Ahrefs vs Semrush

• 7documented differences
• 8documented the same for both
• 4documented for one tool only
• 1unknown for both

Billing

Ahrefs: Month-to-month billing

Semrush: Month-to-month billing

Free plan

Ahrefs: Yes · Ahrefs Free

Semrush: Yes · Free

Free trial

Ahrefs: No

Semrush: Yes · 7 days

AI engines tracked

Ahrefs: ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Copilot (plan not specified)

Semrush: ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity and Gemini (confirmed from Starter)

Documented differences

Both tools documented, and the support or plan differs.

Documented for one tool only

No documentation was found for the other tool. That is unknown, not a missing capability.

• Unknown for Ahrefs: Backlink building, Link-building outreach

• The lowest listed plans are not necessarily equivalent. Check plan limits before comparing prices.

Plans

Ahrefs:

• Ahrefs FreeFree
  Limits of Ahrefs Free

  Requires verifying ownership of your website for Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics; Site Audit 5K crawl credits/month per project; 1K backlinks & keywords visible at once.

• Starter$29/mo month-to-month
  Limits of Starter

  Listed separately from the core plans.

• Lite$129/mo month-to-month
  Limits of Lite

  5 non-verified projects, 6 months history, 750 tracked keywords, 150 AI prompt checks, 100,000 crawl credits. Annual price not listed. 1 user included; up to 2 more at $40/mo each.

• Standard$249/mo month-to-month$2,490/yr billed annually
  Limits of Standard

  20 non-verified projects, 2 years history, 2,000 tracked keywords, 300 AI prompt checks. 1 user included; up to 5 more at $60/mo each.

• Advanced$449/mo month-to-month
  Limits of Advanced

  50 non-verified projects, 5 years history, 5,000 tracked keywords, 600 AI prompt checks. Annual price not listed. 1 user included; up to 10 more at $80/mo each.

• Enterprise · annual commitment$1,499/mo billed annually
  Limits of Enterprise

  Annual commitment required (monthly-equivalent price shown). Uncapped API access, custom API endpoints, SSO, unlimited history. From 3 users included; additional users $100/mo each.

Semrush:

• FreeFree
  Limits of Free

  1 demo project, 10 reports per day.

• SEO$139/mo month-to-month$117.33/mo billed annually
  Limits of SEO

  5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily, 'Basic keyword research and competitor analysis'. Lists AI visibility reports and custom prompt monitoring, with no prompt limit stated; the plan is not labelled 'SEO + AI Search'. 1 user seat included; additional users from $45/mo.

• Starter$199/mo month-to-month$165.17/mo billed annually
  Limits of Starter

  Semrush One tier. 5 websites, 500 keywords daily, 50 AI prompts daily, 1 domain for AI brand performance. 1 user seat included; additional users $45/mo each, plus $99/mo per added user for AI Visibility Toolkit access.

• Pro+$299/mo month-to-month$248.17/mo billed annually
  Limits of Pro+

  Semrush One tier. Adds historical SEO data, content optimization, multi-location/device tracking, 100 AI prompts daily. 1 user seat included; additional users $80/mo each, plus $99/mo per added user for AI Visibility Toolkit access.

• AdvancedContact sales — Custom pricing
  Limits of Advanced

  40+ websites, 5,000+ keywords daily, SEO share of voice, 'Advanced API data integration'. 1 user seat included; additional users $100/mo each, plus $99/mo per added user for AI Visibility Toolkit access.

Prices last verified

Ahrefs: 26 Oct 2026

Semrush: 26 Oct 2026

Google Analytics

Ahrefs: Unknown

Semrush: Documented

Google Search Console

Ahrefs: Documented

Semrush: Documented

Looker Studio

Ahrefs: Documented

Semrush: Listed* (not yet verified)

Public API

Ahrefs: Documented

Semrush: Listed* (not yet verified)

Wix

Ahrefs: Unknown

Semrush: Documented

WordPress

Ahrefs: Unknown

Semrush: Documented

Zapier

Ahrefs: Unknown

Semrush: Documented

“Unknown” means we found no vendor documentation for it, not that it is unavailable.

Built for (vendor-stated)

Ahrefs: Small businesses, Freelancers and consultants, Enterprises, Agencies, Ecommerce brands

Semrush: Freelancers and consultants, Small businesses, Agencies, Enterprises, Ecommerce brands

Best suited for (SEOFinder editorial)

Ahrefs:

• Competitor research on paid plans.
• Teams tracking up to a few thousand keywords (750 on Lite, 5,000 on Advanced).

Semrush:

• Teams managing several websites (5 on SEO and Starter, 15 on Pro+).
• Competitor research in organic search.

Each vendor's own pages, read on the dates shown. SEOFinder has not independently tested these products.