It’s 2022 and blogging these days is more competitive than ever. According to one estimate, there are more than 600 million blogs available on the internet and this number is growing by hundreds and thousands every day.
So, if you want to compete with these blogs and affiliate websites, manual tactics won’t work and you will need a specialized SEO tool to help you with SEO and other aspects. When it comes to SEO Tools, SEMRush and Ahrefs are two of the most popular SEO tools which can give you a lot of information about your competitors and the keywords you want to rank.
If you will manually compare these two tools, it will consume a lot of your time that’s why we decided to do it for you and write a comprehensive comparison guide that will make it easier for you to pick the right tool for you. In this guide, we will compare SEMrush and Ahrefs and will tell you which free version is better to use.
So, without any further ado, let’s get started.
SEMRush vs Ahrefs: Quick Introduction
In this section, we will give you a quick introduction to SEMrush and Ahrefs.
SEMRush Quick Introduction
Let’s start with SEMRush. SEMRush is a popular all-in-one marketing platform that was launched back in 2012. It was the first company of its kind which allowed businesses to use a competitive research service for online marketing. Later on, the company added a lot of new tools to its arsenal and hence it became an all-in-one marketing platform.
Using SEMRush, you can do keyword research, find details of backlinks, spy on your competitors, track keywords, top pages of your competitors, and more. The company is also known for having one of the biggest databases of keywords with over 20 billion keywords in the database.
Ahrefs Quick Introduction
On the other hand, Ahrefs was launched as a Backlink Analysis tool in 2011. For the first few years, Ahrefs focused on backlink analysis and but as competition grew, the company added a lot of new features to its arsenal.
Ahrefs in 2022 comes with a lot of tools for finding keywords, tracking keywords, analyzing backlinks, competing pages, competing domains, and more. When it comes to keyword database, Ahrefs have over 7 billion keywords in its database.
SEMRush vs Ahrefs: Dashboard User Interface Comparison
As a user, you will spend a lot of time using your SEO Tool and it’s very important that the tool you are using should have an intuitive User Interface. In this section, we will compare the Dashboard User Interface of SEMRush and Ahrefs and tell you which one is more organized and intuitive for users.
Let’s start with Ahrefs Dashboard which comes with a very minimalistic panel. The dashboard comes with two menus with the primary horizontal menu on the top and the secondary menu on the left side.
On the other hand, SEMRush takes a different approach and it provides all the features of the primary menu which you will find on the left side of the screen. The good thing about the SEMRush dashboard is that it’s more intuitive and beginners friendly as compared to Ahrefs Dashboard.
Verdict: Overall, both tools come with well-organized and intuitive dashboards but we liked the SEMRush dashboard more because of its intuitiveness.
SEMRush vs Ahrefs: Keyword Research
Let’s take our comparison to the technical side and let’s discuss the keyword research tool of SEMRush and Ahrefs.
Keyword Research is one of the key features of both SEO tools and both of them offer tons of information about the keywords which you can use to rank your website on Google.
In SEMRush, you can do keyword research using the “Keyword Overview” tool and in Ahrefs, you can use “Keyword Explorer” to find details of keywords.
In SEMRush, when you do keyword research using the Keyword Overview tool, it provides the following information.
- Keyword Volume
- Keyword Difficulty in Percentage
- Global Volume with additional details of Keyword Volume in different countries.
- Intent
- Keyword Results
- Trend Graph
- CPC (Cost per Click), PLA (Product Listing Ad), and Ads Details.
- Keyword Variations
- Question
- Related Keywords
- SERP (Search Engine Results Page) Analysis with complete details of Backlinks, Referring Domains, and Search Traffic.
- PLA Copies and Keyword Ad History
On the other hand, Ahrefs Provide the following information when you use its Keyword Explorer tool for keyword research.
- Keyword Difficulty with details of backlinks you will need to get into the top 10.
- Search Volume with additional details of Clicked and Not clicked results.
- Details of paid and organic traffic with CPC Details.
- Global Volume
- Parent Topic
- SERP Position History Graph
- SERP Overview with information on Backlinks, Domains, Traffic, Keywords, Top Keywords, and Volume.
Overall, both tools provide tons of information regarding the keywords but in terms of overall quality, we think that Ahrefs has a better keyword research tool because it provides the exact number of backlinks you will need to get into the top 10 which is very crucial information. SEMRush currently doesn’t have this feature which gives a great edge to Ahrefs over SEMRush.
Verdict: Ahrefs and SEMRush have great keyword research tools but Ahrefs wins because it provides the exact number of backlinks you will need to get into the top 10 SERPs.
SEMRush vs Ahrefs: Backlink Analysis
Backlink Analysis is a very important process of reviewing a website’s backlinks which provides critical information which you can use to surpass your competitors on a search engine. Being all-in-one SEO Tools, both SEMrush and Ahrefs comes with a comprehensive backlink analysis tool that provides a lot of information on Backlinks.
When it comes to SEMRush, the platform has a “Backlink Analytics” tool for reviewing Backlinks. In this tool, you will need to enter the URL of your website or your competitor’s website and it will provide all the useful information such as:
- Authority Score
- Referring Domains
- Number of Backlinks
- Monthly Visits
- Outbound Domains
- Overall Toxicity Score
- Referring Domains and Backlinks Graphs
- New and Lost Referring Domains Graph
- New and Lost Backlinks Graph
- Top Anchors
- Categories of Referring Domains
- Referring Domains by Authority Score
- Backlink Types
- Link Profile Distribution
- Top Pages
On the other hand, you will find the Backlinks Analysis tool of Ahrefs in the Site Audit Section. In this tool, you will get detailed information on Backlinks. Also, it comes with various filters which you can use to refine your search. On the left side, you will also find additional tools which will provide information on Broken Backlinks, referring domains, Anchors, Referring IPs, and more.
Verdict: Overall, SEMRush and Ahrefs, both have excellent backlink analysis tools and both provide detailed information on Backlinks. In this head-to-head comparison, we have a tie here because both tools are equally good.
SEMRush vs Ahrefs: Competitor Research
If you want to rank your website on a search engine, it’s important that you have information about your competitors and for that, both SEMRush and Ahrefs offer competitor Research Tool.
In SEMRush, you will find a dedicated section for competitive research where you will find tools that you can use to review the websites of your competitors. In the Domain Overview section, you can enter the domain of your competitor and it will provide all the information about your competitor’s website. It shows the following information.
- Authority Score
- Organic and Paid Search Traffic
- Backlinks
- Organic and Paid Traffic Distribution by Country
- Organic and Paid Traffic Graph
- SERP Features
- Organic Keywords
- Top Organic Keyword
- Organic Position Distribution
- Keywords by Intent
- Branded Traffic Trend
- Branded vs Non-branded Traffic
- Main Organic Competitors
- Competitive Positioning Mapping
- Advertising Data
- Backlinks Details including Backlink Types, follow vs nofollow, etc.
- Top Anchors
- Referring Domains
- Indexed Pages.
- On the left menu, you will also find additional tools which you can use to analyze traffic, organic research, keyword gap, and backlink gap.
In Ahrefs, the competitor research tool is known as “Site Explorer” and you can start the competitive analysis by entering the domain of your competitor. Once you enter the keyword, it will show the following information.
- Ahrefs Rank
- UR and DR Score
- Backlinks
- Referring Domains
- Organic Keyword
- Organic Traffic
- Traffic Value
- Backlink Profile with a dynamic graph of referring domains and referring pages.
- Organic Search with a dynamic graph of organic traffic and organic keywords.
- Paid Search with details of your competitors.
The tool also comes with a menu on the left side where you can find more data such as Referring domains, Anchors, Referring IPs, Organic Keywords, Top Pages, and more
Verdict: SEMrush and Ahrefs, both have equally good tools for competitor research and both of them provide useful information which you can use to surpass your competitors. In this head-to-head tool comparison, we have a tie here.
SEMRush vs Ahrefs: Unique Features
In the above sections, we discussed the features which are common in both tools but SEMRush also comes with some additional features which give it an edge over Ahrefs.
In SEMRush, you will find the following additional tools
- Local SEO Tool – In this Tool, you can manage your listings, review them, and track their positions.
- Advertising – In this section, you will find the dedicated tool for market analysis, ad tracking, social media ads, and keyword research.
- Social Media – In the Social Media section, you will find tools to post on social media and track different aspects including Ads.
- Content Marketing – In the Content Marketing section, you will find tools for topic research, SEO Writing Assistant, Brand Monitoring, and Post Tracking.
Verdict: SEMRush comes with additional useful tools which you won’t find on Ahrefs and it gives an edge to SEMRush over Ahrefs.
SEMRush vs Ahrefs: Which free version is better?
Offering a free plan or trial allows users to test the platform and see if it fits their needs. When it comes to Ahrefs, the company used to offer a trial plan. Initially, it was $1 for 7 days, and later on, they converted it to $7 for 7 days. However, the company decided to stop offering trials and as of now, Ahrefs doesn’t offer any trial plan and you will need to get the regular plan if you want to use the service.
On the other hand, SEMRush offers a very generous free plan which you can use to test the platform. The free account comes with 10 daily keyword position tracking and 10 analytics reports per day. The great thing about SEMRush’s free plan is that it doesn’t restrict access to features of the platform but it will limit the data you pull. Overall, SEMRush free plan is an excellent option for users and allows them to check all the features without paying a single penny.
On top of the free plan, if you want to get full access to all features and data, you can get a 7-day trial on premium plans and if you don’t like the platform, you can always cancel your subscription during your trial plan.
Verdict: In this head-to-head comparison, SEMRush is the clear winner here because it offers a better free plan. Ahrefs should offer a free plan or paid trial for its users.
SEMRush vs Ahrefs: Price Comparison
Now that you know about the features of both platforms, let’s compare the prices of both platforms and see which one offers better value for money.
SEMRush Price Comparison
When it comes to SEMRush, the platform offers three plans.
- Pro Plan – It will cost you $119.95 on monthly basis and $99.95 on yearly basis.
- Guru Plan – It will cost you $229.95 on monthly basis and $191.62 on yearly basis.
- Business Plan – It’s the top-tier plan which will cost you $449.95 on monthly basis and $374.95 on yearly basis.
Here’s the complete information of features you get in these plans.
| Plans | Pro | Guru | Business |
| Number of Projects | 5 Projects | 15 Projects | 40 Projects |
| Number of Keywords per track | 500 | 1,500 | 5,000 |
| Results per Report | 10,000 | 30,000 | 50,000 |
| Features | · Competitor Analysis · Keyword Research · Website Audit · Advertising and social media Tools | · All Features in Pro Plan · Content Marketing Toolkit · Historical Data · Multi-location · Device Tracking GDS Integration | · All features of Pro and Guru Plan · Extended Limits · Access to API · PLA Analytics Migration from third-party tools |
Ahrefs Price Comparison
Ahrefs comes with 4 different plans
- Lite – The Lite plan will cost you $99 on monthly basis and $83 on yearly basis.
- Standard – The standard plan comes with a price tag of $199 per month and it will cost you $166 on yearly basis.
- Advanced – The Advanced plan starts at $399 on monthly basis and $333 on yearly basis.
- Enterprise – The Enterprise plan is the top-tier plan and it will cost you $999 on monthly basis. If you get it on yearly basis, it will cost you $833 per year.
Here are the complete brief details of features you get with different plans.
| Plans | Lite | Standard | Advanced | Enterprise |
| Features | SEO Dashboard Site Explorer Keywords Explorer Site Audit Rank Tracker Alerts | All features of Lite Plan History of 6 months Position history chart SERP Updates Site Explorer Content Explorer Mentions Alerts Domain Comparison Batch Analysis | All features of the Standard Plan History of 2 Years Site Explorer Google Data Studio Dashboard Folders | All Features of Advanced Plan Unlimited History Access Management Pay by Invoice feature Directory Listing. |
In the Above Tables, you can see all the features you get with different plans of both companies. However, if you observe closely, you will notice that SEMRush offers most of its key features with its basic plan and the other plans only come with additional features and access to more data. But, in the case of Ahrefs, you will see that the basic plan comes with limited features and you will get more features with premium plans.
In a nutshell, SEMRush offers access to almost all of its features at a low price as compared to Ahrefs and you get better value for money.
SEMRush vs Ahrefs: Winner?
SEMRush and Ahrefs are two great SEO tools and both of them have their pros and cons. However, if we evaluate both tools in terms of the whole package, we think that SEMRush has a clear edge over Ahrefs and it’s a better SEO Tool overall. So, SEMRush is the clear winner here. If you are looking for an all-in-one SEO Tool with tons of useful features, you can’t go wrong with SEMRush.
FAQs
Which free version is better to use SEMRush or Ahrefs?
Ahrefs doesn’t offer any free plan and on the other hand, SEMRush offers a very generous free plan which allows you to use most of its features for free. So, SEMRush has a better free version.
Do you need both Ahrefs and SEMRush?
Ahrefs and SEMRush offer access to a wide range of data which is the reason why many people prefer using both tools but, in our opinion, it’s an overkill. Normally, you won’t need both tools and you can get all the information you need using any of these two tools.
Is SEMRush worth it?
Yes, SEMRush is an excellent SEO Tool and it offers real value for money with its plans as compared to other tools such as Ahrefs.
Which tool is easier to use SEMRush or Ahrefs?
Both SEO Tools come with a well-organized user interface but SEMRush has a slightly better and more intuitive user interface which makes it easier to use.
Which tool is more affordable SEMRush or Ahrefs?
SEMRush plans start at $119.95 per month and Ahrefs plans start at $99 per month. However, when it comes to value for money, SEMRush offers better plans as compared to Ahrefs.