KDSPY Review 2022: Is It Worth It & Is There a Free Alternative?

This is a KDSPY review to help authors know if this keyword research tool is any good, and whether it can help them to make more money self-publishing their books. The answer? For most authors, KDSPY will work just fine, and it’s a bit cheaper than the leading alternative to boot. However, it is not a pretty program, and not nearly as robust as Publisher Rocket, which remains my primary suggested keyword and category research tool for most authors.

That said, KDSPY is still a great program, so let me walk you through the basics of what it looks like…

KDSPY review 2022: Is KDSPY any good?

Yes, KDSPY is a pretty good software, that’s my official opinion in this KDSPY review. However, there are some better options for just a little bit more money (see my KDSPY vs Publisher Rocket review here). But if you’re a writer, particularly a nonfiction writer, KDSPY will help you.

Overall the platform provides a variety of important features, such as good keyword potential, a word cloud to see what other people are using in their titles, and analysis of author pages, international data, and a look at competitor performance.

These are all great features, and some of them you can’t find in other alternatives, but is it worth the price? Let’s take a look at that next…

How much does KDSPY cost?

KDSPY usually costs $97, but frequently goes on sale for a one-tie payment of $59. While this may seem like a lot for a simple browser plug-in, it is actually competitively priced when compared to other comparable software. Overall, I would say this is a decent price for what you get.

Another great feature about KDSPY is that this price is a lifetime price, meaning you will never have to buy it again, and you will get all future updates at no extra cost.

So far there have been hundreds of updates since its initial creation, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Is there a KDSPY free Download?

No, there is no KDSPY free download. This is one of the downer features of the plug-in, since you have no way of trying it out for free. However, there is a 60 day refund policy that might work for you. So if you buy KDSPY and you doesn’t live up to your expectations, you can return it for a full refund.

Kindle Spy coupon information

I did some research and couldn’t find any special coupons for KDSPY, but it is frequently on sale for $69, down from its primary price of $97, so there are still some good ways to save there.

What is KDSPY & What is KDSPY used for? My KDSPY overview:

KDSPY is a browser plugin meant to help you learn more about your competition on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), specifically when self-publishing in the Amazon Kindle stores. When you are planning a book, it can be helpful to know what is selling, and which niches have low competition but high demand. It also helps you target good keywords for your book.

KDSPY is one of a few tools that does this, but the only one to my knowledge that comes as a browser extension (Chrome, Firefox, and Opera). This means you can use it to actively scan data while you are on Amazon.

Because KDSPY is an extension, it also works on most platforms, including Windows, Mac, Chromebook, and Linux.

KDSPY features list

The main features of KDSPY are:

• Keyword research
• Competition analysis
• A word cloud
• International data

Let’s walk through each of these one by one:

1. Keyword Research

Making sure you have your keyword analysis set in stone is a vital part of a book-publishing business. This is true of any genre, but can be particularly good for finding good nonfiction topics to write about before hand.

KDSPY gives you keyword suggestions that are targetable, meaning there’s not a huge amount of competition, and yet people still want to buy those books.

To do this, you enter your keyword and you’ll see the competition, along with an analysis of what to do there in order to become a bestseller.

2. Competition Analysis

If you’re interested in seeing how much authors are likely making on Amazon, you can use KDSPY’s competition analysis to see if they’re doing well, and if the niche they are in is a profitable one. You can do this with the Author Page Analysis feature, which lets you look at their average sales rank, estimated monthly sales, and the number of book published.

Additionally, you can track this performance over time, which is a nice little feature.

3. The Word Cloud

One of the cool features that you can’t get with other programs is the word cloud feature. What this does is analyze the titles and subtitles for a given category or keyword and spit out the most common words used in the top sellers for that book category.

This is really useful for nonfiction to help you craft your own book title and subtitle, but is all but useless for fiction, just so you know. Fiction is much less reliable in the words it uses for specific genres.

4. International data

One of the best features for KDSPY is its level of workable international sites. This is one area where KDSPY has an edge in the market, because it works on a HUGE variety of marketplaces, including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, India, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan!

Basically, if you’re using any of these Amazon marketplaces (which there’s a good chance that you are), and want to know your estimated sales, then KDSPY will work for you.

KDSPY pros and cons

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of KDSPY:

KDSPY advantages

There are a number of pros to KDSPY that I should mention:

• The Price: KDSPY is pretty affordable, which I think is great for those who don’t have the budget to shell out for a huge platform. While not as robust as other programs like Publisher Rocket, it’s still cheaper.
• Basic keyword and competition research: I wouldn’t say that the keyword and competition features are anything super fancy, they will get the job done. You can certainly find good competitive niches with this tool.
• The Word Cloud Tool: This is one of my favorite tools that only KDSPY has. It’s a great way for me to look up words to consider using in my nonfiction books.

KDSPY disadvantages

Now that I’ve listed the pros above, it’s time to get into some of the downsides:

• No Free Version: I have this same problem with Publisher Rocket, but there’s no free version of KDSPY to test out and see if it’s right for you.
• No AMS Ads: There’s no way to research keywords for your Amazon ads.
• Only Works on a Browser: You have to use Chrome or Firefox to make this program work. There’s no desktop version.
• UI Lacking: While a functional product, this is not the prettiest program, nor is it super intuitive to use. If you’re the kind of person who values ease of use in your program, I would look elsewhere.

KDSPY complaints & praise (from real KDSPY customer reviews)

Here are some things that people are saying across the web, from KDSPY reviews to testionials.

“Kindle Spy v5 is just one of the many market research tools in the Kindle Publishing world. It’s not going to break or make your Kindle publishing business – no research tool will.” – FreedomBoundBusiness

“While Publisher Rocket is also a great option, KDSPY takes up less space on your computer and offers a smooth transition to the results when searching online.” – Niche Pursuits

“The only software tool we use for niche and keyword research” – Mikkelsen Twins

“One of the best tools an author can have in their toolbox” – Lise Cartwright

I encourage you to take a look at all the number of reviews of KDSPY to get a good sense for what it can offer.

Review of KDSPY’s support

While I haven’t needed to contact their support directly myself (this is a good thing), I have seen good things from around the web, people saying that the support was fairly responsive and helpful.

They state that “Customer service is available around the clock through chat, email, and their online contact form.” so you should have no problem getting support on the things you need in KDSPY.

Is there a KDSPY free alternative?

No, there is not a KDSPY free alternative. However, you can use the 60-day money-back guarantee to test out the program if you want. If you don’t like it, you can always get a refund in those 60 days.

However, I would point you to a better alternative. While not cheaper than KDSPY, Publisher Rocket is by far a better tool for finding your keywords and categories. For more on that, I refer you to my Publisher Rocket review.

Is KDSPY worth it? My Conclusion

Alright, that concludes my review here, but let’s finally answer the question, is KDSPY worth it?

Well, for the price tag, it’s a decent piece of software. However, I personally believe that it is not as good as the other leading option: Publisher Rocket. That said, Rocket is more expensive, and if you can’t afford that, KDSPY is a fine alternative. You can still get a lot of good keyword research in with this tool.

Our final KDSPY rating:

We rate KDSPY a 6/10.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is KDSPY accurate?

So far, I’ve found KDSPY to be quite accurate. However, it is not quite as accurate as some of the other leading software out there, such as Publisher Rocket. However, for the price, KDSPY is a great and accurate tool for authors to use.

What is the difference between Amazon KDP and KDSPY?

Amazon KDP is the Amazon service that allows you to self-publish books. KDSPY is a third-party tool that will help you understand what keywords and categories you might want to target in order to get the best results when publishing on Amazon.

Does KDSPY work?

Yes, KDSPY works just fine. It works as a browser extension that lets you analyze data on Amazon. If your KDSPY is not working, I would suggest contacting their support because they can definitely get that up and running for you.