Skip to main content
GET
/
api
/
v1
/
keywords
/
difficulty
Keyword Difficulty
curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.example.com/api/v1/keywords/difficulty
{
  "data": {
    "keyword": "<string>",
    "country": "<string>",
    "popularity": {},
    "difficulty": {},
    "appsCount": 123,
    "trafficScore": {},
    "topApps": [
      {
        "appStoreId": "<string>",
        "title": "<string>",
        "icon": "<string>",
        "developer": "<string>",
        "reviews": 123,
        "score": 123,
        "rank": 123
      }
    ]
  }
}
Look up the difficulty, popularity, and competition for a single keyword in the App Store. Returns a difficulty score, traffic estimate, and the top-ranking apps for that keyword. Credits: 10 per request.

​
Query Parameters

​
keyword
string
required
The keyword to analyze. Will be normalized to lowercase.
​
country
string
default:"US"
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (case-insensitive). Determines which App Store to analyze.See Supported Countries for the full list.

​
Response

​
data
object

​
Understanding the Scores

ScoreRangeMeaning
Popularity0–100How often users search for this keyword. 60+ is considered high volume.
Difficulty0–100How hard it is to rank. Based on review count, rating, and download volume of currently-ranking apps. 70+ is very competitive.
Traffic Score0–100Combined opportunity metric. High popularity + low difficulty = high traffic score = best opportunity.
Best keywords to target have a popularity above 40 and difficulty below 60. Use the traffic score as a quick proxy for opportunity.

​
Examples

​
Basic keyword lookup

curl -X GET "https://appkittie.com/api/v1/keywords/difficulty?keyword=meditation" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

​
Keyword in a specific country

curl -X GET "https://appkittie.com/api/v1/keywords/difficulty?keyword=fitness+tracker&country=GB" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

​
Example response

{
  "data": {
    "keyword": "meditation",
    "country": "US",
    "popularity": 62,
    "difficulty": 85,
    "appsCount": 245,
    "trafficScore": 38,
    "topApps": [
      {
        "appStoreId": "571800810",
        "title": "Calm - Sleep & Meditation",
        "icon": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/...",
        "developer": "Calm.com, Inc.",
        "reviews": 1250000,
        "score": 4.8,
        "rank": 1
      },
      {
        "appStoreId": "985746746",
        "title": "Headspace: Mindful Meditation",
        "icon": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/...",
        "developer": "Headspace Inc.",
        "reviews": 820000,
        "score": 4.9,
        "rank": 2
      }
    ]
  }
}

​
Keyword with no data

If a keyword has no measurable search volume, scores return as null: 
{
  "data": {
    "keyword": "xyznonexistentkeyword",
    "country": "US",
    "popularity": null,
    "difficulty": null,
    "appsCount": 0,
    "trafficScore": null,
    "topApps": []
  }
}