Ahrefs vs SE Ranking
Ahrefs and SE Ranking are both SEO tools tools aimed at agencies and small businesses. Ahrefs costs less, from $29/mo versus $129/mo for SE Ranking. Only Ahrefs has a free plan.
Backlink index and SEO toolset
All-in-one SEO platform at mid-market prices
| Pricing | Freemium · $29 | Paid · $129 |
| Starting price | $29/mo | $129/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | — | 14 days |
| Built for | Agencies, Small businesses, Enterprise | Agencies, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | SG · 2010 | GB · 2013 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Ahrefs if
SEO professionals, agencies and content-driven companies that need reliable backlink and keyword data.
- Backlink data breadth and freshness
- Clean, fast UI with excellent documentation
- Traffic estimates are useful for competitor analysis
Look elsewhere if: Small businesses needing basic rank tracking and audits (Seobility, Mangools, SE Ranking) or teams also running paid ads (Semrush).
Choose SE Ranking if
SMBs and agencies seeking an affordable all-in-one SEO suite.
- Strong value for money
- Agency white-label reports
- Accurate rank tracking
Look elsewhere if: Enterprise SEO needing the largest data (Ahrefs, Semrush).
Ahrefs vs SE Ranking pricing
Ahrefs
- Ahrefs Free$0Free tier; limits not listed on pricing page
- Starter$29/moEntry plan; limits not listed on pricing page
- Lite$129/mo750 tracked keywords, 100k crawl credits; save 17% yearly
- Standard$249/mo2,000 keywords, 500k crawl credits, +$60/mo per user
- Advanced$449/mo5,000 keywords, 1.5M crawl credits, 5 years history
SE Ranking
- Core$129/mo$103.20/mo yearly; 2k keywords, 10 projects, 1 seat
- Growth$279/mo$223.20/mo yearly; 5k keywords, 30 projects, 3 seats
- EnterpriseCustomCustom limits, contact sales
Ahrefs · Key features
- Site Explorer: backlinks, referring domains, organic keywords, traffic estimates
- Keywords Explorer with difficulty, traffic potential and SERP overview
- Site Audit with JavaScript rendering and scheduled crawls
- Rank Tracker with mobile and local tracking
- Content Explorer for link prospecting and topic research
- Brand Radar and AI Overviews visibility reports
Cons
- Core plans are expensive; credits on Lite and Standard
- No PPC or social features like Semrush
- Historical data gated by plan
SE Ranking · Key features
- Rank tracking with daily updates
- Website audit
- Backlink checker and monitoring
- Keyword and competitor research
- Content marketing tools
- AI Overviews and ChatGPT visibility tracking
Cons
- Smaller databases than Ahrefs/Semrush
- Some tools less deep
- Add-ons for local SEO
Ahrefs vs SE Ranking: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs or SE Ranking?
Ahrefs starts at $29/mo and SE Ranking at $129/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Ahrefs and SE Ranking have a free plan?
Ahrefs has a free plan. SE Ranking has no free plan, a 14-day free trial.