Compare Ahrefs Moz Semrush for SEO Success

Choosing the right SEO tool can be a daunting task, especially with so many options available. Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush are three popular tools that can help you succeed in your SEO endeavors.

Ahrefs stands out for its robust backlink database and advanced keyword research features. Its database contains over 12 trillion links, making it an invaluable resource for link building and analysis.

For keyword research, Moz offers a more user-friendly interface and a larger keyword database, with over 400 million keywords available. This makes it a great choice for those who want to easily find relevant keywords for their content.

SEMrush, on the other hand, offers a more comprehensive suite of tools, including technical SEO audits and competitor analysis. Its database contains over 140 million keywords, making it a solid choice for those who want to get a broad view of their SEO landscape.

Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush are three of the most popular SEO tools on the market. Ahrefs is a comprehensive toolset that helps users with keyword research, backlink analysis, and content optimization.

Ahrefs has a massive database of 12 trillion backlinks, making it one of the most extensive link databases available. This allows users to analyze their competitors' backlinks and identify opportunities for improvement.

Moz is another well-established SEO tool that focuses on keyword research, link building, and content optimization. Moz has a vast database of over 10 billion keywords and a MozBar browser extension that provides instant keyword data.

SEMrush, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive toolset that offers a wide range of features, including keyword research, competitor analysis, and technical SEO audits. SEMrush has a database of over 20 billion keywords and provides users with insights into their competitors' marketing strategies.

Ahrefs is a digital marketing tool that helps you find and analyze your competitors' backlinks.

Ahrefs was founded in 2010 by Dmitry Gerasimenko and Yaroslav Kudrik, two entrepreneurs who wanted to create a tool that would help website owners improve their search engine rankings.

Ahrefs offers a robust backlink database with over 12 trillion links crawled to date.

This database is used to provide users with insights into their competitors' backlink profiles.

Ahrefs also offers a keyword research tool that helps you find relevant keywords for your content.

The tool uses a database of over 6 billion keywords to provide users with suggestions.

Ahrefs' keyword research tool also offers features such as keyword difficulty and potential traffic estimates.

These features help users choose the best keywords for their content and improve their search engine rankings.

Moz is a well-established SEO tool that helps users optimize their website for search engines. Founded in 2004, Moz offers a range of tools and resources for SEO professionals and businesses.

Moz's keyword research tool is one of its most popular features, allowing users to find and analyze relevant keywords for their content. With Moz, you can discover new keywords, track their rankings, and even receive suggestions for improving your content's ranking potential.

Moz's algorithmic ranking system, called MozRank, is another key feature of the tool. It assigns a score to each website based on its link equity, which is a measure of the quality and quantity of links pointing to the site.

Semrush is a digital marketing tool that helps users improve their online presence and visibility. It offers a wide range of features, including keyword research, competitor analysis, and technical SEO audits.

Semrush has a vast database of keywords, containing over 20 billion keywords. This database is constantly updated and expanded to ensure users have access to the most relevant and up-to-date information.

The tool's technical SEO audit feature scans a website's code and provides recommendations for improvement. This feature can help users identify and fix technical issues that may be hindering their website's performance.

Semrush also offers a content analysis tool that evaluates a website's content and provides suggestions for improvement. This feature can help users create high-quality, engaging content that resonates with their target audience.

Semrush provides users with insights into their competitors' strategies and tactics. This information can be used to identify gaps in the market and develop effective marketing strategies.

Semrush offers a range of pricing plans to suit different business needs and budgets. The tool is also available as a free version, which provides limited access to its features.

Ahrefs is an SEO toolset that's particularly renowned for its extensive backlink index and detailed insights into search traffic. It offers features like backlink analysis, keyword research, competitor analysis, rank tracking, and site audits.

If you're primarily focused on enhancing your SEO strategy, you'll want to consider Ahrefs. Its in-depth backlink analysis and detailed keyword research will help you identify areas for improvement and optimize your content accordingly.

Ahrefs is a great tool for anyone looking to boost their search engine rankings and drive more traffic to their website. With its comprehensive features, you'll be able to analyze your competitors, identify gaps in the market, and create content that resonates with your target audience.

Here are some key features of Ahrefs:

Overall, Ahrefs is a powerful tool that can help you take your SEO strategy to the next level.

Moz is a suite of SEO tools designed to help with keyword research, link building, site audits, and page optimization insights. It offers a range of features such as rank tracking, site crawling, and backlink analysis, aiming to assist businesses in improving their search engine visibility.

The pricing plans for Moz include Starter ($49 per month), Standard ($99 per month), Medium ($179 per month), Large ($299 per month), and Moz Enterprise (negotiable).

Moz's Keyword Explorer tool includes four main features: Keyword Overview, Keyword Suggestions, SERP Analysis, and a priority feature that helps you know whether or not you'll have a shot at ranking for a certain keyword based on the links that the top posts have.

The Keyword Explorer tool is beginner-friendly, with a simple interface and a "Display keyword suggestions that" option that allows you to pull up a list of broadly related keywords for more keyword ideas.

Some of the limitations of Moz include not providing metrics for SERP features, excluding key metrics like organic click percentages, and not showing results in "Related Questions" or "People Also Ask."

Here are the key features of Moz:

Consider Moz if your primary focus is on SEO, and you want a tool that specializes in keyword research, link building, and site audits.

Both Ahrefs and Semrush offer robust keyword research features, making it easy to find out how many people are searching for a particular keyword, how difficult it is to rank for that keyword, who is already ranking for it, and get suggestions for other keywords.

Ahrefs' 'Keywords Explorer' and Semrush's 'Keyword Overview' feature provide instant access to this information, including search volume, keyword difficulty score, and related keywords.

Semrush's entry-level plan offers access to all its important features, with limitations mainly related to project capacity and data pull limits, while Ahrefs' entry-level 'Lite' plan leaves out key features like search intent data and broken link building tools.

Here's a comparison of the two platforms' AI-powered features:

Semrush has made more progress in AI development, offering a more comprehensive range of AI-powered features, including a sophisticated content-writing tool and a personalized keyword difficulty tool.

Ahrefs has a cleaner interface than Semrush, with menus laid out in a slightly more logical fashion and dashboards that group information together in a more relevant way.

Semrush's data loads considerably faster than Ahrefs, especially when conducting domain analysis on big websites. Ahrefs can be sluggish at times, which may slow you down.

Ahrefs provides a good 'at-a-glance' understanding of SEO information, whereas Semrush often requires more digging or clicking around to get to the data you need.

Semrush makes more information available than Ahrefs, including graphs, search intent data, PPC data, and pipelines, which may appeal to users who like data visualization.

Semrush's CRM-style approach to link building is a major advantage, allowing you to identify and contact prospects directly within the tool. Ahrefs requires exporting data to Excel, which can then be reimported into other apps for outreach purposes.

Access to key features can make or break an SEO tool. Semrush gives you access to all its important features on its entry-level plan, with limitations mainly on project work and data pulls per month.

Ahrefs, on the other hand, is less generous with its entry-level 'Lite' plan, leaving out key features like search intent data, broken link building tools, and keyword clusters. This will likely push serious SEO users to upgrade to the more expensive 'Standard' plan.

If you're looking for a tool that offers robust features from the get-go, Semrush is the way to go.

Ahrefs and Semrush both offer generous reporting limits, but in different ways. Semrush's entry-level plan lets you run a whopping 3,000 reports per day, while Ahrefs caps you at 500 reports per month on its similarly-priced plan.

Ahrefs takes the win on unlimited reporting, offering it on all plans except its cheapest one. Semrush's more expensive plans provide extremely generous daily reporting limits, with 5,000 and 10,000 reports per day on its Guru and Business plans, respectively.

Semrush's reporting limits are higher on its entry-level plan, but Ahrefs offers unlimited reporting on its more expensive plans. Ultimately, the tool with the most generous reporting limits is Ahrefs, but only if you're on one of its more expensive plans.

Reports are a crucial aspect of any SEO tool, and both Ahrefs and Semrush offer generous reporting limits.

Ahrefs' entry-level plan, Lite, caps the number of reports at 500 per month, while Semrush's Pro plan lets you run a whopping 3,000 reports per day.

Ahrefs' more expensive plans offer unlimited reporting, but with a fair use policy, while Semrush's Guru and Business plans have daily limits of 5,000 and 10,000 reports respectively.

Semrush's entry-level plan is more generous than Ahrefs' when it comes to reporting limits, but Ahrefs' more expensive plans offer more flexibility.

Here's a comparison of the reporting limits for Ahrefs and Semrush:

Ultimately, Ahrefs offers more flexibility with its unlimited reporting on more expensive plans, but Semrush's entry-level plan has a higher reporting limit per day.

Historical data is essential for analyzing long-term trends in website performance and understanding the impact of search engine algorithm updates.

Semrush provides the most historical data, available from 2012 to the present day, which is a significant advantage over its competitors.

Ahrefs also offers historical data, but it's only available on its custom plan, the 'Enterprise' plan, which costs $14,990 per year.

Ahrefs' other pricing plans restrict access to between one month and five years of data, depending on the plan involved.

Moz only provides historical data from 2022, which is a limitation compared to Semrush and Ahrefs.

Having access to more historical data can help you identify effective SEO strategies and inform adjustments to future ones.

SEO tools and features are a crucial part of any digital marketing strategy. Both Ahrefs and Semrush offer robust keyword research features, including identifying search volume, keyword difficulty, and related keywords.

Ahrefs has a keyword research tool called 'Keywords Explorer', while Semrush has a 'Keyword Overview' feature. Both tools provide percentage scores to indicate keyword difficulty, with higher percentages indicating higher difficulty. Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool is also super filterable and sortable by Keyword Difficulty, CPC, Competitive Density, SERP Features, and results.

Semrush's keyword research tool is similar to Moz, but includes some extra metrics, such as CPC value, global volume broken down by country, total number of URLs in the SERP, and types of SERP features.

Here's a comparison of the two tools' keyword research features:

Semrush also offers more developed AI features, including a personalized keyword difficulty tool, a sophisticated content-writing tool called ContentShake, and a 'Co-Pilot' tool that analyzes project data and surfaces actionable insights.

An SEO audit is a crucial step in optimizing your website for search engines. Both Ahrefs and Semrush provide site auditing features that allow you to evaluate how well your site is performing from both a technical SEO and on-page SEO perspective.

These tools will look out for issues that might be having a negative effect on your search ranking, including slow-loading content, duplicate content, SSL problems, crawl errors, missing headers, overuse of keywords, and broken links.

Ahrefs and Semrush provide you with an overall SEO health score along with a wide range of technical SEO suggestions. They also give you contextual help on what each suggestion means, and tips on how to address any problems found.

Semrush's on-page SEO checker is particularly useful, as it goes through your whole site and gives you actionable tips for improvement for each page, in order of priority. These can include suggestions on which keywords to add, how to make a page appear as a Google 'featured snippet', how to improve your body copy and meta descriptions, which websites to approach for backlinks, and more.

Here are some of the key features of Ahrefs and Semrush's site auditing tools:

Overall, both Ahrefs and Semrush's site auditing tools are useful for identifying technical SEO issues and providing suggestions for improvement. However, Semrush's on-page SEO checker and project management integration give it a slight edge in this area.

Both Ahrefs and Semrush make it easy to calculate keyword difficulty scores, but they go about it in different ways.

Ahrefs focuses solely on the number of backlinks pointing to sites ranking highly for keywords, which makes their scores more straightforward to understand.

Semrush, on the other hand, factors in a range of parameters, including backlinks, country, word count, and search volume, which can make their scores more complex to interpret.

Ahrefs tends to flag more keywords as easy to rank for than Semrush, with an Ahrefs 'easy' score often equating to a 'medium difficulty' one in Semrush.

Here's a quick comparison of how the two tools calculate keyword difficulty:

It's worth noting that Ahrefs' approach has been found to be more accurate, with backlinks being a confirmed ranking factor.

Clickthrough estimations are a crucial aspect of SEO, and Ahrefs provides a unique feature that sets it apart from other tools like Semrush. Ahrefs shows not only the search volume but also the number of clicks a keyword is likely to generate.

Ahrefs also provides an estimate of the total number of organic visits a site could expect if it ranked #1 for a particular keyword. This is different from a simple search volume figure, as it includes traffic generated by searches involving keyword variations.

The traffic potential statistic in Ahrefs can be invaluable for identifying less obvious keywords to target. For example, the keyword "online store builder" has a search volume of 1,000 per month, but its traffic potential is 4,000 visits per month when keyword variations are accounted for.

Ahrefs has a range of pricing plans, including a Starter plan for $29 per month, Lite for $129 per month, Standard for $249 per month, Advanced for $449 per month, and Enterprise with custom pricing.

Semrush also offers various plans, with the Pro plan costing $139.95 per month, Guru for $249.95 per month, Business for $499.95 per month, and Enterprise starting at $5,000 per month.

Ahrefs and Semrush both offer discounts for paying annually, with Ahrefs giving you two months free and Semrush offering a 17% discount.

Here's a comparison of the pricing plans for Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz:

Moz has four pricing tiers, starting at $99 per month, while Ahrefs and Semrush have more complex pricing structures.

If you're looking for a tool that offers a lot of data, Ahrefs and Semrush are your best bets. Both tools let you pull a large number of reports per month, with Semrush offering between 3,000 and 10,000 reports per day, depending on the plan.

Ahrefs has a more generous project limit, generally giving you more projects per subscription across its range of plans. In fact, its entry-level plan lets you work with 5 projects, while Semrush's entry-level plan lets you work with 5 projects as well.

If you're on a tight budget, Semrush's entry-level plan is a better value, as it lets you pull more reports per day than Ahrefs' entry-level plan. However, Ahrefs' higher-tier plans offer more projects and verified domains, making them a better choice for larger organizations.

Here's a comparison of the project limits for each tool:

Moz, on the other hand, is the most generous when it comes to seat pricing, offering a simple, flat fee option for adding more seats to your plan. By contrast, Ahrefs and Semrush charge more for additional seats, and limit the number of seats you can buy per plan.

If you're looking for a discount, all three tools offer a discount for paying upfront for a year, with Ahrefs giving you 2 months free and Moz giving you a 20% discount.

If you're considering a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush, it's a good idea to try them out before committing to a purchase. Ahrefs doesn't offer a free trial, but you can access a free cut-down version of its tools.

Semrush, on the other hand, offers a free trial that lasts 7 days. However, they're currently offering a double-length trial for a limited time.

Moz also offers a free trial, which is a bit more generous than Semrush's, lasting 30 days. But if you're interested in trying out Semrush's advanced content marketing features, you can access a 14-day free trial of their Guru plan.

Here are some free trial links to get you started:

Semrush offers a range of add-ons that can enhance your experience with the tool. These add-ons can provide additional market research, content marketing, analytics, and local SEO features.

Semrush has its own app store with around 40 third-party apps, which focus on providing enhanced analytics and data. They typically range in cost from $10 to $169 per month.

Some key apps in the Semrush app center include Influencer Analytics and AdClarity. Influencer Analytics helps you find influencer/content creator partners for your site, while AdClarity gives you a holistic view of your competitors' advertising activity.

Semrush also offers eight free apps, including a website speed testing app, a local listings checker app, and a plagiarism checking tool.

If you're looking for a tool with a wide range of add-ons and integrations, Semrush is the way to go. It's worth noting that Ahrefs and Moz don't have a similar app store, but you can still integrate them with other tools using their API.

Here's a brief comparison of the three tools' add-ons and integrations:

As you can see, Semrush offers a wide range of add-ons and integrations, making it a great choice if you're looking for a tool that can be customized to meet your specific needs.

Semrush offers three channels of support: phone, chat, and email, giving it a clear edge over Ahrefs, which only provides chat and email support.

Ahrefs, however, has a live chat option, which is great for users who like instant help.

Semrush's support is available in multiple languages, a feature that Ahrefs and Moz lack.

Ahrefs is the winner in this category, thanks to their live chat facilities, but Semrush's team is always quick to help.

Semrush's team offers email support, typically taking one working day to receive a reply, whereas Ahrefs offers both email and live chat support.

Ultimately, Semrush offers phone support, a feature that Ahrefs doesn't provide, making it a win in this area for Semrush.

Ahrefs and Semrush offer unique features that set them apart from Moz. Ahrefs' keyword difficulty scores are particularly useful, as they provide an estimate of the number of backlinks needed to rank for a given keyword.

Semrush has a more developed approach to PPC data, offering a dedicated 'Advertising Research' section that provides a wealth of metrics for domains, including paid-for keywords, ad positions, competitors, and landing pages.

Both Ahrefs and Semrush have made significant progress in incorporating AI features into their software. Ahrefs offers an AI-powered content grader that assesses your content from an SEO point of view and makes suggestions for improvement. Semrush, on the other hand, offers a range of AI features, including a personalized keyword difficulty tool, a sophisticated content-writing tool called ContentShake, and a 'Co-Pilot' tool that surfaces actionable insights based on your project data.

Here's a comparison of the AI features offered by each tool:

Database size is a crucial aspect of SEO tools, and it's essential to understand the scale of each tool's database. Ahrefs' database of domains is significantly smaller than Semrush's, containing 182 million domains to Semrush's 808 million.

Semrush's larger database translates into more comprehensive data for analyzing backlinks. In fact, Semrush's backlink analysis tool won 7 out of 10 contests in a small-scale test, surfacing more referring domains than Ahrefs. However, it's worth noting that this was a small-scale test, so the results shouldn't be taken as conclusive.

Moz, on the other hand, boasts the largest backlink database, with 44.8 trillion backlinks, followed closely by Semrush with 43 trillion and Ahrefs with 35 trillion.

The size of a tool's keyword database is also important for quality keyword research. Ahrefs has the largest keyword database, with 28.7 billion keywords, followed by Semrush with 26.1 billion and Moz with 1.25 billion. This means that if you're working in an ultra-niche area, you might want to tread carefully before committing to Moz as a keyword research tool.

Here's a comparison of the three tools' database sizes:

Keep in mind that database size is just one aspect of a tool's capabilities, and quality is also essential.

Software companies have been racing to introduce AI features into their software since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022. Ahrefs, Moz, and Semrush are no exception.

Moz's AI offerings are somewhat limited, with a tool that identifies a domain's primary topic and AI-powered keyword suggestions. However, that's about it.

Ahrefs and Semrush have made more progress in the AI department. Ahrefs offers an AI-powered content grader, although it's still in beta. Semrush, on the other hand, has a range of more developed AI features.

Here are some of the AI features you can find in Semrush:

Note that ContentShake requires an additional fee, but it's worth considering if you want to take your content to the next level. Semrush's AI features make it a clear leader in this area.

Search intent data is a valuable tool for understanding why people click on search results. It gives you context about why users click on search results for a particular website.

All three tools - Ahrefs, Semrush, and another tool (not specified) - give you access to search intent data. When you're given a list of keyword suggestions, they're accompanied by labels that let you know whether a keyword suggestion is informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional.

Here are the definitions of these terms:

Ahrefs goes one further by giving you access to additional 'intents': branded and local searches, and lets you filter by these criteria. This makes it easier to ignore irrelevant keywords and focus on the ones that are most likely to lead to purchases.

Semrush and Ahrefs both give you context about why users perform particular searches, thanks to useful 'search intent' categorization. This helps you understand the context behind a particular search and identify the most relevant keywords for your business.

Comparing Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush can be a challenge, but let's start with their keyword research tools. Moz, Spyfu, and Ahrefs have very similar averages in their keyword volume estimates, while SEMrush is a higher outlier.

Gathering 100% accurate data is impossible, and the discrepancies occur due to different methodologies used by each tool. For example, Google Adwords uses a rounded annual average, which can lead to inaccuracies.

The frequency of updating search volume data also varies among the tools. Moz shows a lot of keyword volume estimates as 5 searches per month, which brought its median keyword volume down considerably.

Let's talk about the number of users you can have on each of these SEO platforms. Semrush and Ahrefs both have limitations on the number of users you can add to your account, depending on the plan you choose.

By default, Semrush and Ahrefs plans come with one user account, but you can add more users for an extra fee. Semrush charges $45 per month per additional 'Pro' user, $80 per month per 'Guru' user, and $100 per month per 'Business' user.

If you need to add more users to your Ahrefs account, it's worth noting that each plan has its own restrictions. The Starter plan doesn't allow any additional users, while the Lite plan lets you add up to two users at $40/mo per user.

Here's a breakdown of the user limits for each Ahrefs plan:

Moz, on the other hand, is a bit more generous when it comes to user accounts. The number of seats you get on a Moz plan is as follows: 1 seat on the Starter and Standard plans, 2 seats on the Medium plan, and 3 seats on the Large plan.

Ahrefs and Semrush both let you create 5 projects on their entry-level plans.

As you move up the pricing ladder, Ahrefs' offering becomes more generous. On their 'Standard' plan, you can create 20 projects to Semrush's 15.

Ahrefs has the edge again on their 'Advanced' plan, with a project cap of 50, 10 more than Semrush's 'Business' plan.

You can work with an unlimited number of 'verified' projects in Ahrefs, which is a huge advantage if you manage multiple domains.

To verify a project, you can prove ownership via DNS records, HTML files/tags, or Google Search Console.

This means you can keep track of multiple projects without worrying about hitting a limit.

Site auditing is only available within a project, so if you need to perform a site audit on multiple websites, this can become a bit fiddly.

Ahrefs' rank tracker is quite generous, allowing you to track up to 2,000 keywords on its $249 plan and 5,000 on its $449 plan.

Semrush's equivalent plans limit you to 1,500 keywords on its $249.95 plan and 5,000 on its $499.95 plan.

You can track 750 target keywords on Ahrefs' entry-level plan, while Semrush's equivalent plan limits you to 500.

Ahrefs' rank tracking tool sends you weekly notifications by default, but you can get daily updates for an additional fee of between $100 and $250 per month.

Semrush lets you track rankings on a daily basis by default, and its position tracking reports cater for more search engines than Google, including Baidu and Bing.

Moz's on-demand rank tracker works with Yahoo and Bing, giving you more flexibility in tracking rankings across different search engines.

Ahrefs' position tracking functionality is restricted to weekly updates by default, but you can get daily updates for a fee.

Semrush's position-tracking feature allows you to monitor keyword rankings for organic and paid search results, giving you a more comprehensive view of your SEO efforts.

With Semrush, you can set up customized alerts to stay informed about significant changes in your keyword positions.

Semrush's capabilities are slightly more advanced, helping you to stay ahead in the rankings, making it the winner in the keyword rank tracker category.