Ahrefs vs Semrush Tested: Which SEO Tool Should You Choose?

Top-performing SEO tools offer crucial data-driven insights and competitive analysis.

Two platforms dominate the conversation: Semrush and Ahrefs.

The main difference between Semrush and Ahrefs is their scope.

• Semrush is an all-in-one marketing toolkit. It combines SEO, PPC, content marketing, trends, and social media management in a single platform.
• Ahrefs was initially known for its backlink checker. It has evolved into a strong SEO platform with advanced tools for keyword research, site audits, content marketing, and competitor analysis.

As an avid user of both tools, I rely on each one for specific needs, but it wasn’t easy to figure out when and where to use them. Ahrefs and Semrush don't serve up the same solutions in the same way.

Let's compare these powerhouse platforms to help you decide where each belongs in your marketing toolkit.

Which Is The Best Tool, Ahrefs Or Semrush?

To determine the best tool, you have to figure out what your unique use cases are. The best tool for you might not be the best tool for another marketer.

To help you compare, we broke down Semrush vs Ahrefs based on:

• Keyword Research
• Backlink Analysis
• Competitive Analysis and Trends
• Site Audits
• Rank Tracking
• Usability & User Interface
• Support
• Unique Features
• Pricing
• Customer Reviews

Let’s take a look at the differences between Semrush and Ahrefs for each of these features.

Semrush vs Ahrefs For Keyword Research

Both Semrush and Ahrefs have robust keyword research features.

If you've tried the Exploding topics free keyword research tool, you'll have a basic idea of the terms you could target.

But the Semrush Keyword Magic Tool goes beyond SEO to include paid search (PPC) data. It also gives you more ways to analyze keywords.

You can easily:

• Cluster keywords
• Understand search intent
• Get insights that span organic and paid strategies.

You can break your keywords down by keyword difficulty, search volume for different regions, and even cost-per-click (CPC). 

I like this filter feature when I’m researching keyword opportunities for my sites. Limiting keywords to lower difficulty but high CPC has allowed me to target valuable, easy wins. 

If you’re working with a specific domain, you can use the AI-powered personal keyword difficulty scores (PKDs) to get more precise information. 

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer provides metrics like keyword difficulty, search volume, and traffic potential. 

It lets you target keywords across Google, YouTube, and Amazon, making it a great choice for content creators looking to optimize for more than just Google.

This tool also helps you identify: 

• Additional keywords related to your seed keyword
• Questions related to your keyword
• An “also rank for” feature, which can easily help you identify secondary keywords.

The position history tracker allows you to see how pages have moved up and down in the rankings. 

I use this feature to help identify how volatile a keyword might be or see if the same sites have held steady positions. This helps me with my strategy for approaching these topics. 

If you run a brick-and-mortar store, Semrush offers tools to boost your local visibility which could be a valuable advantage over Ahrefs.

Best Seo Tool For Backlink Analysis

Both Semrush and Ahrefs offer backlink analysis tools. They each have different features to consider.

Semrush allows you to: 

• Track your existing backlinks
• Examine potential link toxicity
• Identify new opportunities for your link-building strategy.

You can also see:

• Pages on your domain with the most links
• Categories of sites linking to your site
• Sites that would be good to earn links from based on your competitors.

This is unique to Semrush. 

When I worked on link-building strategies for clients, Semrush’s competitive analysis quickly helped me identify what sites I should be doing outreach for. 

I can understand what type of content these publishers might be looking for. This takes a lot of guesswork in identifying the right publishers.

Ahrefs is known for its backlink analysis tools. Some of the Ahrefs backlink features are easier to navigate when compared to Semrush.

Ahrefs allows you to easily find your top-performing pages based on links, similar to Semrush. 

It has a “best links” feature that quickly allows you to identify the best links pointing to those pages. 

You’re also able to quickly identify: 

• Anchor text for your links
• Types of links pointing to your domain
• Broken links

Many people ask: is Ahrefs accurate when tracking backlinks? 

In my experience, yes. I’ve seen more of my links show up in Ahrefs than in Semrush. That has helped my reporting efforts. 

I like the simplicity of the analysis in Ahrefs for getting the most important information quickly. However, I’ve relied on Semrush to craft a data-driven strategy for my teams and clients.

Ahrefs vs Semrush: Competitive Research and Trends

No SEO strategy is complete without a competitive analysis. Ahrefs and Semrush both have tools to help with this. 

Semrush shines here with its Traffic Analytics and Keyword Gap Analysis features. 

It provides easy-to-understand reports on: 

• Where your competitors’ traffic is coming from
• Whether it’s organic or paid
• How their keyword performance stacks up against yours. 

Plus, the backlink gap analysis feature we mentioned earlier is handy for finding link-building opportunities you have missed.

I’m a very visual person. The Venn diagrams speed up my analysis. 

The filtering and preset options within the competitive analysis tools are intuitive. They make this lengthy process a lot faster. 

If you’re interested in monitoring trends, I recommend the EyeOn tool in Semrush. 

EyeOn makes it easy to track the content that competitors are publishing. 

You can also use it as a social listening tool and keep track of what competitors are saying on social media.

If you want to find the top trending topics, EyeOn makes it easy. You’ll know if a competitor has spotted a trend that you should pay attention to.

Ahrefs offers a more SEO-focused competitive analysis with its Site Explorer and Content Gap Analysis tools. 

While it’s not quite as visual or intuitive as Semrush, Ahrefs gives you deep insights into your competitors' organic search performance. 

It’s particularly good at showing which pages drive the most traffic and backlinks for your competitors. However, if you’re running paid campaigns, Ahrefs may feel a little lacking since it doesn’t cover PPC data as extensively as Semrush.

Best SEO Tool For Site Audits

Site audits are crucial in monitoring your site health. Both Ahrefs and Semrush offer tools that can help you quickly identify technical SEO issues. 

Semrush offers a comprehensive site audit that lets you know how your site is doing in terms of technical SEO issues such as: 

• Broken links
• Server errors
• Robots.txt issues
• Core Web Vitals

You can click on any number to resolve any issues.

Semrush also stands out from Ahrefs with its Log File analysis, which isn’t something Ahrefs offers.

I’ve found a lot of similarities between Semrush and Google Search Console. I’m a visual learner and the interface of this tool helps me quickly identify issues, which I can then dig into more in GSC. 

I have noticed that if you have any blocks in place for crawlers other than Google, you might see some false errors. That’s due to crawling restrictions. Keep that in mind when reviewing these results.

Ahrefs offers a solid site audit feature, but it’s more focused on the basics. 

It does a great job of detecting common issues like duplicate content or slow-loading pages. It doesn’t dive quite as deep as Semrush when it comes to more complex technical SEO problems. 

That said, Ahrefs’ interface is pretty straightforward. It’s easy to use if you don’t need deep technical audits.

Best SEO Tool For Rank Tracking

Tracking SEO rankings and progress is essential for any marketing strategy. Both tools offer great monitoring tools.

Semrush has its Position Tracking feature. It’s handy for monitoring how your rankings are doing over time. 

It provides frequent updates and allows you to track rankings for specific keywords across different devices and locations. 

Within this tracking, you can also use Semrush’s SERP feature tracking. This lets you see if your site is showing up in:

• AI overviews
• Featured snippets
• Knowledge panels

If you’re juggling both SEO and PPC, Semrush gives you a comprehensive look at your keyword performance across the board.

Ahrefs has a Rank Tracker tool. It’s excellent for tracking organic search performance across search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. It also shows you historical data on how your rankings have evolved.

Ahrefs Rank Tracker has helped me when I worked with clients who were focused on other search engines or had YouTube strategies in place. This is where it stands out from Semrush for me.

Usability And User Interface

The usability and overall user experience of an SEO tool can make or break your workflow. 

How do Ahrefs and Semrush stack up when it comes to ease of use?

Semrush offers an extensive suite of features. There is a learning curve in finding your way around. 

If you’re new to digital marketing or SEO tools, you might find Semrush’s interface overwhelming at first. But once you get the hang of it, everything’s neatly organized. The dashboard provides a solid overview of your key metrics. 

If you’re managing multiple marketing channels, Semrush is a powerhouse that brings everything into one place. That’s a big win for marketers juggling a lot of tasks. 

Ahrefs is more straightforward. It focuses primarily on SEO, which means it’s easier to find what you’re looking for.

The tools you need — like Site Explorer or Rank Tracker — are accessible from the main dashboard. 

If simplicity is what you’re after, Ahrefs might be a good fit.

While Ahrefs is easy to navigate, I prefer the visuals that Semrush offers in its reports. I often find myself heading back into Semrush to dive into the data. I also grab screenshots that I can use in my reports and analysis.

Ahrefs vs Semrush Customer Support

When you’re investing in an SEO tool, good customer support can be a lifesaver, especially when you run into complex issues or need help using advanced features.

Semrush provides a solid range of customer support options, including live chat and email support. 

You can access support without logging in, which is convenient if you’re locked out of your account or just need a quick answer. 

Semrush promises a response within one business day, and in most cases, they deliver on that.

They also offer a knowledge base, webinars, guides, and tutorials, so there’s no shortage of educational resources to help you master the platform. 

Ahrefs also offers live chat and email support, but you need to be logged in to access them. 

That can be frustrating if you’re having login issues. 

That said, their support team is known to be responsive and knowledgeable once you get through. 

Like Semrush, Ahrefs has a comprehensive library of tutorials and how-to guides. It regularly has new content to help users get the most out of the platform.

Unique Features of Ahrefs and Semrush 

Both Ahrefs and Semrush pack a punch when it comes to unique features. 

However, these tools cater to different types of users and use cases. 

I use both every day in my work. I love being able to bring all of the unique insights each tool offers to my strategies.

Semrush is a full-on marketing suite that goes beyond SEO. One of its standout features is the Content Marketing Toolkit, which helps you plan, create, and optimize your content strategy. 

The social media toolkit and the One-to-target tools were popular with teams I’ve worked with.

There are also tools for:

• Local SEO
• Keyword ideas
• Google ads and PPC management
• Content optimization, including an on page SEO checker
• Social media

A newer feature, Semrush Copilot, an AI-driven assistant that provides suggestions and automates certain marketing tasks, can help make your marketing efforts more efficient.

Ahrefs has a Content Explorer that is fantastic for finding top-performing content and spotting content gaps. 

Its AI Content Grader helps to improve the quality of your content. However, it’s only available on the most expensive plan.

Ahrefs also stands out with its ability to offer data for additional search engines like YouTube and Bing.

Semrush vs Ahrefs Pricing and Free Trials

For most people, pricing is a pretty big factor when choosing an SEO tool.

If you’re on a tight budget, these tools need to return very good ROI for you.

Semrush Pro costs $117.33 per month when paid annually. This is affordable for freelancers or small businesses.

• Content marketing tools or historical data are included in the Guru plan. This costs $208.33 per month.
• For agencies or larger businesses, the Business plan comes in at $416.66 per month.

Ahrefs is similarly priced:

• Starter costs $29 per month
• Lite costs $129 per month
• Standard costs $249 per month
• Advanced costs $449 per month
• Enterprise costs $14,990 per year

However, there is a catch.

Ahrefs has a credit system. It limits how many reports you can run on the Lite plan.

This can feel restrictive, especially if you’re doing a lot of reporting.

Semrush vs Ahrefs Customer Reviews

One of the best ways to gauge how a product performs is through customer reviews.

Semrush tends to get top marks from full-stack marketers and agencies. These users need an all-in-one platform for managing multiple aspects of digital marketing.

Reviewers appreciate the wide range of tools available, especially when it comes to managing paid campaigns and analyzing traffic. 

On G2, Semrush holds an average rating of 4.6/5. Users say they like its comprehensive features. 

Some reviews mention the learning curve that I’ve also experienced. 

Ahrefs is popular among SEO specialists and freelancers. On G2, Ahrefs holds a similar rating of 4.5/5. 

Freelancers tend to lean toward Ahrefs for its simplicity and depth in SEO-specific tasks.

There’s some frustration around the pricing structure, particularly the credit system. 

Semrush vs Ahrefs: My Key Takeaways

Semrush and Ahrefs offer distinct features that cater to different types of users, and they’re priced similarly.

Choose Semrush if you need:

• A comprehensive digital marketing solution that goes way beyond SEO
• Advanced PPC tools
• Content marketing toolkit
• Social media integration
• Trends data
• Personalized keyword difficulty for precise SEO
• Robust site audits
• Deep insights into digital marketing performance.

It’s ideal for full-stack marketers, agencies, and businesses that need to manage multiple marketing channels, making it a versatile tool that covers all your needs in one platform.

Choose Ahrefs if you need:

• Powerful backlink analysis
• Keyword research tools
• Keyword tracking by portfolio
• A focus on SEO and content over other areas of marketing.

Just be mindful of the credit system that will limit your reporting on Lite.

You can get started with Semrush today and take it for a test drive.