BrightEdge vs Semrush (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Semrush grades higher than BrightEdge: 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
BrightEdge grades higher on value for money. Semrush grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Semrush
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility
Which one is for you
Pick BrightEdge if
- Fits if you run SEO for a large company across many sites and markets
- Works for teams whose executives want organic and AI search results in custom dashboards
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to try it first, as there's no trial or free plan, only a demo
- Skip it if you're a small business, since it's built and sold for enterprises
- Watch out: no price is published, so you only learn the cost from a custom proposal
- Tight if your CMS has no BrightEdge integration, because Autopilot's fixes depend on one
- Not for you if you want a desktop or phone app, as it's web plus a Chrome extension
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
| 2.0GPABrightEdgeFair | 2.2GPASemrushFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published. BrightEdge is sold after a demo with a custom proposal, so the price is only given on a sales call. C is where we put every tool that won't say. | 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 | FNothing free on record: no free plan and no self-serve trial. You book a demo and wait for the proposal. | 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 | BKeyword research from its own dataset with about 10 years of history, AI Catalyst for AI answers, rank and traffic reporting, site audits, content briefs, Autopilot fixes and an MCP server. The whole job, sized for big teams. | 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. It's an enterprise platform with dashboards to build, and CMS integrations to set up before Autopilot does anything. | 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 plus a Chrome extension, connected to Google Analytics, Search Console, Adobe Analytics, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Domo, Optimizely, Looker Studio and Majestic, with an MCP server. No desktop or phone app. | 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 | enterprise SEO and AI search reporting | 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: BrightEdge and Semrush. How we grade
Where they differ
- BrightEdge also covers AI search visibility and content optimization.
- Semrush also covers backlink analysis.
At a glance
| BrightEdge | Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | 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 | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | BrightEdge Technologies, Inc. | Semrush Holdings |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | semrush.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
BrightEdge
- No prices are published: BrightEdge is sold after a demo with a custom proposal, and there is no free plan or self-serve trial.
- It is built for enterprises; BrightEdge says its 2,400 customers include 57 of the Fortune 100.
- Autopilot's automated fixes depend on an integration with the site's CMS.
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
BrightEdge
- Data Cube X keyword research
- Research keywords and competitors from BrightEdge's own dataset, with its own exact-match search volume and about 10 years of history.
- AI Catalyst
- Tracks brand mentions, citations and sentiment on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini and others, benchmarked against competitors.
- Rank, traffic and custom reporting
- Keyword rank tracking, Search Console traffic reports, page analytics and custom dashboards for teams and executives.
- Site audit and Autopilot
- Technical health checks with fixes, plus Autopilot and Site Agents that apply some optimizations on the website through CMS integrations.
- Content tools and SEO Copilot
- AI-assisted content briefs and drafts, page-level recommendations and an AI assistant that suggests titles and meta descriptions.
- Chrome extension and MCP
- A Chrome extension shows SEO data and Copilot suggestions on any page, and an MCP server connects BrightEdge data to AI tools.
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
BrightEdge
Pricing could not be confirmed. See brightedge.com.
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
BrightEdge
No public discounts listed.
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, BrightEdge or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, BrightEdge has no price we could confirm, and Semrush starts at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, BrightEdge or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Semrush has a free plan. BrightEdge does not.
Which platforms do BrightEdge and Semrush run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only BrightEdge 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.