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TL;DR
Semrush has evolved into an entire range of 9 toolkits since Adobe completed its purchase in April 2026. From SEO, AI Visibility, Advertising, Local, Content, and Social tools, the core plan starts at $139 per month. However, with plans now including AI Visibility, Semrush One plans start at $199 per month. This means that when looking at alternatives to Semrush, you'll rarely be looking for a complete alternative. We have mapped out 7 alternatives to the various tools within Semrush. We pulled all pricing from the vendor's website on 29 October 2026, while vendors haven’t been ranked based on self-promotion. In short, the best complete alternative for SEO & AI Search is Ahrefs. For the best value all-in-one tool, SE Ranking offers the best value. For Traffic and market, we recommend Similarweb. SpyFu is the best competitor research for Google Ads. The easiest and cheapest options are Moz Pro and Mangools. We use Surfer as an alternative for content. Below, we have listed each of the alternatives. We have noted which toolkits they replace from Semrush, the cost for one user, and why they fall short. If you only want first-party data, then Google Search Console and Ahrefs Free are free to use.
Why B2B Teams Look for Semrush Alternatives in 2026
Semrush Is Now Nine Toolkits, Owned by Adobe
Adobe has finalized its purchase of Semrush, as of April 28, 2026. If you visit the pricing page now, you'll see Adobe's name at the bottom. They offer nine different toolkits for sale, including SEO + AI Search, AI Visibility, and others like Traffic and Market, Local, Content, Social, Advertising, AI PR, and Enterprise. The basic SEO package starts at $139 per month. If you want AI visibility, that'll cost at least $199 per month. And if you need to add more users, that's an extra $45 each. This means you might end up paying for a lot more than just the SEO tool you actually need. Your team might be paying for toolkits that will never get used. For people who don't already use Adobe, this change is making them rethink their choice of vendor. While these changes aren't necessarily reasons to switch to a different product, they do help explain why some people are looking for alternatives. For a view of tools built around AI search work, see our guide to AI SEO tools.
Map What Your Team Uses Before You Switch
Let’s start with an actual list.
Which toolkits are you currently using? Are you tracking rankings, doing keyword research, ad research, creating content briefs or generating AI visibility reports with them? This will help you determine what you need to replace.
If you’re only using Semrush for rank tracking and keyword research, then you’ll need a more lightweight tool. If your team is heavily using their Advertising toolkit, you’ll want one that covers ad research. Often teams will move into comparing feature by feature and end up with a very lengthy list of features they aren’t using. By starting with the usage, you will be asking yourself, ‘what would I miss if I didn’t have this toolkit?’ Usually, this will lead to finding one or two tools to replace it with.
How We Evaluated These Semrush Alternatives: SEO Data, Rank Tracking and AI Search
Here's how the tools stack up against Semrush. We looked at how well they can replace Semrush, how deep their SEO insights go - like keywords and backlinks - and how often they track rankings. We also checked how many prompts they can handle with AI search.
Prices are based on what's listed on the vendor's website, so you can check Semrush's prices in the US on their pricing page. When we searched for this keyword, five of the top results were tools from vendors like SE Ranking, SpyFu, and Mangools - which are listed below. Just to be clear, this doesn't affect our ranking. We want to be upfront about our process.
At Veza, we use Ahrefs, Semrush, and Surfer - which means we pay for them. None of the tools listed below are paying us, and we don't use affiliate links. One thing to note is that different tools might show different data for the same site.
Each tool decides what rankings to include and how detailed they want to be. So, it's best to compare trends within one tool. If you want a bigger picture of this category, you can check out our guide to SEO tools - it's got more options than the seven we're showing here.
The 7 Best Semrush Alternatives
Each entry below names the Semrush toolkit it replaces, what the tool is, who it suits, how it handles AI search visibility, what one user pays, and where it falls short. All prices were verified on each vendor's own page on 29 October 2026.
Ahrefs: Best Full Replacement for SEO and AI Search
Ahrefs pricing page
Ahrefs is the closest full replacement. It replaces SEO + AI Search and much of Traffic and Market, and its newer products reach further: Traffic Analytics, Content Kit, a Social Media Manager in beta, and GBP Monitor, a local tool, in beta. It suits teams that want one tool for research, tracking, and reporting. Our separate guide to Ahrefs alternatives covers the reverse move.
- Replaces: SEO + AI Search, and much of Traffic and Market.
- AI search visibility: Tracked AI prompt checks are included in every plan: 150 on Lite, 300 on Standard, and 600 on Advanced. Brand Radar AI starts at $199 a month, with custom prompt packages at $50, $100, and $250 a month.
- Price for one user: Starter $29 a month, Lite $129, Standard $249, Advanced $449, and Enterprise $1,499 with an annual commitment. Content Kit starts at $99 a month. Ahrefs Free covers limited data for a site you own.
- Limitation: Rank Tracker updates weekly, while Semrush's SEO plan tracks 500 keywords daily, so teams that watch rankings closely will notice. Extra users cost $40 to $100 a month each.
Verdict: the strongest single replacement for a team that mainly uses Semrush for SEO and AI search.
SE Ranking: Best Value All in One Alternative to Semrush
SE Ranking pricing page
SE Ranking replaces SEO + AI Search at a lower price, and it suits lean teams and agencies that need client reporting. It is an all-in-one suite covering rank tracking, audits, and AI search tracking.
- Replaces: SEO + AI Search.
- AI search visibility: Sold as an AI Search add-on at 89amonth(71.20 billed annually).
- Price for one user: Core costs 129amonth(103.20 billed annually), and Growth costs 279(223.20 annually).
- Limitation: AI tracking costs extra, so the true entry price is Core plus the add-on. SE Ranking also writes the second-ranked article for this keyword, so its own coverage of itself deserves the discount we apply to any vendor. For site audits, our guide to website audit tools compares the field.
Verdict: the best value all-in-one once the add-on is counted.
Similarweb: Best Replacement for Traffic and Market
Similarweb pricing page
Similarweb replaces Traffic and Market. It is a market and traffic intelligence platform showing competitor traffic, channels, and market share, and it suits marketing leaders who need share of market and not page-level SEO.
- Replaces: Traffic and Market.
- AI search visibility: The Competitive Intel and SEO and AEO plan adds 150 tracked prompts, sentiment and citation analysis, and AI traffic.
- Price for one user: Competitive Intelligence costs 125amonthbilledannually(199 monthly). Competitive Intel and SEO and AEO costs 333billedannually(399 monthly), and the plan that adds Ads costs 542billedannually(649 monthly).
- Limitation: It has no backlink depth, so it replaces one toolkit and not the SEO core.
Verdict: the right replacement if Traffic and Market is the toolkit your team opens most.
Moz Pro: Best for Authority Metrics and a Simpler Interface
Moz Pro pricing page
Moz Pro replaces the SEO basics with Domain Authority, Link Explorer, and rank tracking, and it suits teams that report authority to leadership and want a lighter tool. Moz AI Explorer covers AI visibility.
- Replaces: SEO basics.
- AI search visibility: Moz AI Explorer tracks 150 or 300 prompts by plan, updated weekly. Extra prompts cost $50 per 100, and extra AI visibility dashboards cost $20 each.
- Price for one user: Starter $49 a month for one site, Standard $99, Medium $179, and Large $299, or $79, $143, and $239 billed yearly. The Moz API is a separate product, and the pricing page offers no MCP.
- Limitation: Lower limits on the cheaper plans, and weekly AI updates against Semrush One's daily prompt tracking.
Verdict: a good fit for authority reporting at a lower price, with less breadth.
SpyFu: Best for Google Ads Competitor Research
SpyFu pricing page
SpyFu replaces Advertising for teams that research competitors' Google Ads keywords, ad history, and organic keywords. It offers more than ten years of historical data and AI Brand Monitoring.
- Replaces: Advertising.
- AI search visibility: AI Brand Monitoring.
- Price for one user: Basic costs $39 a month. Pro + AI costs $59 for the first month and then $119 a month. Team and Agency costs $249 a month with five users, and $30 for each extra user.
- Limitation: It is built around Google search and Google Ads data, so confirm coverage of other engines on the vendor's site. SpyFu also ranks its own page seventh for this keyword.
Verdict: a focused replacement for ad research that does not try to be the whole suite.
Mangools: Best Budget Pick, With AI Search Watcher
Mangools pricing page
Mangools replaces the SEO basics for small teams. It offers KWFinder, SERPChecker, SERPWatcher, LinkMiner, and SiteProfiler, plus AI Search Watcher PRO with 500 monitored prompts, and API and MCP access on every paid plan.
- Replaces: SEO basics.
- AI search visibility: AI Search Watcher PRO with 500 prompts in every paid plan.
- Price for one user: Basic costs 18.85amonthbilledannually(30.50 monthly), Premium 26.35(40.50), and Agency 48.85(70.50).
- Limitation: Rank tracking updates weekly, Basic has no extra seats, and lookup limits and a smaller backlink index apply. Mangools also ranks its own page tenth for this keyword.
Verdict: the lowest-cost route to basic SEO data and AI prompt tracking, suited to small teams.
Surfer: Best for Content and On Page SEO
Surfer pricing page
Surfer replaces the Content toolkit. It offers a content editor, briefs, and on page SEO scoring against the live search results, and it now lives at surfer.ai. Veza uses Surfer in its own content work, which is a bias a reader should factor in.
- Replaces: Content.
- AI search visibility: AI Search Analytics, available as its own plan.
- Price for one user: Billed yearly, Discovery costs $49 a month, AI Search Analytics $82, Standard $99, Pro $182, and Peace of Mind $299. Enterprise is custom, and MCP is listed on the plans.
- Limitation: It is not a backlink or rank tracking tool, so it pairs with one of the entries above and does not replace the SEO core.
Verdict: the right replacement for teams whose main Semrush use is content briefs and optimization.
Also considered and not ranked: Nightwatch, SEO PowerSuite, Ubersuggest, and Serpstat. We make no claims about them here.
Free Tools That Replace Parts of Semrush
Free tools cover first-party data, which is the part of Semrush many teams use least. Google Search Console shows your own queries, clicks, and indexing. Google Analytics shows what organic traffic does after it arrives. Google Keyword Planner gives search volume ranges, and Google Trends shows seasonality and rising topics. Ahrefs Free adds limited Site Explorer and Site Audit data for a site you have verified.
Semrush itself has a Free plan, with one demo project and 10 reports a day, and a 7-day trial of the paid plans. The limit for every free tool is the same. They cover your own site and offer little competitor depth, so a team that relies on competitor research will need one of the paid entries above. For many B2B teams, though, the free stack answers the question of what their own site is doing, and the paid tool is needed only for the competitor view.
Semrush Alternatives Compared Side by Side
Prices in the table were verified on each vendor's page on 29 October 2026. Reading across, Ahrefs and SE Ranking cover the SEO and AI search core at different price points, Similarweb and SpyFu each replace a single toolkit, and Moz Pro and Mangools offer lighter, cheaper versions of the SEO basics. Surfer sits alongside the others and replaces Content.
The chart shows what one user pays per month at monthly list prices. The spread is wide: Semrush One Pro+ at $299 sits above Ahrefs Standard at $249, while Moz Pro Standard at $99 and Mangools Agency at $70.50 cost far less. The free stack of Search Console and Ahrefs Free costs nothing. Price alone does not decide the choice, since a cheap tool that lacks a toolkit you use costs more in the end. Reporting limits also vary across tools, and our guide to SEO reporting tools covers what teams use to report upward.
Which Semrush Alternative Fits Your Team, From Local SEO to AI Search
The table above matches the toolkit you use most to a replacement. A team that mainly uses Semrush for SEO and AI visibility reports should look at Ahrefs, or at SE Ranking with its AI Search add-on for the same job at a lower price. A team that relies on competitor traffic and market share fits Similarweb, and a team that researches competitors' Google Ads fits SpyFu. Content briefs and on page SEO point to Surfer, and simple tracking on a small budget points to Mangools or Moz Pro. A team that only needs its own site's data can use Search Console plus Ahrefs Free.
Local SEO deserves a short note. Semrush sells a Local toolkit, and Ahrefs has GBP Monitor in beta, but for most B2B SaaS teams local search is not the deciding factor in the choice.
Whichever tool tracks AI visibility, the website decides whether AI answers cite you. That is what WAIO, Veza's methodology for Webflow sites, is built for, and as published on our Concordium case study, LLM sessions grew 363 percent, verified in GA4. That is our own client result and not an industry benchmark. Tools for tracking visibility are covered in our guide to AI brand visibility tools, and our answer engine optimization service covers the work itself. Teams that want to know where they stand before choosing can start with an AI search visibility audit.
Closing
Switching tools changes what you measure. Your site decides what AI search shows.
We use Ahrefs, Semrush, and Surfer to run SEO and AEO for B2B SaaS teams, and every site we build ships on WAIO, our methodology for being read and cited by AI systems. If you are rethinking your stack, start with where you stand today.
