Ahrefs vs KeywordTool.io 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 | KeywordTool.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $129/mo | $88/mo |
| Number of plans | 4 | 5 |
| 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
Starter
- 50 requests/day
- Search volume data for 50,000 keywords/day
- 12 months historical data
- Web Interface, MCP and API
- All 15 platforms
- Cost per click & competition
- Device breakdown
Growth
Popular- 100 requests/day
- Search volume data for 100,000 keywords/day
- 24 months historical data
- Web Interface, MCP and API
- All 15 platforms
- Cost per click & competition
- Device breakdown
Scale
- 200 requests/day
- Search volume data for 200,000 keywords/day
- 48 months historical data
- Web Interface, MCP and API
- All 15 platforms
- Cost per click & competition
- Device breakdown
Agency
- 400 requests/day
- Search volume data for 400,000 keywords/day
- 48 months historical data
- Web Interface, MCP and API
- All 15 platforms
- Cost per click & competition
- Device breakdown
Enterprise & Custom
- Higher daily request and keyword-volume limits
- Custom API and MCP usage envelopes
- Accommodation for documentation requests and vendor onboarding needs
- International bank transfer payment support
- Any required documentation and internal compliance process support
Ahrefs vs KeywordTool.io FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- KeywordTool.io is the cheaper option, starting at $88/mo vs $129/mo for Ahrefs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Ahrefs has a free plan. KeywordTool.io doesn't — you'll need to pay from day one.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Ahrefs uses per-seat pricing, while KeywordTool.io 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. KeywordTool.io: They're priced above entry-level tools like Ubersuggest but well below full-suite platforms like Semrush or Ahrefs — positioning as a specialized, mid-market keyword research tool rather than an all-in-one SEO suite. They're going after teams that don't need rank tracking or backlink data but need serious keyword volume.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Ahrefs and KeywordTool.io and let you know when something moves.