SE Ranking vs. Ahrefs: Agency Review for 2025

SEO is undergoing a major shift, driven by the rise of generative AI and dramatic ranking upheavals from recent Google algorithm updates.

If you’re like me, you’re interested in which SEO tools can give you an edge in this challenging period.

While I’ve used Ahrefs for years, Semrush is currently my main tool. SE Ranking is new to me.

Given the positive reviews it’s garnered, I was eager to try out SE Ranking and compare it to Ahrefs.

SE Ranking vs. Ahrefs: Overview

Feature	SE Ranking	Ahrefs
Pricing	Starts at $65/mo	Starts at $129/mo
SERP features tracked	37+	19
Countries/geographic regions covered	200+	200+
Continent-based tracking	✔	X
Keyword gap tool	✔	✔
PPC tools	✔	✔
Content optimization	✔	✔
Free trial	✔	Maybe*

The differences between Ahrefs and SE Ranking arise primarily from the user interfaces and the range of tools you can use.

As you'll see in this review, nuances in software design are reflected in superior analytics and innovative AI.

Regarding Ahrefs' free trial: Ahrefs stopped its program due to users abusing the policy.

However, Ahrefs indicates it’s interested in offering free trials. I take that to mean that there’s no public program, but that it will entertain serious inquiries.

Domain Overview

Both Ahrefs and SE Ranking provide domain overviews, but Ahrefs is more thorough and more intuitive to use.

Where to find domain analysis:

• In Ahrefs: Site Explorer
• In SE Ranking: Competitor Research > Overview

Note that this isn’t rank tracking per se.

While rank tracking provides domain data, I’m looking at how marketers can quickly assess a prospect’s website before, or even during, an agency call.

Domain overview tools provide key site data without requiring keyword uploads or connections to Google Analytics or Search Console.

With domain overviews, you can quickly assess a client site or their competitors. You can zero in on problem areas to craft a compelling pitch.

Similarities: Both Ahrefs and SE Ranking present a familiar layout for domain overviews.

Metrics at the top include:

• Domain authority score
• Organic traffic and keywords
• Paid traffic and keywords
• Traffic value
• Backlinks and referring domains
• Organic keywords

Scrolling down the domain overview page, you’ll see individual tiles highlighting key trends, like traffic by country or organic keywords by intent.

Let’s begin with Ahrefs. These are the topline Site Explorer metrics for patagonia.com.

Next to each metric, we see trends, such as +2.7M in traffic.

SE Ranking’s dashboard looks similar.

As you scroll down, you’ll begin to see key differences.

In Ahrefs, the first tile you’ll see is the Performance tile. This is a powerful and versatile tool for identifying trends and problems.

You can tick boxes for 10 different trend lines. (SE Ranking doesn’t provide anything near the chart overlay options available in Ahrefs.)

Next, select a time period from the dropdown.

Here we see a 5-year pattern of growth for Patagonia, with spikes during the holiday season.

Switch to the Years tab, and you’ll see 10 years of traffic data. Crosshair tooltips provide annual numbers.

To the right of the Performance tile is Traffic by Location, listed by country in descending order.

You can easily add countries to the Performance chart for a quick view of trends.

To view more than 1 month of historical data here, though, you’ll need an Ahrefs Standard or Advanced plan.

Like Ahrefs, SE Ranking provides traffic and ranking data for over 200 countries and regions.

In SE Ranking, you can also filter by continents and geographical groupings, which is quite helpful for international brands.

Clicking the Compare button takes you to their Organic Traffic Research page. Here you can compare up to 5 countries.

Google algorithm annotations: Both SE Ranking and Ahrefs traffic charts include Google algorithm updates.

This makes it easy to identify potential sources of traffic declines.

For instance, I analyzed a review site that lost 89% of its traffic after April 2024.

Checking the Ahrefs annotations, I can see that the decline followed Google’s March Core and Spam Updates.

So that gives me some clues to investigate.

(For March, SE Ranking also includes the Site Reputation Abuse update, which was characterized by manual penalties.)

Notice that in Ahrefs, above the 4 tabs (Metrics, Competitors, Locations, and Years), there are 4 additional tabs:

• General
• Backlink profile
• Organic search
• Paid search

Clicking any of these changes all the tiles that display.

There’s an enormous amount of information here, and browsing through it to find valuable insights is intuitive.

This is where to start crafting your SEO strategies.

Keyword Research and Gap Analysis

Before creating a high-performing content strategy, agencies need to analyze client and competitor rankings for relevant keywords.

I feel that Ahrefs’ content gap and keyword research tools are superior to those of SE Ranking

Let’s examine how both platforms approach keyword research and gap analysis.

Keyword Research

Where to find it:

• In Ahrefs, go to Keyword Explorer
• In SE Ranking, go to Keyword Research

Keyword metrics: Both Ahrefs and SE Ranking provide:

• Search volume
• CPC (cost-per-click)
• Keyword difficulty (KD) ratings

Keyword Difficulty differences: Using the search term “SEO statistics,” Ahrefs indicates that the Keyword Difficulty (76) is “Super hard.”

Here are the overview metrics in Ahrefs.

By contrast, SE Ranking indicates the keyword difficulty is “elementary.”

So, is it easy or hard to rank for “seo statistics?”

Here, I’m siding with Ahrefs. The “Super hard” rating is reasonable, given that top brands, such as Backlinko and Digital Marketing Institute, are ranking on page 1 for the keyword.

Ahrefs’ score also coheres with Semrush Keyword Overview, which rates “seo statistics” as a difficult keyword to rank for.

Additional keyword metrics: Ahrefs goes further than SE Ranking in offering:

• Traffic Potential
• Clicks
• CPS

Ahrefs displays some keyword metrics with lock icons. Users must upgrade to the Advanced plan to unlock these metrics.

Keyword Gap Analysis

Identifying keywords that your competitors are ranking for, but you aren’t, is foundational for competitive SEO and a successful content strategy.

You’ll find the Ahrefs gap tool under Competitive Analysis > Keywords > Content Gap.

I researched which keywords rei.com is ranking for, but outdoorgearlab.com is not.

Filters are key for effectively analyzing gaps.

I filtered my results to only show keywords that:

• REI is ranking in the top 10 for
• Don’t contain “rei”

By default, the list is sorted in descending order of volume.

I can further sort by:

• keyword difficulty
• ranking position
• words or phrases included or excluded
• Volume
• And more.

Positions filter: If you toggle on “Main positions only,” you’ll get only results ranking in position 1 or 0 (featured snippet, depicted by a quotation icon.)

Toggle this button off, and you’ll get all the above plus keywords ranking in AI Overviews. (These are indicated by a diamond icon.)

I added some additional filters, then I sorted the keywords by ranking position without AI Overviews.

I got a helpful list of around 3,000 keywords, including:

• Rock climbing terms
• Discount hiking gear
• Bike maintenance
• Kayaking gear
• Camping gadgets

I can immediately see which keywords I’d want to focus on and how I might cluster them.

SE Ranking: In contrast, SE Ranking’s tool, called Content Comparison, is so limited that I didn’t find it useful.

When viewing keywords that REI is ranking for, but Outdoor Gear Lab isn’t, I wound up with an enormous list of

2 million keywords, sorted by search volume.

Many of these keywords are generic, like

• “store near me”
• “store”
• “stores close to me”
• “shops close to me’

Lack of filters: Unfortunately, there’s no way to filter out branded keywords or generic phrases.

What’s worse, this table cannot be sorted by ranking position.

You can only sort the “unique” keyword table by these 3 columns:

• Search volume
• Competition (an ad metric)
• CPC

Backlink Analysis

Although backlinks are no longer a top ranking factor, they continue to drive traffic, conversions, and sales. Monitoring backlinks can also help you avoid negative SEO attacks.

Both Ahrefs and SE Ranking offer pro-level backlink analysis. Ahrefs offers more granular filtering and is the better choice for agencies running sophisticated link-building campaigns.

Let’s start with a closer look at Ahrefs.

Ahrefs Backlinks Analysis

In its Backlinks menu, Ahrefs offers 6 tools.

To access Broken backlinks and Linking authors, you’ll need the Standard ($249/mo) or Advanced ($449/mo) plan.

SE Ranking does not offer a Linking Authors report, but it does provide a broken backlinks filter in its Pro plan ($119/mo).

History limits: For some Ahrefs filters (such as “new” links), history is limited to 6 months under the Lite ($129/mo) plan.

That said, there’s a lot available in Ahrefs under Backlinks, Referring Domains, Anchors, and Referring IPs.

The Backlinks tool alone has too many filters to even mention.

These include:

• Link attributes
• Domain authority score (range)
• Domain traffic (range)
• Word or phrase (include or exclude)

I particularly like:

• The “New” (vs “Lost”) filter
• The “Live links” toggle button

What makes Ahrefs stand out are the additional filters it offers. These help you identify outreach opportunities according to a range of specifications.

“Best links”: You can choose to filter by “best links,” “non-spammy links,” or “low-quality links.”

What are “best links?” You decide by customizing the filter.

Additionally, you can filter by other attributes, such as author or target URL.

Then you can pick from a set of additional filters.

Many of these custom filters use Ahrefs’ formatting for advanced filtering. Here’s what that looks like.

But some, like “Platforms,” offer a dropdown choice.

This platform filter is unique and a time saver. I can think of many situations where I would want to filter for backlinks from e-commerce sites.

Referring Domains analysis: Ahrefs’ Referring Domains tool offers similar features, with a few differences in the custom filter.

So, how does Ahrefs compare to SE Ranking?

SE Ranking Backlink Analysis

I really like the layout of SE Ranking’s backlinks tools. They’re easy to navigate and use.

Plus, there’s a helpful overview featuring a chart, crosshair tooltips, and tick boxes to overlay additional trend lines.

The backlink analysis tool offers 14 filters via a scrollable, single dropdown.

That’s not nearly as many as Ahrefs, but if you don’t have advanced link-building needs, SE Ranking is sufficient.

Below, I compared some of the filters that Ahrefs and SE Ranking have in common.

Filters or sorting	SE Ranking	Ahrefs
Link attributes	dofollow/nofollow	dofollow/nofollow UGC Sponsored
Link type	Text image	Text (2 types of filters) Image Redirect Canonical Frame
Traffic	Domain traffic Page traffic (filter)	Domain traffic Page traffic (sorting)
Broken backlinks	Included in $119/mo plan	Requires $249/mo plan

SE Ranking’s other backlink tools include:

• Referring Domains
• Anchor texts
• IP address

Technical SEO Audits

Site audits are a staple of agencies. Audit reports identify search visibility issues such as uncrawlable or unindexed pages. And that helps define the work to be done for clients.

Ahrefs Site Audit Tool

To audit a website in Ahrefs, you’ll need to connect to the domain’s Google Search Console account or add the Ahrefs code snippet to the <head> of the site.

The visual overview is easy to understand and interactive. Click on an item to get more details in the table below the visuals.

The analysis includes standard items from Google Search Console:

• Crawled and uncrawled URLs
• Errors, warnings, and notices

Not surprisingly, Ahrefs offers many ways to analyze your audit

That includes a crawl log, “Internal Link Opportunities,” and “Structure Explorer.”

You can access 9 different reports in addition to the above audit metrics.

SE Ranking Audits

The main difference between Ahrefs and SE Ranking site audits is that SE Ranking doesn’t require a connection to GSC or insertion of a code snippet.

So, you can run an audit before landing a client and on any competitor website.

Like Ahrefs, you’ll get a “top issues” tile.

Other tiles include:

• Core Web Vitals
• Link attributes
• Robots meta tags
• HTTP status codes

Keep in mind that most agencies use additional technical tools like Screaming Frog SEO Spider and Chrome DevTools.

Content Marketing and Optimization

As our SEO statistics report shows, some 62% of businesses outsource their marketing. By 2027, the content marketing industry is projected to grow by over $584 billion.

Both SE Ranking and Ahrefs include content optimization tools.

However, Ahrefs offers higher-quality recommendations and better scoring.

SE Ranking’s Content Marketing Tool

SE Ranking’s Content Marketing Tool pulls pages from your site to recommend for optimization. Select a page, and it’ll open up in the content editor.

Recommended improvements cover word count and number of headings.

 

However, there’s no evidence that targeting average word counts or page elements will help your rankings.

Additionally, SE Ranking recommends numerous terms (subtopics) to include in your article.

For a “Mangools vs Ahrefs” article, the SE Ranking recommendations pulled in irrelevant terms:

• seo agencies
• quality websites
• blog

This is a common flaw of optimization platforms.

Unfortunately, SE Ranking also guides users to insert terms into articles a certain number of times. That encourages term stuffing.

I’m convinced that term stuffing contributed to sharp declines in many sites since the 2022 rollout of the Helpful Content Update (HCU).

And again, there’s no evidence that if you mention terms a specific number of times, your article will rank well.

By contrast, Ahrefs doesn’t recommend word count targets, page element numbers, or term frequencies.

And it doesn’t reward term stuffing.

Ahrefs AI Content Helper

To test Ahrefs, I used an article of mine about a marketing framework.

Ahrefs proposed several subtopic areas to cover, which were missing from my article. These subtopics are genuinely helpful in providing a more useful article to readers.

Here are two examples, along with my score after I addressed the subtopics.

By emphasizing and defining concepts to cover, Ahrefs presents a more sophisticated and impactful approach to content optimization.

The tool does list recommended terms, but they’re de-emphasized in the layout.

Notice also that Ahrefs doesn't spur you to chase keyword density.

That said, after using content optimization platforms for 6 years, I’ve found the Semrush SEO Writing Assistant to be my favorite.

I recommend you compare the Semrush tool to the Ahrefs AI Content Helper and choose the one you find most useful.

Advertising and PPC Research

Both SE Ranking and Ahrefs offer robust PPC tools.

SE Ranking offers several ad tools. These include:

• Paid Traffic Research
• Ads History
• Social Media Ads

Paid Traffic Research is thorough, including country-based analysis, ad history, and ad copy.

Interestingly, you can analyze by 10 different currencies.

Across the top, you’ll find expected metrics such as total traffic and traffic cost.

The table list of paid keywords below the chart, includes columns for:

• search intent
• block (position)
• CPC
• Keyword difficulty

You also get a detailed set of filters.

Some of the filters, like Include, Exclude, and URL, include a drop-down Condition option.

Ads History: This tool is under SE Ranking’s Keyword Research. Add a keyword, like “women's rain jacket,” and you’ll get a list of the “most popular ads.”

The default ranking is by total traffic. 

Under my Pro plan, however, all the ads were listed as “Ad unlock.”

To view the actual ads, you’ll need to upgrade to the Business plan, which costs $259 per month.

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Under Social Media Marketing, you can set up TikTok, Meta, and Google Ads.

Note that with the SE Ranking Pro plan, you’re allowed 3 brands under Social Media Marketing. You can add more at a reasonable rate of $6.50 per brand per month.

Ahrefs PPC Tools

When I compare other platforms to Ahrefs’ PPC tools, I usually find that the latter are better organized.

That’s also the case here.

In addition, you get more PPC data at Ahrefs’ entry-level plan ($129) than you do with SE Ranking’s Pro plan ($119).

For instance, you’ll have full access to ad copy in Ahrefs Lite.

For research, you’ll have access to all the necessary filters, such as include/exclude filters, CPC, keyword difficulty, and geographic region.

What I particularly like is that you can also filter by ad placement and status.

In Ahrefs, I like to start paid analysis by using Site Explorer. I can get a quick overview of paid traffic and cost there.

Next, the Ads Report takes you inside your competitors' ad strategies.

Ahrefs also offers a Paid Pages report that reveals:

• PPC budget allocation by country
• Keywords by country
• Related performance data

This is a must-have for brands with international reach.

Agency Solutions

In addition to the tools described above, Ahrefs and SE Ranking offer the following options for agencies.

Feature	SE Ranking	Ahrefs
Agency directory	✔	✔
White-label reporting	✔	X
Client dashboards with custom permissions	✔	✔
Automated reports	✔	✔
API	✔	✔

Pricing Plans

While SE Ranking is known to cost less than Ahrefs, comparing their pricing is not straightforward.

You’ll need to consider what’s included in each plan, as well as:

• Add-ons
• Number of users allowed
• Historical data available
• Data usage or other limitations

While add-ons or credit pricing may seem complicated, they prevent you from paying for data usage or tools that you don’t want or need.

SE Ranking vs. Ahrefs: Monthly Pricing

SE Ranking	Ahrefs
Essential: $65/mo	Lite: $129/mo
Pro: $119/mo	Standard: $249/mo
Business: $259/mo	Advanced: $449/mo

Both SE Ranking and Ahrefs offer discounts to customers who pay annually.

Free Trials

• SE Ranking offers a feature-limited 14-day free trial
• The Ahrefs site doesn’t publicly offer free trials, but you can request one.

SE Ranking vs. Ahrefs: Summary

Offering a broad set of quality SEO tools, SE Ranking positions itself as a cost-effective alternative to Ahrefs.

Ahrefs stands out with advanced filtering, nuanced use of AI, and interfaces that facilitate rapid analysis of client sites.

Best For…

SE Ranking is "just right" for small agencies, freelancers, or businesses that need a complete SEO toolkit without all the bells and whistles.

Ahrefs is a sound choice for established agencies and enterprises that need deep insights for complex, high-stakes projects.

My take: I once worked with a fascinating CEO on advanced link-building projects using proprietary tools and commercial software. For these projects, we used Austria-based Link Research Tools (LRT).

Link Research Tools is arguably the most advanced link analysis platform available, and this is reflected in its price: plans start at $599 per month.

This complex software offers unique metrics, such as link velocity and anchor class (e.g., money, compound, and so on).

However, I’ve found that it’s rare for a marketer or agency to need something more powerful than what Ahrefs offers.

The Alternative: Semrush

I’ve used both Ahrefs and Semrush for years, in various professional settings.

Because Semrush is a direct competitor to Ahrefs, it’s well worth comparing the two.

Semrush goes beyond SEO and offers a comprehensive set of digital marketing tools. You can choose these a la carte.

Ready to Scale?

Choosing the right SEO toolkit is crucial for scaling your agency's success.

Whether you prioritize cost-effectiveness, advanced insights, or a comprehensive marketing suite, SE Ranking, Ahrefs, and Semrush each offer unique strengths.

• Sign up for a 14-day limited-feature trial of SE Ranking
• Sign up for a 14-day unlimited free trial of Semrush to see why it's a favorite for comprehensive digital marketing.
• Contact Ahrefs to inquire about a free trial tailored to your agency's needs.

Your agency’s tech stack should work as hard as you do. Explore SE Ranking, Ahrefs, and Semrush and find the right fit for scaling insights, reporting, and results across your client base.