Semrush vs Siteimprove (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Semrush grades higher than Siteimprove: 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 and features. Siteimprove grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Semrush
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility
Siteimprove
Enterprise platform for accessibility, SEO, AI search and analytics
Which one is for you
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
Pick Siteimprove if
- Fits if you need accessibility compliance and SEO in one platform
- Works for universities or government bodies looking after lots of sites
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a price or a trial before talking to sales
- Too light for SEOs whose work is keyword research or backlinks, as neither is on record
- Skip it if you're a small business, as it's built and sold for large organizations
- Watch out: the free extension checks accessibility only, so the SEO side can't be tried without a demo
How we grade them
| 2.2GPASemrushFair | 2.0GPASiteimproveFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CNo prices are published. Siteimprove is sold after a demo, so the price is only given on a sales call. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | DNo free plan or self-serve trial. What's free is a taste: free checkers, a free site report and a browser extension that checks accessibility only. |
| Features | 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. | CTechnical SEO for search and AI crawlers, AI answer tracking, rankings and share of voice, plus accessibility monitoring and analytics. There's no keyword research or backlink tool on record. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo rating on record. It's an enterprise platform with lots of sites, CMS plugins and prompt sets to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb plus an extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera, plugins for 20+ CMSs, connectors to Adobe Analytics, Looker Studio, Power BI and HubSpot, an API and an MCP server. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | all-in-one SEO research for teams with a budget | accessibility and SEO under one roof |
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: Semrush and Siteimprove. How we grade
Where they differ
- Semrush also covers reports, keyword research and backlink analysis.
- Siteimprove also covers web analytics, AI search visibility and content optimization.
At a glance
| Semrush | Siteimprove | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly) | Not published |
| Free plan | Free account: 1 project, 10 analytics reports a day across the main tools and 10 keywords in Position Tracking. No credit card needed. | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of paid plans; a card is checked with a small charge that is refunded at once | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Semrush Holdings | Siteimprove A/S |
| Price read from | semrush.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Siteimprove
- No prices are published: Siteimprove is sold after a demo, and its site lists no free plan or self-serve trial.
- It is built for enterprises and says it serves more than 5,000 organizations; free checkers and a free site report are the only self-serve options.
- The free browser extension checks accessibility only, in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera.
Key features
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.
Siteimprove
- Technical SEO for search and AI
- Flags technical issues and content gaps that keep search engines and AI crawlers from fetching, reading and citing a site's pages.
- AI answer visibility
- Runs an editable prompt set against Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot and Gemini, recording brand mentions and citations separately.
- Rankings and share of voice
- Tracks rankings, competitor performance, share of voice and brand sentiment across search and AI answers in one view.
- Accessibility monitoring
- Monitors web pages, documents, PDFs and apps for accessibility issues, with agents that suggest code fixes and check image alt text.
- Conversational analytics
- Answers plain-language questions about traffic, behavior and ROI, and reports how visitors from AI search convert compared with others.
- CMS plugins, connectors and MCP
- Plugins for more than 20 CMSs, connectors to BI and marketing tools, an API, and an MCP server for VS Code, Claude Code and Lovable.
Plans
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.
Siteimprove
Pricing could not be confirmed. See siteimprove.com.
Ways to pay less
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.
Siteimprove
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Semrush or Siteimprove?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Semrush starts at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly), and Siteimprove has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Semrush or Siteimprove?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Semrush has a free plan. Siteimprove does not.
Which platforms do Semrush and Siteimprove run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Siteimprove 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.