Ahrefs in brief: Ahrefs is an SEO suite built around Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit and Rank Tracker, backed by its own web crawler. Brand Radar AI, an add-on, tracks brand mentions across AI prompts. Entry price: Starter: $29/mo (renews monthly only); Lite: $129/mo; Ahrefs Free: Free. People look elsewhere for a lower price, a usable free version, or a tool that does one job well instead of everything. Here are the alternatives, closest first.
Technical audit (can AI crawlers reach and read you)
A free one-page technical SEO audit that also covers AI search: indexability, canonical, titles, headings, sitemap, internal links, structured data and speed, plus whether Google, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity can crawl and read the page, with the exact fix for each issue.
- Best for
- A free, fast technical audit of a page for Google and AI search, with fixes you can hand to a developer
- Starting price
- Free audit; full report ₹499 (one-time); Pro ₹1,499/month; Agency ₹4,999/month
- Free plan or trial
- Yes: the full audit, every check's status and the top 3 fixes, no account
- Engines
- Checks access for ChatGPT search, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews/AI Mode, Bing/Copilot and 25 more crawlers
- Agency / white-label
- Yes: Agency ₹4,999/month (white-label reports, branded widget, lead capture)
- Limits to know
- Audits one page at a time; no keyword database, backlink index or rank tracking
Run a free audit
All-in-one SEO suite
Conductor is an enterprise SEO and answer engine optimization platform with content creation, search and AI visibility intelligence, site monitoring and tools for AI agents.
- Best for
- an enterprise team that needs SEO and AI visibility across many sites and markets
- Starting price
- Not published (usage-based tiers; Essentials has a free trial)
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. Try the Essentials plan for free, plus a free AI visibility check.
- Agency / white-label
- No. It's aimed at in-house teams; no agency plan is listed.
- Limits to know
- Prices are by quote, and the Enterprise tier goes through sales
Conductor pricing (vendor's site)
All-in-one SEO suite
Moz Pro is an SEO suite with keyword research, rank tracking, site crawls, link research and AI visibility tracking, built around Moz metrics such as Domain Authority. MozBar, its free browser extension, shows those link metrics and on-page elements while you browse.
- Best for
- Domain Authority link metrics plus a free SEO toolbar
- Starting price
- Starter: $49/month; Standard: $99 USD/mo, or $79/mo when paid yearly. MozBar: Free
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. Moz Pro has a 7-day free trial (signup page: "Free for 7-days!"). MozBar is a free Chrome and Firefox extension, and a free Moz Community account gives limited access to MozBar, Keyword Explorer and Link Explorer.
- Agency / white-label
- Partly. Branded Reports are included on the Medium and Large plans, not Standard. There is no dedicated agency plan on the pricing page; agencies are pointed to Moz Enterprise and an Agency Solutions page.
- Limits to know
- Standard: 1 user, 3 tracked sites, 300 tracked keywords, 400K pages crawled per month, 150 keyword queries per month, 150 tracked prompts (weekly). Starter is "designed specifically for individuals managing a single website". Extra seats cost $49/mo each. Site Re-crawls aren't on Standard. MozBar Premium features (Brand Authority, Ranking Keywords, Domain Overview) need a Moz Pro subscription.
Moz Pro pricing (vendor's site)
All-in-one SEO suite
SE Ranking is an SEO and GEO platform with rank tracking, keyword and competitor research, a backlink checker, a website audit and AI search tracking (AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini).
- Best for
- an all-in-one SEO suite with a low-cost white-label add-on for agencies
- Starting price
- Core: $129.00/mo, or $103.20/mo with annual billing ("Save 20%")
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. Free 14-day trial, no credit card required, with starter limits: 10 projects, 750 tracked keywords per day, 20 AI prompts per day and AI competitive research for 3 domains. No free plan.
- Agency / white-label
- Yes. The Agency Pack add-on costs +$69.00/mo, annual billing only. It includes 30 client seats, white label for the platform and reports, unlimited scheduled reporting with AI summaries, Agency Catalog placement and Lead Generator.
- Limits to know
- Core: 10 projects, 1 manager seat, 2k keywords and 100 prompts tracked daily, 5 GEO research domains, 250k pages per month in audit, 6 months of history. Extra manager seats from $16. The AI Search add-on is +$71.20/mo on annual billing. The Agency Pack and API add-ons are annual-only.
SE Ranking pricing (vendor's site)
All-in-one SEO suite
Semrush is an SEO and AI search platform for keyword research, competitor analysis, position tracking, site audits and AI visibility tracking. Separate toolkits cover local, content, social, advertising, PR and traffic and market data.
- Best for
- an all-in-one SEO suite that also tracks AI search visibility
- Starting price
- $139/month for the SEO plan ($117.33/month billed annually); free plan available
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. Free plan at $0/mo (1 demo project, 10 reports per day across all vital tools, no credit card required) plus a 7-day free trial ("Try Semrush free for seven days. Cancel anytime.")
- Agency / white-label
- Partly. No dedicated agency plan; the Pro Report add-on ($20/mo) includes "Branding and white-labeling", and the Lead Generation add-on ($90/mo) adds a branded profile on the Semrush Agency Partners platform.
- Limits to know
- SEO plan: 5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily. Free: 1 demo project, 10 reports/day. Additional users start at $45/mo; "Team users" are listed only on Advanced (custom price). Annual billing saves "up to 17%". AI Visibility, Local, Content and other toolkits are priced separately.
Semrush pricing (vendor's site)
All-in-one SEO suite
SEO PowerSuite is a desktop bundle of four tools: Rank Tracker, WebSite Auditor, SEO SpyGlass for backlinks and LinkAssistant for link outreach.
- Best for
- a one-time-a-year desktop suite with rank tracking, audits and backlinks
- Starting price
- Free version; Professional $349/year; Enterprise $599/year
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. Free forever, but projects can't be saved and audits stop at 500 URLs and 1,100 backlinks.
- Agency / white-label
- Yes. White-label SEO reports on Enterprise and Max +.
- Limits to know
- Desktop software; the free version can't save projects; multi-year plans cost less per month
SEO PowerSuite pricing (vendor's site)
Rank tracker
Advanced Web Ranking is a rank tracker with AI visibility and citation tracking, local and mobile rankings, SERP feature analysis and SEO forecasts, with unlimited users and projects.
- Best for
- agency-grade rank tracking with white-label reporting
- Starting price
- Pro 139/month (currency not shown on the pricing page)
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. A free trial; all plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Agency / white-label
- Yes. White-label reports on Agency and higher plans, and on all yearly subscriptions.
- Limits to know
- Keyword allowances assume weekly updates; daily updates use about seven times as many
Advanced Web Ranking pricing (vendor's site)
WordPress SEO plugin
All in One SEO is a WordPress SEO plugin for titles, meta, sitemaps, schema and on-page analysis, with paid tiers for more sites and features.
- Best for
- a WordPress SEO plugin with plans sized by number of sites
- Starting price
- Basic €49.50 for the first year (1 site), renewing at full price
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. A free version (AIOSEO Lite) is on WordPress.org; paid plans have a 14-day money-back guarantee.
- Agency / white-label
- Partly. The Elite plan covers 100 sites and includes client management; no white-label branding is listed.
- Limits to know
- Listed prices are introductory first-year prices; renewals are at full price, and the page mixes euro and dollar labels
All in One SEO (AIOSEO) pricing (vendor's site)
Local SEO
BrightLocal is a local SEO platform for local rank tracking, Google Business Profile and listings management, citation building and review monitoring, priced by number of locations.
- Best for
- local rankings, listings and reviews for businesses with one or many locations
- Starting price
- Track $31/month billed annually ($369/year) for 1 location
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. A 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
- Agency / white-label
- Yes. White-labelling of tools and reports, plus an Agency Lead Generator.
- Limits to know
- Price rises with the number of locations; monthly billing is 25% more than annual
BrightLocal pricing (vendor's site)
SEO data API
DataForSEO sells SEO data through APIs: search results from Google, Bing and YouTube, keyword volumes and trends, and more, billed per request from a prepaid balance that doesn't expire.
- Best for
- raw search and keyword data for your own tools and reports
- Starting price
- Pay as you go; minimum top-up $50; SERP API from $0.0006 per SERP
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. A $1 trial credit and a free sandbox with sample responses.
- Agency / white-label
- No. White-label use isn't mentioned on the pricing page.
- Limits to know
- For developers: you build the reports yourself
DataForSEO pricing (vendor's site)
Pick Ahrefs if you want deep backlink and keyword data from a large independent crawler. Know its limits before you commit: Starter: 200 credits/month, 50 Rank Tracker keywords, 1 unverified project, 1 month of history; extra users and credits can't be bought, and it renews monthly only. Lite: 5 non-verified projects, 750 tracked keywords, 150 AI prompt checks, 100,000 crawl credits, 6 months of history, up to 2 extra users at $40/mo each. Enterprise: annual commitment required. Brand Radar AI is an add-on from $199/mo. Annual billing saves "up to 17%". Details: Ahrefs's pricing.
What is the best Ahrefs alternative?
It depends on the job you bought Ahrefs for. The tools below are ordered closest substitute first, with their own starting prices, so you can match one to your budget and use case.
Is there a free alternative to Ahrefs?
Yes. SEO·AEO·GEO, Conductor, Moz Pro, SE Ranking, Semrush, SEO PowerSuite, Advanced Web Ranking, All in One SEO (AIOSEO), BrightLocal, DataForSEO have a free plan, free version or trial, according to their own sites. SEO·AEO·GEO's audit is free with no account.
How much does Ahrefs cost?
Ahrefs's pricing page lists Ahrefs Free at Free; Starter at $29/mo; Lite at $129/mo; Standard at $249/mo; Advanced at $449/mo; Enterprise at $1,499/mo (annual commitment required) (checked 2026-10-21). Prices change, so confirm on their site.