Ahrefs alternatives: 7 tools compared for 2026, with pricing

$ Set up https://www.routergrowth.com/SKILL.md, then audit [your domain]: show what it ranks for, who competes with it in search, the keyword gap against [competitor domain], and the first five pages to create or fix.

We make RouterGrowth, one of the tools on this list, so read it as a vendor's view. Every figure about another product was taken from that product's own pricing page on 8 October 2026 and is linked at the end. Prices change; check the source before you buy.

Ahrefs is one of the two SEO suites most professionals measure everything else against. It runs its own crawler, which it describes as the world's second most active, and more than ten years of web data sit behind its backlink index. People look for an Ahrefs alternative for a simple reason: the entry plan is $129 a month, it never goes on sale, and a founder, a small site owner or an AI agent often needs a handful of answers a month, not a seat.

What does Ahrefs cost in 2026?

Paying annually saves up to 17%. Extra users cost $40 to $100 a month each depending on the plan, and Ahrefs states that it never runs discounts. Its plans list API and MCP access, with larger allowances as you move up: Ahrefs MCP has the limits per plan.

That buys the deepest backlink data most people will ever use, a site crawler, a rank tracker and years of history in one place. If link building or technical SEO is someone's full-time job, Ahrefs earns its price. The alternatives below are for everyone else.

Which Ahrefs alternative fits which job?

What are the seven alternatives, one by one?

1. RouterGrowth: SEO data per call, for agents

RouterGrowth is not a suite. It gives Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or your own script the data behind one as calls: the keywords a domain ranks for, its organic competitors, keyword volume and CPC, the live Google or Bing results, backlinks and referring domains, and an on-page audit of a URL. The agent sees a price before each call and pays from one prepaid balance. A full audit of one site is a handful of calls that cost cents, and a month with no SEO work costs nothing.

The data comes from DataForSEO, with a second provider behind live SERPs. The AI SEO agent guide shows one prompt running the whole audit, and competitor SEO analysis takes a rival domain apart in five calls.

• Choose it when an agent does the research, your SEO work is occasional, or you want search data on the same key as enrichment, AI visibility and outreach.
• Skip it when you need Ahrefs' own backlink index, a rank tracker with history, or a crawler for a whole site. RouterGrowth has no dashboard, no saved projects and audits one page at a time.

2. Semrush: the other full suite

Semrush is the closest equal: keyword and competitor research, site audit, rank tracking, plus paid search and content tools. It has a free tier with 10 reports a day. Paid plans are $139 a month for the SEO plan, $199 for Starter, $299 for Pro+ and $549 for Advanced, each lower when billed annually. The full breakdown is in Semrush alternatives.

• Choose it when you want a suite and your work leans toward paid search, content or competitor traffic.
• Skip it when price is why you are leaving Ahrefs: it starts higher.

3. SE Ranking: most of a suite for less

SE Ranking covers rank tracking, site audit, keyword and backlink research, and AI search tracking. Its first plan is $129 a month, or $103.20 billed annually, with 10 projects, 2,000 tracked keywords, 250,000 audited pages a month and API credits with MCP access. The next is $279 a month, or $223.20 annually, with 30 projects and 5,000 keywords. There is a 14-day free trial.

• Choose it when you track many keywords: the first plan tracks 2,000 against 750 on Ahrefs Lite at the same monthly price.
• Skip it when backlink depth is the reason you use Ahrefs.

4. Mangools: keyword research without the weight

Mangools is a small set of simple tools, KWFinder the best known. Basic is $37.70 a month billed annually ($452.40 a year), Premium $52.70 and Agency $97.70, and its page lists API and MCP access as included.

• Choose it when you mostly need keyword ideas and difficulty scores, and you are a blogger, a freelancer or a small site.
• Skip it when you need large exports, a crawler for big sites or deep link data.

5. Moz Pro: the gentle suite

Moz Pro is the long-standing suite built around Domain Authority and the MozBar extension. An entry plan for a single site is $49 a month. Standard is $99 a month ($79 when paid yearly) with 300 tracked keywords, Medium $179 with 1,500 and Large $299 with 3,000.

• Choose it when you want a suite that is easy to learn and the Moz metrics are the ones your clients ask about.
• Skip it when you need the largest index or the highest limits for the money.

6. Majestic: links only

Majestic does one thing: backlink analysis, across a Fresh Index and a Historic Index. Lite is $49.99 a month ($41.67 billed annually), Pro $99.99, and the API plan $399.99.

• Choose it when link research is the only part of Ahrefs you use.
• Skip it when you also need keywords, rankings or audits.

7. SpyFu: what competitors rank and bid on

SpyFu is known for competitor research: the keywords a domain ranks for and the ads it buys. Basic is $39 a month, or $29 billed annually. Pro + AI is $119 a month, or $89 annually, and Team is $249.

• Choose it when competitor keyword and PPC history is the question.
• Skip it when you need a technical crawler or the deepest link index.

When should you stay on Ahrefs?

Stay when someone uses it most days. Link prospecting, content gap work across many sites, technical audits of large sites and long rank histories are what the subscription is for, and Ahrefs' own index is the thing none of the cheaper tools reproduce. If you cancel and then pay for three narrower tools to replace it, you have not saved anything.

Switch, or add a pay-per-call source next to it, when the use is occasional or automated: a quarterly audit, a keyword check before each article, an agent that needs the SERP for one query right now.

How do you get Ahrefs-style answers from an agent?

Each report in a suite maps to one call.

1. What does this domain rank for? seo.domain_overview, then seo.ranked_keywords.
2. Who competes with it in search? seo.competitors.
3. Is this keyword worth it? seo.keywords for volume and CPC, seo.serp for who holds it today. See the keyword research API guide.
4. Who links to them? seo.backlinks.
5. What is wrong with this page? seo.page_audit.

Sources

Pricing pages, checked 8 October 2026: Ahrefs, Semrush, SE Ranking, Mangools, Moz Pro, Majestic, SpyFu.

What does each call cost?#

Prices below are the starting price per successful call. /v1/inspect returns the exact figure before the run and reserves it against your balance; failures and unbilled no-matches release the hold in full.

One prepaid balance covers every row. Capabilities marked coming soon are listed but not yet executable.

FAQ#

Is there a free Ahrefs alternative?

Ahrefs itself offers Ahrefs Free, with limited Site Explorer and Site Audit for sites you own, and Google Search Console is free for your own site's queries and links. Semrush has a free tier with 10 reports a day. Among paid tools, Mangools and SpyFu start under $40 a month on annual billing.

What is the cheapest Ahrefs alternative?

For a monthly plan, SpyFu at $29 a month billed annually and Mangools at $37.70. For occasional use, pay per call costs less than any plan: a single site audit through RouterGrowth is a few calls priced in cents, and nothing is charged in a month you do not run one.

Is Semrush better than Ahrefs?

Neither is better across the board. Ahrefs is usually the pick for backlink research, Semrush for paid search, content tools and breadth of features. Most teams choose on habit and on which interface they learned first.

Does Ahrefs have an API or an MCP server?

Its pricing page lists API and MCP access on its plans, with larger API allowances on higher tiers and uncapped access on Enterprise. If you only need the data and not the application, an API that bills per call starts lower.

Which Ahrefs alternative works with Claude or ChatGPT?

RouterGrowth is built for agents: one MCP server or one skill file exposes keyword, SERP, competitor, backlink and page audit calls with a price before each. Ahrefs, Semrush, SE Ranking and Mangools also list MCP access for their own data.

Is RouterGrowth's backlink data the same as Ahrefs'?

No. RouterGrowth's SEO calls run on DataForSEO, which maintains its own index. Counts will differ from Ahrefs, as they do between any two link indexes. Compare trends and the list of referring domains, not the totals.