Ahrefs vs Sistrix (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Sistrix grades higher than Ahrefs: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Sistrix 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
Sistrix
German SEO suite built around a Google visibility score per domain
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 Sistrix if
- Fits if you report SEO progress with one number per domain
- Works for you if you want years of history on how a competitor's visibility moved
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're one person, as Start is €99 a month on a yearly contract with 3 months of history
- Tight if more people need logins, since Start has one user and can't add more; extra users from Plus are €24.90
- Not for you if you need invoices in dollars, which only come with Enterprise
- Tight if you need the API, as Start has none, Plus has Visibility Index data only, and full access starts at €349
- Watch out: AI Check and prompt tracking are free only during the beta and may be priced separately later
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAAhrefsFair | 2.2GPASistrixFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | DStart is €99 a month plus tax on a yearly contract (€119 monthly), about $111, for 1 user, 3 projects and 3 months of history. That's more than twice this category's middle, and the content tools and the API need Plus at €199. |
| 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, but a 14-day trial that ends on its own, so there's nothing to cancel. Lecturers and students can apply for a free licence for academic use. |
| 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. | BThe Visibility Index for any domain, keyword research, a backlink index, an on-page crawler with JavaScript rendering, ranking updates, AI answer tracking and Amazon analysis. It covers the whole job, though Start keeps only 3 months of history. |
| 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. Each domain gets one score, but it's a big suite with projects, crawls and keyword lists to set up. |
| 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 Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Slack and Majestic. There's no API on Start, Visibility Index data only on Plus, and the full API from Professional. |
| Best for | backlink and competitor research | tracking a domain's Google visibility over years |
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 Sistrix. 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. Sistrix starts at about $110.94 a month and scores 2.7.
Sistrix scores higher, and starts $81.94 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other SEO tools on the chart, 6 score higher than Ahrefs for less, and none scores higher than Sistrix for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
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
Where they differ
- Sistrix also covers AI search visibility and content optimization.
At a glance
| Ahrefs | Sistrix | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed monthly | €99 per month plus tax, billed annually (€119 billed monthly) |
| 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 | 14-day free trial that ends on its own, with no cancellation needed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Ahrefs Pte. Ltd. | SISTRIX GmbH |
| Price read from | ahrefs.com | sistrix.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.
Sistrix
- Prices are in euros plus tax; invoicing in US dollars or other currencies is only offered through the Enterprise program.
- Start has one user and cannot add more; extra users from Plus cost €24.90 a month each.
- There is no API on Start, only Visibility Index data on Plus, and full access from Professional.
- AI Check and prompt tracking are free in every package during the beta, and SISTRIX says it may price them separately later.
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.
Sistrix
- Visibility Index and domain analysis
- Enter a domain to see its Google visibility over time, its rankings and its competitors, with history from 3 months to 11 years by package.
- Keyword research
- Keyword Discovery and related tools look up search data for billions of keywords and show which domains rank for them.
- Backlink index
- Inspect a competitor's link sources and monitor your own backlinks, with data from SISTRIX, Majestic and other link partners.
- Projects: crawler and ranking updates
- Projects run an on-page crawler with JavaScript and mobile rendering, plus on-demand SERP updates for your own keyword lists.
- AI visibility
- AI Check, prompt tracking and prompt research show where a brand is mentioned in AI answers, on ChatGPT, Gemini and others, and which sources are cited.
- Content tools
- From Plus: a Content Assistant for optimizing text, a Content Planner for topic clusters, Content Discovery and plagiarism checks.
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.
Sistrix
Start€99
per month plus tax, billed annually (€119 billed monthly)
1 user, 3 projects, 3 months of history, 10,000 results per analysis, 2,500 SERP updates and 9,300 prompt updates a month.
Plus€199
per month plus tax, billed annually (€239 billed monthly)
3 users, 15 projects, 5 years of history, the content tools, 15,000 SERP updates, 27,900 prompt updates and limited API access.
Professional€349
per month plus tax, billed annually (€419 billed monthly)
6 users, 40 projects, the full 11-year history, full API access, white-label reports and phone support.
Premium€599
per month plus tax, billed annually (€799 billed monthly)
12 users, 100 projects, unlimited results per analysis, roles and rights with an audit log, and VIP support.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom quotas, invoicing in other currencies, custom billing periods and exclusive seminars.
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.
Sistrix
- Annual discount
Lower monthly price on a 12-month contract
Annual billing costs €99 instead of €119 a month on Start and €599 instead of €799 on Premium, about 17% to 25% less.
- Education
Free licence for lecturers and students
The SISTRIX educational program gives lecturers and students a free account for academic use; applications are reviewed within seven days.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs or Sistrix?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Ahrefs is cheaper to start with: $29 a month, against about $110.94 a month for Sistrix. Ahrefs starts at $29 per month, billed monthly, and Sistrix starts at €99 per month plus tax, billed annually (€119 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Ahrefs or Sistrix?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Ahrefs has a free plan. Sistrix does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Ahrefs and Sistrix 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.