Head to head
Ahrefs vs Semrush: which should you buy?
Most articles answering this question were written before Semrush changed its pricing structure. We read both vendor pricing pages on 4 September 2026 and wrote down only what we could confirm.
Quick verdict
- Working alone with a small budget: Ahrefs. Its entry plan is $29 a month against $117.33 for the cheapest Semrush tier.
- Running a team: count seats first. Semrush charges from $45 a month per extra user, which reorders the comparison before you reach features.
- Chasing AI visibility above all else: neither. Both bolt AI tracking onto an SEO suite. A dedicated tool does more.
- Neither of the above: the two overlap heavily on core research. Pick on price and on which interface you tolerate.
What we confirmed, and when
Every figure below came off the vendor's own pricing page on 4 September 2026. Software pricing moves, so treat the date as part of the data.
| Ahrefs | Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan, monthly | Starter, $29/mo | Lowest listed tier, $117.33/mo billed annually |
| Extra user seats | Plans list 1 user | "Additional Users Starting at $45/mo" |
| Current tier names | Starter, Lite, Standard, Advanced, Enterprise | SEO, Starter, Pro+, Advanced |
| How the product is framed | Backlink and competitor research depth | Titled "SEO & AI Search Plans and Pricing" |
Check them yourself:Ahrefs pricingandSemrush pricing. Tell us if either has moved.
What we could not confirm
Comparison articles love a spec sheet. Keyword database size, backlink index size, crawl credits per tier, rank tracking frequency. Those numbers circulate widely and get copied between articles for years without anyone rechecking them.
We could not read them reliably off either vendor’s own documentation, so they are absent here rather than borrowed from a third party and presented as fact.
We believe a short list of dated, checkable figures beats a long spec table nobody verified. If a comparison shows you twenty numbers and no date, it is guessing at most of them.
Who should pick which
Pick Ahrefs if
- You work alone, so the per-seat gap never applies to you.
- Backlink and competitor research is the bulk of your work.
- Entry pricing decides it, and $29 against $117.33 decides it.
Pick Semrush if
- You need one subscription covering search, ads, and AI visibility together.
- You report to clients or executives who want breadth in a single export.
- The budget absorbs both the plan and the per-seat charges.
Pick neither if
- Getting cited inside ChatGPT and Google AI answers is the actual goal. Both treat that as a feature rather than the product. Our tool comparison names the ones built for it.
Questions people ask
Is Ahrefs or Semrush better for a small business on a tight budget?
Ahrefs, on entry price alone. Its Starter plan is $29 a month against a lowest listed Semrush tier of $117.33 a month billed annually, checked on 4 September 2026. Starter is a limited plan, so read what it includes before committing.
Which one should an agency with several staff choose?
Count the seats before you compare the sticker price. Semrush lists additional users starting at $45 a month each. A four-person team adds roughly $135 a month on top of the plan, which changes the comparison more than any feature does.
Does either tool track whether ChatGPT mentions my brand?
Semrush now markets AI search visibility as part of its core pricing page, which is titled "SEO & AI Search Plans and Pricing." Ahrefs sells AI visibility tracking through Brand Radar. Neither replaces a dedicated answer engine optimization tool if AI citations are your main goal.
Why do other comparison articles list different Semrush prices?
Because Semrush has restructured its plans. Articles citing the older lineup were written before the change and never updated. Check the date on any pricing comparison, including this one.
Did RankJudge test both tools?
No, and we say so everywhere. We read both vendor pricing pages directly, recorded what we could confirm, and listed what we could not. Anyone claiming a twelve-week head-to-head test should show you the data.
Can I use both?
Plenty of agencies do, using Ahrefs for link research and Semrush for reporting breadth. At combined cost it only makes sense once client billing covers it.
Neither one fits?
Nine business situations, one honest pick each, runners-up named.
See all nineHow this page was made
Both vendor pricing pages were read directly on 4 September 2026 and only figures legible on those pages appear above. Nothing here comes from our own testing, because RankJudge runs none. RankJudge earns no affiliate commission on either of these two tools.Our affiliate disclosure covers how we make money.