7 Ahrefs Alternatives to Kickstart Your SEO Strategy

With so many SEO software options out there, committing to one monthly subscription can feel as tough as trying to choose something to watch on Netflix. Moreover, the choices just keep on growing.

Today, we’re going to examine the SEO tool Ahrefs and share our top picks of Ahrefs alternatives.

What is Ahrefs?

Ahrefs is a platform for SEO analysis and backlink research.   It’s arguably the most authoritative SEO option out there for marketers looking to improve their SEO strategy.

It has robust keyword management and competitor analysis tools. Ahrefs also has the world’s largest index of live backlinks. Their backlink database currently has 395.7 billion pages in the index and crawls 5 million pages every minute. They also update the database with fresh data every 15-30 minutes.

Ahrefs key features:

• Evaluate your site’s on-page SEO
• Analyze your backlinks
• Review your competitors’ organic traffic
• Conduct keyword research

Why you may want an Ahrefs alternative 

Given that it’s a complete SEO toolset, Ahrefs may have features you won’t use. Ahrefs also requires a steep learning curve to learn the ins and outs of the tool.

With a starting price of $99 per month, it’s one of the pricier SEO software options and may be more than what you’re willing to pay.

For those reasons, review and try some of our Ahrefs alternatives before you make a final decision.

Top Ahrefs alternatives to level up your SEO game

1. SEMrush

The closest alternative to Ahrefs on the list, SEMrush is another complete SEO toolset with similar features as Ahrefs.

Originating from a keyword research tool for PPC and growing into a full-scale SEO suite, SEMrush is now one of the most popular SEO tools on the market.

Strengths 

• Impact Hero tool. Using AI, the tool organizes your content by buyer journey stages, identifies your most effective copy, and provides tips on how to improve your content.
• Keyword Magic tool. View results from a database of over 20 billion keywords.
• Social media tracker. Track the social media accounts of your closest competitors and compare their engagements and growth to your own. Receive reports on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn accounts.

Weaknesses

• Lower accuracy levels. SEMrush tends to underestimate total traffic, with one study showing that on average it underestimates traffic by 42%.
• Backlink database is not as comprehensive. Link analytics tools are not as in-depth as Ahrefs. Currently, SEMrush only updates its database every 2 weeks.

How does SEMrush compare to Ahrefs? Ahrefs and SEMrush are similar in terms of price––entry-level packages start at $99 and $99.95, respectively. Their features are also similar, but Ahrefs is better from a UX standpoint. It includes a sidebar detailing the platform’s main features, which makes it easy to jump to other features while you’re working.

Who is SEMrush best for? Content marketers and SEO professionals looking for a complete SEO software with top-quality keyword research tools. Subscribers should take into account the slightly weaker link analytics tools as compared to Ahrefs.

2. SERPed

SERPed is composed of 40+ different SEO tools to help your content rank higher, outperform your competition, and grow your business.

SERPed has a few unique SEO features that other Ahrefs alternatives don’t have. Its Content Curator tool makes it easier to create new relevant content while the Link Indexer tool shows you whether your blog posts or backlinks are indexed in Google.

Strengths 

• Domain research. Use a centralized console to research and purchase domains. Discover new domains and identify the top expiring domains in your niche. This feature is great if you’re looking to regularly create new URLs and projects.
• Real-time rank tracking. Accurately track where your pages and projects show up on search engines like Google and YouTube. Go in-depth and track your rankings on a country, city, or area basis. Track your mobile rankings alongside desktop rankings.
• SEO project management. Use the Site Manager to keep all your personal and client projects organized. Track important data like backlinks and search rankings from one single interface.

Weaknesses

• SERPed can be overwhelming. With 40+ tools, you may not know where to start. Some tools, like the Social Exchange, seem unnecessary for an SEO toolset.
• No free trial. There’s no option to try before you buy like with other tools in this list.

How does SERPed compare to Ahrefs? SERPed has some unique tools that other SEO solutions don’t have, making it a very complete SEO software. Price-wise it’s still cheaper than Ahrefs at $79/month for a starter plan.

Who is SERPed best for? Freelancers and site managers looking for a cheaper alternative that comes with some additional bonuses.

3. SERanking

SERanking is a budget-friendly suite of SEO tools that’s a newbie on the SEO stage. It’s a suitable Ahrefs alternative that’s particularly strong on technical SEO audits.

When you add a new project, SERanking automatically audits the site and gives you a complete report showing you the most important errors to fix. These fixes might include URL rewrites and missing metadata.

This software also excels at drawing up detailed SEO reports and planning out content strategies.

Let’s break it down.

Strengths 

• Top-level custom reporting. Include modules like competitors, rankings, traffic, website audit, and finance reports. Choose the ranking period to be analyzed, compared, and displayed in your report.
• On-Page Checker. Evaluate your pages’ current SEO state and review recommendations on what to improve.
• Keyword Rank Tracker. See historical data for your top keywords and how your site ranks by different devices.

Weaknesses

• Data isn’t updated in real-time. Instead, you need to wait a day before seeing rankings.
• Lacks a few metrics. There’s no data for competitive density, SERP features, or trends.

How does SERanking compare to Ahrefs? SERanking is more budget-friendly than Ahrefs. Monthly subscriptions start at just $31 and increase based on how frequently you check the rankings. More advanced SEO users may find that SERanking’s features are too limited.

Who is SERanking best for? Freelancers and content creators looking for a reasonably-priced SEO tool to help them build and evaluate their content marketing strategy.

4. Moz

Moz is one of our top Ahrefs alternatives. You may already know of Moz through their leading digital marketing blog and their Moz-created Domain Authority metric.

Moz is user-friendly and easy to navigate. With a clear layout, you can find your way around its keyword research, content marketing, and competitor analysis tools.

Strengths 

• MozBar. Use the Google Chrome Extension to evaluate your site’s Domain Authority and Page Authority.
• Some tools are free. Keyword Explorer and Backlink Research are free for up to 10  queries each month.
• Weekly updates. Receive crawl updates that include data on your duplicate content, 404s, and missing meta info.

Weaknesses

• Limited data. Moz’s backlinks database is less comprehensive than Ahrefs.
• Less technical tools. You can’t view some metrics for technical aspects like site speed.

How does Moz compare to Ahrefs? Moz is easier for beginners to navigate, and its features are less complex. Monthly pricing also starts at $99, but overall, its SEO features are less in-depth than Ahrefs.

Who is Moz best for? Freelancers looking to experiment with the free versions of Moz tools.

5. KamuSEO

KamuSEO offers well-organized SEO tools to help take your SEO strategy to the next level.

Its basic user interface is easy to navigate, even for total SEO novices.

The tool equips you to stay on top of your key SEO metrics so you can make changes to your strategy when needed.

The best part is that, unlike many other Ahrefs alternatives, KamuSEO is available at $49 for a lifetime deal. Say goodbye to recurring monthly subscriptions.

Strengths 

• Visitor analytics. View your site’s top referrers, country and browser reports, average visitor stay time, and device reports.
• Comprehensive rank analysis tool. Analyze your Alexa Rank, Yahoo Index, Bing Index, and Moz metrics.
• Powerful social network analysis tools. View your Facebook Shares, Reddit Scores, and Pinterest Pins.

Weaknesses

• Keyword tools aren’t as in-depth. The keyword database isn’t as extensive as Ahrefs.
• No report creation function. Currently, you can’t create SEO reports, which is a downside if you need to provide SEO clients with results.

How does KamuSEO compare to Ahrefs? Considering the lifetime deal, KamuSEO is available at a much friendlier price point than Ahrefs and other options on this list. Its features should be sufficient for freelancers and small business owners, but SEO pros may need something more in-depth.

Who is KamuSEO best for? Freelancers and small business owners who are just starting their SEO strategy.

6. Audiit.io

Audiit.io is an easy-to-use SEO tool set. In seconds, you can enter your site URL and receive SEO insights and suggestions. It’s best for measuring your site’s current SEO performance so you can optimize each of your web pages.

It’s also useful for analyzing your main competitors’ web pages so you can optimize your site and rank higher on Google SERPs.

If you’re tired of paying monthly subscriptions for other SaaS tools, enjoy unlimited access to Audiit.io for a one-off payment of $47.

Strengths

• Exportable white-label reports. Create fully customizable reports that can be white-labeled for client use.
• Receive suggestions for how to properly optimize your site. Audit.io reviews SERPs to tell you what’s already working and how you can implement it on your own site.

Weaknesses

• No backlink analysis. Audiit.io doesn’t have a specific backlink database like other Ahrefs alternatives.
• No social media analytics tools. There’s no way of analyzing how your content performs and converts on social media.

How does Audiit.io compare to Ahrefs? More of a competitor analysis tool and on-page SEO optimizer than a complete SEO toolset, Audiit.io is less complicated and easier to understand if you’re just starting out in SEO. It’s not really comparable to Ahrefs as it has far fewer features and is less in-depth.

Who is Audiit.io best for? Small business owners who already have a site up and running and want to analyze how they’re doing compared to their top competitors.

7. SpyFu

It’s all in the name. SpyFu is all about spying on your competitors. SpyFu has some of the most comprehensive competitor analytics available on this list—it tracks 80 million domains and 5 billion results. But how does it stack up as an Ahrefs alternative?

Strengths

• View 20 years of competitor data. SpyFu has one of the most complete databases, enabling you to go through years of backlog data.
• Strong competitor analysis data. Analyze an in-depth breakdown of competitors’ traffic sources, Google Ads spending, backlinks, and their top ranking keywords.
• Unlimited search results. Unlike other SEO platforms, there’s no limit on search results.

Weaknesses

• The keyword research tool is limited. There are fewer suggestions and advanced filtering options compared to other tools.
• No traffic analysis tool. You can’t use SpyFu to evaluate your site’s direct, referral, search, social, or paid traffic to spot gaps.
• Less emphasis on analyzing your own domain. SpyFu is more focused on evaluating competitors as opposed to evaluating your own SEO.

How does SpyFu compare to Ahrefs? SpyFu has impressive competitor analytics features but provides less of a complete SEO solution when compared to Ahrefs. However, it’s cheaper—starting at $39 per month.

Who is SpyFu best for? Users looking to understand their competitors’ SEO strategy as opposed to evaluating their own.

The bottom line: which Ahrefs alternative is right for you? 

So there you have it: our best recommendations for top Ahrefs alternatives.

Ultimately, the right Ahrefs alternative for you depends on your budget, how much time you have to learn new features, and which tools are most important to you.

We recommend taking advantage of free trials to get a feel of how each toolset works and what’s best suited to your site’s needs.

Tired of paying monthly subscriptions? Grab a lifetime deal over on the AppSumo store and think about one fewer monthly subscription. Both Audiit.io and KamuSEO are available as lifetime deals over on the AppSumo store.