Semrush
Teams that want one vendor for SEO, content, local and market research and want a backlink database at least as large as Ahrefs by vendor figures.
Quick overview
- Pricing
- Free plan; paid from $139/month ($117.33/mo billed annually)
- Plans
- Free: $0, 10 reports/day, no card. SEO: $139/month ($117.33/month billed annually), 5 projects, 500 tracked keywords. Starter (SEO + AI Search): $199/month ($165.17 annually), adds AI prompt tracking and MCP. Pro+: $299/month ($248.17 annually), 15 projects, 1,500 keywords, historical data. Advanced and Enterprise: custom. One user per plan; extra users $45 (Starter), $80 (Pro+), $100 (Advanced) per month. Pro Report add-on (white label) $20/month. Local, Content, AI Visibility and Traffic & Market are separate toolkits. 7-day free trial with card check. No refunds on monthly plans.
- G2 rating
- 4.4 / 5.0
- Comparisons
- Featured in 4 comparisons
Key features
- Backlink analytics on a 43T backlink database
- Keyword research across 142 geo databases (29.2B keywords)
- Daily Position Tracking and Site Audit (SEO plan)
- AI prompt tracking and MCP access (Starter and up)
- Historical data and content optimization (Pro+)
- Separate toolkits for local, content, AI visibility and market research
Pros
- One of the largest vendor-stated backlink counts in this comparison (43T)
- 7-day free trial and a permanent free plan
- Daily rank tracking
- 29.2B keywords across 142 geo databases
Cons
- Not cheaper than Ahrefs at similar limits
- More than 15 projects requires custom-priced Advanced
- Extra users cost $45 to $100/month each
- Monthly plans are not refundable
Semrush in our comparisons
Ahrefs alternatives
SE Ranking is the best Ahrefs alternative for most people: the same $129/month as Ahrefs Lite buys daily tracking of 2,000 keywords across 10 projects, with a 14-day trial and no card. Pick Semrush if backlink data volume matters most, Mangools if you work alone on a small budget, and Moz Pro if you need three seats without paying per user.
Sarah ChenUpdated October 2026Best Link Building Tools
Ahrefs is the best link building tool for finding prospects, with Content Explorer and broken backlinks on its $249/month Standard plan, but it has no outreach features. Pair it with Hunter for contacts, BuzzStream for month-to-month relationship tracking, or Pitchbox if you run outreach at agency scale.
Sarah ChenUpdated October 2026Best SEO Software for Agencies
SE Ranking is the best SEO software for most agencies: Growth plus the Agency Pack covers 30 projects, 5,000 daily keywords, 3 staff and full white label for $292.20/month billed annually. Semrush has deeper data but charges per user and has no published price above 15 projects. Add AgencyAnalytics if clients want one branded portal for all channels.
Sarah ChenUpdated October 2026Semrush alternatives
SE Ranking is the best Semrush alternative for most teams: its $129/month Core plan tracks 2,000 keywords daily and includes local and content tools. Pick Ahrefs for backlink research, Moz Pro for small teams that want users included, and Mangools, Serpstat or Ubersuggest when budget comes first.
Sarah ChenUpdated October 2026