Ahrefs vs SEMrush Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
Lite
- 5 projects
- 6 months of historical data
- 750 tracked keywords
- 5 tracked AI prompts
- 100,000 crawl credits
- API and MCP access
- 1,000 credits per user
- 1 user included
- Add 2 more users at $40/mo each
- Dashboard
- Site Explorer
- Keywords Explorer
- Brand Radar
- Tracked AI prompts
- 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 AI prompts
- 500,000 crawl credits
- API and MCP access
- Unlimited credits per user
- 1 user included
- Add 5 more users at $60/mo each
- Portfolios
- Content Explorer
- Batch Analysis
- SERP comparison
- Brand Radar
- Web visibility
- Site structure
- Broken backlinks
- Broken links
- Outgoing links
- Calendar view
- Linking authors
- AI suggestions
- Keyword clusters
- Search intents
- Translations
- SERP updates
- Site structure
Advanced
- 50 projects
- 5 years of historical data
- 5,000 tracked keywords
- 20 tracked AI prompts
- 1,500,000 crawl credits
- API and MCP access
- Unlimited credits per user
- 1 user included
- Add 10 more users at $80/mo each
- 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
- Forecasting & trends
SEO
- 5 websites to monitor
- 500 keywords to track daily
- Basic keyword research and competitor analysis
- Position Tracking
- Site Audit
- Track performance in AI search
- Monitor AI sentiment
- AI visibility reports for any domain
- Monitor custom prompts
Starter
- 5 websites to monitor
- 500 keywords to track daily
- Keyword research and optimization tools
- Competitors insights tools
- MCP access
- 50 prompts to track daily
- 1 domain for AI brand performance
- 300 AI visibility reports per day
- AI-ready Site Audit
Pro+
- 15 websites to monitor
- 1,500 keywords to track daily
- Historical SEO data
- Content optimization
- Keyword cannibalization analysis
- Multi-location/device tracking
- 100 prompts to track daily
Advanced
- 40 websites to monitor
- 5,000 keywords to track daily
- SEO share of voice
- API data integration
- 200 prompts to track daily
Ahrefs vs SEMrush FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Ahrefs starts lower at $129/mo, compared to $139/mo for SEMrush.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Ahrefs has a free plan. SEMrush doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Ahrefs uses hybrid pricing, while SEMrush 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 firmly in premium territory compared to scrappier SEO tools, but it's priced below Semrush at the equivalent tiers, so it's playing the 'slightly cheaper premium' card rather than undercutting on cost. They're chasing serious SEO teams and agencies who already know the category, not budget-conscious beginners. SEMrush: This sits mid-to-premium in the SEO/SEM tooling space — pricier than scrappier tools like Ubersuggest or Mangools, but cheaper than enterprise suites like BrightEdge or Conductor. SEMrush is clearly chasing the agency and serious in-house marketer segment that wants an all-in-one platform instead of stitching together point solutions.
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