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ToolGPA

Ahrefs vs SE Ranking

We give Ahrefs a 2.0 GPA and SE Ranking a 2.2, out of 4.0. SE Ranking grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.

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

SE Ranking

SEO platform for rank tracking, audits, research and AI visibility

Free trial · from $103.20/mo
Full detailsseranking.com

How we grade them

2.0GPAAhrefsFair2.2GPASE RankingFair
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.
DCore is $103.20 a month billed yearly ($129 monthly), and it's the cheapest self-serve plan. That's well above this category's middle, for one manager seat; extra seats start at $16. In fairness, 10 projects and 2,000 keywords tracked daily is a lot for the money.
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.
CNo free plan, but the 14-day trial needs no card and is generous: 10 projects, 750 keywords and 20 AI prompts a day. Payments are non-refundable after that, so use the trial properly.
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.
BDaily rank tracking with share of voice, keyword, competitor and backlink research with no caps on either plan, audits of 250,000 pages a month, reports, listings in 100+ directories, AI answer tracking and API credits. The whole job.
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. It's tidy, but projects, keyword lists and reports all need setting up before the tool pays off.
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.
BWeb only, connected to Looker Studio, Google Analytics, Search Console, Matomo, n8n, Make and Claude, with 25,000 API credits a month and MCP on Core. No desktop or phone app.
Best forbacklink and competitor researchtracking rankings across many client sites

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 SE Ranking. 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. SE Ranking starts at $103.20 a month and scores 2.7.

SE Ranking scores higher, and starts $74.20 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other SEO tools on the chart, 4 score higher than Ahrefs for less, and none scores higher than SE Ranking 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 lessAhrefsSE Ranking

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. SE Ranking starts at $103.20 per month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly).
  • Ahrefs has a free plan. SE Ranking does not, though it has a free trial.
  • Only Ahrefs lists a browser extension.
  • SE Ranking also covers reports.
In commonWebPublic APIAI featuresKeyword researchRank trackingSite auditBacklink analysis

At a glance

AhrefsSE Ranking
PricingFree planFree trial
Starts at$29 per month, billed monthly$103.20 per month, billed annually ($129 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.None
Free trialNone listed14-day free trial, no credit card required; 10 projects, 750 keywords and 20 AI prompts a day
Web
Browser extension
Made byAhrefs Pte. Ltd.SER Acquisition Inc.
Price read fromahrefs.comseranking.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

SE Ranking

  • Agencies and consultants tracking rankings for many client sites
  • Small marketing teams that want research, audits and tracking at a lower entry price
  • SEOs who want to try every tool for two weeks without a card

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.

SE Ranking

  • Core keeps only 6 months of historical data and includes 1 manager seat; extra seats start at $16 a month.
  • White-label reports need the Agency Pack, $69 a month and sold on annual billing only.
  • Deeper AI search tracking is an add-on at $71.20 a month billed annually ($89 billed monthly).
  • Payments are non-refundable except where the service was not delivered as promised.

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.

SE Ranking

Rank Tracker
Track rankings daily across major search engines, devices and locations, with Google top-100 tracking and share of voice.
Keyword, competitor and backlink research
Research keywords, competitors' traffic and backlinks with no usage caps on either plan, plus backlink monitoring.
Website audit
Crawl sites for technical issues, from 250,000 pages a month on Core to 2 million on Growth, with an on-page checker.
AI visibility tracking
Track 100 or 250 prompts a day across five AI models, with AI source tracking and AI competitor research by domain.
Reports and local SEO
Report Builder (10 or 30 reports), and local tools covering 3 locations, map rank tracking and listings in 100+ directories.
API and MCP
Plans include 25,000 or 100,000 research API credits a month and MCP access for querying the data from AI assistants.

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.

SE Ranking

  • Core$103.20

    per month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly)

    1 manager seat, 10 projects, 2,000 keywords and 100 AI prompts tracked daily, 250,000 audit pages a month and 6 months of history.

  • Growth$223.20

    per month, billed annually ($279 billed monthly)

    3 manager seats, 30 projects, 5,000 keywords and 250 prompts daily, 2 million audit pages, all-time history and guest links.

  • EnterpriseCustom

    Custom limits and terms, full API and advanced integrations, through sales.

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.

SE Ranking

  • Annual discount

    Save 20% with annual billing

    SE Ranking's pricing page lists Core at $103.20 a month billed annually instead of $129 monthly, and Growth at $223.20 instead of $279.

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