Authoritas vs Semrush (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Authoritas grades higher than Semrush: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Authoritas grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Authoritas
SEO platform with credit-based rank tracking and AI search tracking
Semrush
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility
Which one is for you
Pick Authoritas if
- Fits if you track rankings across many countries, devices and cities
- Works for one small site that can live on 1,000 rank credits a month
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you just need a few hundred keywords tracked, at $129 a month for 1 user
- Tight if you track one keyword in many places, as each place uses another credit
- Skip it if AI answer tracking is the point, since that's a separate product from $119 a month
- Watch out: the Platform API, BigQuery and Looker Studio templates are Enterprise only, at an unpublished price
- Watch out: the free account goes if you don't log in every 30 days, and going past your credits means upgrading
Pick Semrush if
- Fits if you want research, rank tracking and audits in one account and can pay $117.33 a month or more
- Works for agencies that need keyword data for many countries and compare client sites with competitors
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're one person with one site, at $117.33 a month even yearly, and the trial checks your card with a small charge
- Tight if your team is more than just you, since every extra user is from $45 a month
- Skip it if AI answer tracking is the point, as the SEO plan leaves it out and Starter is $165.17 a month
- Watch out: the API and share of voice need the custom-priced Advanced plan, and scheduled PDF reports are $10 to $20 a month extra
- Watch out: local, content, social and ad tools are separate toolkits with their own prices, and the free plan allows 10 reports a day
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAuthoritasFair | 2.2GPASemrushFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DEssential is $129 a month, or $1,419 for a year (about $118 a month), for 1 user, 5 domains and enough credits for 500 keywords checked daily. That's in this category's dearest tenth, and AI tracking is a separate product from $119. | DThe SEO plan, the one Semrush aims at freelancers and small businesses, is $117.33 a month billed yearly ($139 monthly). That's in this category's dearest tenth, for one user. AI search tracking needs Starter at $165.17, and each extra person is from $45 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free account with every standard feature, 2 websites, 1,000 rank credits a month and 1 user. That's about 33 keywords checked daily, enough for one small site. The catch: log in every 30 days or you lose it. | CA free account with no card: 1 project, 10 reports a day and 10 tracked keywords. Fine for a look around, but you'll hit the wall in an afternoon. The 7-day trial of the paid plans checks your card with a small charge that's refunded at once. |
| Features | BRank tracking on Google, Bing and regional engines, checked in a real browser, plus keyword research, market share, content tools, a crawler with Core Web Vitals and Majestic backlinks. The whole job, with AI search sold apart. | BKeyword research from a database it puts at 29 billion keywords across 142 countries, competitor and backlink analysis, daily rank tracking and Site Audit. It covers the whole job, though the SEO plan only gets the basic research tools and no AI visibility. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Every extra country, device or place for a keyword costs another credit, so plans take some working out. | CNo rating on record. It's a big suite with a lot of reports, and there are projects to set up and plenty to learn before it all makes sense. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, connected to Search Console, Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Google Ads, Majestic, BigQuery, Looker Studio and Sheets, with a SERPs API. The Platform API and BigQuery need Enterprise. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. It connects to Google Analytics, Search Console, Wix, Yoast, AIOSEO, Supermetrics and Monday.com, has MCP from Starter, and the API comes with the custom-priced Advanced plan. |
| Best for | rank tracking across many countries and devices | all-in-one SEO research for teams with a budget |
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: Authoritas and Semrush. How we grade
Price against what you get
Authoritas starts at $129 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Semrush starts at $117.33 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Semrush starts $11.67 a month lower. Of the other SEO tools on the chart, none scores higher than Authoritas for less, and none scores higher than Semrush 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
- Authoritas also covers AI search visibility and content optimization.
- Semrush also covers reports.
At a glance
| Authoritas | Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $129 per month for 15,000 rank credits, billed monthly | $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Freemium account with all standard platform features, limited to 2 websites, 1,000 keyword rank credits a month and 1 user. You must log in every 30 days to keep it. | Free account: 1 project, 10 analytics reports a day across the main tools and 10 keywords in Position Tracking. No credit card needed. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial of paid plans; a card is checked with a small charge that is refunded at once |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Analytics SEO Limited (t/a Authoritas) | Semrush Holdings |
| Price read from | authoritas.com | semrush.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Authoritas
- Every rank check uses credits: a new country, device or location for the same keyword costs another credit.
- AI search tracking is a separate product, from $119 a month for 2,000 prompt credits; search-grounded models need an Enterprise plan.
- To go past a plan's monthly credit allowance on the SEO platform you upgrade to the next tier.
- Platform API access, BigQuery and Looker Studio templates are listed as Enterprise features.
Semrush
- Each plan includes one user; extra users start at $45 a month each, priced by plan level.
- Scheduled PDF reports are an add-on at $10 a month, or $20 with white-labeling; Advanced includes reporting.
- API access and share of voice come only with the custom-priced Advanced plan.
- Local, content, social, advertising, AI PR and traffic tools are separate toolkits with their own prices.
Key features
Authoritas
- Rank tracking
- Track keywords daily, weekly or monthly in Google, Bing and regional engines, by country, device and location, checked with a real browser.
- Keyword research and market share
- Keyword research plus Market Share and Visibility Explorer tools that compare your search visibility with competitors.
- Content tools
- Optimize existing pages, generate content with AI and research the questions consumers ask, with content gap analysis against competitors.
- Technical SEO and backlinks
- A website crawler with Core Web Vitals checks, backlink analysis using Majestic data, influencer discovery and link-building campaigns.
- Reporting and APIs
- Custom reports, dashboards, alerts and BigQuery export, plus a SERPs API, Platform API, content API and a Google Sheets add-on.
- AI Search Platform
- Tracks brand visibility, sentiment and citations on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, DeepSeek and Bing.
Semrush
- Keyword research
- Look up search volume, difficulty and intent from a database Semrush puts at 29 billion keywords across 142 country databases.
- Competitor and backlink analysis
- See which keywords and pages bring a rival site its traffic, and inspect any domain's backlink profile.
- Position Tracking
- Track daily rankings for 500 to 5,000+ keywords depending on the plan; Pro+ adds tracking by location and device.
- Site Audit
- Crawl your sites for technical SEO problems. From the Starter plan the audit also checks how ready a site is for AI search.
- AI visibility tracking
- Starter and above track daily whether set prompts in AI chat tools mention your brand, with sentiment monitoring. The SEO plan has none of this.
- MCP and API access
- Starter and above can query Semrush data from AI assistants through MCP; the API itself comes with the Advanced plan.
Plans
Authoritas
Free$0
2 domains, 1,000 keyword rank credits a month and 1 user, with the standard platform features.
Essential$129
per month for 15,000 rank credits, billed monthly
5 domains and 1 user. 1 credit = 1 keyword checked once in one search engine, device and location, so 15,000 covers 500 keywords daily.
Expert$599
per month for 100,000 rank credits, billed monthly
35 domains and 5 users; enough for about 3,300 keywords checked daily in one search engine setup.
Business$899
per month for 300,000 rank credits, billed monthly
75 domains; enough for about 10,000 keywords checked daily in one search engine setup.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom credits and user limits, unlimited domains, Platform API, eCommerce integrations, BigQuery, Looker Studio templates and senior account managers.
Semrush
Free$0
1 project, 10 analytics reports a day and 10 tracked keywords, for trying the tools.
SEO$117.33
per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly)
1 user, 5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily, basic keyword and competitor research, and Site Audit. No AI search tracking.
Starter$165.17
per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly)
5 websites and 500 keywords, full keyword research tools, MCP access, 50 AI prompts tracked daily and 300 AI visibility reports a day.
Pro+$248.17
per month, billed annually ($299 billed monthly)
15 websites, 1,500 keywords, historical data, content optimization, cannibalization checks, multi-location tracking and 100 AI prompts.
AdvancedCustom
40+ websites, 5,000+ keywords, share of voice, API access, team users, reporting and unlimited AI prompts. Sold after a demo.
Ways to pay less
Authoritas
- Annual discount
One month free with annual billing
Authoritas says signing up for a year gives one month free: Essential is $1,419 a year instead of 12 × $129.
- Other savings
20% off when adding the second platform
Upgrading in-app from the SEO platform to the AI Search platform, or the other way, within the first 90 days takes 20% off the total cost.
Semrush
- Annual discount
Save up to 17% with annual billing
Semrush's pricing page lists annual billing at up to 17% less: Starter is $165.17 a month billed annually instead of $199 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Authoritas or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Semrush is cheaper to start with: $117.33 a month, against $129 a month for Authoritas. Authoritas starts at $129 per month for 15,000 rank credits, billed monthly, and Semrush starts at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Authoritas or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Authoritas and Semrush have a free plan.
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.