20 BEST Semrush Alternatives & Competitors (Free & Paid)-SEO

The best Semrush alternatives are Ahrefs, SE Ranking, and Mangools, according to my analysis. These competitors ranked in the top spots for alternative tools to try based on price, available features, and usefulness for conducting SEO research and website analysis.

I analyzed 21 alternatives to Semrush in both the free and paid software categories, with the ultimate goal of suggesting the best Semrush competitors that fit all needs and budgets to conduct SEO keyword research, track website rankings, perform backlink analysis, audit websites, and more. All tools were reviewed and fact-checked by the Editorial Staff.

Disclosure: This page includes affiliate links for a few of the alternative tools to Semrush. When you purchase a paid plan through some of these Semrush competitors, I may earn a commission.

Use this list as a jumping-off point to compare the top 10 alternatives or keep scrolling to get details for all 21 competitors.

Best Semrush Alternatives

• Ahrefs for backlink analysis, keyword research, and site auditing.
• SE Ranking for the best all-around SEO suite with more than 35 tools.
• Mangools for an inexpensive software that does five things well: keyword research, ranking tracking, backlink analysis, SERP analysis, and site profiling.
• Keysearch for the lowest monthly cost.
• CognitiveSEO for a content optimization tool similar to Semrush’s on-page SEO checker.
• Ahrefs Free SEO Tools for a wide variety of SEO analysis that can be done at no charge.
• Ubersuggest for offering free daily keyword searches per day, site auditing, and backlink analysis.
• Google Keyword Planner for conducting free keyword research.
• Google Search Console for analyzing technical SEO and measuring website performance in Google Search.
• SEO Powersuite for a free downloadable all-in-one toolkit.

Semrush Alternatives In Detail

1. Ahrefs

For many SEO professionals, Ahrefs is considered to be the top Semrush alternative on the market because it has many of the same features for SEO for a similar price point. Ahrefs costs $99 per month which is $30 cheaper than Semrush at $129 per month.

With Ahrefs, you can perform in-depth keyword research, ranking tracking, backlink analysis, competitor analysis, website audits, and more. And next to Semrush, Ahrefs has one of the largest databases you can use for SEO data analysis. Every 24 hours Ahrefs discovers 40 million new pages and updates SEO metrics for 400 million pages.

2. SE Ranking

SE Ranking is one of the leading SEO software tools for business owners, agencies, and SEO specialists for conducting all aspects of SEO analysis, competitor research, spotting technical SEO errors, and more. (SEO Chatter readers get an extended 30-day free trial using that affiliate link.)

What makes SE Ranking the best alternative to Semrush in my opinion is that it has one of the lowest prices in the industry ($55 per month or $528 per year on the annual plan) with a comparable set of 35+ SEO tools to Semrush.

The top features of SE Ranking include:

• On-page SEO checker
• Backlink gap analyzer
• Paid and organic keyword research
• Extensive competitor research
• Keyword rank tracking
• Content writing assisant
• Local SEO tools

You really have to see it to believe it. For less than half the price of both Semrush and Ahrefs, SE Ranking is an amazing option for website owners and SEO agencies who are looking for a high-quality tool on a budget. Therefore, I encourage you to try SE Ranking for FREE for 30 days using my special partner link above.

3. Mangools

Mangools is one of the best Semrush alternatives with the lowest price. You can try Mangools for FREE here. Plans start at $49 per month or $358.80 for the annual plan. With Mangools, you get access to a full suite of SEO tools to help you research, monitor, analyze, and track website optimizations. The full package includes software for keyword research, SERP analysis, backlink analysis, ranking tracking, and site profiling. See my complete Mangools review here if you want to learn more about it.

4. Keysearch

Keysearch is another good alternative to Semrush for an inexpensive price that you can try for free here. It costs $17 per month or $169 per year on the annual plan.

With Keysearch, you can do keyword research on multiple platforms like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Youtube, Pinterest, etc. You also get access to other important software for SEO like a rank tracker, backlink checker, website auditor, competitor analyzer, and a content writing assistant, which is similar to the Semrush SEO writing tool.

5. CognitiveSEO

CognitiveSEO is a suite of SEO tools for digital marketing agencies, small businesses, and solo website operators who are looking for online tools like Semrush. It costs $129.99 per month for the Starter Plan or $1,068 per year if paid annually with a 30% discount.

With CognitiveSEO, you get access to a content optimization tool (similar to Semrush on-page SEO checker), website auditor, backlink analyzer, ranking checker, keyword research tool, and more. One of the top features of CognitiveSEO is unnatural link detection. The software analyzes your incoming links on a real-time basis to warn you of bad backlinks that may cause a Google algorithm penalty so you can quickly disavow them.

6. Ahrefs Free SEO Tools

Ahrefs has a set of free SEO tools you can use if you don’t want to pay any money for search engine optimization software. What makes this one of the best free Semrush alternatives is that you get access to these powerful tools:

• Keyword generator
• Keyword difficulty checker
• Youtube keyword tool
• Amazon keyword tool
• Bing keyword tool
• SERP checker
• Keyword rank checker
• Backlink checker
• Broken link checker
• Website authority checker

7. Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is considered to be one of the best free tools like Semrush. However, you’ll need to set up a trial account to get access to all of the features. Free use of the tool is limited per day, but you can always upgrade to a paid account to unlock the daily limits. And if you like this software, make sure to check out this other list of Ubersuggest alternatives to compare it to the other top competitors.

8. Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool you can use within your Google Ads account (previously known as AdWords). This tool provides topic suggestions based on your seed keyword and reports important SEO data such as average search volume, cost-per-click (CPC), advertiser competition level, trend data, and more.

9. Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool by Google that gives you important insights into your website’s search traffic and crawling errors. It’s a must-have software for analyzing site traffic, seeing keyword performance, fixing issues, and receiving messages from Google.

10. SEO Powersuite

SEO Powersuite is an unbelievable tool for you to consider for Semrush. It consists of 4 free tools that cover every aspect of SEO, including keywords, rankings, backlinks, on-page and content data, mobile SEO, social media, analytics, and reports. You can use almost all of the functionalities free (forever) or pay $299 per year to get unlimited access to its top features. In my opinion, every serious digital marketer should have their own free copy of SEO Powersuite on their computer even if they pay for other search engine optimization software.

11. Longtail Pro

Next up on this list of Semrush alternatives is Longtail Pro, which is a popular competitor for SEO analysis, keyword research, SERP analysis, rank tracking, backlink analysis, and site auditing. Longtail Pro costs $59 .99 per month or $539.99 for the annual plan to save 25%.

More than 70,000 digital marketers prefer LongTail Pro as their favorite software to support their search engine optimization strategies. However, if you’re primarily looking for a top-rated tool for keyword research that rivals Semrush’s capabilities, then Longtail Pro is one of your best options online.

12. Majestic

Majestic is an SEO software tool that specializes in link analysis. What Majestic does so well is maps the Internet as a whole to bring you the link intelligence data you can use to dominate your market. Other SEO tools that report Citation Flow and Trust Flow get their data from Majestic.

Although Majestic is not 100% similar to Semrush—for example, Majestic lacks a keyword research tool and SEO content writing assistant—it does provide some of the most accurate data in the world for backlink analysis. Pricing starts at $49.99 per month.

13. Marketing Miner

Marketing Miner is a relatively new tool on the market that’s rising in popularity. It has a unique pricing structure that’s based on a credit system. You can choose the free plan with 1,000 credits per month, the basic Miner Plan for $29 per month for 100,00 credits, or set up a customized plan based on your monthly usage.

Marketing Miner is on this list of sites like Semrush because it offers 40+ features for search engine optimization and analysis. It has practically every type of tool you’d want for improving, tracking, and monitoring the SEO performance of your website or a client’s site.

14. Moz Pro

Moz Pro is another top competitor for Semrush and offers many similar tools. Moz Pro starts at $99 per month or $948 per year if paid annually. With Moz Pro, you can do endless amounts of SEO auditing, technical SEO analysis, link building research, SERP tracking, keyword discovery, competitor analysis, create custom reports, and more. It’s definitely worth a try if you want to try alternative websites like Semrush.

15. Raven Tools

Raven Tools is an all-in-one SEO analysis and reporting software that allows you to connect all of your SEO, marketing, and advertising data in one place. It costs $39 per month for the lowest plan or $468 if billed annually.

With Raven Tools, you can do any type of search engine optimization analysis you desire, including keyword research, backlink checking, site auditing, rank tracking, competitor research, link spying, etc. You can even connect to Google Data Studio for custom report visualizations.

16. Serpstat

Serpstat is an SEO tool that gives Semrush a good run for the money with more than 40 tools for SEO and PPC professionals. Plans start at $50 per month and include powerful features for website optimization, monitoring, analysis, and tracking. With Serpstat, you get access to advanced features like local tracking, keyword grouping, keyword gap analysis, PPC ad analysis, site auditing, backlink checking, text analysis, trend tracking, API integration, and more.

17. Similarweb

Similarweb is a top competitor for Semrush for people who want more granular data for their SEO strategies. It costs $125 per month for the Starter Plan when billed annually or $149 for a month-to-month subscription.

According to Similarweb, customers pick this tool over Semrush to:

• Analyze traffic share for a given keyword over time with fresh weekly data.
• Understand traffic channel mix across all channels for mobile and desktop.
• Discover keyword wins, losses, and opportunities over a given time period.
• Find and qualify referral, affiliate, and backlink opportunities by industry.
• Find top keywords by industry (or custom industry).
• Reveal downloads and daily/monthly average users of a competitor’s app.
• Identify high-converting marketing channels.

18. Spyfu

Spfyu is another popular site like Semrush for users who want access to SEO and PPC tools. The basic plan starts at $39 per month. With Spyfu, you get a complete SEO marketing suite, PPC analyzer, historic data, competitive analysis, backlink outreach tools, unlimited keyword & domain projects, custom reporting, and more.

19. Web CEO

Web CEO has 20+ pro-level SEO software tools to help you do better keyword research, run in-depth SEO audits, monitor backlinks, conduct safe link building and link detox, analyze social media metrics, do competitor research, and check keyword rankings. It costs $99 per month to manage 5 projects.

Web CEO is a fast-growing competitor for Semrush and is worth a try if you’re looking for an affordable tool with powerful features for search engine optimization and marketing analysis.

20. Google Trends

Google Trends is a good free alternative to Semrush that provides keyword data on specific search terms used on Google and YouTube. You can use it to discover trending topics, local search trends, and find related keywords that are growing in popularity. Google Trends also helps you avoid keywords that are losing popularity in search so you can make better decisions on which terms to target for your website content.

More Tools Like Semrush

If want to find more alternative tools like Semrush that offer good features for SEO research and analysis, then check out these other guides:

You can also check out my tutorial on How to Do Keyword Research With Semrush if you want to learn all the different ways Semrush enables you to do effective SEO keyword research.

And remember, you can also try Semrush for free for an extended 14 days using my partner link to compare it against the top competitors reviewed on this page.

Alternatives to Semrush Summary

I hope you enjoyed this guide on the best Semrush alternatives.

As you discovered, there are many top Semrush alternatives that are both free and paid tools you can use for SEO analysis, keyword research, rank tracking, backlink analysis, and other digital marketing measurements. Hopefully, you found the best alternative to Semrush for your needs and budget on this page. Each competitor has its pros and cons; however, they’re all good substitutes for Semrush if you’re looking for a similar site with comparable features.

Stephen Hockman is an entrepreneur and founder of SEO Chatter. He specializes in search engine optimization and digital marketing and has been fascinated with SEO since 2005. His goal is to share the best tips and news about search engine marketing to help you get more website traffic.