Majestic vs SE Ranking (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Majestic and SE Ranking share a 2.2 GPA, and only Majestic has a free plan.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Majestic grades higher on value for money. SE Ranking 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.
Majestic
Backlink index with Trust Flow, Citation Flow and link history
SE Ranking
SEO platform for rank tracking, audits, research and AI visibility
Which one is for you
Pick Majestic if
- Fits if you want to check a site's links before buying the domain or pitching it
- Works for developers who need raw link data and can pay for the API plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Lite, which only sees links from the last 120 days
- Pricey if you need the API or a second user, as both start on the API plan at $399.99 a month
- Not for you if you want a proper look first: the free account gets a few lookups a day and there's no trial
- Watch out: the homepage dates the Historic Index to March 2024, so newer links sit only in the Fresh Index
- Skip it if you want outreach or alerts for lost links, as it only does research, and prices exclude VAT
Pick SE Ranking if
- Fits if you track lots of keywords daily across several client sites
- Works for small marketing teams who want research, audits and tracking under one login
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're one person with one site, as Core is $103.20 a month even on yearly billing and there's no lower plan
- Tight if you need old data, since Core keeps 6 months of history and has 1 manager seat; extra seats start at $16 a month
- Pricey if you want white-label reports, as the Agency Pack is $69 a month extra and sold on yearly billing only
- Watch out: deeper AI search tracking is an add-on at $71.20 a month on yearly billing ($89 monthly)
- Watch out: payments are non-refundable unless the service wasn't delivered as promised, and there's no desktop or phone app
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAMajesticFair | 2.2GPASE RankingFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CLite is $41.67 a month billed yearly ($49.99 monthly), close to this category's middle of $49. Link history and competitor comparisons sit on Pro at $83.33, and the API plan is $399.99 a month ($333.33 yearly). | DCore is $103.20 a month billed yearly ($129 monthly), and it's the lowest self-serve plan. That's well above this category's middle, for one manager seat with 10 projects and 2,000 keywords tracked daily; extra seats start at $16. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free account gets a few Site Explorer lookups a day, a weekly showcase site and basic scores in the browser extension. That's enough for a look, not for real work. There's no trial, just a 7-day money-back guarantee on your first plan. | CNo free plan, but the 14-day trial needs no card and allows 10 projects, 750 keywords and 20 AI prompts a day. Payments are non-refundable after that, so use the trial properly. |
| Features | CBacklinks, referring domains, anchor text, new and lost links and Trust Flow across 800+ topics, for any site. It does link research fully, but that's one part of link building: no outreach, no link alerts, and Lite only sees 120 days. | BDaily rank tracking with share of voice, keyword, competitor and backlink research with no caps on either plan, audits of 250,000 pages a month, reports, listings in 100+ directories, AI answer tracking and API credits. The whole job. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Looking up a site is simple, but analysis units, report units, two indexes and its own scores take a while to make sense of. | CNo rating on record. Projects, keyword lists and reports all need setting up before the tool pays off. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, plus a free Chrome and Firefox extension, Google Sheets and Search Console. The API comes only with the API plan. No desktop or phone app. | BWeb only, connected to Looker Studio, Google Analytics, Search Console, Matomo, n8n, Make and Claude, with 25,000 API credits a month and MCP on Core. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | a dedicated backlink index with link history | tracking rankings across many client sites |
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: Majestic and SE Ranking. How we grade
Where they differ
- SE Ranking also covers keyword research, rank tracking and site audit.
At a glance
| Majestic | SE Ranking | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $41.67 per month, billed annually ($49.99 billed monthly) | $103.20 per month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Free account: a few Site Explorer clicks a day through the free backlink checker, a weekly showcase site with near-Lite access, the Majestic Million list and basic metrics in the browser extension. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial, no credit card required; 10 projects, 750 keywords and 20 AI prompts a day |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Majestic-12 Ltd | SER Acquisition Inc. |
| Price read from | majestic.com | seranking.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Majestic
- Lite searches only the Fresh Index of the last 120 days; history and the comparison tools need Pro.
- API access, extra users and creating OpenApps start with the API plan at $399.99 a month billed monthly.
- There is no free trial; Lite and Pro have a 7-day money-back guarantee for first-time customers, and prices exclude VAT.
- The homepage gives the Historic Index a date range ending in March 2024; newer links sit in the Fresh Index.
SE Ranking
- Core keeps only 6 months of historical data and includes 1 manager seat; extra seats start at $16 a month.
- White-label reports need the Agency Pack, $69 a month and sold on annual billing only.
- Deeper AI search tracking is an add-on at $71.20 a month billed annually ($89 billed monthly).
- Payments are non-refundable except where the service was not delivered as promised.
Key features
Majestic
- Site Explorer
- Backlinks, referring domains, anchor text, new and lost links and the text around each link for any domain or URL.
- Trust Flow and Citation Flow
- Scores from 0 to 100 for the quality and the quantity of links, with Topical Trust Flow placing a site in over 800 topic categories.
- Fresh and Historic indexes
- The Fresh Index covers links seen in the last 120 days. Pro adds the Historic Index, whose records start in 2006.
- Competitor link prospecting
- Pro tools such as Compare, Clique Hunter and Link Profile Fight show sites that link to competitors but not to you.
- Author Explorer
- A beta tool on Pro that looks up web authors: what they have written, its backlinks and a timeline of their X posts.
- Browser extension and Google Sheets
- A Chrome and Firefox extension shows link counts and flow scores for any page for free; subscribers can also pull data into Google Sheets.
SE Ranking
- Rank Tracker
- Track rankings daily across major search engines, devices and locations, with Google top-100 tracking and share of voice.
- Keyword, competitor and backlink research
- Research keywords, competitors' traffic and backlinks with no usage caps on either plan, plus backlink monitoring.
- Website audit
- Crawl sites for technical issues, from 250,000 pages a month on Core to 2 million on Growth, with an on-page checker.
- AI visibility tracking
- Track 100 or 250 prompts a day across five AI models, with AI source tracking and AI competitor research by domain.
- Reports and local SEO
- Report Builder (10 or 30 reports), and local tools covering 3 locations, map rank tracking and listings in 100+ directories.
- API and MCP
- Plans include 25,000 or 100,000 research API credits a month and MCP access for querying the data from AI assistants.
Plans
Majestic
Free$0
A few Site Explorer clicks each day, plus the free browser extension, for trying the data.
Lite$41.67
per month, billed annually ($49.99 billed monthly)
1 user, Fresh Index only, 1 million analysis units and 60 report units a month, 5,000 rows per search.
Pro$83.33
per month, billed annually ($99.99 billed monthly)
1 user, Historic Index, comparison tools, raw exports, Author Explorer, 20 million analysis units and 300 report units.
API$333.33
per month for 100 million units, billed annually ($399.99 monthly)
5 users and the full API. 300 million units cost $799.99 a month and 1,000 million $1,599.99, billed monthly.
SE Ranking
Core$103.20
per month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly)
1 manager seat, 10 projects, 2,000 keywords and 100 AI prompts tracked daily, 250,000 audit pages a month and 6 months of history.
Growth$223.20
per month, billed annually ($279 billed monthly)
3 manager seats, 30 projects, 5,000 keywords and 250 prompts daily, 2 million audit pages, all-time history and guest links.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom limits and terms, full API and advanced integrations, through sales.
Ways to pay less
Majestic
- Annual discount
About 17% off with annual billing
Majestic's pricing page sells Lite at $499.99 for 12 months against $49.99 a month, and Pro at $999.99 against $99.99 a month.
SE Ranking
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
SE Ranking's pricing page lists Core at $103.20 a month billed annually instead of $129 monthly, and Growth at $223.20 instead of $279.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Majestic or SE Ranking?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Majestic is cheaper to start with: $41.67 a month, against $103.20 a month for SE Ranking. Majestic starts at $41.67 per month, billed annually ($49.99 billed monthly), and SE Ranking starts at $103.20 per month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Majestic or SE Ranking?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Majestic has a free plan. SE Ranking does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Majestic and SE Ranking run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Majestic 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.