The Semrush Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Semrush in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Semrush
The Insider’s Guide
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among SEO tools, read from Semrush’s own pages.
Made by Semrush Holdings · checked Oct 17, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Semrush’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Semrush’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 17, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.2
GPA, above 6 of the 21 other SEO tools we grade
Semrush is a web-based search marketing suite. Its SEO plans cover keyword research, competitor and backlink analysis, daily rank tracking and site audits, and from the Starter plan up they also track how a brand appears in AI chat answers. Local, content, social, advertising and PR tools are sold as separate toolkits.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Semrush, taken from its own pages and our grades.
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.
- 1
Best for the broadest all-in-one SEO suite
Semrush is the SEO suite that tries to do everything: keyword research from a huge database, competitor and backlink checks, daily rank tracking, site audits, and AI answer tracking from Starter up.
- 2
Paid plans start at $117.33 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly).
- 3
There is a 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.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
Keyword research
Look up search volume, difficulty and intent from a database Semrush puts at 29 billion keywords across 142 country databases.
- 6
Competitor and backlink analysis
See which keywords and pages bring a rival site its traffic, and inspect any domain's backlink profile.
- 7
Position Tracking
Track daily rankings for 500 to 5,000+ keywords depending on the plan; Pro+ adds tracking by location and device.
- 8
A 2.2 GPA, above 6 of 21
That is against the other SEO tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Semrush you would be making search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Semrush at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- 7-day free trial of paid plans; a card is checked with a small charge that is refunded at once
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Semrush Holdings
- Category
- SEO Tools
- Our grade
- 2.2 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for the broadest all-in-one SEO suite
Semrush is the SEO suite that tries to do everything: keyword research from a huge database, competitor and backlink checks, daily rank tracking, site audits, and AI answer tracking from Starter up. The catch is the price. The SEO plan it pitches at small businesses is $117.33 a month on yearly billing, for one user, and it leaves the AI tracking out.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D | The 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 | C | A 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 | B | Keyword 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 | C | No 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 | B | Web 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. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Semrush is for
- Great if you want research, rank tracking and audits in one account and the budget is there
- Handy when you need keyword data for lots of countries, not just the US
- Good for agencies comparing client sites against their competitors
Who it is not for
- Pricey if you're one person with one site, at $117.33 a month even on yearly billing
- 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 doesn't include it
Good to know
Good for
- Freelancers and in-house marketers who want research, tracking and audits in one account
- Agencies comparing many client sites against their competitors
- Brands that want to watch their visibility in AI chat answers alongside Google rankings
Worth knowing
- 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.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$117.33
A month to start. There is a free plan too
Semrush has a free plan. Paid plans start at $117.33 per month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly).
That's in this category's dearest tenth, for one user.
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.
Advanced
Custom
40+ websites, 5,000+ keywords, share of voice, API access, team users, reporting and unlimited AI prompts. Sold after a demo.
The 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.
Trying it first
7-day free trial of paid plans; a card is checked with a small charge that is refunded at once
Read from semrush.com on Oct 17, 2026.
Ways to pay less
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.
Stated on semrush.com
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: public API, AI features, reports, keyword research, rank tracking, site audit, backlink analysis.
It covers the whole job, though the SEO plan only gets the basic research tools and no AI visibility.
- 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.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Wix
- Yoast
- AIOSEO
- Storyblok
- Supermetrics
- Monday.com
Semrush is made by Semrush Holdings.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
6/21
Other SEO tools it is graded above
Semrush's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 6 of the 21 other SEO tools we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on features (B, above 14 of 21) and worst on value for money (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $117.33 a month, against a middle price of $34.45 for the category: 19 of the 21 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 22 SEO tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Semrush’s own letter is outlined.
- DValue for moneyAbove 0 of 21
- CFree plan and trialAbove 2 of 21
- BFeaturesAbove 14 of 21
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 21
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 6 of 21
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 22 SEO tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Semrush is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Semrush you would be making search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 10 of the 21 other SEO tools grade higher. It costs $1,407.96 a year.
What you could make
- Reports: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date.
- An index of the links between billions of web pages.
- Daily checks of where your pages rank in search results.
- A crawler that checks every page of a site.
- It plugs into other products, Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Wix among them, and has an API.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Semrush’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Ahrefs, SE Ranking, Moz Pro, Serpstat and Similarweb
The 5 tools Semrush is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.0GPA
Ahrefs
Free plan · from $29/mo
SEO toolset for backlinks, keyword research, audits and rank tracking.
- Only Ahrefs lists a browser extension.
- Semrush also covers reports.
- 2.2GPA
SE Ranking
Free trial · from $103.20/mo
SEO platform for rank tracking, audits, research and AI visibility.
- Semrush has a free plan. SE Ranking does not, though it has a free trial.
- 1.8GPA
Moz Pro
Free plan · from $49/mo
SEO toolkit for keyword and link research, site crawls and rankings.
- Only Moz Pro lists a browser extension.
- Semrush also covers reports.
- 2.0GPA
Serpstat
Free trial · from $50/mo
All-in-one SEO platform for research, rank tracking and site audits.
- Semrush has a free plan. Serpstat does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Serpstat lists a browser extension.
- 2.0GPA
Similarweb
Free plan · from $125/mo
Traffic estimates, keyword research and competitor data for any site.
- Only Similarweb lists a browser extension.
- Semrush also covers reports.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
15
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Semrush free?
Semrush has a free plan. Free account: 1 project, 10 analytics reports a day across the main tools and 10 keywords in Position Tracking.
How much does Semrush cost?
Semrush lists 5 plans. Free: $0.
What platforms does Semrush work on?
Semrush is available on Web.
Does Semrush offer any discounts?
Semrush publicly lists the following: Save up to 17% with annual billing.
Does Semrush have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Semrush is listed for Web.
Does Semrush have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Semrush is listed for Web.
Is Semrush open source?
Semrush is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 17, 2026.
Does Semrush have an API?
Yes. Semrush offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Semrush integrate with?
Semrush's listing names Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Wix, Yoast, AIOSEO, Storyblok, Supermetrics and Monday.com.
Does Semrush have a free trial?
Yes. 7-day free trial of paid plans; a card is checked with a small charge that is refunded at once.
Who makes Semrush?
Semrush is made by Semrush Holdings.
What are the alternatives to Semrush?
The closest alternatives to Semrush in our directory are Ahrefs, SE Ranking, Moz Pro, Serpstat and Similarweb.
How does Semrush compare with other SEO tools?
Semrush's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 6 of the 21 other SEO tools we grade, and level with 5.
Is Semrush good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Semrush D for value for money. Its paid plans start at $117.33 a month, against a middle price of $34.45 for the category: 19 of the 21 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Semrush?
To replace Semrush you would be making search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Semrush’s own pages on Oct 17, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 17, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Semrush's own pages on 17 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Semrush Holdings. Prices change, so check semrush.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
1,880
Tools graded, in 47 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
1,880
tools graded
47
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Semrush, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/semrush
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Semrush: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 17, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/semrush
Know someone choosing between SEO tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/semrush/guide
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See our other guides
The best-graded SEO tools after Semrush, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- SEO Tools Insider's GuideEvery one of the 22 SEO tools we grade, compared
- Rank Math Insider's GuideWordPress SEO plugin for meta tags, schema, sitemaps and rank tracking3.0 GPA
- Keywords Everywhere Insider's GuideBrowser extension that shows search volume on the sites you browse2.8 GPA
- NeuronWriter Insider's GuideContent editor that scores drafts against the pages already ranking2.8 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Semrush’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. ToolGPA uses affiliate links and may earn a commission from them, and it works with sponsors; anything paid for is labelled, and no one can pay for a grade. Semrush is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Semrush Holdings. Prices and plans change: check semrush.com before you buy.