8 Excellent Ahrefs Alternatives [Free and Paid Choices]
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If you’ve spent any amount of time in the world of SEO, you know that Ahrefs is one of the most popular and arguably the best SEO tool on the market.
That said, there are plenty of reasons why you wouldn’t want to use it and would prefer an Ahrefs alternative. It’s expensive and has a pretty steep learning curve. Maybe you’re just scouting out for something that fits your needs better.
Regardless of your reason, here’s eight legitimate Ahrefs alternatives.
1. SEMrush
Pros
Keyword Research: SEMrush offers extensive keyword data, including search volume, competition, and related keywords, allowing users to identify lucrative opportunities.
Competitor Analysis: The tool excels in competitor research, providing insights into their top-performing keywords, backlinks, and advertising strategies.
Site Audit: SEMrush’s site audit feature helps identify and resolve technical SEO issues, contributing to improved search engine rankings.
Advertising Analysis: Marketers can uncover competitor ad strategies and analyze the performance of their own PPC campaigns.
Social Media and Content Marketing: SEMrush includes features to manage social media campaigns and track content performance.
Cons
Learning Curve: Just like Ahrefs, it can take a little bit to learn how to use all the features and I think SEMrush is a little less user-friendly.
Less Backlink Data: SEMrush doesn’t have as advanced of a backlink database as Ahrefs so it’s not as useful for that.
SEMrush is one of the closest competitors of Ahrefs and for good reason. There isn’t too much that Ahrefs offers that SEMrush doesn’t. It offers a full suite of SEO research tools including keyword research, competitor analysis, audits, and more. I personally think SEMrush does a better job at offering options for social media campaigns and performance tracking.
Ahrefs vs. SEMrush
The main thing that separates these two is the user experience. Ahrefs is much more beginner-friendly. When you compare the two dashboards, it just seems easier to get the information you want and navigate on Ahrefs.
One of the primary upsides to SEMrush is its PPC and social media marketing options which Ahrefs has very little of. I also find that SEMRush is a little more accurate in terms of traffic data whereas Ahrefs inflates total traffic a little.
Pricing
| Plan | Ahrefs Pricing | SEMrush Pricing |
| Lite/Basic | $99/month | $99.95/month |
| Standard | $179/month | $199.95/month |
| Advanced | $399/month | $399.95/month |
| Agency | $999/month | Custom (Contact sales) |
The two SEO tools are pretty much the same when it comes to price. SEMrush is a little more expensive but the difference is barely noticeable.
Overall, some of you may prefer the user interface on SEMrush and if you do, that would be the primary reason for choosing it. Otherwise, Ahrefs would be a better choice if you’re concerned about price or features.
2. Ubersuggest
Pros
Affordable: Ubersuggest is very affordable and even offers a free (but pretty basic) plan which makes it a great option if you’re just starting out.
Keyword Research: The tool provides extensive keyword suggestions, search volume, and keyword difficulty analysis, assisting users in identifying valuable keywords to target.
Competitor Analysis: Ubersuggest allows users to analyze their competitors’ top-performing pages, keywords, and backlinks, helping gain valuable insights for their own SEO strategy.
Content Ideas: The “Content Ideas” feature suggests popular and relevant topics, enabling users to create engaging and SEO-optimized content.
Cons
Limited Options: Unlike Ahrefs, Ubersuggest is highly limited in terms of features for backlinks, audits, and other advanced tools.
Data Accuracy: While Ubersuggest does provide good insight, the accuracy of the information is hard to verify compared to premium tools like Ahrefs.
Ubersuggest comes with a lot of solid features including keyword research, traffic data, backlinks, keyword ideas, topic ideas, and keyword gaps.
I find that this tool is highly useful for those looking for a free keyword research tool but it lacks advanced features that really let you dive deep into competitor analysis to find out what your competitors are ranking for.
The one feature I love about Ubersuggest is the “content ideas” section. By inputting a keyword, Ubersuggest provides you with a list of top ranking content to help spark inspiration for ideas of what to write about.
Ahrefs vs. Ubersuggest
Where Ubersuggest stands out is with its cost. You get a lot for free but I have noticed over the years that it continues to gradually pull back more and more on what you get for free. You no longer receive historical search data and the keyword ideas cut off after a certain point so you can’t see all of them without signing up for an account.
Pricing
| Plan | Ahrefs Pricing | Ubersuggest Pricing |
| Lite/Basic | $99/month | $29/month |
| Standard | $179/month | $49/month |
| Advanced | $399/month | $99/month |
| Agency | $999/month | n/a |
As you can see, as far as pricing goes there’s no comparison. Ubersuggest is immensely cheaper which is great for businesses that are just starting and may not have a huge budget.
Overall, if you need to cut costs and you’re trying to grow a website or provide SEO services, Ubersuggest will get you to the point where you can afford a more premium tool like Ahrefs. I recommend starting with this tool because it’s a great free alternative to Ahrefs.
3. Moz Pro
Pros
Robust Keyword Research: Moz Pro provides in-depth keyword analysis, including search volume, difficulty, and SERP features, assisting users in identifying valuable keywords to target.
Technical SEO Features: Moz offers a site crawler that helps you identify and address technical issues with performance.
Great For Backlink Research: Moz Pro’s backlink analysis feature allows users to assess their backlink profile and monitor link-building efforts.
Cons
Limited Features: Overall, the features are a little bland and outdated compared to tools like Ahrefs.
Pricing: For the limited suite of mid-range features, the pricing is almost the same as Ahrefs and SEMrush.
Ahrefs vs. Moz Pro
At one time, Moz Pro was a leading SEO and research tool but the features haven’t kept up with the higher demand. For example, Moz offers a lot of technical SEO features that help you crawl your website and find issues in terms of indexability, user-friendliness, and mobile optimization.
This was powerful years ago but now you can get all this for free using Google Search Console so why would you pay for it?
On the positive side, Moz does have a great keyword research tool that helps you find and generate new keywords to put into your content and it’s one of the better backlink research tools out there in terms of ease of use. But again, Ahrefs does that too.
Pricing
| Plan | Ahrefs Pricing | Moz Pro Pricing |
| Lite/Basic | $99/month | $99/month |
| Standard | $179/month | $179/month |
| Advanced | $399/month | $299/month |
| Agency/Premium | $999/month | $599/month |
As you get to the higher plans, Moz does become cheaper than Ahrefs. I also love the fact that they offer a 30-day free trial compared to a typical 7-day. This really gives you a chance to test out the features and put them to use.
Overall, it’s hard to find a reason to choose Moz Pro over Ahrefs because of the amount of data and information you get with Ahrefs but you could always test it out for a month and see what you think.
4. Mangools
Pros
Affordable Pricing: Mangools offers a cost-effective solution for individuals, startups, and small to medium-sized businesses looking to improve their SEO efforts without breaking the bank.
Intuitive Interface: The tool’s user-friendly interface makes it easy for users to navigate and utilize various features effectively, even without prior SEO experience.
Keyword Research: Mangools’ Keyword Research tool provides valuable insights into search volume, competition, and related keywords, aiding users in finding profitable keyword opportunities.
Backlink Analysis: The LinkMiner tool allows users to analyze their backlink profile and identify quality link prospects for link-building campaigns.
SERP Analysis: The SERPChecker feature helps users assess search engine results pages (SERPs) to understand competition and target relevant SERP features.
Cons
Limited Features: Realistically, this tool can’t hold weight to Ahrefs in terms of the depth of features.
Restricted Filtering: When it comes to keyword research, backlink analysis, and competitive analysis you don’t have nearly as many filtering options.
Ahrefs vs. Mangools
Mangools is an interesting Ahrefs alternative because it’s actually five tools built into one:
KWFinder – Keyword research
SERPChecker – SERP analysis
SERPWatcher – Rank tracking
LinkMiner – Backlink analysis
SiteProfiler – SEO metrics and insights
So, to use each tool you’ll have to open it up and enter the URL you want to learn more about to find out keyword information, rankings, backlinks and so on.
The problem is, this creates a lot of extra steps compared to Ahrefs. With Ahrefs, you literally sign in and you can enter the domain or keyword and get everything you possibly could want to know about it.
Another issue is that you can only filter based on dofollow or nofollow when it comes to backlinks and the keyword filters are very limited as well so you’ll spend a lot of time sifting through irrelevant information.
Pricing
| Plan | Ahrefs Pricing | Mangools Pricing |
| Lite/Basic | $99/month | $49/month |
| Standard | $179/month | $69/month |
| Advanced | $399/month | $129/month |
| Agency | $999/month | Not available |
While Mangools might be a bit cheaper, their basic package is a bit limiting in terms of the amount of keyword lookups and suggestions you get. Although, 100 searches should be enough for most people in a 24 hour period. There’s also a freemium option you can use without paying.
All in all, you’ll get a lot out of Mangools and the features are relatively solid but again, it’s just hard to stack up against a tool like Ahrefs that is so easy and fast to use and get the information you want.
5. SerpStat
Pros
Free Option: Serpstat provides a pretty extensive freemium option including keyword research, domain research, competitor analysis, and more.
Clean Interface: Overall, it looks pretty nice and simple to use. I like the interface a lot.
Full Suite of Tools: WIthin the interface is a lot of tools especially if you subscribe to the paid version.
Cons
Inaccurate Data: What good are all the tools if the data isn’t correct? Serpstat can be highly inaccurate.
Serpstat vs. Ahrefs
At first glance, Serpstat reminds me a lot of SEMrush. Many of the features are the same and they’re quite extensive. The problem is, they’re inaccurate. I ran LinkWhisper through the free tool and it displayed keywords that are totally random like “whisperlink” as one of our top keywords.
The traffic data was inaccurate as well and undercut the total traffic for the site by over 75%. So, there isn’t much of a comparison here between the two tools and while it’s an Ahrefs cheaper alternative, it doesn’t have any value if the data isn’t correct.
Pricing
| Plan | Ahrefs Pricing | Serpstat Pricing |
| Lite/Basic | $99/month | $59/month |
| Standard | $179/month | $119/month |
| Advanced | $399/month | $479/month |
| Agency | $999/month | Contact |
Serpstat offers a robust freemium option that should be enough to get you started which includes basic keyword research, link analysis, competitor research, and keyword trends. I wouldn’t recommend paying for this tool because of how inaccurate the data can be.
6. Monitor Backlinks
Pros
Backlink Tracking: Monitor Backlinks provides a comprehensive view of a website’s backlinks, allowing users to track new and lost links over time.
Competitor Backlinks: Users can analyze the backlinks of their competitors, gaining insights into their link-building strategies and identifying potential link opportunities.
Disavow Tool: The platform includes a disavow tool, enabling users to manage and disavow low-quality or harmful backlinks effectively.
Cons
Limited Features: Monitor Backlinks primarily focuses on backlink tracking and management, lacking some of the advanced features found in comprehensive SEO tool suites.
Keyword Limits: The platform has keyword tracking limitations, which may be a drawback for users with a large number of keywords to monitor.
Ahrefs vs. Monitor Backlinks
Monitor Backlinks is a tool that really excels in the backlink area. The goal of this tool is to help you find websites that can help you build links whether that’s through manual outreach, brand recognition, broken links, and so on.
As far as a dedicated link building tool goes, it’s hard to beat it. Not to mention the disavow tool which might be one of the only unique features you get with Monitor Backlinks.
You can do a lot of the same things you do with Ahrefs like reverse engineering your competitors, spying on their backlinks and keywords, and tracking keyword rankings over time. Of course, all of which you can do with Ahrefs so it’ll really come down to pricing.
Pricing
| Plan | Ahrefs Pricing | Monitor Backlinks Pricing |
| Lite/Basic | $99/month | $25/month |
| Standard | $179/month | $47.40/month |
| Advanced | $399/month | $89.91/month |
| Agency | $999/month | n/a |
Monitor Backlinks is a lot cheaper than Ahrefs, as it should be. It doesn’t offer as much and is definitely more useful as a backlink tool than an all encompassing SEO tool. There is a free trial so it’s worth giving it a shot.
7. SEO PowerSuite
Pros
All-in-One Solution: SEO PowerSuite includes multiple tools for keyword research, rank tracking, website audit, link building, and competitor analysis, providing a complete SEO solution in a single package.
No Monthly Subscription: Unlike many other SEO tools, SEO PowerSuite offers a one-time fee for the software license, eliminating the need for recurring monthly subscriptions.
Regular Updates: The software receives regular updates to ensure it stays up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and search engine algorithms.
Cons
Challenging to Use: This is a tough tool for people who don’t have a lot of experience. I wouldn’t recommend this as your first SEO tool.
Desktop Application: Since you’re actually purchasing the client, you get a desktop application which is a con for me, could be a pro for someone though.
Ahrefs vs. SEO Powersuite
SEO PowerSuite offers a more traditional desktop-based solution with a one-time fee, making it an appealing choice for some users seeking a long-term investment. It’s an interesting tool because it provides just about everything that Ahrefs offers including a rank track, Link Assistant, audit tool, and spyglass for backlink research.
I have to be honest, this looks like a powerful tool that actually provides accurate data along with a ton of features that you’d find in Ahrefs.
But again, the main thing you’re lacking is ease of use and simplicity. It is so hard to compete with Ahrefs in that area. Perhaps I’m biased because I’m used to Ahrefs? Who knows?
Another pretty big advantage of SEO PowerSuite is the branded reports. This feature makes this a great tool for agencies that want to look more professional. You can send reports to clients using all branded spreadsheets which can be really impressive.
Pricing
| Plan | Ahrefs Pricing | SEO PowerSuite Pricing |
| Lite/Basic | $99/month | $299 (one-time payment) |
| Standard | $179/month | – |
| Advanced | $399/month | – |
| Agency | $999/month | $499 (one-time payment) |
It’s hard to argue with a one-time payment desktop application in terms of price. You can’t compete with this and since you own it, you gain complete access to everything without limits. Unlimited websites, unlimited keywords, unlimited backlinks, unlimited SEO audits, and up to 400 projects at a time.
The only downside is you need to pay the $499 fee to get the branded reports without the watermarks. But again, it’s $500 one time which will quickly pay for itself.
Do I sound impressed? Because I am. If you prefer the idea of a desktop application that you only have to pay for once, this is a great Ahrefs alternative.
8. Majestic SEO
Pros
Backlink Analysis: Majestic SEO provides a vast and detailed backlink database, enabling users to explore link profiles, anchor texts, and referring domains with precision.
Trust Flow and Citation Flow: The unique Trust Flow and Citation Flow metrics help users gauge the quality and influence of a website’s backlink profile.
Historical Data: Majestic SEO offers historical link data, allowing users to analyze link growth over time and identify trends.
Competitor Analysis: Users can perform in-depth competitor analysis, comparing link profiles and discovering link-building opportunities.
API Integration: Majestic SEO offers API access for seamless integration into other SEO tools and platforms.
Cons
Focus on Backlinks: Majestic SEO primarily centers around backlink analysis, lacking some of the broader SEO features offered by other comprehensive SEO tool suites.
Learning Curve: New users may find the platform’s interface and terminology challenging to navigate initially.
Ahrefs vs. Majestic
Majestic has been around for a little while but it’s still a pretty great backlink reporting tool similar to Monitor Backlinks. The problem is, that’s about all it does.
You can explore backlink data and it’s almost more accurate and comprehensive than Ahrefs and SEMrush. The thing I like most about Majestic is the wide range of filters you get when sorting through backlinks for potential outreach.
If you stack the two side-by-side, there isn’t too much of a comparison because the tool is outdated, it looks outdated, and it’s not as easy to use even though it only does a fraction of what Ahrefs can do.
Pricing
| Plan | Ahrefs Pricing | Majestic SEO Pricing |
| Lite/Basic | $99/month | $49.99/month |
| Standard | $179/month | $99.99/month |
| Advanced | $399/month | $399.99/month |
| Agency | $999/month | n/a |
If you absolutely love the backlink research that Majestic allows you to do, it’s worth the $50 per month. The tool has a great index of information and can be highly beneficial for that.
But, I have to say. If you can afford it, just pay the extra $50 and get the basic Ahrefs plan because you’ll get a lot more features that you will need if you plan to create content and grow a website.
Final Thoughts
Well that’s it, these are the best Ahrefs alternatives. Did I miss any?
Ultimately, I don’t think there are any true alternatives to Ahrefs. I think it’s far above and beyond the best SEO tool on the market and most people would probably agree with me.
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