Indexly vs Semrush (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Indexly and Semrush share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan, and Indexly starts cheaper, at $99 a month against $117.33 a month.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Indexly grades higher on value for money. Semrush grades higher on features. They get the same grade on 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.
Indexly
AI search visibility tracking with content, social and forum agents
Semrush
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility
Which one is for you
Pick Indexly if
- Fits if you want AI tracking and SEO chores like audits and indexing in one account
- Works for small sites that want free AI referral analytics for up to two sites
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want Grok or AI Overviews in a bundle, as they need Scale at $499 a month
- Pricey if you want every agent, as SEO Visibility and Forum Agents add $49 a month and Content and Social Agents $99
- Not for you if you want to try the tracking before paying, since there's no trial
- Watch out: the API, white-label and custom reports start at Scale, $499 a month
- Tight if you track many engines, as the AI Visibility module picks 3 models for 2 sites and 2 countries
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
| 2.2GPAIndexlyFair | 2.2GPASemrushFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe AI Visibility module is $99 a month for 100 prompts on 3 models, billed monthly, with 17% off yearly. That's this category's usual range, right at its dearer quarter. Content and Social Agents are $99 more each, SEO Visibility and Forum Agents $49. | 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 | CThe Analytics module is free for 2 sites, with AI referral traffic and lead analytics. It doesn't show what AI answers say about you, though, and there's no trial of the paid parts. | 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 | CDaily visibility, share of voice and sentiment, citation gaps, SEO and AI-readiness audits, indexing, and content, social and Reddit agents. The gap the listing names: the module picks 3 models, and in the bundles Grok and AI Overviews come only with Scale. | 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. Modules and bundles overlap, so working out which one you need takes a while, and then there's a CMS and Search Console to connect. | 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, with no desktop or phone app. It publishes to WordPress, Shopify, Webflow and Ghost, reads Google Analytics and Search Console, and drafts posts for LinkedIn and replies for Reddit. The API starts at Scale. | 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 | AI tracking with SEO, content and Reddit agents | 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: Indexly and Semrush. How we grade
Where they differ
- Indexly also covers AI agents, web analytics, AI search visibility and content optimization.
- Semrush also covers reports, keyword research, rank tracking and backlink analysis.
At a glance
| Indexly | Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $99 per month for 100 prompts on 3 AI models, billed monthly | $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Analytics module: free for 2 sites, with Google and Bing search performance, AI referral traffic, citation performance and lead analytics. | 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 | Indexly | Semrush Holdings |
| Price read from | indexly.ai | semrush.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Indexly
- Content, social and forum agents and SEO Visibility are separate modules: SEO Visibility and Forum Agents are $49 a month, Content and Social Agents $99.
- The bundles differ in AI engines covered: Grok and Google AI Overviews come only with Scale at $499 a month.
- The API, white-label reports and custom reports start at the Scale plan.
- Prices are listed as billed monthly; the FAQ says annual billing is 17% less.
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
Indexly
- AI visibility tracking
- Tracks prompts daily and reports a visibility score, share of voice and sentiment, including where AI answers state things about the brand that are wrong.
- Citation gap analysis
- Shows which pages AI answers cite when your brand is missing, so you can see what content or listings would close the gap.
- SEO and AI readiness audits
- Crawls the site for technical SEO problems and checks AI crawler access, llms.txt and schema markup; it can also submit pages to Google and Bing for indexing.
- Content agents
- Plan, write and refresh articles and publish them to WordPress, Shopify, Webflow or Ghost from a 30-day content calendar.
- Social and forum agents
- Draft and schedule posts for LinkedIn, X and Instagram, and watch Reddit for questions where a reply could help, with AI-drafted answers.
- AI traffic analytics
- Free analytics module showing visits from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and others next to Google and Bing traffic, with lead attribution.
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
Indexly
Analytics$0
2 sites, search performance from Google and Bing, AI traffic with page-level attribution, social performance and lead analytics.
AI Visibility$99
per month for 100 prompts on 3 AI models, billed monthly
2 sites and 2 countries, tracked daily; pick 3 of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews. Sentiment and competitors.
Starter$99
per month for 50 prompts, billed monthly
Bundle with SEO and AI audits, automated indexing, citation gaps, competitor analysis and 10 AI-written articles a month.
Growth$299
per month for 100 prompts, billed monthly
Tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, with 30 articles a month, CMS publishing, Reddit monitoring and team collaboration.
Scale$499
per month for 200 prompts, billed monthly
Adds Grok and Google AI Overviews, 60 articles a month, the API, custom and white-label reports and a key account manager.
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
Indexly
- Annual discount
17% off with annual billing
Indexly's pricing FAQ says customers who choose annual billing get a 17% discount.
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, Indexly or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Indexly is cheaper to start with: $99 a month, against $117.33 a month for Semrush. Indexly starts at $99 per month for 100 prompts on 3 AI models, billed monthly, and Semrush starts at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Indexly or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Indexly 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.