- Neither is better at everything. Semrush is the wider suite, with daily rank tracking and advertising research; Ahrefs is built around Site Explorer and its link data, with a free tier for your own sites.
- Prices (November 2026, monthly billing): Semrush from $139 (SEO plan) to $299 (Pro+), Advanced custom; Ahrefs from $29 (Starter) and $129 (Lite) to $1,499 (Enterprise, annual commitment).
- Rank tracking: Semrush updates rankings daily on every plan; Ahrefs' pricing page lists weekly updates, but more tracked keywords per plan (750 on Lite against 500 on Semrush's SEO plan).
- Free use: Semrush Free gives 10 reports a day on any domain; Ahrefs Free gives Site Explorer and Site Audit on sites you verify, with 1,000 backlinks and keywords visible at once.
- For your own site on a budget, Google Search Console is free, and MrKeyword (our product) builds on it from free, then $10 a month. It does not research competitors' rankings like either suite.
Disclosure: MrKeyword publishes this page, and MrKeyword overlaps with both tools for work on your own site. Every price below comes from the vendor's own pricing page, and the date we read it is printed next to it. Where a page did not state something, we say so rather than guess.
Quick verdict
- Pick Semrush if you run an agency or PPC work: rankings update daily, plans cover 5 websites on SEO and 15 websites on Pro+, and keyword, competitor and advertising research share one login.
- Pick Ahrefs if links are the job: Site Explorer is its core, Ahrefs Free shows your own site's backlinks at no cost, and paid plans keep 6 months to 5 years of history.
- Ahrefs starts cheaper ($29 a month for Starter, 200 credits a month) but its comparable plan, Lite at $129, sits close to Semrush's SEO plan at $139.
- Semrush's free plan works on any domain within 10 reports a day; Ahrefs Free works only on sites you verify, but goes deeper on them.
- If you only work on your own site, Search Console's measured data is free, and you may not need either suite.
Semrush vs Ahrefs pricing: every plan
Semrush's paid plans run from $139 to $299 a month with Advanced priced on request; Ahrefs runs from $29 to $1,499 a month. Semrush prints a per-month price for yearly billing (up to 17% off, paid upfront for the year). Ahrefs says yearly billing saves up to 17% but does not show per-month yearly prices, so we do not state any. Our Semrush pricing and Ahrefs pricing guides cover add-ons, extra users and credits.
Semrush and Ahrefs plans, as of November 2026
| Tool | Plan | Monthly billing | Yearly billing, per month | Websites / projects | Tracked keywords | Rank updates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semrush | SEO | $139/mo | $117.33/mo | 5 websites | 500 | Daily |
| Semrush | Starter (SEO + AI Search) | $199/mo | $165.17/mo | 5 websites | 500 | Daily |
| Semrush | Pro+ (SEO + AI Search) | $299/mo | $248.17/mo | 15 websites | 1,500 | Daily |
| Semrush | Advanced (SEO + AI Search) | Custom | Custom | 40+ websites | 5,000+ | Daily |
| Ahrefs | Starter | $29/mo (monthly renewal only) | Monthly only | 1 unverified, unlimited verified projects* | 50* | Not shown |
| Ahrefs | Lite | $129/mo | Not shown | 5 unverified, unlimited verified | 750 | Weekly |
| Ahrefs | Standard | $249/mo | Not shown | 20 unverified, unlimited verified | 2,000 | Weekly |
| Ahrefs | Advanced | $449/mo | Not shown | 50 unverified, unlimited verified | 5,000 | Weekly |
| Ahrefs | Enterprise | $1,499/mo (annual commitment required) | Not shown | 100 unverified, unlimited verified | From 10,000 | Weekly |
Keyword research
Both research keywords for any site from their own databases; Semrush is stronger for free and occasional use, and adds advertising data, while Ahrefs' higher plans remove its usage cap.
- Semrush: the Free plan covers keyword research within 10 reports a day across its main tools. Paid plans add keyword, competitor and advertising research in one subscription, with per-report limits that grow by plan.
- Ahrefs: Keywords Explorer needs a paid plan; Ahrefs Free does not include it. Starter includes 200 credits a month and Lite 1,000 per user, and each report, filter or extra page of data spends a credit. Standard and above list unlimited per user credits.
Backlinks
Ahrefs is the stronger pick for link work on what the vendors publish: it gives your own site's backlinks free, and its paid plans state how much history they keep. Both sell backlink research on any domain from their own web-wide index. Each counts its index differently, so we do not compare their sizes.
- Ahrefs: Ahrefs Free shows 1,000 backlinks and keywords visible at once for sites you verify. Paid plans keep 6 months (Lite), 2 years (Standard) and 5 years (Advanced) of history.
- Semrush: backlink reports count toward the Free plan's 10 reports a day; paid plans raise the limits by plan.
Rank tracking
Semrush is stronger if you need day-to-day movement; Ahrefs tracks more keywords per plan but updates them weekly.
- Semrush: rankings update daily on every plan: 500 keywords on SEO and Starter, 1,500 on Pro+ and 5,000+ on Advanced. The Free plan tracks 10 keywords.
- Ahrefs: its pricing page lists weekly updates, with 750 keywords on Lite, 2,000 on Standard and 5,000 on Advanced; Starter tracks 50, per its help article. Rank Tracker does not spend credits, and it is not part of Ahrefs Free.
For trackers built only for this job, see best rank tracking software.
Site audit
For your own site, Ahrefs gives far more audit for free; on paid plans both crawl sites in volume.
- Ahrefs: Ahrefs Free audits verified sites with 5,000 crawl credits per project a month and checks 170+ technical and on-page issues. Paid plans list 100,000 (Lite), 500,000 (Standard) and 1,500,000 (Advanced) crawl credits a month, and Site Audit does not spend report credits.
- Semrush: the Free plan's Site Audit covers up to 100 pages a month. Paid plans raise the pages per audit by plan.
Free plan
Semrush Free is a small sample of the whole suite on any domain; Ahrefs Free is a fuller toolset for sites you own.
- Semrush Free: no card, 1 demo project and 10 reports a day across its main tools, 10 tracked keywords and a 100-page audit a month. Paid plans also have a 7-day free trial. See is Semrush free?
- Ahrefs Free: the renamed Ahrefs Webmaster Tools. Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics for sites you verify, no card, and Ahrefs says it is not a trial. It does not cover sites you do not own. Ahrefs lists no trial of paid plans.
Which should you pick?
| If you are… | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| An agency, or you run paid search | Semrush | Daily rank tracking, 15 websites on Pro+, advertising research in the same suite |
| Building or auditing links | Ahrefs | Link data at its core, a free tier for your own sites, and up to 5 years of history on Advanced |
| Working on your own site on a budget | Google Search Console + MrKeyword | Measured Google data free, with daily history and keyword volumes on a free plan |
Many teams pair the two kinds: a free source of measured data for their own site, and a suite only for months when they need competitor research. For more options, see SEO tool pricing compared and affordable SEO tools.
Where MrKeyword fits
MrKeyword, which we make, is a cheaper tool for the weekly work on sites you own, not a replacement for Semrush or Ahrefs. It reads your Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools data, keeps a daily history, crawls your site and gets keyword volumes from Google Keyword Planner through the official Google Ads API.
- Plans: Free covers 1 website, 25 tracked keywords and 100 audit pages a month. Starter is $10 a month, Growth $19 and Agency $49. See pricing.
- What it does not do: it does not research competitors' rankings, keywords or ads the way Semrush and Ahrefs do, and its own link index is far smaller than theirs. Our Semrush alternative and Ahrefs alternative pages set out the trade.
Check a keyword's real search volume freeMonthly searches fetched live from Google Keyword Planner, with the source and time on every figure.
Open the keyword research toolSemrush and Ahrefs are trademarks of their owners, used here only to compare them. MrKeyword is not affiliated with either.
Questions and answers
Semrush vs Ahrefs questions
Is Semrush better than Ahrefs?
Neither is better at everything. Semrush updates rankings daily and adds advertising research, which suits agencies and PPC work. Ahrefs is built around link data and gives your own site's backlinks and audit free through Ahrefs Free, which suits link building.
Which is cheaper, Semrush or Ahrefs?
Ahrefs starts lower: Starter is $29 a month with 200 credits. Its Lite plan is $129, against $139 for Semrush's SEO plan, or $117.33 a month billed yearly (prices checked November 2026).
Is there a free version of Semrush or Ahrefs?
Both have one. Semrush Free gives 1 demo project and 10 reports a day on any domain, with no card. Ahrefs Free, formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, gives Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics for sites you verify, with 1,000 backlinks and keywords visible at once.
Can I use Semrush and Ahrefs together?
Yes. Some teams pay for one suite and use the other's free tier: for example Semrush for rank tracking and keyword research, plus Ahrefs Free for their own site's backlinks and audit. Paying for both is rarely needed for one website.
What is a cheaper alternative to Semrush and Ahrefs?
For your own site, Google Search Console is free and shows measured clicks, impressions and positions. MrKeyword builds on it from free, then $10 a month, but it does not research competitors' rankings.
Sources
- Semrush pricing — checked 2 November 2026; plans, yearly prices, websites, tracked keywords and daily updates
- Semrush user management — Semrush Knowledge Base 1409, per-plan limits
- SEO & AI Search plans and pricing — Semrush, the Free plan: 1 demo project and 10 reports a day
- What can you do with a free Semrush account? — Semrush blog, free limits for Position Tracking and Site Audit
- Semrush free trial — 7-day trial of paid plans
- Ahrefs pricing — checked 2 November 2026; plans, tracked keywords, weekly updates, credits, history and crawl credits
- About Ahrefs Starter plan — Ahrefs help center, Starter's credits and tracked keywords
- Ahrefs Free — free account for verified sites and its limits
- About Search Console — Search Console Help: a free service offered by Google
- MrKeyword pricing — our own plans and limits
