SaaS directory
8 Semrush alternatives for 2026
The tools buyers compare with Semrush, side by side on price, pricing model and what each one is built for.
Why teams look beyond Semrush
- Expensive for small teams.
- Add-on pricing adds up.
- Steep learning curve.
- Solo site owners on a tight budget (reviewers repeatedly call it expensive)
- Teams needing many seats cheaply: extra users start at EUR 43 per month each.
From Semrush's published plan limits and recurring themes in public reviews. See the Semrush review for sources.
Semrush vs. its alternatives
| Tool | Pricing model | Starting price | G2 rating | Keyword research database | Technical site audit | Rank tracking | Content optimization and AI features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Semrush Current | flat per plan plus paid extra users | EUR 112.52/month billed annually (SEO plan), EUR 134 billed monthly | 4.4 (4,016 reviews) | Position tracking: 500 keywords daily on SEO and Starter, 1,500 on Pro+, 5,000+ on Advanced. | AI visibility tracking: 50 prompts (Starter), 100 (Pro+), unlimited (Advanced) | ||
 Ahrefs | flat per plan plus paid extra seats | $29/month (Starter); $129/month (Lite) | 4.5 (709 reviews) | Crawl credits per month: 100,000 (Lite), 500,000 (Standard), 1.5M (Advanced) | Tracked keywords: 750 / 2,000 / 5,000 on Lite / Standard / Advanced. | AI prompt checks: 150 / 300 / 600; Brand Radar AI add-on from $199/mo. | |
 Moz Pro | flat per plan | $49/month monthly or $39/month annual (Starter, third-party sources) | 4.3 (606 reviews) | Tracked keywords 50 / 300 / 1,500 / 3,000 across tiers (third-party) | |||
 SE Ranking | per plan, with paid extra manager seats | EUR 87.20/month billed annually (Core); EUR 109/month billed monthly | 4.7 (1,608 reviews) | Vendor states a 4.2B keyword database across 188 country databases. | Audit page quota per plan: 250k pages/month Core, 2M Growth. | Daily tracking: 2k keywords Core, 5k Growth; extra keywords from EUR 20.80 (Core) or EUR 30.40 (Growth) | Content articles quota (25 Core, 50 Growth); AI search tracking add-on. |
 Mangools | per plan | Not verified: not confirmed by the vendor; third-party listings cite about $29.90/month (Basic, annual billing) | 4.7 (80 reviews) | KWFinder; vendor claims 2.5B+ keywords. | SERPWatcher; weekly updates, daily on Agency plan per vendor. | ||
 Serpstat | per plan (seat bundles) | $50/month (Individual) | 4.6 (463 reviews) | Keyword research and keyword clustering tools. | Site audit with 30,000 to 1,500,000 pages per plan. | Position checks: 10,000 to 500,000 per month by plan. | AI Visibility checks, 1,500/month on Team and up. |
 Surfer SEO | flat | $49 per month billed yearly (Discovery) | 4.8 (539 reviews) | Pages tracked: 10 to 500 by plan. | Content scoring and editor, document quotas per plan; AI prompt tracker on paid plans. | ||
 Google Search Console | free | Free | 4.7 (511 reviews) | Shows queries that triggered your own site only. | Indexing and crawl issue reports, re-indexing requests, alerts. | Performance report: impressions, clicks, queries; filter by date and search type (web, image, video, news) | |
 Ubersuggest | per plan, monthly or lifetime | $29/month (Individual), per third-party sources | 4.2 (153 reviews) | Individual plan tracks 125 keywords (third-party) |
The alternatives in detail
Ahrefs
Bootstrapped SEO suite known for its backlink index, priced per plan with paid extra seats and AI add-ons.
- Starting price
- $29/month (Starter); $129/month (Lite)
- Pricing model
- flat per plan plus paid extra seats
- G2 rating
- 4.5 (709 reviews)
- Technical site audit
- Crawl credits per month: 100,000 (Lite), 500,000 (Standard), 1.5M (Advanced)
- Rank tracking
- Tracked keywords: 750 / 2,000 / 5,000 on Lite / Standard / Advanced.
- Content optimization and AI features
- AI prompt checks: 150 / 300 / 600; Brand Radar AI add-on from $199/mo.
- Reporting and white label
- Report Builder add-on $99/mo (50 reports, 500 widgets, scheduling)
Choose it if
- SEO and link-building teams who value backlink and competitor data.
- Small teams of 1 to 3 users.
Skip it if
- Individuals and small businesses on tight budgets (cost is the top complaint)
- Large teams: each extra seat is billed separately.
Worth knowing
- SSO is listed only with the Enterprise plan at $1,499/mo, which needs an annual commitment.
- Extra seats cost $40 to $80/mo depending on plan.
- Historical data depth ranges from 6 months on Lite to 5 years on Advanced.
Moz Pro
SEO suite with rank tracking, site crawl and link research, sold in four tiers with a low seat count.
- Starting price
- $49/month monthly or $39/month annual (Starter, third-party sources)
- Pricing model
- flat per plan
- G2 rating
- 4.3 (606 reviews)
- Rank tracking
- Tracked keywords 50 / 300 / 1,500 / 3,000 across tiers (third-party)
- Project and credit limits
- Seats 1 / 1 / 2 / 3 across tiers (third-party)
- Pricing model and transparency
- Flat tiers with about 20% annual discount (third-party)
- Target company size
- Small businesses (58.1% of G2 reviewers)
Choose it if
- Small businesses (about 58% of G2 reviewers)
- Teams wanting an accessible rank checker and link research.
Skip it if
- Teams needing many seats: seat counts are 1 to 3 per third-party sources.
- Buyers needing verified SSO (not confirmed)
Worth knowing
- Seat counts are low (1 to 3) so team use hits caps early, per third-party sources.
- Older articles cite a $599 Premium plan that has been discontinued.
- Prices are third-party figures; verify at moz.com before buying.
SE Ranking
All-in-one SEO platform with rank tracking, site audit, backlink and keyword research, and white-label reporting sold through an Agency Pack add-on.
- Starting price
- EUR 87.20/month billed annually (Core); EUR 109/month billed monthly
- Pricing model
- per plan, with paid extra manager seats
- G2 rating
- 4.7 (1,608 reviews)
- Keyword research database
- Vendor states a 4.2B keyword database across 188 country databases.
- Technical site audit
- Audit page quota per plan: 250k pages/month Core, 2M Growth.
- Backlink index and analysis
- Vendor cites 1.9B backlink profiles; some agency reviewers find the index smaller than rivals.
- Rank tracking
- Daily tracking: 2k keywords Core, 5k Growth; extra keywords from EUR 20.80 (Core) or EUR 30.40 (Growth)
Choose it if
- Small agencies that need white-label reports and many client projects (via Agency Pack)
- SMB marketing teams wanting one tool for tracking, audits and research at a mid-range price.
- Teams that want to monitor AI search visibility next to classic rankings.
Skip it if
- Teams needing the largest backlink index (reviewers call it smaller than rivals)
- Buyers who need SSO or compliance paperwork on a self-serve plan (not published)
Worth knowing
- Only one active login session per account; extra manager seats cost from EUR 14.40 or use view-only guest links.
- Annual plans are non-refundable under the terms except for poor service or promotions; Terms describe renewal as customer-confirmed rather than automatic.
- Annual subscribers get free assisted migration from another tool.
Mangools
Suite of lightweight SEO tools (KWFinder, SERPChecker, SERPWatcher, LinkMiner, SiteProfiler) aimed at individuals and small teams.
- Starting price
- Not verified: not confirmed by the vendor; third-party listings cite about $29.90/month (Basic, annual billing)
- Pricing model
- per plan
- G2 rating
- 4.7 (80 reviews)
- Keyword research database
- KWFinder; vendor claims 2.5B+ keywords.
- Backlink index and analysis
- LinkMiner; vendor claims 9.5 trillion backlinks.
- Rank tracking
- SERPWatcher; weekly updates, daily on Agency plan per vendor.
- Competitor analysis
- SERPChecker and SiteProfiler.
Choose it if
- Freelancers and small sites that mainly need keyword research and rank tracking.
- Users wanting a simple interface over a deep enterprise suite.
Skip it if
- Teams needing a full technical site crawler (no dedicated audit tool in the listed suite)
- Buyers needing SSO or enterprise controls (none published)
Worth knowing
- Vendor-claimed ratings: G2 4.7 (80+), Capterra 4.8 (80+), Trustpilot 4.9 (130+), from the vendor homepage; not independently confirmed.
- Full refund only within 48 hours of payment and not for two consecutive subscriptions.
- Subscriptions auto-renew until turned off; payment via card, bank transfer, crypto, PayPal through Paddle.
Serpstat
All-in-one SEO suite with keyword research, rank tracking, site audit and API access, sold in four tiers from $50 per month.
- Starting price
- $50/month (Individual)
- Pricing model
- per plan (seat bundles)
- G2 rating
- 4.6 (463 reviews)
- Keyword research database
- Keyword research and keyword clustering tools.
- Technical site audit
- Site audit with 30,000 to 1,500,000 pages per plan.
- Rank tracking
- Position checks: 10,000 to 500,000 per month by plan.
- Content optimization and AI features
- AI Visibility checks, 1,500/month on Team and up.
Choose it if
- Small businesses and freelancers who want an all-in-one SEO suite at a low monthly price.
- Agencies that need white-label reports and a large API quota on the Agency plan.
Skip it if
- Teams needing more than 30 seats on one plan.
- Buyers who want published SSO or compliance documentation.
Worth knowing
- Seats are bundled in plans (1, 3, 6, 30), no per-seat add-on price is published.
- API credits are only included from the Team plan up.
- Agency plan is the only one with white label reports and has no free trial.
Surfer SEO
Content optimization platform that scores drafts against SERP competitors and now tracks AI search visibility.
Rebranded: Surferseo.com redirects to surfer.ai, the product is now branded Surfer with AI search tracking.
- Starting price
- $49 per month billed yearly (Discovery)
- Pricing model
- flat
- G2 rating
- 4.8 (539 reviews)
- Rank tracking
- Pages tracked: 10 to 500 by plan.
- Content optimization and AI features
- Content scoring and editor, document quotas per plan; AI prompt tracker on paid plans.
- Project and credit limits
- Documents 120-360/unlimited, pages tracked 10-500, AI prompts 0-100.
- Pricing model and transparency
- Tiered flat plans with bundled seats and quotas.
Choose it if
- Content teams optimizing articles against top-ranking pages.
- Small teams wanting bundled AI prompt tracking with content scoring.
Skip it if
- Teams needing backlink data or technical crawling.
- Large teams: seats are bundled, max 10 on Peace of Mind.
Worth knowing
- Seats are bundled per plan (1, 3, 5, 10), no per-seat price.
- Annual plan credits reset yearly or when changing plans.
- Bank transfer only for yearly plans, PayPal not supported.
Google Search Console
Google's free service showing how a site appears in Google Search, with indexing, performance and link data.
- Starting price
- Free
- Pricing model
- free
- G2 rating
- 4.7 (511 reviews)
- Keyword research database
- Shows queries that triggered your own site only.
- Technical site audit
- Indexing and crawl issue reports, re-indexing requests, alerts.
- Backlink index and analysis
- Links report of sites linking to yours.
- Rank tracking
- Performance report: impressions, clicks, queries; filter by date and search type (web, image, video, news)
Choose it if
- Every site owner as the first-party source of Google query and click data.
- Teams that need a free baseline next to a paid SEO suite.
Skip it if
- Competitor research or third-party keyword volumes (shows only your own site)
- Teams needing rank tracking beyond Google or white-label reporting.
Worth knowing
- Four permission levels: owner, full, restricted, associate.
- Property needs at least one verified owner.
- Up to 100 non-owner users per property.
Ubersuggest
Low-cost SEO tool for keyword ideas, rank tracking and basic audits, sold monthly or as a one-time lifetime purchase.
- Starting price
- $29/month (Individual), per third-party sources
- Pricing model
- per plan, monthly or lifetime
- G2 rating
- 4.2 (153 reviews)
- Rank tracking
- Individual plan tracks 125 keywords (third-party)
- Project and credit limits
- Individual: 1 website, 125 tracked keywords (third-party)
- Pricing model and transparency
- Monthly subscription or one-time lifetime price per tier.
- Target company size
- Small businesses (about 73.5% of G2 reviewers)
Choose it if
- Small businesses and solo marketers on a tight budget.
- Users who prefer a one-time lifetime license over a subscription.
Skip it if
- Teams that need deep functionality (reviewers say it lacks depth vs established tools)
- Agencies with many client projects (Individual covers one website)
Worth knowing
- Lifetime pricing option (about 10x monthly price) is unusual in SEO tools.
- Individual plan covers a single website and 125 tracked keywords per third-party review.
- About 73.5% of G2 reviewers are small businesses.
When to stay with Semrush
- Marketing teams that want keyword, audit, backlink and AI visibility tools in one login.
- Teams that can live with 5 to 15 websites per plan.