SEMrush and Ahrefs — are two pioneers of the SEO landscape that are worth taking advantage of. Both of these tools are used by SEO experts and marketers to conduct keyword research, analyze competitors, track competitors, and a lot more.

The features of these tools might be similar but both of them have different criteria to optimize your website for search engines. But which one of them meets your SEO needs best? This SEMrush vs Aherfs comparison guide will help you choose one over the other.

SEMrush Vs Ahrefs: Introducing the Two Giants

SEMrush

On one side, we have SEMrush — the all-in-one online marketing platform.

Initially, started as a competitive research service and has now emerged as a fully-functional marketing software suite. It is the number #1 choice of marketers all across the globe.

SEMrush is not limited to SEO, you can also use it for:

1. Get a comprehensive analysis of the website
2. Spying on the competitor's PPC campaigns
3. Tracking the keywords
4. Analyze log files

AHREFS

On the opposite side, there’s Ahrefs — a full-fledged SEO tool.

Back in 2010, It was one of the first backlink analysis tools. Since then, it has changed the SEO game completely which makes it a direct competitor to SEMrush.

Today, digital marketing experts use it for:

1. Analyzing the competitors
2. Tracking the ranking of keywords
3. Conducting site audit
4. Analyzing the backlinks

SEMrush Vs Ahrefs: Detailed Comparison

This is a detailed guide that might help to make a wise decision on which of these platforms you should opt for to analyze your SEO efforts.

We have used 5 parameters to compare the two giants- SEMrush and Ahrefs and which are-

1. Keyword Research
2. Rank Tracking
3. Backlink Analysis
4. Competitor Analysis
5. Pricing

Comparison Based on Keyword Research

Keyword research is an essential element of SEO. Hence, it is the most essential parameter to compare both tools. After knowing what keywords your targeted audience are searching for, craft your content accordingly to get the desired results.

Both Ahrefs and SEMrush have excellent keyword research capabilities. You just need to type the phrase or keyword into their tool to get the information including -

1. Keyword difficulty
2. Search volume
3. Related keywords
4. Top ranking sites
5. CPC

Thanks to the ‘keyword intent’ feature of SEMrush, it highlights the context in which the particular search is made.

One thing that is appreciable about Ahrefs is that it not only tells how hard it is to rank your keyword but also gives a rough estimate of how many backlinks you’ll need to rank your page on the top of the search engines.

Who wins?

So, which one is the real winner here? We’ll give the point to the SEMrush in this parameter. SEMrush’s features are not only limited to keyword difficulty, search volume, related keywords, or competitors but they also give information about keyword density and SERP features.

Also, in terms of statistics, SEMrush has almost 20 million keywords in its database which is more than double as of Ahrefs.

Comparison Based on Rank Tracking

Rank tracking features are required to determine the failure or success of any SEO efforts. The feature lets you compare your website to other competitors and what efforts can be made to boost the rankings.

SEMrush has 3 rank-tracking tools that let you monitor your daily progress. Competitor discovery is a unique feature of SEmrush that lets you identify competitor websites that are targeting the same keywords. This unique feature allows you to understand whom you're competing directly with.

SEMrush’s rank tracking offers many features, such as-

1. Daily data updates
2. Local Pack tracking
3. Intuitive reports
4. Cannibalization reports (that help you identify pages that you’re directly competing with).

Ahrefs rank tracking feature on the other hand is much easier to use and understand as compared to SEMrush. It lets you understand what kind of results your website is getting as well as your competitors. It gives suggestions on which keywords you need to optimize to get the desired results.

The tool shows the top 10 competitors and sees their-

1. Search Traffic
2. Ranking progress
3. SERP features

Who Wins?

Ahrefs is a real winner in the rank tracking parameter because of its user-friendly and easy-to-use interface. You just need to type in the keywords and domain names to get the results. And from there, decide whether you want to go forward with the same keyword or target other keywords.

However, SEMrush allows checking the mobile rankings as well and giving updates on the progress daily.

Comparison Based on Backlink Analysis

Now, let’s talk about the most complicated yet most rewarding aspect of SEO, backlinking. The backlink analysis feature gives you an analysis of your as well as the competitor's domain to help you stay ahead of the competition.

Ahrefs was built for backlinking analysis. The easy User Interface and Functionality have made it the king of backlinks. Ahrefs has a massive database of backlinks- it has almost 27 trillion internal backlinks and over 3.5 trillion external backlinks.

For a very long time, SEMrush’s biggest weak link was backlink analysis. But a major improvement in 2019 changed the dimensions of backlink analysis completely for SEMrush.

The analysis of backlinks is so easy that you just need to enter the domain name in the search box and select ‘Backlink’ from the drop-down menu. Within a few moments, you’ll get a complete overview of the backlink profile.

Who wins?

There’s no clear winner to this parameter. The backlink database of SEMrush is more accurate and comprehensive but Ahrefs has an edge in terms of accessibility.

Some marketers are more familiar and comfortable with the interface of SEMrush while some other business professionals and SEO experts prefer SEMrush due to its speed and accuracy.

Comparison Based on Competitor Analysis

SEMrush and Ahrefs, both, offer competitor analysis tools that help you stay ahead of competitors. The tool gives a better insight into how well the targeted keywords are performing as opposed to your competitor's SEO efforts.

Ahrefs lets you compare your domain to the top 5 Competitors. The comparison feature gives a clear picture of how your site is ranked against others in terms of domain authority, and ratings.

You’ll see the list of your direct competitors and find more information by looking at the content Explorer and Site Explorer tools.

SEMrush gives you a variety of metrics to know your competitor’s SEO efforts. Organic research is a feature that lets you examine your top competitor’s website, their search rankings, which of their keywords are ranking, what are their SERP features, and more.

With Traffic analytics, you can see who your audience is, where most of your traffic comes from, how they engage with you, and what other sites they visit other than yours.

So, Who Wins here?

SEMrush is a clear winner here as it gives you better insight and a more detailed analysis of your competitors than Ahrefs. Ahrefs has many advanced features as well. Take our expert’s advice, if you want to gain an edge over your competitors you need a combination of both tools.

Comparison Based on Pricing

The final parameter that we will use to compare both tools is pricing.

SEMrush or Ahrefs: Which one is better value for money?

So, here’s the verdict…

Ahrefs

Ahrefs' basic plan starts at $99 and it goes up to &999 for the enterprise plan. The basic plan gives you tons of features such as keyword explorer, site audit, rank tracker, etc... The plan is ideal for beginners and freelancers.

SEMrush



Semrush, on the other hand, has one free basic plan which has limitations. Pricing for Semrush starts from &119.95 for the Pro plan and goes up to $449.95 for the business plan. If you’re a beginner or a freelancer, Semrush’s Pro plan is ideal for you.

However, larger enterprises might require a Business plan. You can even opt for a customized plan by contacting SEMush’s sales team.

So, Which One is the Better Choice for your SEO Efforts?

For SEO and digital marketing efforts, you might still be confused about which one of these platforms needs to be used.

Opt for Ahrefs if-

1. You require more keyword click data than keyword volume data
2. You want keywords to rank on other search engines than Google such as Yahoo, Bing, and Amazon.
3. To enjoy a clear and simple interface

Opt for SEMrush if-

1. You need a detailed analysis of your competitors
2. To get suggestions on how to improve your site technically
3. You need a more robust technology

Both SEMrush and Ahrefs are excellent tools and they keep on improving to add more features. Which one is ideal for you depends upon what your requirements are!