Top 8 Semrush Alternatives in 2025: Affordable & Powerful SEO Tools

I’ve been using Semrush for more than nine years now, and it’s a game-changer that has helped me boost my search traffic.

It offers everything I need, from keyword research to site audits to in-depth competitor analysis.

However, Semrush is NOT the only option, as it has a huge learning curve. Also, it’s pretty expensive, especially for beginners. 

While Semrush is powerful, other tools like Ahrefs, SE Ranking, and Ubersuggest offer unique features worth considering.

In this post, I’ll show you EIGHT of the best Semrush alternatives you can explore in 2025. You’ll also learn each tool’s best features, potential drawbacks, and pricing.

How to Find the Perfect Semrush Alternative for Your Needs?

While choosing a Semrush alternative, it’s essential to consider a tool’s features, pricing, and drawbacks.

Ultimately, the RIGHT tool selection depends on one’s specific needs, as different tools cater to different people.

For instance, Ahrefs, Moz, and SE Ranking are great for backlink analysis and competitor research. Tools like Ubersuggest, SpyFu, and Mangools are good at keyword research.

So, I’d keep the following things in mind before picking an alternative;

• First, identify what matters most (in-depth backlink analysis, keyword research, rank tracking, or site audits?).
• Next, consider trial periods and free plans to test the tool before investing.
• Lastly, I’d consider my monthly budget for SEO tools (if I don’t have much, I will go with Ubersuggest while starting, as it offers a lifetime plan for $120).

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Semrush Alternatives & Competitors: 8 Powerful SEO Tools to Try in 2025

Semrush Alternatives	Best For?	Pricing
SE Ranking	360-degree SEO research	Starts at $52/mo
Moz	Local SEO and link analysis	Starts at $39/mo
Surfer	Content optimization	Starts at $79/mo
SimilarWeb	Web traffic analysis	Starts at $199/mo
Ahrefs	Content marketing	Starts at $108/mo
Mangools	Keyword research	Starts at $29.90/mo
SpyFu	PPC research	Starts at $33/mo
Ubersuggest	Affordable SEO	Starts at $120 for a lifetime

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1. SE Ranking – Best For Comprehensive SEO Analysis

Feature	Details
Keyword Database Size	Over 5.3 billion keywords
Backlink Database Size	2.9 trillion links
Data availability	188 countries
Rank Tracking	Offers 100% accurate rank tracking across all major search engines, locations, and devices
Site Audits	Available with 115+ metrics for in-depth analysis

As a long-time user of Semrush, I’ve found SE Ranking a great alternative, as it offers powerful tools for keyword tracking, competitor analysis, website auditing, and backlink research. 

The best part is SE Ranking is much cheaper than Semrush, which makes it an excellent choice for people on a tight budget.

SE Ranking Key Features:

• Keyword research
• Competitive research
• Paid traffic analysis
• Site audits
• Rank tracking
• AI results tracker
• Marketing planner
• Local marketing tools
• Content marketing tools

Why would I pick SE Ranking as a Semrush alternative?

Easy-to-use interface

With SE Ranking, I get access to all the essential tools, including keyword research, accurate keyword tracking, in-depth competitor analysis, site audit, and more at half of Semrush’s cost.

Also, SE Ranking offers an intuitive interface that is easier to use. I can quickly access all the tools from the dashboard.

Here’s what it looks like;

As shown above, I can access all the tools of SE Ranking from its interface, which is easy to navigate. Its interface also shows me an overview of my site’s keyword rankings.

Accurate keyword tracking

What I love most about SE Ranking is its accuracy in keyword position tracking.

It shows me the average positions of my website’s keywords over the past week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months.

It also shows me a list of all the keywords my site ranks for in;

• First position
• Top 3, 5, 10, 30 and 100 positions on Google

As shown above, I can quickly discover my site’s average keyword positions, estimated traffic forecast, search visibility, SERP features, and more.

One drawback I’ve noticed with SE Ranking’s position tracking tool is how keywords are counted separately for each search engine. 

For example, if I track three keywords in two search engines (for example, Google India and Google USA), it counts as six keywords in my position tracking quota. This ultimately limits how many UNIQUE keywords I can monitor within my plan.

Pricing: SE Ranking offers three pricing plans;

1. Essential plan costs $65/mo ($52/mo if billed annually) with one user and five projects.
2. Pro plan costs $119/mo ($95.20/mo if billed annually) with 3 users and 30 projects.
3. Business plan costs $259/mo ($207.20/mo if billed annually) with 5 users and unlimited projects.

Try SE Ranking Free for 14 Days

Verdict: If I’m looking for an affordable SEO toolkit that offers all the essential features, SE Ranking is a SOLID choice. However, if I want a comprehensive toolkit for SEO and PPC, I can avoid SE Ranking and use alternatives like Semrush or Ahrefs.

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2. Moz: Best for In-Depth Link Building & Local SEO 

Feature	Details
Keyword Database Size	Over 1.25 billion keywords
Backlink Database Size	Over 44.8 trillion links
Local SEO	Available
Rank Tracking	Available for Google, Bing, Yahoo, or Google Mobile
Site Audits	Available

If I’m looking for an affordable alternative to Semrush primarily for backlink analysis and local SEO – I’d prefer Moz over other tools. This is because Moz Pro offers me a massive database of nearly 45 trillion links, which helps me conduct an in-depth backlink analysis of ANY website.

Moz Key Features:

• Keyword research
• Competitive analysis
• Local SEO tools
• Backlink analysis
• Site audits
• Rank tracking
• On-page SEO grader

Why would I pick Moz?

Link Explorer

Moz’s Link Explorer gives me all the data I need to find any domain’s authority, spam scores, and backlink profiles.

It also has one of the largest backlink databases, with over 45.5 trillion links.

Once I’m on the tool, I simply need to enter any domain to analyze. The tool will instantly show me its domain authority, linking domains with the overall inbound links and ranking keywords.

I can easily discover a site’s recently discovered and lost linking domains.

As shown above, with this data, I can quickly discover ANY website’s recently discovered and lost linking domains to identify potential link building opportunities.

You can read my detailed Moz review for more information.

Domain Overview

Moz’s Domain Overview feature gives me an in-depth overview of any site’s keyword topics, authority, performance, and more.

Here’s what it looks like;

The best part is I can easily discover any site’s top ranking keywords along with their current keyword rankings, keyword difficulty, monthly volume, etc.

Moz’s keyword database is smaller than Semrush’s, which means it gets extremely difficult for me to find low-competitive and profitable keywords. Also, I discovered Moz provides less accurate keyword volume and difficulty metrics compared to Semrush.

Pricing:

1. Starter plan costs $49/mo ($39/mo if billed annually) with 1 user and 1 tracked site.
2. Standard plan costs $99/mo ($79/mo if billed annually) with 1 user and 3 tracked sites.
3. Medium plan costs $179/mo ($143/mo if billed annually) with 2 users and 10 tracked sites.
4. Large plan costs $299/mo ($239/mo if billed annually) with 3 users and 25 tracked sites.

Try Moz 30-Day Free Trial

Verdict: Moz is a good SEO tool with strong domain authority metrics and link analysis features, but it is NOT comprehensive when compared to Semrush. It is ideal for beginners.

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3. Surfer: Best for Content Optimization

Feature	Details
Keyword Research	Available
Content Audit Tool	Available
Data availability	70 countries
Rank Tracking	Available as a paid add-on
Site Audits	Not available

Surfer is one of the best Semrush alternative tools for content creation and optimization. It gives me all the tools I need to find better topics, create content, and optimize for Google.

Surfer SEO Key Features:

• Topical maps
• Content Editor
• Surfer AI
• Content audit
• AI detector
• Keyword surfer 

Why would I pick Surfer SEO?

Keyword Surfer

Keyword Surfer is a free tool from Surfer that helps me do keyword research and see the search volume directly in Google search results.

Once it’s installed, whenever I search for something on Google, it will automatically generate keyword ideas on the right side.

As shown above, I can see keywords, overlap and search volume.

Content Audit

Content Audit tool from Surfer monitors my site, analyzes content and gives me essential metrics such as position, CTR, traffic, and Content Score.

Here’s what it looks like;

Here’s a helpful video from Surfer on how it works;

Unlike Semrush, Surfer is mainly created for content marketing purposes. This means, I don’t get essential tools like in-depth site audits, big keyword databases, social media tools, etc.

Read my in-depth review of Surfer SEO for more details.

Pricing:

1. Essential plan costs $99/mo ($79/mo if billed annually) with 5 users and 30 articles per month.
2. Scale plan costs $219/mo ($175/mo if billed annually) with 10 users and 100 articles per month.

Try Surfer SEO Today

Verdict: If I want to save more time in content creation and optimization, I’d probably go with Surfer SEO tools. But, Surfer is not affordable for most starters.

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4. SimilarWeb: Best for Traffic Analytics

Feature	Details
Keyword Database Size	Over 5 billion keywords
Website Traffic Checker	Available with in-depth data, including global rankings, SEO keywords, referring domains, etc.
Data availability	190+ countries
Rank Tracking	Yes
Site Audits	Yes

SimilarWeb is one of the popular tools for in-depth website traffic analytics. It gives me a detailed visual view of my competitors’ online strategies, including estimating site visits, traffic sources, and user engagement.

SimilarWeb Key Features:

• Website Traffic Checker
• Keyword Research
• Affiliate Research
• Ad Intelligence
• SEO Tools
• PPC Tools

Why would I pick SimilarWeb?

Website Traffic Checker

This is the ONE tool I regularly use from SimilarWeb to analyze any website’s audience and traffic sources.

I can see all traffic & engagement stats for any domain in the past 3 months;

I can discover the top traffic sources that are generating the most amount of visitors;

Huge competitor data

SimilarWeb has a massive database of over 100 million websites across 190+ countries and 210+ industries. It tracks 235+ million eCommerce product units, 6+ billion keywords, 250+ million display ads, 10 billion content pages, and 8+ million apps.

I can also see the competitors of any domain in one place;

As shown above, SimilarWeb shows me a list of highly relevant competitors along with their monthly visits, rank, similarity, etc.

Although I liked SimilarWeb for in-depth website analytics but it is really expensive compared to other Semrush alternatives.

At $199 per month for the basic plan, it’s a huge investment – especially for small businesses or website owners.

Pricing:

1. Starter plan costs $199/mo (or $1500 per year) with 1 user and 3 months of historical data.
2. Team plan costs $15,000 per year with 5 users and 15 months of historical data.
3. Business plan costs $30,000 per year with 5 users and 25 months of historical data.

Try SimilarWeb Today

Verdict: Unless I have a high budget for SEO and web analytics, SimilarWeb might not be the right choice. However, I can use its free version for basic traffic analytics of any site.

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5. Ahrefs: Best for Accurate Keyword & Competitor Data

Feature	Details
Keyword Database Size	Over 28.7 billion keywords
Backlink Database Size	over 14 trillion links
Data availability	217 locations globally
Rank Tracking	Yes, for Google rankings on desktop and mobile across 190 countries.
Site Audits	Available with 170+ metrics for in-depth analysis

Ahrefs is one of the best Semrush competitors that offers massive data for both keyword research and backlink analysis. Its pricing is also similar to Semrush but focuses more on SEO.

Ahrefs Key Features:

• Content explorer
• Site explorer
• Rank tracker
• Site audits
• Keywords explorer

Why would I pick Ahrefs as a Semrush alternative?

Keywords Explorer

I really like Ahrefs for keyword research as it helps me find hundreds of relevant keyword ideas with accurate search volume and keyword Difficulty.

I just need to enter any seed keyword or phrase and the tool will give me a quick overview along with its difficulty, overall search volume and traffic potential;

I REALLY like the keyword difficulty metric of Ahrefs, as it is one of the accurate metrics that consider backlink profiles of top-ranking pages.

The Keyword Difficulty metric helps me estimate how tough it will be to rank in the top 10 organic search results for a keyword.

Once I scroll down a bit, I’ll get access to thousands of highly relevant keyword suggestions that I can use to find the best topic opportunities.

Backlink Profile

Backlink Profile from Ahrefs helps me identify all the backlinks pointing to a domain.

As shown above, I can see everything from;

• New and lost links
• Dofollow and nofollow links
• Backlink type
• Anchor text
• Domain traffic and much more

I considered Ahrefs for mainly SEO, but its expensive pricing plans are a major drawback. The basic plan starts at $129/month, which is NOT budget-friendly for most bloggers. Plus, there’s no free trial version, unlike its competitors, including Semrush and Moz. 

Read my unbiased Ahrefs review for more details.

Pricing:

1. Lite plan costs $129/mo ($108/mo if billed annually) with 5 projects and 1 user.
2. Standard plan costs $249/mo ($208/mo if billed annually) with 20 projects and 1 user.
3. Advance plan costs $449/mo ($374/mo if billed annually) with 50 projects and 1 user.
4. Enterprise plan costs $1499 per year with 100 projects and 3 users.

Try Ahrefs Now

Verdict: Ahrefs is although an excellent alternative to Semrush, offering massive backlink analysis and keyword research tools. However, it lacks some of Semrush’s features including PPC and social media tracking features.

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6. Mangools: Best for Beginner-Friendly SEO Tools  

Feature	Details
Keyword Database Size	Over 2.5 billion keywords
Backlink Database Size	9.5 trillion links
Data availability	190 countries
Rank Tracking	Yes, with daily tracking
Site Profiler	Available to check the website’s SEO authority, backlinks, top content, etc.

Mangools is an affordable alternative to Semrush and it offers an easy-to-use interface, which makes it an excellent choice for beginners.

Mangools Key Features:

• Keyword research
• SERP Analysis
• Backlink Analysis
• Rank Tracking
• Site Profile Analysis

Why would I pick Mangools as a Semrush alternative?

Keyword research

Doing keyword research with Mangools is easy, as it offers the most intuitive interface.

Enter a keyword, and it will give you a detailed analysis with hundreds of keyword suggestions.

As shown above, I can see keyword suggestions along with keyword difficulty and SERP overview.

SERP Checker

With Mangools SERP Checker, I can analyze search results for any location. I can check SERP features, click-through rates, and over 45 SEO metrics.

Here’s what it looks like;

As shown above, I can see keyword difficulty, SERP features, and ranking metrics for each result. The tool also shows metrics like domain authority, page authority, and click-through rates.

I’ve noticed two major drawbacks: Mangools lacks advanced SEO features like in-depth website audits and PPC analysis. Its backlink & keyword databases are smaller than competitors like Ahrefs or Semrush. It’s NOT ideal for high-traffic sites.

You can check out my Mangools SEO review for more information.

Pricing:

1. Basic plan costs $49/mo ($29.90/mo if billed annually) with 100 keyword lookups for 24 hours.
2. Premium plan costs $69/mo ($44.90/mo if billed annually) with 500 keyword lookups for 24 hours.
3. Agency plan costs $129/mo ($89.90/mo if billed annually) with 1200 keyword lookups for 24 hours.

Try Mangools (Instant 20% Discount)

Verdict: If I’m looking for a user-friendly and affordable SEO toolset, I’d go with Mangools over Semrush. It has excellent keyword research capabilities, but its data is NOT as in-depth as its competitors. 

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7. SpyFu: Best for PPC Research 

Feature	Details
Keyword Database Size	Over 7 billion keywords
Backlink Analysis	Available
Rank Tracking	Yes
Historical Data	Yes, get unlimited access to 12+ years of historical keyword data.

SpyFu is primarily a competitive analysis tool that helps me identify SEO/PPC opportunities. It is much cheaper than Semrush, as its pricing starts only at $33/mo, making it a solid choice for most beginners.

SpyFu Key Features:

• SEO research
• PPC research
• Keyword analysis
• Backlink analysis
• Kombat
• SERP analysis
• Advertiser history 

Why would I pick SpyFu?

It’s affordable

The primary reason I’d choose SpyFu over Semrush is its cost. SpyFu offers unlimited searches at a lower price (three times cheaper than Semrush), making it a budget-friendly option.

I don’t have to bother hitting data limits while researching keywords and competitors.

Competitor analysis

SpyFu excels in competitor PPC analysis as it offers historical data on every ad my competitors have run. 

I can see their keywords, ad copies, and spending trends, ultimately helping me craft my own PPC campaigns.

Here’s what it looks like;

I can also see top Google Ads buy recommendations based on my competitors’ strategies.

I often noticed that SpyFu gives me fewer keyword suggestions and backlink data compared to tools like Semrush. If I want only one tool for my SEO and PPC needs, I’d rather NOT pick SpyFu, as its primary strength is PPC.

You can read my SpyFu review for more details.

Pricing:

1. Basic plan costs $39/mo ($33/mo if billed annually) with 6 months of historical data
2. Professional plan costs $79/mo ($58/mo if billed annually) with 10+ years of historical data

Try SpyFu Tool Now

Verdict: If I want to get in-depth PPC ad data and my competitors paid ad strategies, I’d prefer investing in a tool like SpyFu. Also, it’s affordable compared to its competitors. But it’s not an all-in-one toolkit like Semrush.

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8. Ubersuggest: Best for Affordable Keyword Research 

Feature	Details
Keyword Research	Available
Backlink Analysis	Available
Rank Tracking	Yes, and get daily status updates
Site Audits	Available

If I’m on a tight budget and want an SEO tool that offers me basic keyword research, competitor analysis, and site audit features – I’d go with Ubersuggest any day. It is one of the cheapest Semrush alternatives for bloggers and small businesses. 

Ubersuggest Key Features:

• Content Ideas
• Keyword research
• Site audits
• Rank tracking
• Backlink Data
• Domain Overview

Why would I pick Ubersuggest?

Lifetime access for $120

I’d pick Ubersuggest over Semrush mainly because of its affordability. For only $120, I can get the basic plan from Ubersuggest for a lifetime!

While Semrush charges a hefty monthly fee ($120/mo), Ubersuggest offers a lifetime deal for just $120, saving me thousands of dollars in the long run.

Also, I’ll get access to essential SEO tools like keyword suggestions, domain analysis, and rank tracking. So, it’s a no-brainer for anyone looking for an affordable SEO toolkit.

Domain Overview

Domain Overview tool from Ubersuggest gives me a detailed snapshot of any domain.

I can see the overall traffic (organic and paid), keywords along with backlinks and domain authority. 

I can also find all the top keywords by country, including search volume, current keyword position, etc.

However, Ubersuggest’s backlink and keyword databases are smaller than Semrush or Moz’s, which may limit in-depth keyword and competitor analysis. Also, its data is NOT as accurate as that of its competitors. 

Still, its lifetime deal ($120 for the basic plan) makes it a budget-friendly choice for people who need basic SEO and competitor data without recurring costs.

Pricing: Ubersuggest offers three pricing plans;

1. Individual plan costs $12/mo ($120 for a lifetime!) with one user and 1 project.
2. Business plan costs $20/mo ($200 for a lifetime!) with 2 users and 7 projects.
3. Enterprise plan costs $40/mo ($400 for a lifetime!) with 5 users and 15 projects.

Try Ubersuggest Today!

Verdict: If I’m getting started with SEO and want an extremely affordable tool for my website, I’d choose Ubersuggest. Although its data is limited, but it’s enough for most newbies.

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FAQs 

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Conclusion on Semrush alternatives

Semrush is an expensive toolkit, so most people look for its alternative.

If you’re on a tight budget, you can consider SE Ranking, Surfer, Mangools and Ubersuggest.

If you need powerful data with more set of advanced features, you can go with Ahrefs, Moz, SpyFu and SimilarWeb.

So, what are your thoughts on Semrush alternatives listed here? Do you’ve any questions? Let me know in the comments.