SEMrush and Ahrefs, two of the most popular SEO tools on the market. Which one is better? This post will take a brief look at either of the two to help you decide.
Best to best SEO tools is the demand of this age, and Semrush and Ahrefs bear the top two spots on the list.
Both are equally good, but which one is more appropriate for your needs is what I will help you with.
In this article, you will learn how each tool works, its pros and cons, and some practical advice on choosing between them. So without any further delay, let’s get started.
Summary
| SEO Tool Name | SEMrush | Ahrefs |
| Founded | August 3, 2008. | 2010 |
| Plan Start From | Its plans start from $119.95. | 99USD/month |
| Key Features | Content Review, Keywords, and phrase Search, Search Engine Presentation, Web Inspect, Reporting | Ahrefs’ Indexes, Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit |
| Website | Click Here | Click Here |
What is SEMrush?
SEMrush offers exceptional performance in the form of fast results and intuitive guidance for complex investigations.
The eagle-eyed user can take advantage of filtered reports, sorted by criteria, including traffic value, keywords, top websites, backlinks, etc.
While this information is quickly becoming more complex to decipher with each passing day, SEMrush provides you with the means to do so with the click of a button.
What is Ahrefs?
Ahrefs is an online tool that gives users access to extensive amounts of data about any website they choose.
This data includes BOTH keyword data and content analysis data.
The keyword data includes keyword ranking, organic traffic, organic keywords, total backlinks, and anchor texts.
The content analysis data consists of words on a page, URL rating, Twitter followers, and more.
Comparison of different features of Semrush and Ahrefs
| Key Features | SEMrush | Ahrefs |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword Research | Shows keywords with difficulty percentage | Shows keywords with backlink information. |
| Rank Tracking | Allows rank tracking with different location filters. | Allows rank tracking through four tabs. |
| Keyword Database | 20 Billion Keywords | 7 Billion keywords |
| Multiple Databases | Handles multiple databases | Single database at a time |
Price Comparison
| SEMrush | Ahrefs |
|---|---|
| Trial: $0 for one week | Trial: $7 for one week |
| Pro: $119.95/ month | Lite: $99/ month |
| Guru: $229.95/ month | Standard: $179/ month |
| Business: $449.95/ month | Advanced: $399/ month |
| Enterprise: (On-Demand) | Agency: $999/ month |
Which SEO Tool is Less Expensive?
Ahrefs has a reputation for being more expensive than other SEO tools on the market, so many people are inclined to automatically believe that SEMrush must be less costly because it’s one of the most popular.
That may have been true at one point, but SEMrush now offers a 7-day free trial which makes comparing their prices easy.
Both SEO tools also offer an annual subscription plan which makes their prices even more competitive.
In fact, because of the 7-day trial and the free version, SEMrush is one of the least expensive SEO tools on this list.
Detailed Comparison of Features
Keyword Research
SEMrush shows you the keyword difficulty by giving you the percentage number. The greater the percentage means, the higher the difficulty rating of the keyword.
It gives you a piece of detailed information about the difficulty, which helps your keyword research. It also allows you to manage your keyword list.
Ahrefs, on the other hand, has a lot of similar features for keyword research, which shows you keyword difficulty rating and lets you manage your keywords too.
But what gives Ahrefs the lead is that it also gives you the backlink information of the keywords.
Rank Tracking
SEMrush lets you track the progress of all the different keywords and different websites you want.
It will give you the daily report of the list of keywords you want to track.
It also lets you track the keywords in different locations and different languages. And it gives you the report in a PDF file.
However, Ahrefs has a specific dashboard for you to track the ranking of your keywords, sites, and competitors. It has four tabs with different bits of information.
The pages tab lets you track keywords by their related pages, the metrics tab lets you track everything you want, grossing tab lets you track the performance of the keywords from over a week to 90 days.
Lastly, the competitor tab lets you track the performance of your competitors.
Keyword Database
Ahrefs has 7 billion keywords from Google in its database; however, SEMrush has 20 billion keywords.
Multiple Databases
SEMrush can handle multiple databases simultaneously, while Ahrefs requires you to add each database separately by clicking the add button after creating a new database.
However, Ahrefs can manage up to 10,000 keywords. SEMrush only supports up to 100 keywords per campaign.
Pros and Cons of SEMrush Vs. Ahrefs
Pros and Cons Of SEMrush
Pros
- SEMrush provides a massive amount of information about any website. These include, but are not limited to, the number of pages, posts, topics on a given site.
- It provides you with a great quantity and quality of content.
- It also gives you social stats, including Alexa rank, Facebook likes, Twitter followers, Pinterest repins, etc.
- It gives you backlinks from the given site and links from sites that link to the site you’re researching.
Cons
- SEMrush’s keyword research tool is not as robust as that provided by Ahrefs. As a result, there can be some misspellings making their data less accurate.
- In addition, SEMRush may make misleading statements about your competitors. For example, they might say a website is using a specific keyword when in fact, it’s using a completely different one.
- Another disadvantage for SEMrush users is that there is no comparison feature built into the software to compare your results with other SEMRush users. So if you’re unsure which keywords are best suited to your use cases this can be quite an issue.
- SEMrush also has a blacklist which you will not be able to access. This is easily overcome by simply exporting the report to CSV and using other SEO tools.
Pros and cons Of Ahrefs
Pros
- Ahrefs gives you the ability to perform keyword research, content research, and backlink research. This allows you to determine your website or blog’s performance with greater accuracy.
- Their keyword data is very detailed, including search volume for different countries, while their backlink data includes details like anchor texts used for links
Cons
- Ahrefs doesn’t offer data for all websites in their keyword section.
- Their SEMrush‐like dashboard can be a little overwhelming and time‐consuming if you’re looking for a small piece of specific data like backlinks or backlink anchor text.
- A significant disadvantage of Ahrefs is their blacklists and restrictions on access to them. You can’t view who they’ve banned or why though I doubt they’d tell you even if you asked.
- You also can’t see your Ahrefs rankings for a given keyword.
SEMrush Vs. Ahrefs – Final Verdict
Ahrefs provides much deeper data, so it can be much more effective in many different situations.
It has a more significant number of features, and they’re easier to use too.
On the other hand, SEMrush is easier to use, offers more functionality, and has a more extensive range of reports for different needs.
In conclusion, it’s important to note that all SEO tools have their individual strengths and weaknesses.
It’s essential to look at all of the different tools to determine the best option for your company.
So if one tool is not doing what you need it to, try another. Both Ahrefs and SEMrush also provide their users with reliable customer service.
If you have any problems or questions, they have quick email response times.
Both companies have a large support forum available where you can get answers to common questions from other users or employees at the company.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which SEO Tool Can Handle Multiple Databases?
SEMrush can handle multiple databases simultaneously, while Ahrefs requires you to add each database separately by clicking the add button after creating a new database.
Which SEO Tool Can Handle Multiple Keywords?
Ahrefs can handle up to 10,000 keywords. SEMrush only supports up to 100 keywords per campaign.
Are Annual Plans More Beneficial?
Absolutely, annual plans save you a lot of money compared to monthly plans.
Both Ahrefs and SEMrush allow you to choose annual plans instead of monthly programs.
Amit Gupta is the creator of Keyword-Research.org
Amit is a keyword research guru. After completing his high school certification, Amit spent half a decade learning about different ways to do keyword research for SEO and PPC. Before forming Keyword-Research.org, Amit worked for top Keyword Research companies for more than 10 years. When Amit is not helping people with their keyword research, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends.
