricks he's using to earn tons of money. And finally, looking at their actual actions and results through products like KeywordSpy allows me to know for certain that these guys are actually making real money out there, without having to just take their word for it!

Good luck in your efforts.