Best tools to use to find search volume for a keyword/phrase

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Bilal Asif: Keyword every where pulls data from Google AdWords,
  But it is paid now
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  Adam Astor: I`m a newbie to KW research as well, but I hear that Ubersuggest is one of the better tools with free options that more experienced people recommend
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  Travis Bailey: I don`t know of anything that pulls data directly from Google. Though I like SEMrush. Traffic is approximate, and they may lack data for sleepier KWs. I also like Moz Keyword Explorer, simply because it makes stemming easier and sometimes yields new ta…See More
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  Nick Dawes: Ok, thanks for the replies- it seems search volume is no longer a metric that google makes accessible? Clicks and impressions are available from the Keyword Planner, but not organic search volume. Best alternative are the various free/paid tools that can’t scrape google directly, but can give a decent indication of search volume.
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  Travis Bailey: Search volume data was fairly useless when I started 10 years ago. Lots of Kentucky windage involved in decisions made on the data provided. You will know if the KW is searched a lot, or a little. Also very roughly how many people pay for that KW.
  
  There are a lot of alternatives. But I`m partial to SEMrush.
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  Nick Dawes: If you don’t mind dumbing it down a bit for a beginner, can you elaborate on how search volume data is fairly useless? I’ve been following a course on Udemy which suggests search volume is one of the major factors in keyword research. I don’t believe for a second you’re wrong- I believe I’m the one who is missing something fundamental, which is why I posted here. Google appears to have removed this metric from their Keyword Planner tool and your comment suggests that’s no big deal, there’s other (more important?) metrics to focus on?
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  Travis Bailey: The Search Volume metric is very broad. Say someone searches Trendy Koala Speedos, you`ll likely get zilch.... rightly so. Though searches for Plumber Dallas Texas might be 1, 000 - 12, 000.
  
  That doesn`t really help me budget ad spend. Even under the pretense of paying them, they don`t give you truly useful data. Though the search volume data is still there. I just checked it before finishing this response. I was only off on the high end by 2, 000 on Plumber Dallas Texas. I haven`t needed to look that up for at least five years. :)
  
  Rule of Thumb: If the ad space is competitive, you better believe organic is likely the same, until proven otherwise.
  
  Edit(s): Minor spelling error, and addendum to Rule of Thumb. :D
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  Nick Dawes: Ok, that’s helpful! Thanks!
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  Travis Bailey: No problem. Just had to edit `they` to `the`.