Tools are a must part of digital marketing, and from auditing to track, you need tools to keep things on track. Ahrefs is one of the popular online marketing tools and is widely used by marketers across the world.
However, it is a paid tool, and its basic plan starts from $99/month. Even this tool’s 7-day trial costs you $7.
You don’t want to pay such an amount for the features Ahrefs provides?
Here are the top 7 affordable Ahrefs alternatives that will provide you with competitive features at comparatively less cost.
- Top 7 Cost Effective Ahrefs Alternatives
- 1. SEMrush
- 2. Mangools
- 3. UberSuggest
- 4. Majestic SEO
- 5. SERPSTAT
- 6. Moz Pro
- 7. SpyFu
- Conclusion
Top 7 Cost Effective Ahrefs Alternatives
1. SEMrush
SEMrush costs you the same as Ahrefs, then how is it affordable than Ahrefs?
SEMrush and Ahrefs are almost similar tools with imitating features, but there are some areas where SEMrush gives better value than Ahrefs.
Like, if we consider Keyword Research, then both the tools provide great data, but SEMrush offers more detailed content, which can be helpful in a foolproof SEO strategy.
Moreover, SEMrush also gives you vast data on PPC keywords, which isn’t possible with Ahrefs.
The site audit feature of SEMrush is also better than the Ahrefs and gives you more valuable insights and actionable advice.
SEMrush also expanded its link index and can crawl more backlinks of your site than Ahrefs. So, SEMrush has the upper hand in backlink research as well.
Hence, you can get more value with SEMrush, as compared to Ahrefs. Even Brian Dean of Backlinko agrees on the same.
So, more value in the same cost can be considered as cost-effective and makes it a perfect Ahrefs alternative.
SEMrush Features
- Keyword Research
- On-page SEO
- Competitor Analysis
- Content Marketing
- Local SEO
- Rank Tracking
- Social Media Management
- Link Building
- Competitor SEO Analysis
- Content Creation and Distribution
- Content Optimization
- Content Marketing Analytics
- Market Analysis
- Paid Advertising
- Competitor PR Monitoring
- PPC Keyword Research
- Website Monetization
SEMrush Pricing
The cost of SEMrush starts at $99.95 per month. This plan has a daily limit of 3000 reports and a project limit of 5. It also lacks historical data, product listing advertisements, multitargeting, and other features.
If you’re a blogger or freelancer, this plan will suffice. Higher plans, such as Guru or Business, are best for agencies.
You will receive a 17 percent discount if you choose annual billing.
SEMrush offers a 30-day free trial with full access to all features. Ahref doesn’t provide any free trial, and its basic plan also costs the same as SEMrush. However, as mentioned earlier, SEMrush provides more value than Ahrefs.
SEMrush Pros and Cons
Pros
- It’s generally simple to use.
- Semrush makes domain analysis and another research simple since it puts everything in one place and displays it in a simple form.
- Despite the fact this tool delivers a vast amount of data, Semrush’s interface is logically laid out to make things easy to understand and operate.
- Its site auditing tool provides you with an actionable set of guidelines so that you can make tangible changes to your site easily.
- Semrush provides both PPC and Organic search data.
- Semrush is more flexible in comparison to its competitors when it comes to the number of reports you can fetch per day.
Cons
- Semrush subscriptions only provide one user account, and adding more seats is costly.
- Broken link construction on Semrush isn’t as simple as it should be.
- While the free trial is beneficial, it does need you to provide your credit card information before you can use it.
- It’s difficult to use Semrush on a mobile device because the interface isn’t responsive.
2. Mangools
Mangools is a suite of SEO tools. (KWFinder for keyword research, SERPChecker for SERP analysis, SERPWatcher for Rank Tracking, LinkMiner for link tracking, and SiteProfiler for SEO metrics and insights. )
Mangools SEO software, unlike Ahrefs, is inexpensive for bloggers and small businesses.
Plans for Ahrefs start at $99 per month.
However, Mangools plans start at only $29.90 a month, and unlike other pricey SEO tools, even the most basic plan includes all of the premium features. The number of functions included in the basic plans of most expensive SEO tools is limited.
Mangools, on the other hand, includes all of the features in even the most basic package.
Mangools Features
- Keyword Research
- SERP Analysis
- Rank Tracking
- Backlink Analysis
- Competitor Research
Mangools Pricing
The Basic plan is ideal for those who are just getting started. Moreover, the premium plan is only a bit more expensive and includes a lot more tool usage credits.
Mangools’ pricing is really reasonable when compared to other SEO tools, which I appreciate. When compared to Mangools, most SEO tools give next to nothing on their basic plans.
The number of credits you get to utilize each tool differs between the three plans Mangools offers. To search keywords, look up SERPs, examine websites, and so on, you’ll need credits for each tool. Every 24 hours, these credits are reset.
The affordable pricing of Mangools makes it an affordable alternative to Ahrefs, and you can do some quality work with this cost-effective tool.
Mangools Pros and Cons
Pros
- Other tools don’t have as many keyword research choices as this one. KWFinder is a significant improvement over Google Keyword Planner.
- SiteProfiler provides you with a comprehensive profile of your competitors’ websites.
- When compared to Ahrefs, the price is really reasonable.
- Provides a rank tracker to automatically track all of your website’s goal keywords.
- You don’t have to add each of your target keywords individually.
Cons
- Mangools does have an agency plan, but unlike other SEO tools, it does not include a dashboard for your clients. If you don’t manage an agency, you don’t have to worry about this.
- Mangools is a more recent entrant into the market. Their link databases aren’t as large as Ahrefs.
3. UberSuggest
Ubersuggest is a free SEO tool that fetches new keyword suggestions. Ubersuggest was originally created to harvest Google Suggest phrases, but recently many new features have been incorporated into it.
Ahrefs provides a better degree of data than UberSuggest, but UberSuggest surely justifies its cost with the value it passes. Same as Ahrefs, UberSuggest also has an easy-to-use interface, and you can do your things seamlessly.
UberSuggest is getting better day by day, and you can rely on this tool for your SEO and consider it as a reliable Ahrefs alternative.
UberSuggest Features
- Rank Tracking
- Site Audit
- Keyword Research
- Competitive Analysis
- Backlink Analysis
UberSuggest Pricing
There are three premium plans available. The individual subscription is $12 a month and includes 100 reports every day, three projects, 20,000 keyword suggestions, and other features.
This plan is appropriate for individual bloggers and small enterprises with only 1-3 websites to handle.
The business plan, which costs $20 per month and is suitable for medium-sized enterprises, is next, followed by the enterprise plan, which costs $40 per month.
UberSuggest also offers a lifetime plan for an individual at just $120, which is a “never say no offer”. Lifetime plans are available for businesses and enterprises as well.
Uber Suggest Pros and Cons
Pros
- The tool is very user-friendly and has a simple UI.
- Tooltips, instructions, and explanations are provided to help you understand every part of the program.
- Provides the majority of activities required for a complete SEO strategy at an affordable monthly price with a lifetime deal
- The SEO app is mobile-friendly.
- Ubersuggest integrates with your Google Webmaster Console account and pulls data from there.
- You can examine statistics and outcomes at the national or local level.
- Support that is quickly responsive and helpful
Cons
- It would sometimes get stuck on loading, and you have to close and reopen it to use it again.
- When compared to tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, and get keywords, SEO data such as keyword difficulty, backlinks, and referring domains is not that precise.
- There is a lack of data or features regarding the tool’s functions. In comparison to the market, I felt the tool’s features/functions to be limiting. (Keyword Gap, New/Lost Backlinks, Comparative Analysis, and so on)
4. Majestic SEO
Majestic SEO is a backlink analysis tool.
Majestic is solely focused on backlinks, unlike other all-in-one SEO tools.
To put it another way, Majestic isn’t a one-stop-shop for keyword research, site audits, and on-page SEO analysis.
Majestic claims to have the best backlink checker in the world because they prioritize link analysis. So, if your focus is backlinks analysis and research, then you can choose Majestic as an Ahrefs alternative.
Majestic Features
- Site Explorer Summary
- Topics Report
- Referring Domains
- Majestic’s Backlinks Report
- Context Report
- New and Lost Links
- Anchor Text Breakdown
- Pages Report
- Related Sites
- Compare Domains
- Majestic SEO Flow Metrics: Trust Flow, Citation Flow and More
Majestic Tool Pricing
You can choose between two plans: Lite ($49.99/month) and Pro ($99.99/month) unless you require API access.
These plans are significantly less expensive than Majestic’s two primary competitors, Ahrefs and SEMrush.
Both Ahrefs and SEMrush start at 99 dollars per month.
So, in the end, Majestic SEO’s Lite package is 50% less expensive than Ahrefs and SEMrush. Hence, Majestic is an affordable Ahrefs alternative.
Majestic Pros and Cons
Pros
- A strong backlink index
- Backlink data can be analyzed using a variety of metrics and visualizations.
- Search the Fresh Index or the whole Historical Index.
- Fast retrieval of information
- Quick and Helpful Support
- Unique Link Metrics: Trust Flow. Citation Flow. Topical Trust Flow
Cons
- Many SEO features aren’t available because it’s not an all-in-one tool.
- The user interface is old and not user-friendly.
- There is no Google Analytics integration.
5. SERPSTAT
It is one of the all-in-one SEO tools that provides complete solutions to marketers and website owners for their online marketing. Whether it’s keyword research or site audit, you can do it with Serpstat. You’ll get the features of Ahrefs, but at a lesser cost.
Serpstat provides data for SEO and PPC to skyrocket your marketing campaigns and generate exceptional results.
Serpstat Features
- Keyword Research
- Rank Tracking
- Competitor Analysis
- Analysis of Contextual Advertising
- Backlink Analysis
- SEO Audit
- Page Audit
- Keyword Clustering
- Text Analytics
- SEO Checklists
- Custom Reports
- SERP Analysis
- API and Integration
Serpstat Pricing
Serpstat is available for $69 per month. You can even get a discount of 20% when you choose the annual billing. Serpstat also provides a free trial to new users to allow them to test out all of the software’s features. Serpstat provides users with a variety of plans based on their individual company needs.
Serpstat pricing plans are way lesser than the Ahrefs, and still all you get the various features you would have with Ahrefs. Therefore, Serpstat qualifies as an effective alternative to Ahref.
Serpstat Pros and Cons
Pros
- It comes with all of the tools you’ll need to perform SEO.
- The Serpstat tool provides detailed and comprehensive analytics information.
- It has certain unique capabilities that aren’t found in other digital marketing tools.
- Missing Keywords, the Search Question Feature, and Team Management are just a few of the features available.
- Before you buy the tool, you can get a free trial to get a feel for it.
- You can get access to detailed reports that are well-visualized.
Cons
- If you have a large website with numerous pages, the site audit will take much longer than it would with any other option.
- The keyword difficulty may not always provide correct results.
6. Moz Pro
Moz Pro is a well-known all-in-one SEO software suite that includes tools for increasing search engine exposure. Link Explorer, Keyword Explorer, and Rank Tracker are some of the most useful functions.
Moz Pro Features
- Link Explorer
- Fresh Web Explorer
- Keyword Explorer
- Explore By Site
- Site Crawl
- Rank Tracker
- Page Optimization
- SEO Alerting
- Competitor Analysis
- Custom Reports
Moz Pro Pricing
Moz’s cost ranges from $99 per month for a “Standard” plan to $999 per month for a “Premium” plan. The essential features of all four schemes are the same. The most significant distinction is the number of keyword reports, page analyses, and keyword searches you can perform per month.
Moz’s bottom tier is a little less expensive than Ahrefs’. Moz Standard may be a decent option for you if you’re on a tight budget.
Moz Pro is a good deal in terms of pure value and can be considered as a cost-effective alternative to Ahrefs.
Moz Pro Pros and Cons
Pros
- You may receive a lot of useful information from more than one website.
- The platform is straightforward and easy to use. This is an SEO tool that is recommended to small business owners on a tight budget.
- Covers a wide range of SEO requirements. Overall, good value for money.
- Moz Pro is a versatile and strong SEO tool package.
- It delivers industry-standard analytics, provides helpful page optimization advice, and has revamped crawling.
Cons
- The UI is not user-friendly as compared to others.
- For some SMBs, the wide range of features may be daunting.
7. SpyFu
SpyFu is a keyword and competitor research tool that digital marketers use to forge their successful marketing campaigns. SpyFu is used to find business-intent search terms in your competitors’ paid and organic search efforts. While other software products provide similar capability, SpyFu is one of the few that focuses on competitive analysis.
SpyFu Features
- SEO Research
- Keyword Research
- Backlink Research
- Keyword Rank Tracking
- Competitive Analysis
- PPC Research
SpyFu Pricing
The cheapest SpyFu package compares favorably to competing SEO software companies’ entry-level offerings. The Basic package costs $39 per month and provides unrestricted access to search data, as stated on the SpyFu website. When compared to Ahrefs, you save a lot, and this cost-savingness of SpyFu becomes its USP. So, you can have SPyFu as Ahrefs alternative.
Users that upgrade to the Professional level, which costs $79 per month, receive access to extra reporting tools as well as the SpyFu API.
The Team plan, which costs $299 a month, includes up to five user logins as well as a significant increase in the number of keywords users can follow.
There are now significant discounts available for those who join up for a yearly plan.
SpyFu is also available in a modified free version. It has limited capabilities, but it’s perfect for a no-cost, no-risk trial if you want to experience it before you buy.
SpyFu Pros and Cons
Pros
- A powerful tool for digging new keywords for organic and PPC campaigns.
- Intricate competitor analysis is simple with a competitor analysis tool.
- 13 years of Google data in this database.
Cons
- The ability to track keyword rankings at a very basic level
- SpyFu isn’t ideal for backlink analysis and site audits.
Conclusion
SEMrush is the finest value for money Ahrefs alternative if you are an advanced blogger, marketer, or advertiser. SEMrush is an all-in-one platform with comprehensive features that span the majority of inbound marketing sectors. Moz Pro is also a good option for getting the data like Ahrefs.
You can’t go wrong with SERPstat or Mangools if you want a decent alternative to Ahrefs or SEMrush without the premium fee. Before choosing between these tools, you should be aware of the subtle variations between them.
Ubersuggest is the way to go if you’re a beginning blogger who can’t afford the premium tools. Majestic and SpyFu are also reliable if your only focus is backlinks of competitor research, respectively. Know your requirements, and choose one accordingly.
If you don’t have any knowledge or experience with SEO, then it’s more suitable to hire an expert or digital marketing firm to handle your SEO and marketing. This way, you don’t have to think about which tool is right for you.
If you are confident, then you have the list of possible tools you can use as an alternative to Ahrefs.