Semrush
SEO · www.semrush.com
Semrush is an SEO and AI search visibility platform offering keyword research, competitor analysis, rank tracking, site audits, content optimization, and AI brand visibility monitoring.
Switching to Ahrefs saves $1668 / year and covers 100% of the compared capabilities.
Find my alternative
Way less money.
Top Semrush alternatives
We compared 9 products and found 9 cheaper alternatives · vs Semrush SEO at $139/mo · scenario: single user, monthly billing, USD.
Semrush’s own free plan covers this scenario. If you’re paying for features you don’t use, downgrading beats switching. The paid comparison below is for when you’ve outgrown free tiers — the “Free plans” view shows alternatives if you want free with different limits.
Semrush costs $139/mo on the SEO plan at single user, monthly billing. We found 9 assessed alternatives that are cheaper in this scenario; 5 of them cover at least 75% of the 6 compared capabilities. The cheapest option that covers everything we compared is Ahrefs at $0/mo (Ahrefs Free plan), 100% less. Semrush's own free plan covers this scenario, so downgrading may beat switching.
| Product | Match | Price | Annual savings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Screaming Frog SEO Spider Paid Version (licence) plan · missing: Keyword research, Rank tracking, Competitor analysis, API access technical seo — adjacent | 33% | $16.58/mo how? ⓘ | $1469 / year 88% cheaper | |
TOP PICK Mangools Basic plan · missing: Site audit | 83% | $18.85/mo how? ⓘ | $1441.80 / year 86% cheaper | |
Ahrefs Starter plan | 100% | $29/mo how? ⓘ | $1320 / year 79% cheaper | |
LowFruits Standard plan · missing: Site audit, Backlink analysis, API access keyword research — adjacent | 50% | $29.90/mo how? ⓘ | $1309.20 / year 78% cheaper | |
Surfer Discovery plan · missing: Backlink analysis content optimization — adjacent | 83% | $49/mo how? ⓘ | $1080 / year 65% cheaper | |
Frase Starter plan · missing: Keyword research, Rank tracking, Competitor analysis content optimization — adjacent | 50% | $49/mo how? ⓘ | $1080 / year 65% cheaper | |
Writesonic Starter plan · missing: Keyword research, Rank tracking, Backlink analysis, Competitor analysis, API access ai search visibility — adjacent | 17% | $79/mo how? ⓘ | $720 / year 43% cheaper | |
SE Ranking Core plan · missing: API access | 83% | $129/mo how? ⓘ | $120 / year 7% cheaper |
Which Semrush alternative for which situation
Picked by the numbers in this scenario — same subtype unless stated, assessed products only.
- Best full coverage
- Ahrefs — $0/mo (Ahrefs Free plan) · covers 100%
- Best free plan
- Ahrefs — $0/mo (Ahrefs Free plan) · covers 100%
- Best open source or self-hosted
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider — $0/mo (Free Version plan) · covers 33%
- Best paid drop-in
- Mangools — $18.85/mo (Basic plan) · covers 83%
- Need keyword research, rank tracking, site audit, backlink analysis, competitor analysis or API access?
- Ahrefs — from $0/mo (Ahrefs Free plan)
What you give up
Capabilities Semrush has that the top alternatives lack.
- Keyword research — Research keywords and their search volume.Missing from Screaming Frog SEO Spider.
- Rank tracking — Track keyword rankings over time.Missing from Screaming Frog SEO Spider.
- Site audit — Scan a site for technical SEO issues.Missing from Mangools.
- Competitor analysis — Compare your site's SEO performance against competitors.Missing from Screaming Frog SEO Spider.
- API access — Pull SEO data programmatically via an API.Missing from SEO PowerSuite, Screaming Frog SEO Spider.
Feature comparison
Semrush vs the top alternatives, on the 6 compared capabilities.
| Capability | Semrush | Ahrefs | SEO PowerSuite | Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Mangools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword research | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Rank tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Site audit | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Backlink analysis | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Competitor analysis | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| API access | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Scenario price cheapest qualifying plan | $139/mo SEO | $0/mo Ahrefs Free | $0/mo Free | $0/mo Free Version | $18.85/mo Basic |
✓ means the product offers the capability — possibly only on a higher tier than the plan priced below it. The price row shows the cheapest plan that qualifies for our comparison scenario, with its plan name; a $0 free plan may not include every checked capability.
What Semrush covers
The capability set used for comparison. Grey entries are not available on self-serve plans.
- ✓ Keyword research
- ✓ Rank tracking
- ✓ Site audit
- ✓ Backlink analysis
- ✓ Competitor analysis
- ✓ API access
Price ladder
Observed prices from the official pricing page.
Sources
Every claim traces to an official source and a check date.
- https://www.semrush.com/prices/ (official_pricing, checked 2026-08-26)
- https://www.semrush.com/pricing/ (official_pricing, checked 2026-08-31)
Frequently asked
How much does Semrush cost?
Semrush's SEO plan costs $139/mo in our scenario (single user, monthly billing). A free plan exists.
Is there a free Semrush alternative?
Yes. Ahrefs has a free plan that covers 100% of the 6 capabilities we compared against Semrush.
What is the cheapest Semrush alternative?
In our scenario (single user, monthly billing), Ahrefs is the cheapest assessed alternative at $0/mo (Ahrefs Free plan).
What is the cheapest Semrush alternative with API access?
Ahrefs covers API access and costs $0/mo (Ahrefs Free plan) in our scenario.
Does Semrush have a free plan?
Yes. Semrush's free plan exists; its limits are not stated on the pricing page.
When were these prices checked?
Between 2026-08-26 and 2026-09-12, on the vendors' official pricing pages.