Ahrefs Alternatives (2026): Cheaper and Free Options, Picked by What You Use

By the AI Tools For Me team · Updated October 21, 2026 · Prices checked October 21, 2026

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Ahrefs is an SEO platform for backlink and competitor research: it shows which sites link to any domain and which keywords that domain ranks for. Its paid plans run from $29/mo (Starter) to $1,499/mo (Enterprise). If you use only part of it, the Ahrefs alternatives below may cover that part for less.

The short answer

For rank tracking, keyword research and audits, SE Ranking is the closest match: $129/mo, the same as Ahrefs Lite, with more tracked keywords. For an all-in-one suite with a free plan, try Semrush ($139/mo). For your own site only, Google Search Console and Ahrefs Free cost nothing.

Ahrefs alternatives compared: price, free option and AI tracking

On October 21, 2026, Ahrefs Lite cost $129/mo. SE Ranking Core also cost $129/mo, Semrush’s SEO plan $139/mo, Frase Starter $49/mo month to month, and Surfer Discovery $49/mo billed yearly.

Tool	Best for	Starts at	Free option	AI answer tracking
Ahrefs	Backlink and competitor research	$29/mo Starter, monthly only	Ahrefs Free, for sites you verify	From Lite: 150 prompt checks a month
SE Ranking	The same core jobs for less	$129/mo billed monthly	14-day trial, no card	Core: 100 prompts tracked daily
Semrush	An all-in-one suite with a free plan	$139/mo billed monthly	Free plan + 7-day trial	From $199/mo: 50 prompts daily
Surfer SEO	Writing articles that can rank	$49/mo billed yearly	7-day Pro trial (card required)	Not on Discovery
Frase	Briefs and drafts, month to month	$49/mo billed monthly	7-day trial, no card	ChatGPT and Google AI on Starter

List prices in US dollars before tax. Ahrefs, SE Ranking and Semrush checked October 21, 2026; Surfer and Frase October 19, 2026.

Why do people look for an Ahrefs alternative?

Mostly cost and usage limits. Here is what Ahrefs’ own pricing page and help center say.

Credits on the cheaper plans. Credits are Ahrefs’ usage unit: on Starter and Lite, each report you open costs 1 credit, and some follow-up actions, like adding a filter, cost another. Starter gets 200 credits a month; Lite gets 1,000 per user. Standard ($249/mo) and up are unlimited.
Extra users add up. Lite, Standard and Advanced each include 1 user. Extra users cost $40/mo on Lite, $60 on Standard and $80 on Advanced. Starter can’t add users at all.
Short history on Starter and Lite. Starter shows 1 month of historical data and Lite 6 months, against 2 years on Standard.
No published yearly prices, no general refunds. The page says paying annually saves “up to 17%” but lists no annual prices, and says Ahrefs doesn’t issue refunds in general.

None of this makes Ahrefs a bad tool. It means that if you open only a few reports a month, or only care about your own site, you may be paying for more than you use.

What does a 3-person team pay per month?

Seats change the picture fast. Here is the monthly list price for three people on each tool’s cheapest plan that allows three users, billed monthly.

Plan	How it adds up	Per month
Ahrefs Lite	$129 + 2 extra users at $40	$209
Semrush SEO	$139 + 2 extra users at $45	$229
SE Ranking Growth	3 seats included	$279
Ahrefs Standard	$249 + 2 extra users at $60	$369

Limits differ, so compare what you get too: Ahrefs Lite tracks 750 keywords and caps credits at 1,000 per user; Semrush SEO tracks 500 keywords; SE Ranking Growth tracks 5,000 keywords and 250 AI prompts a day. Semrush’s extra-user price is its lowest listed rate (“from $45”).

How did we choose these alternatives?

We started from the jobs people use Ahrefs for: backlink and competitor research, keyword research, rank tracking, site audits and, now, checking AI answers. For each job we picked a tool already in our directory that does it, and read its US pricing page. We haven’t tested these tools hands-on yet, so we don’t claim any of them matches Ahrefs’ data. We only compare published plans and limits.

We haven’t covered Moz, Mangools or Ubersuggest yet. We’ll add them once we’ve checked their plans the same way.

SE Ranking: best for the same core jobs for less

SE Ranking is an SEO platform for rank tracking, site audits, keyword and competitor research, with AI answer tracking built in. It starts at $129/mo billed monthly ($103.20/mo billed yearly). Free 14-day trial, no credit card.

Screenshot of the SE Ranking homepage — SE Ranking homepage, captured Oct 10, 2026. The live site may look different.

Compared with Ahrefs: Core costs the same as Ahrefs Lite ($129/mo) but tracks 2,000 keywords a day instead of 750, across 10 projects, and includes 100 AI prompts tracked daily. Lite includes 150 AI prompt checks a month, which Ahrefs says is 5 prompts on one platform. SE Ranking also publishes a yearly price (20% off); Ahrefs doesn’t.

Who it’s for: You mainly use Ahrefs for rank tracking, keyword research and audits, and you want more tracked keywords and daily AI answer tracking for the same monthly bill.

Skip it if: Backlink research on other people’s sites is the main reason you pay for Ahrefs. Compare both on your own competitors during the trial before you switch.

Visit SE Ranking Read the SE Ranking profile

Source: seranking.com, checked October 21, 2026

Semrush: best for an all-in-one suite with a free plan

Semrush is an all-in-one search marketing platform for keyword research, rank tracking, site audits, backlinks and AI answer tracking. It starts at $139/mo billed monthly ($117.33/mo billed yearly). Free plan (1 demo project, 10 reports a day) and a 7-day trial.

Screenshot of the Semrush homepage — Semrush homepage, captured Oct 10, 2026. The live site may look different.

Compared with Ahrefs: The entry SEO plan tracks 500 keywords across 5 websites, fewer than Ahrefs Lite’s 750. It has a free plan for occasional lookups and a published yearly price. Plans with a set number of AI prompts start at $199/mo (Starter, 50 prompts a day).

Who it’s for: You want one account for SEO, competitor research and, later, marketing reports, and you like being able to test with a free plan and a 7-day trial.

Skip it if: You track more than 500 keywords on a small budget, or you need AI answer tracking without paying $199/mo.

Visit Semrush Read the Semrush profile

Source: semrush.com, checked October 21, 2026

Surfer SEO: best for writing articles that can rank

Surfer SEO is a content optimization tool that compares your draft with the pages that already rank and tells you what to add. It starts at $49/mo billed yearly ($588/yr). No free plan; 7-day trial on the Pro plan (card required).

Screenshot of the Surfer SEO homepage — Surfer SEO homepage, captured Oct 10, 2026. The live site may look different.

Compared with Ahrefs: Not a full Ahrefs replacement. Surfer’s plans are built around documents and tracked pages, not backlink or competitor research. Discovery covers 120 documents a year to write or optimize. It fits people who open Ahrefs mostly to plan articles.

Who it’s for: Your real job is writing and updating articles, and you used Ahrefs mostly to pick topics and check what top pages cover.

Skip it if: You need backlinks, rank tracking or competitor research, or you can’t pay for a year up front.

Visit Surfer SEO Read the Surfer SEO profile

Source: surferseo.com, checked October 19, 2026

Frase: best for briefs and drafts, month to month

Frase is a research and writing tool that builds SEO content briefs from what already ranks and tracks AI answers. It starts at $49/mo billed monthly ($39/mo billed yearly). Free 7-day trial, no credit card.

Screenshot of the Frase homepage — Frase homepage, captured Oct 10, 2026. The live site may look different.

Compared with Ahrefs: Also not an Ahrefs replacement. Starter gives you 10 articles and 50 audit pages a month on one site, plus AI visibility tracking on ChatGPT and Google AI, and you can pay monthly.

Who it’s for: You want help planning and drafting articles for one site, month to month, at well under Ahrefs Lite’s price.

Skip it if: You need backlink data, rank tracking for hundreds of keywords, or more than one seat on the cheapest plan.

Visit Frase Read the Frase profile

Source: frase.io, checked October 19, 2026

Is there a free Ahrefs alternative?

Yes, if you only need data about your own site. Three free options cover most of it:

Google Search Console shows the searches that bring people to your site, your clicks, impressions and average position, straight from Google.
Ahrefs Free works for sites you can prove you own. It includes Site Explorer (up to 1,000 backlinks and keywords shown at once) and Site Audit (5,000 crawl credits a month per project).
Semrush’s free plan allows 1 demo project and 10 reports a day, enough for an occasional look at a competitor.

What you give up: deep competitor research, daily rank tracking and AI answer tracking. For a new site that is often fine for the first few months.

When should you stay with Ahrefs?

Stay if backlink and competitor research is the core of your work, or if your team already lives in Ahrefs reports. Before you leave, check the cheaper ways to keep it:

Drop to Starter ($29/mo) if you only need occasional lookups. It includes Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit and Rank Tracker, with 200 credits a month and 50 tracked keywords. It renews monthly only.
Ask about annual billing. Ahrefs says it saves up to 17%, but you have to contact support to switch.
Check AI tracking needs. Brand Radar tracks mentions in AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot. Lite includes 150 prompt checks a month; the full AI Visibility Index starts at $199/mo.

See all plans on our Ahrefs profile. If Semrush is also on your list, our Semrush alternatives guide works the same way. For content tools, compare Surfer SEO vs Frase or read the best AI SEO tools. Browse every AI SEO & AEO tool.

FAQ

Is there a free alternative to Ahrefs?

For your own site, yes. Google Search Console is free and shows the searches that bring you visitors, your clicks and your average position. Ahrefs Free also covers sites you verify, with Site Explorer and Site Audit. Neither lets you research competitors in depth; Semrush’s free plan allows 10 reports a day for that.

What is cheaper than Ahrefs but just as good?

We haven’t tested these tools side by side, so we can’t say any is “just as good”. On published plans (October 21, 2026), SE Ranking Core costs the same as Ahrefs Lite ($129/mo) and tracks more keywords, and its yearly price drops to $103.20/mo. Inside Ahrefs, the $29/mo Starter plan is the cheapest paid option.

Is Semrush better than Ahrefs?

Neither wins for everyone. Semrush has a free plan, a 7-day trial and a published yearly price; its entry SEO plan is $139/mo for 500 tracked keywords. Ahrefs Lite is $129/mo for 750 keywords and 1,000 report credits. Pick by the reports you open every week, and try Semrush’s trial before paying.

Can I use Google Search Console instead of Ahrefs?

For your own site, often yes. Search Console shows the queries you already appear for, clicks, impressions and position, straight from Google, for free. It can’t show competitors’ keywords or backlinks, which is what Ahrefs is mostly used for.

Which Ahrefs alternative is best for small businesses?

Start with free tools: Search Console plus Ahrefs Free for your own site. If you need rank tracking and audits, try SE Ranking’s 14-day trial (no card). If you mainly publish articles, Frase ($39–$49/mo) costs less than any Ahrefs plan above Starter.

Does Ahrefs have a free trial?

Its pricing page and FAQ don’t list one. Ahrefs points new users to Ahrefs Free (for sites you verify) and the $29/mo Starter plan, which renews monthly. Ahrefs also says it does not issue refunds in general.

Sources

Ahrefs, SE Ranking and Semrush pages checked October 21, 2026; Surfer and Frase October 19, 2026.