The best Ahrefs alternative depends on which part of Ahrefs you actually use. For the whole suite, Semrush ($139.95 a month) is the only true peer, and SE Ranking ($129, or $103.20 billed annually) is the cheaper all-rounder with more tracked keywords than Ahrefs Lite. For backlink research alone, Majestic ($49.99) and Moz Pro ($49 to $99) are the specialists. For cheap keyword research, KeySearch ($24) and Mangools ($29.90 billed annually) cover most bloggers. And if you only need data on your own site, Ahrefs Free plus Google Search Console costs nothing.
Prices below come from each vendor's pricing page, checked October 19, 2026.
Key takeaways
- Ahrefs costs $29 (Starter) to $449 (Advanced) a month; Lite at $129 includes 750 weekly-tracked keywords and 1,000 credits per user, with no free trial.
- Semrush is the only alternative with similar breadth; its entry SEO plan is $139.95 a month and tracks 500 keywords daily.
- SE Ranking Core ($129) tracks 2,000 keywords daily across 10 projects, nearly three times Ahrefs Lite's allowance.
- For links only, Majestic Lite ($49.99) and Moz Pro Standard ($99) are the specialist backlink indexes.
- Free stack: Ahrefs Free and Google Search Console for your own site, Bing Webmaster Tools for keyword and backlink research.
What Ahrefs costs (and why people look elsewhere)
Ahrefs' pricing in October 2026:
| Plan | Monthly | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $29 | Keyword research and competitor lookups |
| Lite | $129 | 5 unverified projects, 750 tracked keywords (weekly), 6 months of history, 1,000 credits per user |
| Standard | $249 | 20 projects, 2,000 keywords, 2 years of history, unlimited credits, Content Explorer |
| Advanced | $449 | 50 projects, 5,000 keywords, 5 years of history |
| Enterprise | $1,499 | Annual commitment, API, unlimited history |
Annual billing saves up to 17%. Extra users cost $40 to $100 a month each depending on the plan, and there is no free trial: Ahrefs says it "never runs discounts". The free option is Ahrefs Free, which gives limited Site Explorer and Site Audit data for sites you own.
The usual reasons people search for something like Ahrefs: the jump from $29 to $129, credit limits on Lite, paying per seat for a team, or needing only one slice (links, keywords, audits) of a broad suite.
Ahrefs alternatives compared
Ahrefs alternatives compared (October 2026)
| SEO PowerSuite Professional | — | $29.10/mo | Desktop suite, unlimited projects | Free version |
| Screaming Frog | — | $23.25/mo | Technical site crawling | Free up to 500 URLs |
| KeySearch Starter | $24/mo | $20/mo | Cheap keyword research | 7-day trial |
| SpyFu Basic | $39/mo | $29/mo | Competitor and PPC keywords | 30-day money-back |
| Mangools Basic | $49/mo | $29.90/mo | Easy keyword research | 5 free lookups a day |
| Majestic Lite | $49.99/mo | $41.67/mo | Backlink index and Trust Flow | 7-day money-back |
| Serpstat Individual | $50/mo | — | Budget all-in-one | 7-day trial |
| Moz Pro Standard | $99/mo | $79/mo | Link research and Domain Authority | MozBar and trial |
| Ahrefs Lite (benchmark) | $129/mo | $107.50/mo | All-in-one SEO and backlinks | Ahrefs Free for own sites |
| SE Ranking Core | $129/mo | $103.20/mo | All-in-one SEO at a lower price | 14-day trial |
| Semrush SEO | $139.95/mo | $117.33/mo | All-in-one SEO plus ads and market data | Free plan, 7-day trial |
Click a column header to sort.
The best alternatives to Ahrefs, by job
1. Semrush: the only full peer
Price: SEO plan $139.95/month ($117.33 billed annually). Free plan with 10 reports a day.
If you use most of Ahrefs (Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Rank Tracker, Site Audit), Semrush is the only tool with comparable breadth, and it adds Google Ads research, traffic analytics and local, social and PR toolkits. Its 2026 plans are SEO, Starter ($199, adds AI prompt tracking) and Pro+ ($299, adds historical data and content optimization). It is not cheaper than Ahrefs Lite; you switch for breadth or data preference. Our Semrush vs Ahrefs for keyword research comparison goes deeper, and if Semrush is too expensive, see our Semrush alternatives.
2. SE Ranking: the cheaper all-rounder
Price: Core $129/month, or $103.20/month billed annually. 14-day trial.
SE Ranking Core gives you 10 projects, 2,000 keywords tracked daily (Ahrefs Lite tracks 750 weekly), site audits of up to 250,000 pages a month, backlink research and 100 AI prompts tracked daily. Its backlink index is smaller than Ahrefs', which matters for link builders and less for everyone else.
Pick it if you want Ahrefs-style rank tracking and audits for several sites without the credit system.
3. Moz Pro: the original link index, now with AI tracking
Price: Starter $49/month (one site), Standard $99/month or $79/month billed annually (first year).
If you remember Moz's Open Site Explorer, its successor is Link Explorer inside Moz Pro. Standard includes 3 tracked sites, 300 keywords, 5,000 backlink queries a month and 150 tracked AI prompts across GPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and Perplexity. Moz owns Domain Authority, which many clients and link sellers still quote. Our Moz vs Ahrefs breakdown explains how DA and DR differ.
Pick it if you need link research and authority metrics more than deep keyword data.
4. Majestic: backlinks and nothing else
Price: Lite $49.99/month ($41.67 billed annually), Pro $99.99/month ($83.33 billed annually). 7-day money-back guarantee.
Majestic is a pure link intelligence tool. Lite includes the Fresh Index, Site Explorer, Trust Flow and Topical Trust Flow, referring domains, IPs and subnets, and a bulk backlink checker. Pro adds backlink history, Clique Hunter (find sites linking to several competitors but not you) and Link Profile Fight. No keyword research worth mentioning, no audits, no rank tracking.
Pick it if you only used Ahrefs for Site Explorer and want a cheaper link database.
5. SpyFu: competitors' organic and paid keywords
Price: Basic $39/month, about $29/month billed annually. 30-day money-back guarantee.
SpyFu shows which keywords a competitor ranks and bids on, with more than ten years of history. Basic includes 10,000-row results, 5,000 weekly tracked rankings and, since 2026, a site audit (50,000 pages a month). It is the cheapest way to answer "which competitors are outranking me, and for what?".
6. Serpstat: everything for $50
Price: Individual $50/month; Team $100.
Serpstat Individual includes keyword research, competitor analysis, 10,000 rank-tracking checks a month, a 30,000-page audit and backlink reports, capped at 100 searches a day. The interface takes getting used to.
7. Mangools (KWFinder): easy keyword research
Price: Basic $49/month or $29.90/month billed annually. Free account with 5 lookups a day.
Five tools (KWFinder, SERPChecker, SERPWatcher, LinkMiner, SiteProfiler) in one clean interface. KWFinder is the star, with about 2.5 billion related keywords and local data for some 65,000 locations. See our full Ahrefs vs KWFinder comparison.
8. KeySearch: the cheapest serious option
Price: Starter $24/month (200 searches a day, 80 tracked keywords), Pro $48/month. 7-day trial.
KeySearch covers keyword research, SERP analysis, competitor and backlink checks, a site auditor and rank tracking. For a blogger choosing low-competition keywords, it costs $5 a month less than Ahrefs Starter.
9. SEO PowerSuite: unlimited projects on your desktop
Price: Professional €349 a year in Europe (Capterra lists $349 in the US). Free version available.
Four desktop apps, including SEO SpyGlass for backlinks and Rank Tracker. Professional has unlimited projects, keywords and backlink checks, and tracks Google AI Overviews. No cloud dashboard, and white-label reports need Enterprise (€599 a year).
10. Screaming Frog: the technical audit Ahrefs can't replace
Price: Free up to 500 URLs; $279 per licence per year.
The SEO Spider is the desktop crawler most technical SEOs use alongside, not instead of, a backlink tool. It finds broken links, redirect chains, duplicate titles, canonical problems and more on any site you point it at. Pair it with our technical SEO audit checklist.
11. Similarweb: traffic and market intelligence
Similarweb estimates total traffic (not just organic search) and its sources for any site. It answers "how big is this competitor and where do its visitors come from" better than Ahrefs, but it is not a backlink or rank-tracking tool. Self-serve plans and a free trial are on its pricing page; larger plans are quote-based.
Free alternatives to Ahrefs
- Ahrefs Free: Ahrefs' own free plan, with limited Site Explorer and Site Audit data for sites you verify. The Website Authority Checker shows any domain's DR for free.
- Google Search Console: your real queries, positions and linking sites (Links → Top linking sites). The ground truth no paid tool has.
- Bing Webmaster Tools: free keyword research and backlink tools, plus an AI Performance report for Copilot citations.
- Semrush free plan: 10 reports a day, enough to spot-check a competitor.
- Screaming Frog free: crawl up to 500 URLs.
How to see which competitors outrank you (in any tool)
The question "which competitors are outranking me, and why?" works the same way in Ahrefs or its alternatives:
- 1
List your real SERP competitors
In Ahrefs, Site Explorer → Organic competitors. In Semrush, Organic Research → Competitors. SE Ranking's Competitive Research tool does the same. Ignore giant publishers that rank for everything. - 2
Find the keywords they win and you don't
Run a content or keyword gap (Ahrefs Competitive Analysis, Semrush Keyword Gap) with three to five of those competitors. Filter to keywords where two or more of them rank in the top 10. - 3
Compare the ranking pages, not the domains
For each keyword, compare the referring domains to the ranking page (UR in Ahrefs), content depth and intent match. Usually the gap is either links to that page or a page that answers the query better. - 4
Close the gap you can close fastest
Low-difficulty keywords where the winner has few links are content problems. High-difficulty ones are link problems. Our keyword gap analysis guide shows the full workflow.
Where Outrank fits
Outrank (our product) is not an Ahrefs replacement: it has no Site Explorer, no rank tracker and no audit. It is the alternative for people whose Ahrefs subscription mostly produces keyword lists that never become articles. For $99 a month it finds keywords with live volume and difficulty, writes and publishes 30 articles a month to your CMS, and builds backlinks inside relevant articles on other sites through its exchange, with a 15-backlink monthly guarantee. Many customers keep a research tool for analysis and let Outrank do the publishing.
Which Ahrefs alternative should you choose?
3-question decision helper
Which Ahrefs alternative fits you?
Question 1 of 3
Which part of Ahrefs do you use most?
FAQ
What is the best alternative to Ahrefs?
Semrush is the best overall alternative because it matches Ahrefs' breadth (backlinks, keywords, rank tracking, audits) and adds ads and traffic data, from $139.95 a month. If price matters more, SE Ranking covers the same core jobs from $129 a month ($103.20 billed annually) with more tracked keywords than Ahrefs Lite.
Is there a cheap alternative to Ahrefs?
Yes. KeySearch ($24 a month), SpyFu ($39, or about $29 billed annually) and Mangools ($29.90 a month billed annually) cover keyword research and basic competitor and link checks. Majestic Lite ($49.99) is the cheapest dedicated backlink index. Ahrefs' own Starter plan costs $29 but is limited to keyword research and competitor lookups.
Is there a free alternative to Ahrefs?
For your own site, Ahrefs Free and Google Search Console together show your backlinks, rankings and technical issues at no cost. For research on other sites, Bing Webmaster Tools' keyword and backlink tools, Semrush's free plan (10 reports a day) and Mangools' free tier (5 lookups a day) are the best free options.
What is the alternative to Moz Open Site Explorer?
Moz replaced Open Site Explorer with Link Explorer, which is part of Moz Pro (from $49 a month). The main alternatives for backlink lookups are Ahrefs Site Explorer, Majestic Site Explorer (from $49.99 a month) and Semrush's Backlink Analytics.
Is anything better than Ahrefs?
No tool is better at everything. Semrush is broader (ads, traffic, local, PR), SE Ranking tracks more keywords for less, Majestic has a dedicated link index with Trust Flow, and Screaming Frog is better for technical crawling. Ahrefs remains the most popular single tool for backlink research.
Can tools like Semrush and Ahrefs streamline backlink analysis?
Yes. They crawl the web and show every referring domain, new and lost links, anchor text and linking-page strength in one report, which would take weeks to compile manually. Use them to find competitors' link sources, spot lost links worth reclaiming and vet prospects, then confirm the links that matter in Google Search Console.
