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As an SEO agency, we’ve grown alongside Ahrefs, appreciating its depth and reliability.
But we also know that one size doesn’t fit all in SEO.
That’s why we’re diving into Ahrefs alternatives, not just to list them but to help you genuinely understand them.
This guide draws from our hands-on experience, comparing how different tools meet various SEO needs.
Whether you’re pondering a switch, adding a new keyword research tool to your toolbox, or just curious, we’re here to share honest, jargon-free insights to help you find the right fit for your SEO journey.
Why Look for Ahrefs Alternatives?
Ahrefs has amazing functionality, and it’s feature-packed with filters and options.
It also has an amazing AI assistant for keyword research, plus you can use it for different search engines that rule searches in other countries.
Ahrefs helps you discover short or long-tail keyword ideas, monitor backlinks, and find potential link-building partners.
You can also use Ahrefs for on-page SEO and even technical SEO.
However, here are the two most common reasons why SEOs look for Ahrefs alternatives:
- It’s among the most expensive on the market (and not just for premium plans; its monthly and annual plans are costly, too).
- Other SEO tools offer more specific functionalities, such as social media SEO, PPC, or technical SEO.
Tl;dr: Best Ahrefs Alternatives
- SEMrush: Similar to Ahrefs but with social media options
- Ubersuggest: Best free tool for content writing
- Majestic: Best for link-building
- Moz: Best for social media metrics
- SE Ranking: Best for AI-driven SEO features
- SpyFu: Best for PPC and competitor analysis
- Mangools: Best for small businesses
- Google Search Console: Widest keyword database
- Screaming Frog: Best for technical SEO
- WriterZEN: Good for SEO content creation
1. SEMrush: Similar to Ahrefs but with Social Media Options
SEMrush is particularly strong in organic keyword analysis and suggestions.
It offers a wide range of features, including a social media toolkit, useful for integrating social signals into content strategy.
Known for its comprehensive backlink profile analysis, Ahrefs also offers a wide range of advanced features, including keyword research, site audits, and more.
SEMrush vs. Ahrefs
While Ahrefs excels in backlink analysis, SEMrush is a solid keyword research tool with great online management capabilities.
SEMrush tends to be more detailed in its approach to keyword analysis, providing extensive keyword metrics and filters.
Ahrefs is more user-friendly, especially for those familiar with SEO tools, because you can see all the categories in the sidebar.
SEMrush also has a sidebar, but you must click on all these features to see more in-depth categories.
Here’s what Ahrefs shows for USA’s government’s website:
And now SEMrush:
Another Ahrefs strength is its backlink analysis, making it a valuable tool for link-building strategies.
You can see plenty of SEO metrics here.
You can also check out their comprehensive libraries of resources.
Both Ahrefs and SEMrush Academy offer solid info, though SEMrush boasts more diverse courses covering a wide range of niches.
That said, Ahrefs offers more affordable plans starting at $99/month, whereas SEMrush’s cheapest plan is $129.95/month.
Our Agency’s Experience
SEMrush is more expensive, but it’s a powerful SEO tool for comprehensive campaigns where you want detailed social media stats. C
onversely, Ahrefs is better for robust keyword searches, especially since they added their AI suggestions.
Just check the type of search terms you want; their AI will help you with a comprehensive list of keywords.
Like so:
And here are the results that you can use as seed keywords:
We also prefer Ahrefs for international SEO keyword research because it features more search engines (in case you didn’t know, Google is not the preferred search engine worldwide).
And you need to know where your target audience is performing their search queries to target them effectively.
2. Ubersuggest: Best Free Tool for Content Writing
Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest stands out with its simplicity and affordability, making it a popular choice for beginners and small businesses.
It offers essential SEO tools like keyword research, site audits, and backlink analysis.
You can even use it for generating AI content.
Plus, Neil Patel’s face is on every two other screens.
Compared to Ahrefs, Ubersuggest is more user-friendly and less intimidating for those new to SEO.
Here’s what its interface looks like:
Ubersuggest vs. Ahrefs
While Ahrefs is a more high-quality tool, offering detailed backlink analysis and a range of advanced features, Ubersuggest is more approachable for those starting out or with limited budgets.
It provides a straightforward, no-frills approach to SEO, which can be appealing to users who need basic functionalities without the complexity of tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush.
Unlike Ahrefs, you have a “content ideas” section that shows high-performing URLs for your topic.
You can even see how these perform on social media.
Basically, you can find popular content and profitable keywords to power up your social media management.
And the “Keyword visualization” category allows you to easily create topic clusters starting from one seed keyword.
Plus, it has a completely free version, albeit with limited features.
Ahrefs also has a free toolkit to assess your backlink profile, analyze different keyword ideas, or check specific search volumes.
You can even use this toolkit to find broken links.
That said, Ahrefs is more functional across different SEO needs, whereas Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest is best for getting content ideas and writing content.
Their most affordable price plan starts at $12 or $120 lifetime, whereas the most expensive Enterprise plan is $400 for lifetime access – the equivalent of four months with Ahrefs.
Our Agency’s Experience
Personally, I find Ubersuggest’s straightforward interface and clear data presentation helpful for quick insights and basic strategy development.
It’s great for initial research and understanding the broader SEO landscape, especially when working with clients new to SEO or with smaller projects.
Insider tip: Here’s a more in-depth article comparing SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Ubersuggest.
3. Majestic: Best for Link-Building
Majestic specializes in link analysis, offering detailed insights into backlinks and anchor texts.
It’s known for its unique metrics like Trust Flow and Citation Flow, which provide a deep dive into link quality and quantity.
Compared to Ahrefs, Majestic is more focused and advanced in link building, making it a go-to for in-depth backlink analysis.
All you need is one free check on their website to see what their dashboard looks like and how link-building-oriented it is:
Majestic vs. Ahrefs
Ahrefs offers a broader range of SEO tools, including keyword research, site audits, and strong backlink analysis.
Majestic, on the other hand, is more narrowly focused on backlink data.
It shines in providing detailed metrics about link profiles but lacks the wider SEO toolkit that Ahrefs provides.
Also, Majestic doesn’t have an Academy of courses like Ahrefs.
However, Majestic is almost twice more affordable, with pricing plans starting at $49.99/month.
Our Agency’s Experience
In my experience, Majestic’s focus on link analysis is unparalleled.
It’s extremely useful for targeted link-building strategies, offering insights that help identify high-quality link opportunities.
The Neighbourhood Checker particularly takes the cake because it shows websites sharing the same IP, which can help you uncover link farms.
The Experimental Tools set also uncovers practical link-building tools.
For instance, Mutual Links shows the links you share with other websites, whereas Typo Domain shows potential link opportunities you’ve missed because of typos:
However, for a more holistic SEO approach, including keyword research and site audits, I find Ahrefs more comprehensive.
4. Moz: Best for Social Media Metrics
Moz is well-regarded for its user-friendly interface and strong focus on on-page optimization, including its powerful site audits and keyword research tools.
It’s particularly praised for its MozBar, a browser extension that provides instant metrics on websites and search results.
Moz vs. Ahrefs
Compared to Ahrefs, Moz leans more towards on-page SEO, site audits, and keyword optimization.
It’s also a solid SEO tool to help you gauge your social media performance by analyzing different social metrics.
Plus, you can use the same functionality for your competitors.
However, Ahrefs is better in terms of keyword research and off-page SEO.
Moz isn’t great for profitable keywords with lower search volumes – which you’ll need, especially if you follow a low-hanging keyword strategy.
Also, both tools offer Academies with plenty of useful courses.
Another similarity is they share the same starting price of $99/month, though Moz tops this up with 24-hour online support and a 30-day free trial.
Our Agency’s Experience
I find Moz extremely helpful for on-page SEO and social media analysis.
Its ease of use is another big plus, especially when explaining SEO metrics to clients.
While Ahrefs is our go-to for comprehensive analysis, including link-building strategies, Moz is invaluable for detailed on-page and social media management.
Related: Majestic vs. Moz: Which One Should You Pick?
5. SE Ranking: Best for AI-driven SEO Features
SE Ranking emerges as a comprehensive SEO suite, notable for its balance of cost and functionality.
Unlike Ahrefs, it provides AI-powered tools like an On-Page SEO Checker, SERP Analyzer, and an AI writing assistant.
This suite is appreciated for its user-centric design, offering a seamless navigation experience and effective onboarding.
SE Ranking vs. Ahrefs
Compared to Ahrefs, SE Ranking has AI-driven features and a global keyword database covering 190 countries.
Its user interface is modern and straightforward, making data analysis and report customization more accessible.
While Ahrefs is renowned for its detailed backlink analysis and broad SEO toolkit, SE Ranking offers unique features like unlimited reporting, a lead generation widget, and white-label options.
These are all great options if you work for an SEO agency – and Ahrefs doesn’t offer them.
The local marketing tool will also help increase your local SEO rankings:
Besides, SE Ranking’s price starts at $42.5/month, and it has better ratings for ease of use and a 14-day free trial.
Our Agency’s Experience
I’ve found SE Ranking’s AI tools and expansive keyword database exceptionally helpful in spotting new keyword opportunities and refining SEO strategies.
Its flexibility in pricing and inclusion of daily ranking updates without extra charges make it a cost-effective alternative, especially for growing businesses.
6. SpyFu: Best for PPC and Competitor Analysis
SpyFu has become a notable platform for keyword research and competitor analysis, especially in PPC.
Its standout feature is advanced competitor analysis, making it a top choice for understanding competitors’ strategies over time. However, its focus on PPC might be less appealing if you’re primarily interested in SEO.
For example, SpyFu shows you Google Ads Buy Recommendations for a specific seed keyword, successful advertisers and their best ads, plus current ads:
Of course, you can also see organic search results once you introduce a relevant keyword, along with similar keywords, questions, and other suggestions.
The left-side bar shows useful stats like monthly searches, estimated clicks, organic traffic source, and keyword difficulty.
SpyFu vs. Ahrefs
While Ahrefs provides extensive backlink data and a broader SEO toolkit, SpyFu excels in competitor PPC strategy analysis.
Its technical and on-page optimization tools are not as developed as Ahrefs, but its user-friendly interface and affordability make it a viable option for budget constraints.
Here’s what its dashboard looks like, and notice how neatly organized all the categories are in the left sidebar:
Another difference is that SpyFu has an AI content writer, which you can use right from their app.
The pricing is $39/month, whereas Ahrefs’ cheapest plan is $49/month.
Our Agency’s Experience
I appreciate SpyFu for its competitor analysis and valuable insights into PPC.
This SEO software is particularly useful for understanding market trends and competitors’ ad strategies.
However, for comprehensive SEO tasks, including backlink analysis and technical SEO, Ahrefs remains our primary tool.
7. Mangools: Best for Small Businesses
Mangools, tailored for small businesses, stands out with its user-friendly design and affordable pricing.
It provides essential SEO features like keyword research and backlink analysis but has a limited database size and lacks features like site speed analysis or technical audits.
Mangools vs Ahrefs
Mangools differs from typical SEO suites by comprising five distinct tools rather than a set of integrated features.
This structure, while offering solid functionality, can be less efficient, requiring multiple steps to switch between tasks like keyword and backlink analysis.
Basically, you’ll have to hover over “SEO tools” and choose between these options:
Although its individual tools are competent, they don’t match the comprehensive features of Ahrefs, especially in backlink analysis, where Ahrefs boasts extensive filters and detailed metrics.
Here’s what its keyword analysis tab looks like for “SEO agency:”
The good part is that you can find related keywords, autocomplete with other suggestions, or find questions.
If you do international SEO for your global brand, you can easily change language and location without starting the search from scratch.
Ahrefs doesn’t allow you to do that.
However, Ahrefs has more filters and shows you more competitor data for each keyword, allowing you to see in-depth SERP and keyword metrics, as well as referencing domains.
While SpyFu is more affordable at $29/month and has significant cost savings on annual plans, the trade-off in functionality and ease of use compared to Ahrefs may not be worthwhile if you can afford a more comprehensive tool.
You also have a 10-day free plan to check this tool’s functionality and see if it aligns with your SEO needs.
Our Agency’s Experience
In our practice, Mangools has been a useful tool for basic SEO tasks and clients with limited budgets.
Its straightforward design is helpful for quick insights.
However, Ahrefs’ extensive feature set remains our preferred choice for more complex, detailed SEO strategies.
8. Google Search Console: Widest Keyword Database + Traffic Analytics
Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that offers valuable insights into your website’s performance in Google search results.
It’s particularly useful for tracking actual search traffic, understanding how users find your site, and identifying issues affecting your search performance.
GSC vs. Ahrefs
While GSC provides detailed data on search performance, Ahrefs excels in backlink analysis and keyword research.
Ahrefs offers more extensive and diverse data for backlink tracking and keyword opportunities, including search volume and keyword difficulty, which GSC does not.
However, GSC gives a more accurate reflection of real-time search performance and rankings as it aggregates data over time from various locations.
It also has a better keyword database because it’s owned by Google, so it has 36% more keywords than Ahrefs, SEMrush, and MOZ combined.
Plus, many SEOs suspect that GSC “hides” certain keywords.
Google Search Console may have a steeper learning curve, but it integrates with Google Analytics (which Ahrefs does not) and has plenty of resources to learn how to use it.
Our Agency’s Experience
In our agency, we use both tools complementarily.
GSC is indispensable for understanding how our clients’ websites perform in actual search results, offering insights that help us refine SEO strategies.
However, for comprehensive backlink analysis and exploring new keyword opportunities, we rely on the depth of data provided by Ahrefs.
9. Screaming Frog: Best for Technical SEO
Screaming Frog is a website crawler designed for detailed technical SEO audits.
It excels in analyzing website structure, content, and links, and identifying technical SEO issues.
This tool is particularly useful for in-depth analysis of a site’s technical health, so you can use it to find:
- Broken links
- Redirects
- Duplicate content
- Robots and directives
You can also generate XML sitemaps or collect data with XPath.
Screaming Frog vs. Ahrefs
Screaming Frog specializes in technical SEO audits, with a focus on website crawling and analysis.Its interface is straightforward, facilitating detailed technical SEO reports.
Besides, Ahrefs offers a comprehensive suite, including keyword research, backlink analysis, and content optimization, with a more complex interface catering to a wide range of functionalities.
Price-wise, Screaming Frog has a free version for limited use and a paid version at $259/year for unlimited crawling.
Ahrefs starts at $99/month with various plans.
Each tool’s strengths depend on specific SEO needs, whether technical audits or broader SEO strategy development.
Our Agency’s Experience
We find Screaming Frog invaluable for technical SEO analysis, particularly when conducting in-depth site audits.
However, for a more holistic view of SEO, encompassing keyword strategy, backlink profiling, and competitive analysis, we rely on Ahrefs.
10. WriterZEN: Good Keyword Research Tool for SEO Content Creation
WriterZEN is a content creation tool, focusing on content optimization and keyword research.
It’s geared towards content creators and marketers, offering tools for finding topic ideas, optimizing content for SEO, and researching long-tail keyword ideas.
You can also use its keyword planner, content writing tool, and plagiarism checker.
However, WriterZen has limited features.
You can't use it to monitor backlinks like Ahrefs and SEMrush.
You can't use it with Google Analytics or spy on your competitor backlinks.
WriterZEN vs. Ahrefs
WriterZen and Ahrefs differ significantly in their functionalities and user experience.
WriterZen focuses on content creation and SEO, offering features like keyword research, content analysis, and a user-friendly interface, especially for beginners.
The Wildcard feature is great if you have writer’s block, and the plagiarism checker helps avoid potential legal issues.
When you do keyword research with WriterZEN, you can see useful data like keyword volume, difficulty, and CPC.
The “Golden Filter” option is unique to this tool; all you have to do is click on multiple relevant keywords, and WriterZEN will show you search terms with higher ranking potential.
Plus, the “Forecast” option allows you to estimate your ROI based on a specific list of keywords.
However, Ahrefs shows detailed competitor info, so digital marketers can gauge if they can genuinely rank for certain search terms.
Ahrefs is also an all-in-one SEO toolkit, more complex and suitable for experienced users, providing comprehensive tools including backlink profile analysis and site auditing.
While WriterZen emphasizes content optimization and simplicity, Ahrefs offers depth in SEO analysis and a broader range of features.
The choice between them depends on specific needs, with WriterZen being more accessible for content-focused tasks and Ahrefs excelling in overall SEO strategy and advanced analysis.
WriterZen’s prices start at $23/month, which is considerably cheaper than Ahrefs.
However, you’d need to fork out $119/month to leverage its full functionality, which is no longer a perk.
Our Agency’s Experience
WriterZEN’s content optimization features are solid for content-focused SEO strategies and robust keyword ideas.
However, Ahrefs, with its diverse toolset, remains our go-to for comprehensive SEO analysis and strategy development.
Wrapping Up
This article took you through an in-depth comparison of various SEO tools, offering valuable insights from our agency’s perspective.
Each tool we discussed comes with its own set of strengths and capabilities.
So, consider your SEO goals before choosing.
Whether you are a small business owner, a digital marketing agency, or an SEO professional, there’s a tool that can cater to your needs.
However, a tight budget might prevent you to invest in multiple SEO tools or the time to master their intricacies.
That’s where we can step in.
Our team specializes in SEO management that can significantly boost your search engine rankings.
We also offer white-label services so your clients can receive top-notch SEO services while you focus on your core business.
So, let’s book a free strategy call and make a plan to improve your online visibility and skyrocket your organic traffic.
