Ahrefs vs Keywordmap (2026): which should you pick?

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 Keywordmap if

• Fits if you do SEO and content marketing for sites in Japan
• Works for agencies that sell keyword and competitor research to clients

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you don't read Japanese, as the site, sales process and prices are all in Japanese and yen
• Pricey if you're an agency, from ¥198,000 a month on an annual contract plus a ¥300,000 setup fee
• Watch out: businesses using it for their own sites get no published price, only a quote
• Watch out: contracts renew for the same term and price unless you cancel by the end of the month before they end
• Tight if you need more features or users than your plan has, as each extra one is ¥25,000 a month

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.

Keywordmap

• Prices are published only for agencies and production companies; businesses using the data for their own sites get a quote.
• Every plan is an annual contract that renews for the same term and price unless cancelled by the end of the month before it ends.
• A one-time ¥300,000 setup fee applies, and each extra feature or user costs ¥25,000 a month.
• The website and sales process are in Japanese, and prices are in yen.

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.

Keywordmap

Site keyword analysis

Shows the keywords any site ranks for, with search volume, estimated visits, SERP features such as featured snippets and local packs, and query type. Compares up to four sites.

AI keyword selection

Enter your site's URL and the AI proposes keywords drawn from what several competitors rank for, leaving out ones you are unlikely to rank for.

AI outlines and writing

A ChatGPT-based AI drafts article headings and full articles from search intent and the top-ranking pages, and scores the draft's quality.

AI Overviews monitoring

Newer features monitor Google AI Overviews, report on AI search results, check pages for how well AI can use them and look for wrong information in AI answers.

Search ad research

Analyzes competitors' listing ads and the keywords they advertise on, alongside their organic keywords.

Rank and traffic reports

Daily reports, ranking reports, bulk rank checks and ranking changes, with Google Analytics and Search Console connected.

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.

Keywordmap

• Light, Standard, Expert (companies)Custom

  For businesses using the data for their own sites. Features and users are set per plan and quoted after an inquiry.

• Starter (agencies)¥198,000

  per month on an annual contract

  For agencies and production companies: 1 user and 4 features, plus a ¥300,000 setup fee charged with the first month.

• Light (agencies)¥248,000

  per month on an annual contract

  2 users and 6 features, plus the ¥300,000 setup fee.

• Standard (agencies)¥348,000

  per month on an annual contract

  4 users and 10 features, plus the ¥300,000 setup fee. Marked as recommended.

• Expert (agencies)¥448,000

  per month on an annual contract

  6 users and 14 features, plus the ¥300,000 setup fee, for use across consulting, planning and sales teams.

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.

Keywordmap

No public discounts listed.