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Ahrefs vs Semrush

Compare workflow fit, plan limits, billing basis and the total cost of ownership.

Overviewa

Ahrefs

Official pricing
S

Semrush

Official pricing
Best suited toSEOs researching search demand, competitor pages and link profiles.Teams working across SEO and AI search visibility.
Key capabilitiesSite Explorer · Keywords Explorer · Site Audit & Rank TrackerKeyword research · Site audit & rank tracking · AI visibility in selected packages
Why shortlist itA useful shortlist option for research-heavy SEO with project and crawl requirements.Compare SEO-only with combined SEO and AI Search packages around the work you actually do.
Before you subscribeStarter and free tools differ from Lite. Historical data, crawl credits and extra user costs vary by plan.Extra users and specialist toolkits have separate limits and prices. The lowest SEO price is not the combined AI Search tier.
Listed plan pricesStarter: $29 · USD / month, monthly billing | Lite: $129 · USD / month, monthly billing | Standard: $249 · USD / month, monthly billingSEO: $139 · USD / month, monthly billing | Starter · SEO + AI Search: $199 · USD / month, monthly billing | Pro+ · SEO + AI Search: $299 · USD / month, monthly billing
Has a free planFree plan availableFree plan available

Sources checked 9 October 2026. Price snapshots, not live quotes. USD, billing term and limits are shown per plan. Confirm regional pricing and tax with the provider.

Ahrefs

SEOs researching search demand, competitor pages and link profiles.

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Semrush

Teams working across SEO and AI search visibility.

Read review