Ahrefs vs Exploding Topics Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Ahrefs | Exploding Topics | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $129/mo | $39/mo |
| Number of plans | 4 | 3 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | — | |
| Pricing model | per-seat | flat-rate |
Lite
- 5 projects
- 6 months of historical data
- 750 tracked keywords
- 5 tracked prompts
- 100,000 crawl credits
- 1,000 credits per user
- 1 user included
- Add 2 more users at $40/mo each
- Dashboard
- Site Explorer
- Keywords Explorer
- Brand Radar
- Site Audit
- Always-on audit
- Rank Tracker
- Competitive Analysis
- SERP history
- Page Inspect
- Web Analytics
- API access
- MCP Server
- Report Builder
- Social Media Manager Beta
- GBP Monitor Beta
Standard
- 20 projects
- 2 years of historical data
- 2,000 tracked keywords
- 10 tracked prompts
- 500,000 crawl credits
- Unlimited credits per user
- 1 user included
- Add 5 more users at $60/mo each
- Dashboard
- Site Explorer
- Keywords Explorer
- Brand Radar
- Site Audit
- Always-on audit
- Rank Tracker
- Competitive Analysis
- SERP history
- Page Inspect
- Web Analytics
- API access
- MCP Server
- Report Builder
- Social Media Manager Beta
- GBP Monitor Beta
- Portfolios
- Content Explorer
- Batch Analysis
- SERP comparison
- Web visibility
- Site structure
- Broken backlinks
- Broken links
- Outgoing links
- Calendar view
- Linking authors
- AI suggestions
- Keyword clusters
- Search intents
- Translations
- SERP updates
Advanced
- 50 projects
- 5 years of historical data
- 5,000 tracked keywords
- 20 tracked prompts
- 1,500,000 crawl credits
- Unlimited credits per user
- 1 user included
- Add 10 more users at $80/mo each
- Dashboard
- Site Explorer
- Keywords Explorer
- Brand Radar
- Site Audit
- Always-on audit
- Rank Tracker
- Competitive Analysis
- SERP history
- Page Inspect
- Web Analytics
- API access
- MCP Server
- Report Builder
- Social Media Manager Beta
- GBP Monitor Beta
- Portfolios
- Content Explorer
- Batch Analysis
- SERP comparison
- Web visibility
- Site structure
- Broken backlinks
- Broken links
- Outgoing links
- Calendar view
- Linking authors
- AI suggestions
- Keyword clusters
- Search intents
- Translations
- SERP updates
- Looker Studio integration
- Search type distribution
- Agency directory listing
- Segmentation Soon
- HTTP authentication
Enterprise
- Uncapped API access
- SSO & enterprise-grade security
- Access management & audit log
- Unlimited historical data
- Personalized higher limits & data exports
- Forecasting & trends
Entrepreneur
- 100 Tracked Trends
- 10 Trend Analyses
- Trends Database
- Trending Products
- Meta Trends
- Channel Breakdown
Investor
Popular- 500 Tracked Trends
- 100 Trend Analyses
- Trends Database
- Trending Products
- Meta Trends
- Channel Breakdown
- Trending Startups
- Trend Forecasting
- CSV Export
Business
- 2,000 Tracked Trends
- 500 Trend Analyses
- Trends Database
- Trending Products
- Meta Trends
- Channel Breakdown
- Trending Startups
- Trend Forecasting
- CSV Export
- Trend Reports
Ahrefs vs Exploding Topics FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Exploding Topics is the cheaper option, starting at $39/mo vs $129/mo for Ahrefs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Ahrefs has a free plan. Exploding Topics doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Ahrefs uses per-seat pricing, while Exploding Topics goes with flat-rate. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Ahrefs: Ahrefs sits in the premium tier of SEO tools — more expensive than Ubersuggest or Mangools by a wide margin, and roughly neck-and-neck with Semrush on mid-tier plans. They're going after serious SEO practitioners and agencies who treat data quality as non-negotiable, not budget-conscious beginners. Exploding Topics: Sits in a niche between general SEO tools (Semrush, Ahrefs) and market research platforms — and the Semrush checkout integration signals they're leaning into that ecosystem rather than competing with it. At $39 entry, they're accessible, but $249 puts Business-tier in the same conversation as lightweight research subscriptions, not keyword tools.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Ahrefs and Exploding Topics and let you know when something moves.