Best Ahrefs Alternatives: 9+ Options [Ranked & Reviewed]

Do you want to improve your blog’s position in search results?

Before you invest in a tool, look at some Ahrefs alternatives.

Ahrefs may have all the features you need, but you might not like the interface.

What’s more, it could be too expensive for you.

Fortunately, you can still research SEO metrics and track your progress.

Read on to learn about the best Ahrefs alternatives to help select the best tool for your business.

The Best Ahrefs Alternatives at a Glance

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential part of starting or growing a blog or website.

If you want to do it the right way, you may have considered using Ahrefs. However, it’s expensive, and some alternatives might meet your needs better.

An Overview of Ahrefs

Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO and keyword research platforms.

It provides you with tons of data and insight into how to rank higher on search engines to get more traffic.

What Is Ahrefs?

Ahrefs is an excellent platform you can use to do SEO research for your blog.

The tool can help you audit your website to see how you can improve it.

You also get to learn about your competitors so you can rank higher than them and get more people to your website.

Where Does Ahrefs Excel?

Ahrefs is excellent at analyzing websites, both yours and your competitors.

It’s easy to use and understand what you see on your dashboard.

Plus, you can use Ahrefs Webmaster Tools for free to get limited access to some of its premium features.

Where Does Ahrefs Fall Short?

Unfortunately, the Ahrefs customer support team can take a while to respond, and it isn’t always helpful.

They may also upcharge you without warning, and some of the data isn’t the most accurate.

Of course, the high price is another turn-off for many Ahrefs review writers.

Best Ahrefs Alternatives: Our Top 3 Options [Ranked & Reviewed]

Whether you need basic data or enterprise-level SEO information, you want to choose the best tool for you.

In some cases, Ahrefs is the perfect choice.

However, bloggers and business owners should look into some Ahrefs alternatives.

Even if you love Ahrefs, you never know when you’ll want a change.

Whether you want extra features or to save some money, other tools can work just as well.

And if you’re new to SEO tools, you can compare your options before committing to one.

Consider everything from the features to the pricing and the interface of the various tools.

Then, you’ll be able to select the platform you like the best.

Semrush: Our Pick

Semrush is a fantastic alternative to Ahrefs, thanks to many of its features.

You can use it to do SEO research, competitor research, and prepare pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaigns.

It’s also useful for general content marketing and social media content.

While it’s not identical to Ahrefs, it’s probably the closest alternative on the market.

If you find Ahrefs isn’t for you, try Semrush next to see if it suits your needs.

Key Features of Semrush

Before you invest in Semrush, consider some of its best features.

The tool offers more than these key things, but they’re a good place to start.

Consider how you can make the most of the following:

• SEO: Semrush offers SEO audits and backlink trackers, and it can help you find millions of keywords to use.
• Content Marketing: Use the tool to learn how to create SEO content and improve your existing content to rank higher in search results.
• Market Research: Get data on any website’s traffic and learn how your competitors promote their websites.
• Advertising: Choose better PPC keywords and optimize your ads to make the most of your advertising budget.
• Agency Solutions: If you have an agency, use Semrush to manage your clients’ reports and share progress with them.

Ahrefs vs. Semrush: How They Compare

Semrush and Ahrefs are two of the most popular premium SEO platforms.

You can use either tool to research keywords and review your competitors’ strategies.

While Ahrefs focuses on SEO, Semrush offers other digital marketing tools, such as those for social media and content marketing to help you grow your business online.

Why Is Semrush a Great Alternative to Ahrefs?

Semrush is an amazing Ahrefs alternative due to its range of features.

It includes many of the same things you can get with an Ahrefs subscription.

However, you get even more tools to use for your digital marketing campaigns.

While Semrush costs a bit more, the price increase can be well worth it.

Pros of Semrush

• Free Version: If you want to try Semrush, you don’t have to pay right away to use some of the features, though there are limits.
• Comprehensive Tools: You can use Semrush for more than just SEO, so you can grow your entire business.
• Easy To Set Up: When you first use Semrush, the tool doesn’t take long to set up, so you can start tracking SEO and other data.

Cons of Semrush

• Expensive: Aside from the free version, all the premium plans cost a lot of money, even with the annual payment discount.
• Feature Changes: Semrush will occasionally change the available tools, so you might lose something you rely on.
• Login Limits: If you have a team, you can’t all log into your Semrush account at once, so you need to coordinate with each other.

Semrush Pricing

Here’s a breakdown of Semrush pricing:

• Free: $0 with limited access to analytics reports and other features
• Pro: $119.95 per month or $99.95 per month with annual billing
• Guru: $229.95 per month or $191.62 per month with annual billing
• Business: $449.95 per month or $374.95 per month with annual billing

Can You Try Semrush for Free?

You can test try Semrush for free with their free trial to see if you like all the premium features.

If you need more time to decide if the tool is right for you, use the free version.

While it has some limits, you can use it for as long as you like before upgrading.

Conclusion: Should You Choose Semrush Over Ahrefs?

You should choose Semrush over Ahrefs if you want a more comprehensive digital marketing tool.

Semrush comes with everything from SEO data to advertising tools to help you grow.

On the other hand, you should choose Ahrefs if you want to save a bit of money.

Ahrefs is also better if you want to stick to SEO strategies.

Moz Pro: Runner-Up

Moz Pro is yet another excellent tool to help you do SEO research.

You can figure out what keywords are getting you the most traffic so you can choose similar keywords to target.

The tool also helps you stay on top of SEO rankings.

Use Moz Pro to audit your site or find and fix SEO issues.

You can even find opportunities to get backlinks to help build your SEO credibility.

Key Features of Moz Pro

If you want to use Moz Pro, you should know about some of the major features.

Then, you can determine if the tool suits your needs.

Here are some functions that you can enjoy if you use Moz Pro:

• Keyword Explorer: Learn what keywords get searches and aren’t too difficult to rank for, and track those keywords over time.
• Rank Tracking: See how far up in search results you rank for specific keywords and learn how you can improve.
• Site Crawl: Discover issues with your site that keep search engines from ranking pages and posts.
• Link Explorer: Learn where to get more backlinks and stay ahead of what your competitors do to get those links.
• Custom Reports: Drag and drop elements into reports that you can view as PDFs and share with your team or clients.

Ahrefs vs. Moz Pro: How They Compare

Ahrefs and Moz Pro are very similar and have almost the same set of features.

You can audit your site, find keywords, and look for backlinks.

Moz Pro offers more custom reports than Ahrefs, and it has a long free trial for you to test all the features.

Why Is Moz Pro a Great Alternative to Ahrefs?

Moz Pro has many of the same features as Ahrefs.

It also has some unique functions, from reports to on-page optimization.

It’s an excellent tool if you want to grow your blog but don’t like the interface of Ahrefs.

Pros of Moz Pro

• Easy To Use: Moz Pro is great for beginners and advanced SEO professionals who need to track a lot of data.
• Comprehensive Tool: You don’t need to use multiple tools to get all the SEO metrics you want to monitor.
• Website Crawling: It can detect duplicate content, so you can take care of any websites that are copying you and affecting your rankings.

Cons of Moz Pro

• Expensive: Moz Pro costs just as much as Ahrefs for its most basic plan, and its higher tiers cost even more.
• Poor Customer Service: They only offer customer support through email, and it’s not the most helpful.
• Not for International Use: The keyword tool works for US data but not internationally, so it’s not ideal.

Moz Pro Pricing

Here’s a breakdown of Moz Pro’s pricing:

• Standard: $99 per month or $79 per month with annual billing
• Medium: $179 per month or $143 per month with annual billing
• Large: $299 per month or $239 per month with annual billing
• Premium: $599 per month or $479 per month with annual billing

Can You Try Moz Pro for Free?

You can try Moz Pro for 30 days with a free trial.

The trial is for the Medium plan, but they don’t offer trials for the other tiers.

Sadly, you do need to enter a credit card, so you’ll want to track your calendar if you want to cancel before they bill you.

Conclusion: Should You Choose Moz Pro Over Ahrefs?

You should choose Moz Pro over Ahrefs if you prefer the interface and functions.

However, you should choose Ahrefs if you prefer its dashboard.

The features are almost identical between the two platforms.

SE Ranking: Budget Pick

SE Ranking is another amazing SEO tool, though it’s not as popular as some.

You can use it to track your rankings and find organic and paid keywords to use.

It can audit your website to find top-performing keywords and monitor backlinks.

The tool monitors your website or that of your competitors.

Then, you can learn what you need to do to stay near the top of search results.

Key Features of SE Ranking

One of the most significant aspects of Ahrefs alternatives is the features.

Consider what you can get from using SE Ranking.

That can help you decide if this tool is the ideal option for your content.

• Keyword Rank Tracking: Learn where you’re ranking for different keywords and track the data by country or city.
• Competitive Research: Learn what keywords your competitors use for SEO and PPC marketing campaigns.
• Website Audit: Learn about on-page and off-page issues and how to fix them to improve your rankings.
• Backlink Monitoring: Find and monitor backlinks to your website and learn about the value of each link.
• Marketing Plan: Create an SEO checklist and custom goals to help market your business online.

Ahrefs vs. SE Ranking: How They Compare

Ahrefs and SE Ranking have many of the same features to help you with SEO.

You can audit your site and find the right keywords to use.

However, the interface of each platform differs, so one might be easier for you than the other.

If possible, try both tools at the same time to get the best comparison.

Why Is SE Ranking a Great Alternative to Ahrefs?

SE Ranking is a suitable alternative to Ahrefs because it’s more affordable.

You still get a lot of excellent features but don’t have to pay as much.

If you want to start using SEO tools, this is a good place to start, and you can switch to Ahrefs later if you choose.

However, you can upgrade your SE Ranking plan for more features if you prefer.

Pros of SE Ranking

• Affordable: Compared to similar tools, SE Ranking is very affordable whether you pay monthly or yearly.
• Tutorials and Lessons: You can use tutorials from the platform to learn how to make the most of your account.
• User-Friendly: The dashboard is easy to use for the most part, so you can get used to it quickly.

Cons of SE Ranking

• Complicated Navigation: Some of the navigation isn’t the most intuitive, so getting from page to page takes practice.
• Not the Most Accurate: You might need to cross-check some data with other SEO tools to ensure the numbers are correct.
• Overwhelming: For a beginner, some pages can be overwhelming since they show a lot of data.

SE Ranking Pricing

SE Ranking’s pricing is as follows:

• Essential: $23.52 to $49 per month, depending on billing frequency and rankings check frequency
• Pro: $52.32 to $109 per month, depending on billing frequency and rankings check frequency
• Business: $114.72 to $239 per month, depending on billing frequency and rankings check frequency

Can You Try SE Ranking for Free?

You can try SE Ranking with their two-week free trial.

The tool won’t ask for your credit card, so you can test the premium features with no risk.

If you want to continue after the trial, you can add your card details to pay for a plan.

Conclusion: Should You Choose SE Ranking Over Ahrefs?

You should choose SE Ranking over Ahrefs if you’re on a tight budget.

The plans are very flexible based on how often you plan to use the tool.

However, Ahrefs doesn’t have strict usage limits, so it can be a high-quality option if you have the funds.

The Best Free Ahrefs Options

Maybe you like the idea of Ahrefs and its alternatives, but you don’t have any money.

If you want to keep your costs low, you should look at some free tools.

Then, you can still research keywords and other SEO data.

These tools may not be as comprehensive, but they’re useful if you want to save money.

Consider the following free tools before you invest in Ahrefs or another expensive platform.

And even if you do pay, you can use these to supplement your SEO research.

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a free tool that can give you a lot of insight into keywords.

You start by entering a keyword or domain.

If you enter your domain, you can see some of the SEO data on your site, or you can search for a keyword to learn more about its stats.

Why Is Ubersuggest a Great Option?

Ubersuggest is an excellent option because you can use it for free without an account.

If you want more data, you can start a seven-day free trial.

Then, you can get more information and more daily searches to help with SEO.

Drawbacks to Ubersuggest

The free version only gives you three daily searches.

If you want a full report, you need to pay $29 to $99 per month for a paid plan.

At that point, you may want to use a more comprehensive platform so you can get even more data.

Google Trends

Another free tool to use is Google Trends.

You can search for a keyword or topic, and it will show you the amount of interest over the past year.

Compare multiple topics to help decide between niches or keywords to use, and learn about related keywords.

Why Is Google Trends a Great Option?

Google Trends is an excellent option because it’s free to use.

You can search for as many different topics as you want and compare and contrast your options.

The results also show you what other topics are gaining popularity that you can write about on your blog.

Drawbacks to Google Trends

Unfortunately, Google Trends only tracks keywords.

You can’t connect your website, though you can do so with Google Analytics or Google Search Console.

Also, you can’t easily export the data to save for later, but you can come back to the Google Trends page.

Notable Mentions: Other Alternatives to Ahrefs

Maybe you don’t need free SEO tools, but you still want other options.

Fortunately, you can find a ton of Ahrefs alternatives.

If the most popular alternatives don’t meet your needs, don’t stop there.

Some tools in this category have fewer features than Ahrefs.

They can also be more affordable or better for beginners.

Be sure to think about what you need from an SEO program and if affordable, basic tools might work well.

Consider the following tools to help decide which one to use for your blog or business.

You can use them alone or with each other.

LongTailPro

LongTailPro is an excellent tool for finding keywords for your website.

You can start with a keyword search for free, so you can try it before you sign up.

Of course, to get even more benefits, you’ll want to create an account and choose a paid plan.

Why Is LongTailPro a Great Option?

LongTailPro is an excellent choice because it’s affordable and focuses on keywords.

Other tools offer more data, but that can be overwhelming.

If you just want to find keywords to use in your blog posts, this tool is perfect and can help you save money.

Drawbacks to LongTailPro

You won’t get as many features with this tool as Ahrefs.

As you advance your SEO knowledge, you might choose to switch tools.

But that can be difficult, and you may lose your data.

LongTailPro can work for now, but it’s not necessarily the best tool to use long-term.

Serpstat

Another alternative to try is Serpstat.

It has a few plans you can choose from to get enough data and usage for your business.

You can enter a keyword, domain, or URL to get insight into how certain pages rank in search and in what country they perform the best.

Why Is Serpstat a Great Option?

Serpstat is a suitable option thanks to its full suite of SEO tools.

You can research keywords, track your competitors, and audit your site.

It also tracks the rankings of your various blog posts, and you can use the tool with a team.

The platform isn’t the most well-known, but you can still get a lot out of it.

Drawbacks to Serpstat

Serpstat isn’t as common as Ahrefs, and it can also experience glitches.

The tool can be slow, which users find frustrating.

And if you ever need help, customer support isn’t very helpful or understanding of your issues.

Finally, some of the data isn’t up to date, and that could hurt your SEO rankings if you rely on the tool.

BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo claims to be a content marketing tool that can help you find content ideas.

It lets you search for keywords for free from the home page.

You can even create a free account for some basic searches, but you’ll need to pay if you want more searches or advanced insights.

Why Is BuzzSumo a Great Option?

BuzzSumo is an amazing option because you can use it for free.

While the plan has limits, the paid plans offer more features and aren’t the most expensive.

You can get a lot out of the free version if you space out your SEO research over time.

Drawbacks to BuzzSumo

Many of the premium plans are quite expensive.

It can also be hard to filter out certain results when you’re doing keyword research.

Another downside is that it’s more literal and less semantic, so it doesn’t understand how some people use search engines.

Even More Options To Check Out

Maybe you’ve gone through all of the Ahrefs alternatives so far.

You’ve done the free trials or even paid for a month of a tool or two.

But you’ve found that the tools aren’t perfect for you and your workflow.

Learn more about the following options.

Majestic

Majestic is the perfect tool if you want to focus on backlinks as part of your SEO strategy.

While you can’t use it to research keywords, you can learn a lot about your site.

It’s also useful for learning about your competitors and their backlinks.

Then, you can decide where to get more backlinks to gain more authority.

That can help you get more organic traffic.

Mangools

You can use Mangools to find keywords, monitor search engine rankings, and more.

It’s easy to use and has a support team that understands SEO.

So if you ever have any questions, you can get the help you need.

The tool is affordable, and you can save even more with annual payments.

Compared to other cheap tools, this one has a lot of excellent features.

Monitor Backlinks

As the name suggests, you use Monitor Backlinks to track links to your site.

It can tell you about good and bad backlinks.

Bad links can harm your SEO rankings, so you can contact the owners of those sites and ask to remove the links to your blog.

You can manage one domain or more, so it’s great for bloggers and agencies.

Sadly, it doesn’t offer many other SEO features that Ahrefs has, so it’s not perfect.

Other Alternative Roundups (Similar to Ahrefs)

If you want to learn about even more tools, consider these Ahrefs alternatives.

Considering all your options can help you select the best tool to help you reach your blogging and business goals.

• Semrush Alternatives: Semrush is another fantastic SEO tool, and there are just as many Semrush alternatives on the market. Check out a roundup of these products if you don’t like Ahrefs.
• Clearscope Alternatives: Clearscope is an SEO writing tool, so it’s not a direct comparison. If you want more help with keywords and blog writing, check out alternatives to Clearscope.
• Ubersuggest Alternatives: Ubersuggest is a free alternative to Ahrefs, so consider some other alternatives to the tool if you want to save money. Then, you can get the best deal and do SEO research.

Frequently Asked Questions

Choosing from the best Ahrefs alternatives is a big decision.

Consider the following questions to help make your choice.

Wrapping Up

Ahrefs is an excellent SEO tool for many blogs and websites.

However, it’s not cheap, and it doesn’t have as many features as some competitors.

If you want to get the best results from SEO for your website, look at Ahrefs alternatives.

You might still decide to use Ahrefs, but you’ll do so knowing it’s the best choice for you.

Then, you won’t waste a ton of time or money on various tools that don’t work.

To help start your search, consider Semrush, Moz Pro, and SE Ranking.

After that, you can move on to free tools or other affordable options.

Once you go through a few free trials, compare the platforms.

Think about how you work best to help select the tool you’ll use in the future.