Ahrefs vs BrandMentions (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Ahrefs and BrandMentions share a 2.0 GPA, and only Ahrefs has a free plan.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Ahrefs grades higher on platforms. BrandMentions grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Ahrefs
SEO toolset for backlinks, keyword research, audits and rank tracking
BrandMentions
Web and social mention monitoring with alerts and AI sentiment
Which one is for you
Pick Ahrefs if
- Fits if most of your SEO time goes on backlinks and what's ranking for rivals
- Works for site owners who only need data on their own verified site, which Ahrefs Free covers
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want daily rankings, as Rank Tracker updates weekly on every plan
- Pricey if you're a small business, at about $107.50 a month for Lite even paid yearly
- Tight if you research a lot on Lite, where each user gets 1,000 credits a month; Starter gets 200
- Pricey if you add people: each plan has one user, and extras cost $40 to $80 a month, capped at 2, 5 or 10
- Watch out: AI writing tools start at $99 a month on top, and there's no trial of any paid plan
Pick BrandMentions if
- Fits if you want to know when your brand, or a new link to it, shows up online
- Works for PR and marketing teams tracking sentiment and share of voice against rivals
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you track more than 5 keywords or need faster than daily updates, as hourly starts at Pro ($249 a month billed annually)
- Pricey if you pay short-term: Starter's shortest term is quarterly, at $99 a month
- Not for you if you want a long look first, as there's no free plan, only a 7-day trial
- Watch out: Boolean search and white-label reports start at Expert, and the API at Enterprise from $1,099
- Skip it if you want help winning links, as it monitors and does no outreach
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAAhrefsFair | 2.0GPABrandMentionsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DLite, the plan Ahrefs aims at small businesses, is $129 a month, or $1,290 a year (about $107.50 a month) with the yearly saving. That's nearly three times this category's middle, for one user. Starter is $29, but it's monthly only with 200 credits. | CStarter is $79 a month billed annually for 5 keywords and 5,000 mentions, inside this category's usual range. You can't pay month to month, though: the shortest term is quarterly at $99 a month, and hourly updates need Pro at $249. |
| Free plan and trial | CAhrefs Free gives you Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics for sites you can prove are yours, with 5,000 crawl credits a month. That covers your own site, but there's no keyword research or rank tracking, and no trial of the paid plans. | CNo free plan, just a 7-day free trial with the main features. Enough to see what it catches for your brand, not enough to live on. |
| Features | CIts own link index, Site Explorer for any domain, keyword research, audits for 170+ issues, AI prompt tracking, and API and MCP access from Lite. The gap is rank tracking: the listing says it updates weekly on every plan, and Lite caps reports at 1,000 credits a month. | CWeb, social, news, review sites and spoken mentions, alerts for new mentions and links, AI sentiment, competitor comparisons and reports. The gaps: Starter updates daily on 5 keywords, Boolean search waits for Expert and the API for Enterprise. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Credits, projects and crawl budgets take some learning before you know what each click costs you. | CNo rating on record. You set up projects and keywords and tune alerts before the feed is useful, and reports and sentiment rules add more to learn. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus a browser toolbar, linked to Search Console, Looker Studio and Google Business Profile, with an API and an MCP server from Lite. No desktop or phone app. | CWeb only, with Slack as the one named integration. The API comes only with Enterprise, from $1,099 a month billed annually. |
| Best for | backlink and competitor research | spotting new brand mentions and links |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Ahrefs and BrandMentions. How we grade
Where they differ
- Ahrefs also covers keyword research, rank tracking, site audit and backlink analysis.
- BrandMentions also covers reports.
At a glance
| Ahrefs | BrandMentions | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed monthly | $79 per month for 5 keywords, billed annually ($99 billed quarterly) |
| Free plan | Ahrefs Free: Site Explorer, Site Audit (5,000 crawl credits a month per project) and Web Analytics for verified sites, plus the SEO Toolbar and 1 AI Content Helper doc a month. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial with access to the main features |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Ahrefs Pte. Ltd. | GESKIMO SRL |
| Price read from | ahrefs.com | brandmentions.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Ahrefs
- Rank Tracker updates rankings weekly on every plan the pricing page lists.
- Lite caps each user at 1,000 credits a month for reports; Starter has 200 and cannot add users or add-ons.
- Each plan includes one user; extra users cost $40, $60 or $80 a month and are capped at 2, 5 or 10.
- AI writing tools (Content Kit) start at $99 a month, and Project Boosts cost $20 or $200 a month per project.
BrandMentions
- There is no free plan, only a 7-day trial; Starter's shortest billing term is quarterly, at $99 a month.
- Starter tracks 5 keywords with daily updates; hourly updates start at Pro and real-time updates at Expert.
- White-label reports and Boolean search start at Expert; the API and up to 10 years of history come only with Enterprise.
- BrandMentions calls itself monitoring software, not a link-building service, and it does not sell links or placements.
Key features
Ahrefs
- Site Explorer
- See the backlinks, organic keywords and top pages of any website, with history going back 6 months to 5 years by plan.
- Keywords Explorer
- Find keyword ideas with volume and difficulty; Standard and above add AI suggestions, clusters, search intents and translations.
- Site Audit
- Crawl your sites for 170+ technical and on-page SEO issues, using 100,000 to 1.5 million crawl credits a month by plan.
- Rank Tracker
- Track 750 to 5,000 keywords on the self-serve plans, with rankings updated weekly.
- Brand Radar and AI prompts
- Plans track 5 to 20 of your own prompts in AI chat tools daily. Brand Radar AI, for researching any brand's AI mentions, starts at $199 a month.
- API and MCP server
- Every plan from Lite includes API and MCP access, capped at 100 to 500 rows per request below Enterprise.
BrandMentions
- Web and social monitoring
- Collects public mentions from social networks, video sites, forums, news, blogs, websites and review sites, plus brand names spoken in videos and podcasts.
- Mention and new-link alerts
- Email alerts for new mentions and new links, and Flash Alerts written as plain-language rules. Updates run daily on Starter, hourly on Pro and in real time from Expert.
- AI sentiment and analysis
- Sentiment built on large language models, with 12+ emotions and custom rules. Multilingual sentiment and the AI Assistant start at Pro.
- Competitor tracking
- Track rivals as keywords and compare volume, reach, share of voice and sentiment across projects, competitors and time periods.
- Reports
- AI-written reports exported as PDF or editable PowerPoint, on a schedule or on demand. White-label reports start at Expert.
- API
- A REST API with webhook-style callbacks for new mentions, included on Enterprise plans.
Plans
Ahrefs
Ahrefs Free$0
Limited Site Explorer and Site Audit for websites you verify as yours. No Keywords Explorer or Rank Tracker.
Starter$29
per month, billed monthly
200 report credits a month, with Keywords Explorer, Rank Tracker and Site Audit. Monthly only; no extra users or add-ons.
Lite$129
per month, billed monthly
1 user, 5 projects, 750 tracked keywords, 6 months of history, 1,000 credits a month, 100,000 crawl credits, API and MCP access.
Standard$249
per month, billed monthly
1 user, 20 projects, 2,000 tracked keywords, 2 years of history, unlimited credits, Content Explorer and keyword clusters.
Advanced$449
per month, billed monthly
1 user, 50 projects, 5,000 tracked keywords, 5 years of history, 1.5 million crawl credits and Looker Studio integration.
Enterprise$1,499
per month, annual commitment required
From 3 users, 100 projects, unlimited history, uncapped API, SSO and audit log. Sold through sales.
BrandMentions
Starter$79
per month for 5 keywords, billed annually ($99 billed quarterly)
5,000 mentions a month, 3 projects, 1 user, daily updates, basic AI sentiment and 3 months of data retention.
Pro$249
per month for 20 keywords, billed annually ($299 billed monthly)
30,000 mentions a month, 10 projects, 2 users, hourly updates, multilingual AI sentiment, standard reports and the AI Assistant.
Expert$399
per month for 50 keywords, billed annually ($499 billed monthly)
75,000 mentions a month, 50 projects, 10 users, real-time updates, audience demographics, white-label reports and Boolean search.
Enterprise$1,099
per month and up, billed annually ($1,299 billed monthly)
Custom keyword, mention and user limits, unlimited projects, the API, full historical data and a success manager. Booked through a demo.
Ways to pay less
Ahrefs
- Annual discount
Save up to 17% by paying annually
Ahrefs' pricing page offers up to 17% off for annual billing on Lite, Standard and Advanced. Existing monthly customers switch by contacting support.
BrandMentions
- Annual discount
Up to 3 months free with annual billing
BrandMentions' pricing page lists annual billing at up to 3 months free: Pro is $249 a month billed annually instead of $299 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs or BrandMentions?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Ahrefs is cheaper to start with: $29 a month, against $79 a month for BrandMentions. Ahrefs starts at $29 per month, billed monthly, and BrandMentions starts at $79 per month for 5 keywords, billed annually ($99 billed quarterly).
Which has a free plan, Ahrefs or BrandMentions?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Ahrefs has a free plan. BrandMentions does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Ahrefs and BrandMentions run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Ahrefs lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.