Ahrefs vs Similarweb
Ahrefs and Similarweb are both SEO tools tools. Ahrefs is aimed at agencies and small businesses, while Similarweb is aimed at enterprise and agencies. Ahrefs costs less, from $29/mo versus $129/mo for Similarweb. Both have a free plan.
Backlink index and SEO toolset
Website traffic, competitor and market intelligence for marketers
| Pricing | Freemium · $29 | Freemium · $129 |
| Starting price | $29/mo | $129/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | 7 days |
| Built for | Agencies, Small businesses, Enterprise | Enterprise, Agencies, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | SG · 2010 | IL · 2007 |
| 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 Similarweb if
Marketing, strategy and investment teams that need competitor and market-level traffic intelligence rather than only SEO data.
- Unique market-level traffic data for competitors and whole categories
- Combines competitive, SEO, ads and AI visibility data in one place
- Free tools give a quick, useful snapshot of any site
Look elsewhere if: Small sites and budget SEO teams focused on rankings and backlinks (Semrush, Ahrefs, SE Ranking).
Ahrefs vs Similarweb 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
Similarweb
- AEO Intelligence$129/mo$99/mo billed annually; 1 user, AI brand visibility only
- Competitive Intelligence$199/mo$125/mo billed annually; 1 user, 3 months of history
- Comp. Intel, SEO & AEO$399/mo$333/mo billed annually; adds SEO toolkit and AI visibility
- Comp. Intel, SEO, AEO & Ads$649/mo$542/mo billed annually; adds ad intelligence
- BusinessCustomUp to 37 months of data, country filters, API, AI Studio
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
Similarweb · Key features
- Estimated visits, engagement and audience demographics for any website
- Traffic source breakdown across search, social, referral, display and direct
- Keyword research, keyword gap analysis and rank tracking
- AI brand visibility and citation tracking across LLM assistants
- Ad intelligence for paid search, display and social creatives
- Industry and market share benchmarking with custom segments
Cons
- Traffic estimates for small or niche sites can be far off
- Self-serve plans limit you to one user and worldwide data
- Country filters and long history need custom Business contracts
Ahrefs vs Similarweb: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs or Similarweb?
Ahrefs starts at $29/mo and Similarweb at $129/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Ahrefs and Similarweb have a free plan?
Yes, both Ahrefs and Similarweb have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.