Semrush vs SpyFu (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Semrush and SpyFu share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan, and SpyFu starts cheaper, at $29 a month against $117.33 a month.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Semrush grades higher on features. SpyFu grades higher on value for money. 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.
Semrush
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility
SpyFu
Competitor research for SEO and Google Ads keywords and ad history
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 SpyFu if
- Fits if you buy Google Ads and want to see what competitors bid on
- Works for agencies building branded competitor reports for clients
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to try before you pay, as there's no trial, only a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Skip it if you need daily rankings, since projects track weekly
- Tight if you're on Basic, with 1 user, 1 project, 10,000 rows per search and export, and site audits that stop at 500 pages a crawl
- Watch out: Pro + AI's $59 first month becomes $119 a month unless you pay $89 a month yearly, and extra users are $30
- Watch out: API use past the monthly credit, $40 on Pro + AI and $100 on Team/Agency, is charged to your card
How we grade them
| 2.2GPASemrushFair | 2.2GPASpyFuFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CBasic is $29 a month billed yearly ($39 monthly), between the cheaper quarter of SEO tools at $21.75 and the middle at $39. It has 1 user and no API credit, and Pro + AI is $89 a month yearly or $119 monthly after a $59 first month. |
| 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. | CA free version with no time limit: search any domain or keyword and you see a limited set of results. Full results, exports and tracking are paid. There's no trial, just a 30-day money-back guarantee, which isn't the same thing. |
| 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. | CCompetitor PPC and SEO research, keyword ideas and grouping, rank tracking, backlinks, an AI site audit that writes fixes, and an API. Rankings update weekly, and Basic caps results and exports at 10,000 rows and its audit at 500 pages a crawl. |
| 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. You start by typing in a competitor's domain, but there are a lot of reports, and projects to set up before the tracking side tells you much. |
| 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 only, with SpyFu GPT for ChatGPT, Google Sheets, Google Tag Manager and RivalFlow AI, plus an API from the Pro plans, billed by rows returned. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | all-in-one SEO research for teams with a budget | spying on rivals' Google Ads and SEO keywords |
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 SpyFu. How we grade
Price against what you get
Semrush starts at $117.33 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SpyFu starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3.
Semrush scores higher, and starts $88.33 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other SEO tools on the chart, none scores higher than Semrush for less, and 6 score higher than SpyFu 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
At a glance
| Semrush | SpyFu | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly) | $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly) |
| 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. | Free version with no time limit: search any domain or keyword and see a limited set of results. Full results, exports and keyword tracking need a paid plan. |
| 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 | ||
| Made by | Semrush Holdings | SpyFu, Inc. |
| Price read from | semrush.com | spyfu.com |
| 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.
SpyFu
- Pro + AI is $59 for the first month only, then $119 a month on monthly billing; yearly billing is $89 a month.
- There is no free trial; SpyFu offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, and refunds are requested through chat or email.
- Basic caps search results and exports at 10,000 rows, and its site audit stops at 500 pages a crawl.
- API use beyond the monthly credit ($40 on Pro + AI, $100 on Team/Agency) is charged to the card on file.
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.
SpyFu
- Competitor PPC research
- See the Google Ads keywords a domain buys, estimated clicks and cost per keyword, and the ad tests it has run over time.
- Competitor SEO research
- List the keywords a site ranks for, its top pages and its ranking history, and compare several domains to find keywords you are missing.
- Keyword research and grouping
- Generate keyword ideas filtered by volume, CPC and difficulty, and paste in a list to have it grouped with volume and CPC added.
- Rank tracking and projects
- Save keywords to a project per site to track rankings weekly, with labels, keyword groups and a daily summary dashboard.
- AI site audit
- Crawls a site for technical, metadata, content and linking issues and writes fixes for titles, descriptions and headings; plans include monthly AI credits.
- API and SpyFu GPT
- Pro plans and up include API access billed per rows returned, with a monthly credit; SpyFu GPT brings its data into ChatGPT.
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.
SpyFu
Basic$29
per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly)
10,000 rows per search and export, 1 tracking project, 5,000 weekly tracked rankings, 50,000 audit pages a month, 1 user. No API credit included.
Pro + AI$89
per month, billed yearly ($119 monthly after a $59 first month)
Unlimited results and exports, 10 projects, 15,000 tracked rankings, 500,000 audit pages, RivalFlow for 1 site, $40 of API credit. Extra users $30.
Team/Agency$187
per month, billed yearly ($249 billed monthly)
5 users, unlimited projects, 50,000 tracked rankings, 2 million audit pages, daily audits, RivalFlow for 5 sites and $100 of API credit.
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.
SpyFu
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Semrush or SpyFu?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SpyFu is cheaper to start with: $29 a month, against $117.33 a month for Semrush. Semrush starts at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly), and SpyFu starts at $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Semrush or SpyFu?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Semrush and SpyFu have a free plan.
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.