Skip to content
ToolGPA

Ahrefs vs Sitebulb

We give Ahrefs a 2.0 GPA and Sitebulb a 2.6, out of 4.0. Sitebulb grades higher on value for money and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan, features 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

Sitebulb

Website auditing crawler for Windows and Mac, with a cloud edition

Free trial · from $18/mo
Full detailssitebulb.com

How we grade them

2.0GPAAhrefsFair2.6GPASitebulbGood
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.
BGraded against its alternatives. Lite is $180 a year, $15 a month, for 1 user and 10,000 URLs per audit, cheaper than Screaming Frog's $279 and far under Semrush or Ahrefs. Pro, with scheduling and comparisons, is $425 a year.
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 works like Sitebulb Pro on the desktop.
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.
CIt does the audit job fully: 100+ hints on Lite or 300+ on Pro, JavaScript crawling on every plan, crawl maps and MCP. But auditing is one slice of SEO, and Lite lacks scheduling, comparisons and several report types.
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.
BNo rating on record, but this is the friendly crawler: install it, start an audit, and each problem comes ranked by priority and explained in plain terms.
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.
BDesktop apps for Windows and Mac plus Sitebulb Cloud in the browser, with Google Analytics, Search Console, Sheets, Looker Studio, Claude and ChatGPT. The cloud version is priced separately, from $125 a month.
Best forbacklink and competitor researchsite audits explained in plain words

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 Sitebulb. 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. Sitebulb starts at $18 a month and scores 2.7.

Sitebulb scores higher and starts $11 a month lower. Of the other SEO tools on the chart, 4 score higher than Ahrefs for less, and none scores higher than Sitebulb 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 lessAhrefsSitebulb

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. Sitebulb starts at $18 per month, billed monthly.
  • Ahrefs has a free plan. Sitebulb does not, though it has a free trial.
  • Only Ahrefs lists a browser extension.
  • Only Sitebulb lists Windows and macOS apps.
  • Ahrefs also covers keyword research, rank tracking and backlink analysis.
  • Sitebulb also covers reports.
In commonWebSite audit

At a glance

AhrefsSitebulb
PricingFree planFree trial
Starts at$29 per month, billed monthly$18 per month, 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 equal to Sitebulb Pro desktop, no credit card
Web
macOS
Windows
Browser extension
Made byAhrefs Pte. Ltd.Sitebulb Limited
Price read fromahrefs.comsitebulb.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

Sitebulb

  • SEO consultants and agencies who want audits explained for clients
  • Freelancers auditing small sites on a low monthly budget
  • Teams that need to crawl very large sites from the cloud

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.

Sitebulb

  • Lite caps each audit at 10,000 URLs and lacks scheduling, comparisons and several report types.
  • Desktop crawls are limited by the computer: Pro's default cap is 500,000 URLs, raisable to 2 million.
  • Sitebulb Cloud is priced separately, from $125 a month, and needs at least 2 users.
  • Purchase order and invoice payment is only for yearly plans.

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.

Sitebulb

Prioritized hints
Each audit flags issues against 100+ hints on Lite or 300+ on Pro, ranked by priority and explained in plain terms.
JavaScript crawling
Render JavaScript-heavy sites during a crawl on every plan, at no extra cost.
Audit comparison and scheduling
On Pro, compare audits to see what changed and schedule audits to run automatically, with auto-export to Google Sheets.
Crawl maps and reports
See site structure as visual crawl maps, and on Pro produce customized PDF reports for clients.
Pro-only checks
Pro adds performance and mobile, structured data, hreflang, spelling, accessibility and AMP reports.
MCP access
Connect audits to Claude, ChatGPT and other AI tools through Sitebulb's MCP server, included on every plan.

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.

Sitebulb

  • Lite$18

    per month, billed monthly

    Desktop, 1 user, 10,000 URLs per audit, 100+ hints, JavaScript crawling, crawl maps and GA, GSC and Sheets integration.

  • Pro$42

    per month, billed monthly

    Desktop price for 1 user; more users from $11 a month each. 500,000 URLs per audit, 300+ hints, scheduling, comparisons, PDF reports.

  • Sitebulb Cloud$125

    per month and up, billed monthly

    Browser-based cloud crawling for 2+ users, no project limits, recurring crawls and Data Studio integration.

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.

Sitebulb

  • Annual discount

    Save 15% with yearly plans

    Paid yearly, Lite is $180 a year and Pro $425 for 1 user, with extra users at $115.60 a year; Sitebulb Cloud starts at $1,500 a year.

More comparisons