SE Ranking vs Semrush (2026): Which SEO Platform Fits You?
SE Ranking vs Semrush is a choice between a lower price and a free starting point. Both are SEO suites: one account for keyword research, rank tracking, site audits, backlink and competitor research, and now tracking of how your brand shows up in AI answers such as ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. SE Ranking costs less and includes AI prompt tracking on its entry plan. Semrush has a free plan and sells extra toolkits on their own.
The short answer
Choose SE Ranking if you want more keywords and AI answer tracking for less: Core is $129/mo for 2,000 keywords and 100 AI prompts a day.
Choose Semrush if you want a free plan to start, or a standalone toolkit such as AI Visibility: SEO is $139/mo for 500 keywords, and AI prompt tracking starts at $199/mo.
SE Ranking vs Semrush at a glance
 SE Ranking |  Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | Core: $129/mo, or $103.20/mo billed yearly | SEO: $139/mo, or $117.33/mo billed yearly |
| Free plan | No | Yes: 1 demo project, 10 reports a day |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card | 7 days |
| Keywords tracked daily (entry plan) | 2,000 on Core | 500 on SEO |
| Projects / websites (entry plan) | 10 projects | 5 websites |
| AI prompts tracked daily | 100 on Core, 250 on Growth | None set on SEO; 50 on Starter ($199/mo), 100 on Pro+ ($299/mo) |
| AI search add-on | AI Search: $89/mo ($71.20 yearly), from 200 prompts | AI Visibility Toolkit: $99/mo alone, 25 prompts |
| Seats | 1 on Core, 3 on Growth; extra seats from $16 | Extra users from $45/mo each |
| Yearly discount | 20% | Up to 17% |
| Refunds | Non-refundable unless the service wasn’t delivered as promised | 7-day money-back on a first annual order; monthly plans not refundable |
From each vendor’s pricing page, help center and refund policy, read from a US connection on October 21, 2026. List prices before tax, in US dollars.
SE Ranking vs Semrush pricing
The biggest difference is where AI tracking starts. SE Ranking puts a daily AI prompt allowance in every plan. Semrush’s SEO plan tracks Google rankings; a set number of AI prompts comes with its SEO + AI Search plans or the separate AI Visibility Toolkit.
SE Ranking pricing
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $129/mo | $103.20/mo | 10 projects, 2,000 keywords and 100 AI prompts tracked daily, 6 months of history, 1 seat, 25K API credits a month |
| Growth | $279/mo | $223.20/mo | 30 projects, 5,000 keywords and 250 AI prompts daily, all-time history, 3 seats, 100K API credits |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom limits, full API access, flexible terms |
| AI Search add-on | $89/mo | $71.20/mo | Extra AI prompt tracking in tiers of 200, 450 or 1,000 prompts (price shown is the first tier) |
| Agency Pack add-on | — | $69/mo | Client seats, white-label and scheduled reports; yearly billing only |
Extra manager seats start at $16 and extra keywords at $22.40 on Core. Yearly plans are billed upfront at 20% off and include free assisted migration. The pricing page says payments are non-refundable except when the service wasn’t delivered as promised.
Semrush pricing
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | — | 1 demo project, 10 reports a day across all tools |
| SEO | $139/mo | $117.33/mo | 5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily |
| Starter (SEO + AI Search) | $199/mo | $165.17/mo | 5 websites, 500 keywords, 50 AI prompts tracked daily |
| Pro+ (SEO + AI Search) | $299/mo | $248.17/mo | 15 websites, 1,500 keywords, 100 AI prompts tracked daily |
| Advanced | Custom | Custom | 40+ websites, 5,000+ keywords, unlimited AI prompts, team users |
| AI Visibility Toolkit (alone) | $99/mo | — | 25 tracked prompts; 50 more for $60/mo; no free trial |
Extra users start at $45/mo each, and the pricing page doesn’t say how many users the SEO, Starter and Pro+ plans include. Yearly billing saves “up to 17%”: about 16% on SEO and 17% on Starter and Pro+. Semrush offers a one-time 7-day money-back guarantee on a first annual order; month-to-month plans are not refundable.
What you’d pay: three examples
Here is the cheapest published plan that covers each setup, billed monthly (yearly in brackets). We only add up numbers shown on the two pricing pages.
| Your setup | SE Ranking | Semrush |
|---|---|---|
| One site, up to 500 keywords, Google rankings only | Core, $129/mo ($103.20) | SEO, $139/mo ($117.33), or Free if 10 reports a day is enough |
| Up to 1,500 keywords plus 100 AI prompts tracked daily | Core, $129/mo ($103.20) | Pro+, $299/mo ($248.17) |
| Agency: 30 sites, 5,000 keywords, 250 AI prompts, 3 seats | Growth, $279/mo ($223.20) | Advanced, custom price (Pro+ stops at 15 websites) |
So SE Ranking is cheaper in all three cases, and the gap is widest once you want AI prompt tracking: $129 against $299 a month for the same 100 prompts. Semrush only wins on price if its free plan is enough for you.
Features that differ
Keyword research and data
Both include keyword, competitor and backlink research. SE Ranking’s pricing page lists unlimited keyword, competitor and backlink research on Core. Semrush’s free plan caps you at 10 reports a day across all tools. Neither vendor’s pricing page is a fair test of data quality, so check the same keywords and competitors in both trials.
Rank tracking
Rank tracking means checking where your pages appear in Google for a list of keywords, every day. This is where the entry plans differ most: SE Ranking Core tracks 2,000 keywords a day, four times Semrush SEO’s 500. Semrush reaches 1,500 keywords on Pro+ ($299/mo). SE Ranking Core keeps only 6 months of history; Growth keeps all of it.
AI search tracking
AI search tracking shows whether AI assistants mention or link to your brand when people ask a set of questions, called prompts. SE Ranking’s AI Search Toolkit page names Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, and every plan includes a daily prompt allowance. Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit help page lists ChatGPT and Google AI Mode for prompt tracking, plus a visibility score and prompt research. For more tools built only for this job, see our best AEO tools.
Teams and agencies
SE Ranking lists seats per plan (1 on Core, 3 on Growth) and sells extras from $16. Its Agency Pack adds client seats and white-label reports for $69/mo on yearly billing. Semrush charges from $45/mo per extra user, and its plans for more than 15 websites need a quote.
Who should pick which
| If you want to… | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Track many keywords on a small budget | SE Ranking | Core tracks 2,000 keywords for $129/mo |
| Track AI answers without a $199+ plan | SE Ranking | 100 AI prompts a day included in Core |
| Run an agency with published prices | SE Ranking | Growth covers 30 projects for $279/mo |
| Start free and pay later | Semrush | Free plan with 10 reports a day |
| Track AI answers without an SEO plan | Semrush | AI Visibility Toolkit alone is $99/mo |
SE Ranking: who it’s for / skip it if
Who it’s for: freelancers, small businesses and small agencies that want rank tracking, audits and AI answer tracking in one account at a published price.
Skip it if: you want a free plan, need more than 6 months of ranking history on the entry plan, or want to share one login across a team (extra seats cost extra).
Semrush: who it’s for / skip it if
Who it’s for: marketers who want to start on a free plan, and teams who already use Semrush and are fine paying more as they add sites, users and AI prompts.
Skip it if: budget matters and you need AI prompt tracking, since that starts at $199/mo, or you manage more than 15 sites and want a price without a sales call.
How we compared them
We read both pricing pages, SE Ranking’s AI Search Toolkit page, Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit help page and Semrush’s refund policy on October 21, 2026, using a US connection for prices. We compared plan limits, the cost of three common setups, AI tracking and team pricing. We haven’t tested either tool hands-on yet, so this page doesn’t judge data accuracy. Neither link on this page is an affiliate link right now; if that changes, the link will be marked.
Other options
Read our SE Ranking review and the full Semrush pricing breakdown. If you’re leaving Semrush for any tool, see our Semrush alternatives. If you mainly write and optimize content, Surfer SEO or Frase may be enough. See more side by side in our guide to the best AI SEO tools, or browse every AI SEO and AEO tool we list.
FAQ
Is SE Ranking as good as Semrush?
For the core jobs most small sites need, the feature lists are close: both cover rank tracking, keyword and competitor research, backlinks, site audits and AI answer tracking. Semrush adds a free plan and sells toolkits such as AI Visibility on their own. We haven’t tested either hands-on, so use SE Ranking’s 14-day trial and Semrush’s 7-day trial to compare the data on your own site.
Is SE Ranking cheaper than Semrush?
Yes, at every size we compared on October 21, 2026. SE Ranking Core is $129/mo ($103.20 billed yearly) and tracks 2,000 keywords and 100 AI prompts a day. Semrush’s SEO plan is $139/mo ($117.33 yearly) for 500 keywords, and its first plan with a set AI prompt count, Starter, is $199/mo for 50 prompts.
Does SE Ranking have a free plan?
No. SE Ranking offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card, which includes 10 projects, 750 keywords and 20 AI prompts tracked a day. Semrush does have a free plan, limited to 1 demo project and 10 reports a day.
Which is better for agencies, SE Ranking or Semrush?
On published prices, SE Ranking. Its Growth plan is $279/mo ($223.20 yearly) with 30 projects, 5,000 keywords, 250 AI prompts a day and 3 seats, and the Agency Pack add-on ($69/mo, yearly only) adds client seats and white-label reports. Semrush’s plans above 15 websites (Advanced and Enterprise) are custom-priced, so you need a quote.
Can SE Ranking track rankings in ChatGPT and AI Overviews?
Yes. SE Ranking’s AI Search Toolkit page names Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, and shows brand mentions, linked pages and cited sources. Core includes 100 AI prompts a day; the AI Search add-on adds 200, 450 or 1,000 prompts.
What does Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit cost?
Sold on its own, it costs $99/mo with 25 tracked prompts, and 50 more prompts cost $60/mo. It has no free trial, according to Semrush’s help center. It is also bundled into the SEO + AI Search plans: Starter ($199/mo, 50 prompts) and Pro+ ($299/mo, 100 prompts).
Sources
Checked October 21, 2026.