Skip to content
ToolGPA

Ahrefs vs Mangools

We give Ahrefs and Mangools the same GPA: 2.0 out of 4.0. Ahrefs grades higher on platforms. Mangools 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

Free plan · from $29/mo
Full detailsahrefs.com

Mangools

Bundle of five SEO tools led by the KWFinder keyword research app

Free plan · from $37.70/mo
Full detailsmangools.com

How we grade them

2.0GPAAhrefsFair2.0GPAMangoolsFair
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.
CBasic is $37.70 a month on yearly billing ($61 monthly), exactly this category's middle. That buys 100 keyword lookups a day, 200 tracked keywords and 500 AI prompts. Paying monthly costs a lot more, and refunds only run for 48 hours.
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. Handy for your own site, but there's no keyword research or rank tracking, and no trial of the paid plans.
CA free plan with no card: 5 keyword lookups every 24 hours, each showing 15 related keywords. Enough to see how it works, not enough to do research. There's no trial of the paid plans.
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.
CKeyword research down to city level, SERP checks, rank tracking, backlinks from Majestic's index, domain metrics and AI answer tracking on every plan. The gaps: rankings update weekly except on Agency, and none of the five tools audits your site.
Ease of use
CNo rating on record. The reports are clean, but credits, projects and crawl budgets take some learning before you know what each click costs you.
CNo rating on record. The tools are pitched at bloggers and read simply, but daily lookup caps and setting up rank tracking take some getting used to.
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 plus a browser extension, with Looker Studio the one integration on the listing. No desktop or phone app.
Best forbacklink and competitor researchsimple keyword research for bloggers

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 Mangools. How we grade

Price against what you get

Ahrefs starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Mangools starts at $37.70 a month and scores 2.0.

Ahrefs scores higher and starts $8.70 a month lower. Of the other SEO tools on the chart, 4 score higher than Ahrefs for less, and 9 score higher than Mangools for less.

Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged

C2.0B3.0A4.0$5$10$20$50$100$200More for lessCosts more, scores moreCosts less, scores lessCosts more, scores lessAhrefsMangools

What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →

  • The best score at each price
  • Has a free plan
  • No free plan
The full chart of SEO tools, and the best at every price

Where they differ

  • Ahrefs starts at $29 per month, billed monthly. Mangools starts at $37.70 per month, billed annually ($61 billed monthly).
  • Ahrefs also covers site audit.
In commonFree planWebBrowser extensionPublic APIAI featuresKeyword researchRank trackingBacklink analysis

At a glance

AhrefsMangools
PricingFree planFree plan
Starts at$29 per month, billed monthly$37.70 per month, billed annually ($61 billed monthly)
Free planAhrefs 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.Free plan, no card needed: 5 KWFinder lookups per 24 hours, each showing 15 related and 5 competitor keywords, plus the free mini tools.
Free trialNone listedNone listed
Web
Browser extension
Made byAhrefs Pte. Ltd.Mangools (CodeCat s.r.o.)
Price read fromahrefs.commangools.com
CheckedOct 17, 2026Oct 17, 2026

Who each one suits

Ahrefs

  • SEOs who spend most of their time on backlinks and competitor research
  • Site owners who want free audits and ranking data for their own sites
  • Freelancers and consultants who can work within one included user

Mangools

  • Bloggers and small-site owners who mainly need keyword research
  • Freelancers who want simple tools at a lower monthly price
  • Small teams that can share one account's daily limits

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.

Mangools

  • Rank tracking updates weekly except on the Agency plan, which updates daily.
  • Basic has no extra seats; sub-users on Premium and Agency share the parent account's limits.
  • Lookups reset every 24 hours, so heavy research days can hit the cap.
  • Refunds are offered only within 48 hours of a payment.

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.

Mangools

KWFinder
Find keyword ideas with search volume and a keyword difficulty score, by keyword or by the domain that ranks, for locations down to city level.
SERPChecker
Inspect localized search results with SERP features and metrics for every ranking page; each check counts as one SERP lookup.
SERPWatcher
Track rankings for 200 to 1,500 keywords; updates are weekly, or daily on the Agency plan. Desktop and mobile count separately.
LinkMiner and SiteProfiler
Browse a site's backlinks, drawn from Majestic's index, and get an overview of any domain's SEO metrics.
AI Search Watcher PRO
Included in every plan: monitor up to 500 prompts across several AI models, with unlimited monitors and multiple checks per prompt.

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.

Mangools

  • Free$0

    5 keyword lookups per 24 hours with 15 related and 5 competitor keywords per lookup.

  • Mangools Basic$37.70

    per month, billed annually ($61 billed monthly)

    1 user, 100 keyword and 100 SERP lookups per 24 hours, 200 tracked keywords updated weekly, 100,000 backlinks a month, 500 AI prompts.

  • Mangools Premium$52.70

    per month, billed annually ($81 billed monthly)

    3 extra seats, 500 keyword and SERP lookups per 24 hours, 700 tracked keywords updated weekly, 500,000 backlinks a month.

  • Mangools Agency$97.70

    per month, billed annually ($141 billed monthly)

    5 extra seats, 1,200 keyword and SERP lookups per 24 hours, 1,500 tracked keywords updated daily, 1.2 million backlinks a month.

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.

Mangools

  • Annual discount

    Save up to 35% with annual billing

    Mangools' FAQ puts the saving from annual plans at up to 35%. Basic is $452.40 a year billed annually against $61 a month billed monthly.

More comparisons