Search Atlas vs Semrush (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Search Atlas and Semrush share a 2.2 GPA, and only Semrush has a free plan.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Search Atlas
SEO platform with an agent that applies site fixes on its own
Semrush
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility
Which one is for you
Pick Search Atlas if
- Fits if you want fixes applied to your site, not just listed
- Works for agencies that want SEO, local, ads and reports under one login
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want AI answer tracking, which starts at Growth for $199; Perplexity, Claude and Copilot need Pro at $399
- Tight if you write a lot, as 50,000 credits is about 50 AI articles or 1,500 rank checks
- Not for you if you want an easy refund: it's 48 hours by live chat with under 10% used
- Tight if you're on Starter, with 1 project, 1 seat and OTTO on 1 site
- Watch out: white-label dashboards start at Pro, and Agency, from $999, is sold through sales
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
| 2.2GPASearch AtlasFair | 2.2GPASemrushFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStarter is $99 a month, billed monthly, for 1 project, 1 seat and 50,000 credits. That's twice this category's middle, and AI answer tracking, the ad tools and a second project all need Growth at $199. | 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 of Starter or Growth with a free one-to-one onboarding session. Refunds after that are narrow: a live-chat request within 48 hours, with under 10% of the quota used. | 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 | BOTTO applies fixes on 1 to 10 sites, alongside rank tracking, site audits, AI content published to your CMS, backlinks and link building, Business Profile upkeep and ads. The whole job, though Starter has no AI answer tracking. | 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. One credit pool shared across every tool takes planning, and there's a lot of platform to learn, which is why the trial comes with onboarding. | 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, connected to WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Google Business Profile, Google Ads and Meta Ads. 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 | SEO fixes applied by an agent | 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: Search Atlas and Semrush. How we grade
Price against what you get
Search Atlas starts at $99 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Semrush starts at $117.33 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Search Atlas starts $18.33 a month lower. Of the other SEO tools on the chart, none scores higher than Search Atlas for less, and none scores higher than Semrush for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Search Atlas also covers AI agents, AI search visibility, content optimization and local listings.
- Semrush also covers reports and keyword research.
At a glance
| Search Atlas | Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $99 per month, 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 free trial on Starter and Growth, with a free 1-on-1 onboarding session | 7-day free trial of paid plans; a card is checked with a small charge that is refunded at once |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Search Atlas | Semrush Holdings |
| Price read from | searchatlas.com | semrush.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Search Atlas
- Every action draws on one monthly credit pool: Starter's 50,000 credits cover about 50 AI articles or 1,500 rank checks.
- Starter has no AI visibility tracking, and Perplexity, Claude and Copilot need Pro at $399 a month.
- White-label dashboards start at Pro, and the Agency plan, from $999 a month, is sold through sales.
- Refunds need a live-chat request within 48 hours of payment with under 10% of quota used; annual plans get half back within 72 hours.
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
Search Atlas
- OTTO SEO
- Applies technical fixes, on-page improvements and content changes to a site straight from live search data, on 1 to 10 sites depending on plan.
- AI content and publishing
- Content Genius writes and edits articles and publishes them to WordPress, Shopify, Webflow or other CMSs, paid for from the credit pool.
- Rank tracking and site audit
- Tracks 2,000 to 50,000 keywords and audits 50,000 pages on Starter up to unlimited on Agency, with on-page audits and a site explorer.
- LLM visibility
- From Growth, tracks your brand in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode; Pro adds Copilot, Perplexity and Claude for six AI platforms.
- Local SEO
- GBP Galactic keeps Google Business Profiles up to date, from 3 profiles on Starter to 100 on Agency, alongside local citation tools.
- Links, PR and ads
- Backlink analysis, link building and press release tools, plus Google and Meta ad builders from the Growth plan.
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
Search Atlas
Starter$99
per month, billed monthly
1 project, 1 seat, 50,000 credits a month, 2,000 tracked keywords, 50,000 audit pages, OTTO on 1 site and 3 Business Profiles. No AI visibility.
Growth$199
per month, billed monthly
2 projects, 3 seats, 120,000 credits, 3,500 keywords, OTTO on 2 sites, Google and Meta ad studio, and AI tracking in ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Mode.
Pro$399
per month, billed monthly
4 projects, 5 seats, 400,000 credits, 6,000 keywords, white-label reports, and AI tracking that adds Copilot, Perplexity and Claude.
Agency$999
per month and up, billed monthly
10 projects, 10 seats, 1 million+ credits, 50,000 keywords, client portals, unlimited audit pages and 250 AI queries. Sold through sales.
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
Search Atlas
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, Search Atlas or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Search Atlas is cheaper to start with: $99 a month, against $117.33 a month for Semrush. Search Atlas starts at $99 per month, billed monthly, and Semrush starts at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Search Atlas or Semrush?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Semrush has a free plan. Search Atlas 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.