Ahrefs is an SEO tool providers. Ahrefs Site Explorer provides a suite of tools including a component for backlink & on-page SEO analysis, online brand mentions tracking, and domain comparison tool for competitor analysis, etc. They refer to themselves as “the largest index of live backlinks.”
$99
per month
Semrush
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Semrush is a relatively popular search engine optimization tool set from the company of the same name based in Pennsylvania and founded in 2008. Largely the platforms relies on competitive intelligence, and features SEO staples like backlink checking, keyword analysis to refine SEO and PPC campaigning and locate low-cost / high-yield keywords, analysis of competitors who co-occupy desired ad and listing spaces, domain vs. domain analysis, as well as site audit and domain tracking.
Semrush can…
$139.95
per month
Pricing
Ahrefs
Semrush
Editions & Modules
Lite
$99.00
per month
Standard
$179.00
per month
Advanced
$399.00
per month
Agency
$999.00
per month
Pro
$139.95
per month
Guru
$249.95
per month
Business
$499.95
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Ahrefs
Semrush
Free Trial
No
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
Optional
Additional Details
—
17% discount for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Ahrefs
Semrush
TrustRadius Insights
Ahrefs
Semrush
Highlights
Research Team Insight
Published
Customers have primarily utilized Ahrefs for its backlink analysis features. They regularly mention how the detailed insights and metrics provided help them evaluate their own and competitors’ link profiles, aiding in shaping their SEO strategies. Moreover, they commend the software for its keyword research functionality, where users express that it presents extensive data to identify high-ranking keywords and understand keyword difficulty effectively.
On the other hand, Semrush users often use it for its comprehensive suite of SEO tools, including keyword research, site audits, and competitor analysis. Reviewers have noted that the content template feature, which provides SEO recommendations for content creation, has been a helpful tool for addressing their specific SEO needs. Furthermore, customers repeatedly highlight the social media toolkit, stating that it allows for easy tracking of social media performance and scheduling posts, a use case not commonly associated with Ahrefs.
Features
Ahrefs
Semrush
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
7.8
Ratings
1% above category average
Semrush
7.9
Ratings
2% above category average
Keyword analysis
9.50 Ratings
8.70 Ratings
Backlink management
8.50 Ratings
8.10 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking
9.40 Ratings
8.10 Ratings
Page grader
5.20 Ratings
7.00 Ratings
Competitive analysis
9.40 Ratings
8.60 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics
7.80 Ratings
8.00 Ratings
Site recommendations
5.50 Ratings
7.30 Ratings
Task management
7.00 Ratings
7.00 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
7.5
Ratings
1% below category average
Semrush
8.1
Ratings
6% above category average
Local SEO
8.30 Ratings
8.30 Ratings
Social SEO
6.10 Ratings
8.00 Ratings
Mobile SEO
6.10 Ratings
7.70 Ratings
Global SEO
9.60 Ratings
8.30 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
It gives the best report to us which helps us to find the opportunity to build backlinks. Another main feature that makes Ahrefs a safe and sound approach to SEO is that it provides information about duplicate content, URLs, redirects along with other errors that can be dangerous to the website.
This is suited to plan for keywords in a single market, but it struggles when you need to consolidate several markets. It is well-suited to discover new keywords directly related to the ones being used currently to expand the content the company is creating to get better results.
Ahrefs Site Explorer provides an overview of domain health and the issues that can be fixed, and sometimes the suggested "critical issues" can be an astronomical number and not accurate.
For certain features on Ahrefs Site Explorer, there can a more elaborate description/guide on how to utilize the feature.
Their index is too vast to ignore when looking at a complete backlink profile. We find links in Ahrefs that do not appear in any other link detection tool. For this reason, it's a must for our agency to use for the foreseeable future. Plus, it's very affordable considering the data you get
Ahrefs is very easy to use - you can jump right in and understand most of the assets. Overall, the dashboard snapshots give a very good picture of inbound link activity. For deeper analysis of historical trends, the system can become cumbersome, making it hard to do full work without exporting and reformatting the data.
The interface is a little less intuitive than it could be. The data is often available but filtering and manipulating the data can be a little difficult at times. Expanded comparisons would be helpful since most of the time seeing more than a few competitors at a time allows for a better sense of how to forecast.
Ahrefs has always been responsive when there's been a technical issue with the site. There are usually very little problems, but if there are, they announce it on their social media accounts which keeps its customers informed. Email support is prompt and the customer service people are very helpful, knowledgable and friendly.
I'm in a FB group for Semrush paid users and it amazing! They are fast to respond, take suggestions and help with questions. I have not felt alone in using this product at all. Highly recommend their support team. When I had an issue I can jump into the group and they will help get me the right person to help or even tag their programmers to look at something that is going on. Love the group!
It's competitive with Semrush, Moz and other tools of that same ilk. It's great for serious SEO work - not at the Enterprise level - but at the small business, small agency level. I would not consider it competitive with BrightEdge, Conductor, SEOClarity, etc. - but it IS competitive and on par with the tools that are one level below those big enterprise tools.
We have used both Ahrefs and Semrush extensively at our agency and Semrush remains the tool of choice. We find that Semrush has the largest selection of tools & features to use, with the highest accuracy, and provides top-tier analysis recommendations. It's really is the ultimate all-in-one tool when comparing other performance measurement tools in the digital marketing space.
Ahrefs has helped save hours of work because it functions as an all-in-one SEO tool. Before Ahrefs, I would have to switch toolsets multiple times, compile the reports, then organize data. Ahrefs as an all in one helped managed the chaos that having too many tools create.
Backlink data is crucial to predicting content success. Ahrefs has provided us with better backlink data, allowing our predictions to be more accurate.
Ahrefs has helped us cut away from having another rank tracker subscription. Their rank tracking tool is good enough to not warrant a dedicated rank tracker, helping us save on costs.
Using Semrush on behalf of our clients, we have seen some impressive growth in organic visibility, traffic, conversion and revenue, across multiple industries.
The site checks available with Semrush have helped us to pitch and sell our services, securing new clients.