Keyword Insights vs Semrush (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Semrush grades higher than Keyword Insights: 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
Semrush 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.
Keyword Insights
Keyword clustering, content briefs and AI writing on one credit pool
Semrush
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility
Which one is for you
Pick Keyword Insights if
- Fits if you have thousands of keywords and need to know which ones belong on one page
- Works for content teams that want research, briefs and drafts in the same place
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you mostly want AI articles, as Basic's credits cover about 8 and nothing else
- Tight if you work with others, as Basic has one seat and sharing starts at $99
- Not for you if you hate credits that expire, as unused ones reset every month and all go when you cancel
- Watch out: pay-as-you-go credits only work for clustering and expire 30 days after purchase
- Watch out: the 7-day trial costs $1 and needs a card
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 InsightsFair | 2.2GPASemrushFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DBasic is $58 a month for 10,000 credits, which is where this category's dearest tenth starts. Yearly billing takes 20% off. Credits go fast: a brief is 100 and an AI Writer Agent article 1,200, and unused ones vanish each month. | 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 | DNo free plan. The 7-day trial costs $1 and gives 5,000 one-time credits, and it needs a card, though you aren't charged after 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 | BKeyword ideas from autocomplete, Reddit, Quora and People Also Ask with volume, difficulty and CPC, then SERP clustering, intent labels, briefs and an AI writer. That covers the whole job, from finding keywords to planning the pages. | 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. Clustering a list is simple enough, but you'll want to learn the credit costs first, as every feature draws on the same pool at a different rate. | 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 WordPress. | 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 | turning big keyword lists into a page plan | 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 Insights and Semrush. How we grade
Where they differ
- Keyword Insights also covers long-form writing and content optimization.
- Semrush also covers reports, rank tracking, site audit and backlink analysis.
At a glance
| Keyword Insights | Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $58 per month for 10,000 credits, billed monthly | $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 for $1 with 5,000 one-time credits; a card is needed and you are not charged after it | 7-day free trial of paid plans; a card is checked with a small charge that is refunded at once |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Snippet Digital Ltd | Semrush Holdings |
| Price read from | keywordinsights.ai | semrush.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Keyword Insights
- Unused subscription credits reset at the end of each billing period, and all credits are removed when a subscription ends.
- Basic has a single user seat; team sharing starts at Professional.
- Pay-as-you-go credits work only for clustering and expire 30 days after purchase.
- An AI Writing Agent article costs 1,200 credits, so Basic's 10,000 credits cover about 8 such articles and nothing else.
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 Insights
- Keyword clustering
- Groups a keyword list by overlap in Google results to show which pages to create, then relates clusters to each other into wider topics.
- Search intent labels
- Counts how many of the top 10 results for each keyword are informational, commercial, transactional or other, to suggest the page type.
- Keyword Discovery
- Pulls keyword ideas in real time from Google Autocomplete, Reddit, Quora and People Also Ask, with volume, difficulty and CPC.
- Content briefs
- Builds an outline for each cluster with headings, questions to answer and talking points drawn from the pages that rank.
- AI Writer Assistant and Agent
- Write and grade an article in an editor (200 credits), or have the AI Writer Agent draft a full article for the page type (1,200 credits).
- Mentions
- Lists Reddit, Quora and YouTube conversations where a brand could join in and be mentioned, as a route into AI answers.
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 Insights
Basic$58
per month for 10,000 credits, billed monthly
1 user seat and 5 workspaces. Clustering costs 1 credit per keyword, a brief 100 credits and an AI Writing Agent article 1,200.
Professional$99
per month for 20,000 credits, billed monthly
3 user seats, 10 workspaces and team sharing, with the same credit costs per feature.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom credits, seats and workspaces, priority support and onboarding, for high-volume teams. Sold after a demo.
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 Insights
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
Keyword Insights' pricing page offers annual subscriptions at 20% off the monthly price.
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 Insights or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Keyword Insights is cheaper to start with: $58 a month, against $117.33 a month for Semrush. Keyword Insights starts at $58 per month for 10,000 credits, billed monthly, and Semrush starts at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Keyword Insights or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Semrush has a free plan. Keyword Insights 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.