Semrush vs Squirrly SEO (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Squirrly SEO grades higher than Semrush: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Squirrly SEO grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, 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
Squirrly SEO
WordPress SEO plugin with cloud keyword research, audits and AI tasks
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 Squirrly SEO if
- Fits if you'd rather follow a task list for each page than set options yourself
- Works for small businesses wanting keyword research and audits inside WordPress
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, with 1 Focus Page, 5 keyword researches and 1 audited page a month
- Watch out: Free and PRO show only Search Console averages; exact positions need Business or Web Dev Kit
- Not for you if you don't want another account, as most features run on Squirrly's cloud
- Watch out: the pricing page doesn't say whether Business and Web Dev Kit are billed monthly or yearly
- Pricey if you outgrow the caps, as higher limits mean stacking licences
How we grade them
| 2.2GPASemrushFair | 2.4GPASquirrly SEOFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CPRO is $19.99 a month billed yearly for 5 sites, right at this category's dearer quarter ($19.99). Exact rank checks need the Web Dev Kit at $51.20 or Business at $71.99, and the page doesn't say how those two are billed. |
| 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. | CFree gives 1 site, 1 Focus Page, 5 keyword researches and 1 audited page a month, with a lite assistant and Search Console averages. You'll hit those caps in the first week. |
| 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. | BLive checks against 18 on-page tests, Focus Pages, keyword research, audits, schema, sitemaps, redirects, a 404 monitor and instant indexing. It covers the whole job, though every plan caps research and audits. |
| 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. Most of it runs on Squirrly's cloud, so you need a Squirrly account as well as WordPress, and Focus Pages hand you goals to work through. |
| 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: a WordPress plugin, plus a Cloud App for sites on other platforms. It connects to Search Console, Google Analytics, IndexNow, Claude, OpenAI Codex and Advanced Custom Fields. |
| Best for | all-in-one SEO research for teams with a budget | SEO task lists inside WordPress |
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 Squirrly SEO. How we grade
Where they differ
- Semrush also covers reports and backlink analysis.
- Squirrly SEO also covers content optimization, schema markup and internal linking.
At a glance
| Semrush | Squirrly SEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly) | $19.99 per month, billed annually |
| 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. | 1 site, 1 Focus Page, 5 AI keyword researches and 1 audited page a month, the lite SEO Live Assistant, and rankings from Google Search Console only. |
| 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 | Squirrly Limited |
| Price read from | semrush.com | plugin.squirrly.co |
| 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.
Squirrly SEO
- Most features run on Squirrly's cloud and need a Squirrly account; sites not on WordPress use the Cloud App instead of the plugin.
- Free and PRO show only Search Console average positions; exact rank checks need Business or Web Dev Kit.
- Keyword researches, Focus Pages and audit pages are capped per month on every plan; higher limits come from stacking licences.
- The pricing page shows PRO as billed annually but does not say whether the Business and Web Dev Kit prices are monthly or annual.
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.
Squirrly SEO
- SEO Live Assistant
- Checks a post against 18 on-page tests as it is written, on unlimited pages, including in page builders. The free plan gets a lite version with fewer checks.
- Focus Pages
- Pick the pages that matter and Squirrly scores their chance to rank and lists the goals left to reach, such as building at least 5 internal links to each.
- AI keyword research
- Monthly keyword researches, from 5 to 300 by plan, with ideas organized into a Briefcase. Deep research with up to 50 keywords per search is on Business and Web Dev Kit.
- Rank tracking
- Free and PRO show Google Search Console averages. Business and Web Dev Kit check exact positions for any keyword with Squirrly's own SERP checker.
- Audit suite
- Audits the pages added to it each month, from 1 to 300 by plan, and reports traffic, social shares and duplicate metadata.
- Technical SEO
- Meta tags, XML sitemaps, a schema builder with FAQ and video schema, redirects, a 404 monitor and instant indexing through the Google Indexing API and IndexNow.
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.
Squirrly SEO
Free$0
1 site, 1 Focus Page, 5 keyword researches and 1 audit page a month, with the lite live assistant and audit.
PRO$19.99
per month for 5 sites, billed annually
25 Focus Pages, 50 keyword researches and 100 audit pages a month, the full live assistant and audit. Rankings still come from Search Console.
Web Dev Kit$51.20
per month for 10 sites, billing basis not stated
70 Focus Pages, 300 keyword researches and 2,000 SERP checks a month, deep research, per-client limits, co-branding and a hidden cloud app.
Business$71.99
per month for 7 sites, billing basis not stated
70 Focus Pages, 300 keyword researches, 300 audit pages and 3,000 SERP checks a month (1 credit = 1 ranking check), deep research and per-client limits.
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.
Squirrly SEO
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Semrush or Squirrly SEO?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Squirrly SEO is cheaper to start with: $19.99 a month, against $117.33 a month for Semrush. Semrush starts at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly), and Squirrly SEO starts at $19.99 per month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, Semrush or Squirrly SEO?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Semrush and Squirrly SEO 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.