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Ahrefs

4.8
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Ahrefs

Research keywords, analyze competitors, audit websites, track rankings, and monitor AI search visibility

Ahrefs helps SEO teams and marketers grow organic visibility with deep keyword data, competitor research, backlink intelligence, rank tracking, site audits, content gap analysis, and AI search monitoring. It is especially useful for understanding why competitors rank, finding link opportunities, improving technical SEO, planning content, and tracking how brands appear across search engines and AI-powered discovery platforms.

Keyword researchBacklink analysisCompetitor researchSite auditRank trackingContent gap analysisAI search visibilityBrand Radar
4.8
Powered by one of the largest SEO databases and used by marketers, agencies, SEO teams, and brands worldwide
Try Ahrefs

Starts at From $29/mo

Why use Ahrefs?

  • Find keyword opportunities with strong SEO data
  • Analyze competitor websites, rankings, pages, and traffic sources
  • Discover backlink opportunities and monitor link profiles
  • Run technical SEO audits to find crawl, performance, and on-page issues
  • Track keyword rankings and visibility over time
  • Use Content Gap and Content Explorer to plan stronger SEO content
  • Monitor brand mentions, citations, and competitors across AI search platforms
  • Use AI Content Helper to improve search intent coverage and content relevance

What you can do with Ahrefs

Everything you can accomplish — starting today.

Find high-value SEO keywords
Analyze competitor organic traffic
Discover backlink opportunities
Track keyword rankings
Audit technical SEO issues
Research top-performing content in any niche
Find content gaps against competitors
Monitor lost and new backlinks
Improve content for search intent and AI citations
Track brand visibility across AI search platforms
Build SEO reports for clients and teams

Pros & Cons

What's great

  • One of the strongest SEO databases available
  • Excellent backlink analysis and competitor research tools
  • Strong keyword research workflow for SEO professionals
  • Useful Site Audit, Rank Tracker, Site Explorer, and Content Explorer tools
  • Brand Radar adds strong AI search visibility tracking
  • AI Content Helper supports search intent and AI citation-focused content optimization
  • Good fit for agencies, SEO consultants, content teams, and serious website owners

Worth knowing

  • Can be expensive for beginners and small websites
  • The platform has a learning curve for new SEO users
  • Lite plan has credit limits, while higher plans are needed for more serious workflows
  • Not as writing-focused as tools like Surfer SEO or Frase
  • Advanced AI visibility and add-on features can increase the total cost
  • Requires SEO knowledge to turn data into practical strategy

Who is Ahrefs best for?

SEO specialistsSEO agenciesFreelance SEO consultantsContent marketersAffiliate marketersSaaS marketing teamsE-commerce businessesLink buildersTechnical SEO teamsBrands tracking AI search visibility

Pricing

Pick what fits your budget.

Starter

$29/mo

Entry-level plan for SEO beginners who want to explore Ahrefs with a lower monthly commitment. Best for light usage, basic keyword research, Site Explorer checks, Site Audit, Rank Tracker, SEO Toolbar, Web Analytics, and learning the Ahrefs workflow before upgrading to Lite or higher plans.

Lite

$129/mo

Essential SEO plan for small businesses, personal projects, bloggers, and individual website owners. Includes 5 unverified projects, 6 months of historical data, 750 tracked keywords, 5 tracked prompts, 100,000 crawl credits, 1,000 credits per user, and 1 included user.

Most popular

Standard

$249/mo

Best for freelance SEOs, marketing consultants, and growing teams that need more data and fewer usage restrictions. Includes 20 unverified projects, 2 years of historical data, 2,000 tracked keywords, 10 tracked prompts, 500,000 crawl credits, unlimited credits per user, and more room for competitor and keyword research.

Get started

Advanced

$449/mo

Advanced SEO plan for lean in-house marketing teams, larger websites, and agencies that need deeper data access. Includes 50 unverified projects, 5 years of historical data, 5,000 tracked keywords, 1.5M crawl credits, higher export limits, more historical analysis, and stronger reporting capacity.

Enterprise

$1,499/mo

Enterprise-level plan for large organizations, agencies, and companies that need maximum limits, advanced reporting, API access, unlimited historical data, larger crawl limits, more tracked keywords, more users, enterprise controls, and scalable SEO operations.

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Free

Free option for verified website owners who want basic SEO monitoring, site audit access, and visibility into their own website performance. Best for small site owners who want to start with technical SEO checks before moving to a paid Ahrefs plan.

Brand Radar

From $398/mo

AI visibility add-on for tracking brand mentions, citations, competitors, and share of voice across AI answers and discovery platforms. Best for brands and SEO teams that want to monitor visibility in AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, Grok, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, search demand, and web visibility.

Project Boost Max

$200/mo per project

Optional project add-on for teams that need more advanced project-level features, including patches, Auto-submit to IndexNow, Batch AI in Site Audit, AI detection in Site Audit, unlimited URL checks, and always-on site audit capabilities.

How Ahrefs compares

Side-by-side — pick the right tool for you.

A

Ahrefs

Recommended

S

Semrush

  • Broader all-in-one digital marketing platform
  • Stronger for PPC, local SEO, social media, and campaign management
  • Includes SEO, content, advertising, market research, and AI visibility tools in one ecosystem
  • Broader all-in-one digital marketing platform
  • Stronger for PPC, local SEO, social media, and campaign management
  • Includes SEO, content, advertising, market research, and AI visibility tools in one ecosystem

Quick pick:Use Ahrefs if your main priority is backlink analysis, competitor SEO research, keyword discovery, content gaps, and deep organic search data. Use Semrush if you want a broader all-in-one marketing platform that also includes PPC, local SEO, content marketing, social media tools, and AI visibility tracking.

Ready to start?

Try Ahrefs
A

Ahrefs

Recommended

S

Surfer SEO

  • Better for real-time content optimization while writing
  • Stronger Content Editor for improving individual blog posts and landing pages
  • More focused on content scores, SERP-based recommendations, and article refreshes
  • Better for real-time content optimization while writing
  • Stronger Content Editor for improving individual blog posts and landing pages
  • More focused on content scores, SERP-based recommendations, and article refreshes

Quick pick:Use Ahrefs if you need a full SEO research platform for keywords, backlinks, competitors, audits, rank tracking, and AI search visibility. Use Surfer SEO if your main goal is to write, optimize, and refresh individual articles with real-time content recommendations.

Ready to start?

Try Ahrefs

How to get started with Ahrefs

Get started in a few minutes

  1. 1

    Create an Ahrefs account

  2. 2

    Add your website as a project

  3. 3

    Verify ownership to unlock more project data

  4. 4

    Run a Site Audit to find technical SEO issues

  5. 5

    Use Site Explorer to analyze your own domain and competitors

  6. 6

    Use Keywords Explorer to find keyword opportunities

  7. 7

    Use Content Gap to discover keywords competitors rank for but you do not

  8. 8

    Use Backlink Analytics to monitor backlinks and link opportunities

  9. 9

    Track important keywords with Rank Tracker

  10. 10

    Use Content Explorer to research high-performing content ideas

  11. 11

    Use AI Content Helper to improve search intent and topical coverage

  12. 12

    Use Brand Radar to monitor AI search visibility and brand mentions

Start now

Get started in a few minutes

Frequently asked questions

Ready to try Ahrefs?

Ahrefs helps SEO teams and marketers grow organic visibility with deep keyword data, competitor research, backlink intelligence, rank tracking, site audits, content gap analysis, and AI search monitoring. It is especially useful for understanding why competitors rank, finding link opportunities, improving technical SEO, planning content, and tracking how brands appear across search engines and AI-powered discovery platforms.

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Takes less than 2 minutes · No credit card needed