There are a lot of tools online for helping you write blog posts. Over the years, I’ve curated a list of those tools that I use for virtually every piece of content I create. And the best part is that the free version for all of these works great to get anyone started with amazing content.
Of course, upgrading to paid subscriptions offers more functionality. However, the free versions of these tools have helped me write some great blog posts for myself and my clients.
Keep in mind, these are tools that work best for me. Everyone will have varying needs and wants, but perhaps this list is a good place to help you get started.
My Favorite Free Tools for Writing Blog Posts
Remember, these are the tools that I find the most helpful. Feel free to try a few others on your own, as that is how you find tools that work for your specific needs.
Since these all have free versions available, you don’t lose anything but a few minutes of your time trying them for yourself.
Also, I use a self-hosted WordPress plan from GreenGeeks Web Hosting. When you pay for three years in advance, it costs you less than a cup of coffee per month, and the tech support staff are amazing. This lets me build virtually any site I want while having full control.
So, what do I use almost daily to write content for myself and my clients?
1. Google Keyword Planner
I’ve been using Google’s Keyword Planner since 2008, when I was creating ads for affiliate marketing and working on my computer company’s website. While some of the functions have changed over the years, it’s still been a great tool for creating content.
The thing to keep in mind is that Keyword Planner is primarily used when creating advertisements. So, some of the features might not be applicable when figuring out what content to write next.
However, you can research all kinds of search terms to see what topics are trending and which you might want to target. You can also get an idea of how much you’ll make from AdSense for that type of content using the bid range of those terms.
The idea is to write about the search terms that have a high monthly search rate with low competition. Although the “Competition” column is based on advertiser competition, it’s still a good factor to consider when writing your content.
The only real downside to using Keyword Planner is that Google doesn’t share the exact number of searches per month. Instead, you’re given a range of how often the term is searched.
2. Rank Tracker
The Rank Tracker app is part of the SEO PowerSuite tools from Link Assistant. One of the nice things about the PowerSuite is that you can buy just one tool instead of getting all of them, which can be quite expensive if you plan to upgrade.
Rank Tracker connects virtually every aspect of Google into a single interface. You can get reports on keywords you’ve used, what phrases you might want to include, and analyze competitors to see where you lack content where they succeed.
In its free version, Rank Tracker doesn’t save your data. So, if you want to use it, you need to keep it running on your computer. Otherwise, you’ll have to authorize and connect the app with Google every time you load it up. Normally, I do extensive content research on Saturdays, so I just leave it running until I have sufficient ideas for the month.
Out of the many SEO keyword tools I’ve had in the past, this is the one that I would most likely pay for. It keeps track of your search positions, how well your website is doing on Google, analyzes your authority, and so much more.
Some of my best-performing blog posts were the result of Rank Tracker. Come to think of it, some of my best YouTube videos also came from the research, as Google uses YouTube in its search results. I can target those terms in video format and gain more views on YouTube.
3. vidIQ Daily Ideas
I use vidIQ to help manage the YouTube channels. It’s a platform that helps generate ideas, has an assortment of AI-driven tools (which I never use), and keeps an eye on your competitors.
Not only has vidIQ helped with video ideas, but I’ve also found that a lot of them work well in blog format. In fact, some of the top-performing blog posts were based on ideas from vidIQ.
The thing to keep in mind is that the audience on a YouTube channel is not the same as the audience for a blog. Meaning that the same topic often doesn’t perform as well on either medium. While a blog post may see extraordinary traffic, the same topic might generate a handful of views on YouTube.
Nonetheless, I’ve managed to adapt a lot of video content ideas as blog posts, and vidIQ is among my favorite tools for content strategies.
One feature I love about vidIQ is that it will analyze your channel and give ideas based on how well your videos perform according to your specific audience. But as I said, those ideas don’t always land well. Yet, they perform well enough that it’s part of my ideation process.
4. Yoast SEO
The Yoast SEO WordPress plugin is another tool I’ve been using for a very long time. I started using it as a way to help me fine-tune articles I wrote for clients on Textbroker. Since then, it’s become a staple on all of my websites.
Yoast will analyze the text as you write while highlighting things you may want to address. Using the most up-to-date SEO practices, the plugin helps you arrange and write better content to perform well on search engines like Google.
That’s one of the major reasons why Yoast has become a permanent part of my tools for writing posts. When I began using it for clients, I saw fewer revision requests from clients, which led me to make more money as a ghostwriter.
The free version of Yoast is quite extensive and offers more than just the basics, as you would find in a lot of free SEO tools. Structure analysis, readability formatting, and getting related keyphrases from Wincher are just a few of the free elements you can enjoy.
At one point, I was paying for the premium version, which offered a lot of useful insights. Unfortunately, I had to let my subscription lapse as I ran out of disposable income for a while. But Yoast is easily on my radar to upgrade once I can afford to do so.
5. BasePress Knowledge Base
Another tool I use for blogging, at least on WriterSanctuary.com is the BasePress knowledge base plugin. It helps create a separate section of your website specifically to build a knowledge base. And surprisingly, it gets used a lot more than I thought it would.
A knowledge base is essentially a database of answers for specific terms that don’t necessarily require a blog post. In my case, I use a knowledge base to explain terminology regarding blogging, self-publishing, and freelance writing.
I know I need to flesh it out a bit more. As time permits, I’ll try to start adding a few terms each week.
Now, you don’t necessarily need to have a knowledge base as part of your blog. It’s mostly useful for those who focus on services or products, or those who develop a lot of informative and educational content.
In any case, BasePress is the newest addition to my blog, and has been incredibly easy to set up. I still need to tweak it here and there to make it more useful for visitors. But it’s been a surprisingly beneficial addition to the site.
6. Contextual Related Posts
Contextual Related Posts is another addition to my tools that worked surprisingly well. This is how related content is delivered on this site when reading any particular article. The idea is to show visitors similar topics that they may be interested in reading.
I already knew that inserting a segment for related content would help with increasing views from individuals. However, having it installed worked better than I thought.
In fact, it worked so well that I installed it on all of my blogs. And yes, it improved visitor retention on those sites.
The plugin itself is easy to set up. Contextual Related Posts inserts the content automatically according to the settings you establish. You can customize it in a number of ways to fit your needs for promoting blog posts on your site.
7. RankRanger Schema Generator
Another new addition to my blogging tools is the RankRanger Schema Generator. I conducted a case study in 2025 on using schema markups to determine how much of an impact they make on blog posts showing up in Google. It’s easily worth the time to add them.
The Schema Generator from RankRanger is a free addition among their paid SEO tools. It’s also one of the few free schema generators I found that includes the markup for HowTos, which is a lot of what I create.
How it works is that you input the information for the specific schema you need, and RankRanger will create the code for you. Then, you copy the code and paste it into an HTML block in WordPress. This helps search engines further understand what the article is about.
Trust me, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. And the impact it can make for search position and visibility is worth the extra five minutes to add schema markup to your post.
8. Buffer Social Sharing
Part of driving traffic to your blog is getting it in front of more people. And although social media apps tend to avoid sharing posts that use external links, using apps like Buffer can still get a few visits from those who follow your accounts.
Truth be told, I usually get more visitors from YouTube and Pinterest than from any other social app. But that could be isolated to my target audience.
Nonetheless, I’ve been using Buffer to share my content for several years now. I recently had to downgrade my subscription back to the free version, as they wanted $300 for the year for five social accounts. That’s a bit out of my price range.
The free version of Buffer lets you schedule up to 10 posts across three social media sites. Depending on how often you plan to schedule content, this could be more than a week’s worth of content or as little as a day or two.
There are a lot of social sharing apps available, and they can help you gain an audience. Just remember that most social apps bury posts with external links. So, don’t expect a massive influx of visitors even if you use the best hashtags.
9. Broken Link Checker
Sometimes, links to other sites can break. This happens for a variety of reasons, such as the site moving content, deleting old pages, or the site just simply disappearing. Since Google hates broken links on your pages, you need to fix them quickly.
The Broken Link Checker plugin is one that I use quite extensively and have talked clients into using themselves. It routinely checks the links on your site to ensure that they are still valid.
Replacing and removing those dead links is also a quick and easy process. That is, as long as you have other links to use in their stead. Sometimes, finding replacements comes with a bit of research for suitable and credible links.
In any case, Broken Link Checker gives you a warning directly from your WordPress admin dashboard of anything that requires fixing. This includes image URLs, should a picture get deleted or moved.
What Tools Would I Upgrade for Blog Posts?
While some of the blogs have different plugins for varying needs, I use the above tools when creating posts nearly every day. Well, with the exception of Rank Tracker, which I use all day on a Saturday.
So, what tools would I upgrade if I had the money? In order of importance, I would upgrade:
- vidIQ
I already pay for the premium version of vidIQ to manage the YouTube channels. In reality, I simply get more use out of vidIQ for both the channel and the blog. - Yoast SEO
I’ve had the premium version of Yoast in the past, and it was a great plugin. The only reason I haven’t returned to the premium version is due to a lack of funds from everything else. - Rank Tracker
The standalone app of Rank Tracker runs at about $180 per year. That is just a bit too pricey for me, but I would love to upgrade for the sake of saving and exporting keyword lists. - Buffer
As I mentioned earlier, I had to cancel my subscription to Buffer. They wanted too much money for what I was getting out of it. If social apps were more inclined not to bury marketing posts for my books, I could probably afford to keep Buffer.
The rest of the tools I use are free or work great for what I need in their free versions. I don’t need to upgrade anything if I won’t use the extras it comes with, right?
In reality, I haven’t done too badly for using free tools to create all of the posts across five websites. That’s not including the times I’ve used them for client services and suggestions.
You Can Only Do So Much with Free Tools
Free tools can only get you so far when creating blog posts. Sure, there are plenty that will do exactly what you need. But there are some that will have so much more functionality with an upgrade.
For example, Yoast is a great plugin to help you write SEO content. However, the paid version also comes with greater insight into your content, helping you fine-tune the post to precisely fit your purpose.
The trick is to determine which tool can justify the expense. After all, your blog should generate enough income to sustain itself. Otherwise, it gets to become a pretty expensive hobby.
I can’t tell you what should be upgraded first. We all have different agendas for our websites, and your goals may differ from my own. What I can say is to examine each tool carefully and what you’ll get by upgrading.
Will the tool help you increase revenue through its use? Will it streamline content creation to help you write more and better articles? Does the tool help with performance to the point of making every visit feel amazing to your visitors?
Although you can get pretty far using nothing more than free tools, you’ll eventually hit the wall with your posts. At that point, you may want to think about what you should upgrade.
Why I Don’t Use Generative AI for Writing Posts
If you noticed, I didn’t mention a single app for generative AI. That’s because I am a writer. Why would I use a tool that takes away from the very thing I love doing? Not to mention the fact that I believe AI writing is lazy.
You can’t call yourself the author of a post if a bot is writing the text for you. You’re nothing more than a prompt jockey at that point. Plus, most LLMs (Large Language Models) are trained on the works of others without permission. So, there is a bit of an ethical issue involved.
But, what about being able to publish 20 posts per day? That’s not an accomplishment I would care to achieve, to be honest. I am proud of the work I create, and no bot is going to take that from me.
This is just personal preference, mind you. However, I don’t have much respect for people who claim to be authors who use AI to create their work. We are not the same.
The Right Tools Improve Your Blog Posts
My list of tools constantly changes, but these are the ones that have earned their keep across my sites. From writing better content to providing schema for search, each one has a specific purpose that has helped me rank quite well for specific topics and keywords.
Don’t be afraid to try a few yourself. You never know what you’ll come across and what will deliver exactly what you need. Trial and error will help you weed out the ones that are ineffective.
At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong answer to choosing your favorite tools for creating blog posts. It comes down to personal preference and goals. Explore the possibilities and build an amazing website over time.
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