Keyword Cupid vs Semrush (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Semrush grades higher than Keyword Cupid: 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
Keyword Cupid 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.
Keyword Cupid
SERP-based keyword clustering into pages and topical silos
Semrush
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility
Which one is for you
Pick Keyword Cupid if
- Fits if you're planning a new site and want the page and silo structure worked out
- Works for teams that already have keyword data from another tool and need it grouped
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need a tool that finds keywords as well as grouping them
- Tight if you're on Starter, at 500 keywords a month with no geotargeting, own data or briefs
- Not for you if you want a clear refund promise, as refunds are at the company's discretion
- Watch out: only monthly prices are listed, with no yearly plan, and monthly credits reset each cycle
- Watch out: trial payments aren't refunded, and the listing doesn't say what the trial costs
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
| 2.0GPAKeyword CupidFair | 2.2GPASemrushFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $9.99 a month, inside this category's cheapest quarter, but it only clusters 500 keywords a month. Geotargeting, your own data and briefs need Freelancer at $49.99, and there's no yearly plan to bring that down. | 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 | CNo free plan, but a 7-day trial that doesn't turn into a paid plan when it ends. The listing doesn't say whether it costs anything; the terms only say money paid for a trial isn't refunded. | 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 | DIt does one narrow part of the job, grouping a keyword list into pages and silos from live search results, with confidence scores, a mind map and briefs from Freelancer. Finding the keywords is left to other tools. | 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. You bring a list, choose location, device and engine, then read a tree of pages and silos with confidence scores, which takes a little learning. | 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 connects to Google Search Console and Google Analytics, though there's no API on record. | 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 | grouping keyword lists into pages and silos | 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: Keyword Cupid and Semrush. How we grade
Where they differ
- Keyword Cupid also covers content optimization and internal linking.
- Semrush also covers reports, rank tracking, site audit and backlink analysis.
At a glance
| Keyword Cupid | Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $9.99 per month for 500 keyword credits | $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 | 7-day trial that does not roll onto a paid plan when it ends | 7-day free trial of paid plans; a card is checked with a small charge that is refunded at once |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Keyword Cupid LLC | Semrush Holdings |
| Price read from | keywordcupid.com | semrush.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Keyword Cupid
- Starter has no geotargeting, own-data uploads, SERP Spy or content briefs; those start at Freelancer for $49.99 a month.
- Monthly credits reset each billing cycle; extra credits cost $0.006 to $0.02 per keyword by plan and do not expire.
- Only monthly prices are listed; there is no annual plan on the pricing page.
- The terms say refunds are at the company's discretion and trial payments are not refunded.
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
Keyword Cupid
- Live SERP clustering
- Scrapes search results at the moment you run a report and clusters keywords that share results, up to 80,000 per report on the top plan.
- Pages and silos
- Organizes clusters into pages and the pages into silos, suggesting how to interlink them, with a color-coded confidence score per cluster.
- Interactive mind map and Excel
- Explore and edit the hierarchy as an interactive tree, or download an Excel file of pages, silos and their metrics.
- Bring Your Own Data reports
- From Freelancer, upload a CSV or XLSX keyword list with your own volume, difficulty and CPC figures to cluster.
- SERP Spy and content briefs
- From Freelancer, scrapes the text of top results for on-page stats such as average content length, and produces content briefs.
- Location, device and engine targeting
- Target results by location, by mobile, desktop or tablet, and by Google or Yandex, which can produce different clusters.
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
Keyword Cupid
Starter$9.99
per month for 500 keyword credits
1 user, up to 2,000 keywords per report, simple keyword reports, mind map and Excel export. 1 credit clusters 1 keyword.
Freelancer$49.99
per month for 5,000 keyword credits
5 users, 20,000 keywords per report, your own data uploads, SERP Spy, URL Analyzer, content briefs and SERP geotargeting.
Agency$149.99
per month for 20,000 keyword credits
10 users, 40,000 keywords per report, up to 5 URLs analyzed, and access to the Keyword Corps group.
Enterprise$499.99
per month for 80,000 keyword credits
20 users, 80,000 keywords per report and up to 10 URLs analyzed.
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
Keyword Cupid
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, Keyword Cupid or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Keyword Cupid is cheaper to start with: $9.99 a month, against $117.33 a month for Semrush. Keyword Cupid starts at $9.99 per month for 500 keyword credits, and Semrush starts at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Keyword Cupid or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Semrush has a free plan. Keyword Cupid does not, though it has a free trial.
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.