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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Ahrefs vs Amplitude vs Microsoft Clarity

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Best overall

Ahrefs

4.4

From $29/mo

Amplitude

4.0

From First 2M events free

Microsoft Clarity

4.3

Free to start

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best overall

Pick it if: Marketers and business owners who want to see what competitors rank for and find keywords worth chasing.

Pick it if: Product and growth teams at apps and SaaS companies who want deep analytics and AI that spots changes for them.

Best value

Pick it if: Store owners and marketers who want to know why visitors aren't converting, without paying for it.

Ahrefs scores highest overall, but Microsoft Clarity gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

AttributeAhrefsAmplitudeMicrosoft Clarity
In one lineKeyword research, backlink checks and site audits in one toolkit.Product analytics with AI agents that watch your numbers and flag changes for you.Free heatmaps and session replays that show where visitors get stuck.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemiumFree
Starting price$29/moFirst 2M events freeFree
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeAhrefsAmplitudeMicrosoft Clarity
Overall rating4.4Winner4.04.3
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
3.0
4.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
5.0
4.5
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.5
4.5
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.5
4.0
5.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.5
4.0
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeAhrefsAmplitudeMicrosoft Clarity
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app No No–
Desktop app No No No
Browser extension Yes No No
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes No
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes No No
Understands images No– No
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code No No No
Runs agents or automations No Yes–
Learns your brand or style No– No
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score8/ 177/ 175/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeAhrefsAmplitudeMicrosoft Clarity
Plans

Ahrefs Free

Free

Checking the health and backlinks of a site you own.

FreeOur pick

Free

Startups and small apps.

FreeOur pick

Free

Every website and online store.

Starter

$29/mo

Occasional keyword research on a tight budget.

Plus

First 2M events free, then usage-based

Growing teams that need more charts and history.

LiteOur pick

$129/mo

A business doing its own SEO seriously.

Growth

Custom

Product teams at scale.

Standard

$249/mo

Freelancers and small agencies.

Enterprise

Custom

Large organisations.

Advanced

$449/mo

Agencies and in-house teams with many sites.

Enterprise

$1,499/mo billed yearly

Large companies that need SSO and unlimited data.

Which plan to pickStart on Ahrefs Free to audit your own site. If you want to research competitors and keywords every week, go straight to Lite; the Starter plan's credits run out too quickly to be useful for more than the odd lookup. Each plan includes one user, and extra seats cost $40 to $80 a month.Start on Free, which includes the AI agents and MCP. Move to Plus when you need custom events, cohorts or alerts. Growth and Enterprise are for larger product teams and need a sales call.There's one plan and it's free. Microsoft says it's free forever with no traffic limits. Install the tracking code through Shopify, WordPress or Google Tag Manager and it starts recording within minutes.

Key features

AttributeAhrefsAmplitudeMicrosoft Clarity
Standout features
  • Site Explorer
  • Keywords Explorer
  • Site Audit
  • Rank Tracker
  • Brand Radar
  • MCP server
  • Product analytics
  • AI agents
  • Session replay and heatmaps
  • Experiments
  • Guides and surveys
  • MCP server and Claude plugin
  • Session recordings
  • Heatmaps
  • Copilot
  • Smart events and funnels
  • AI visibility
  • MCP server

Pros and cons

AttributeAhrefsAmplitudeMicrosoft Clarity
Pros
  • The most trusted backlink index in the industry
  • Cleaner and faster to learn than Semrush
  • Site Audit explains problems simply
  • Free plan covers your own site properly
  • Official MCP server for Claude on Lite and above
  • Free plan up to 2 million events
  • Strong AI agents that monitor metrics for you
  • MCP and Claude plugin on every plan
  • Covers analytics, replay, testing and surveys
  • Completely free with no traffic or team limits
  • Session replays and heatmaps that match the paid tools
  • Copilot turns piles of recordings into plain findings
  • Easy installs for Shopify, WordPress and Tag Manager
  • MCP server for Claude
Cons
  • Lite at $129 a month is steep for a small business
  • The Starter plan's credits run out fast and it has no API or MCP access
  • No free trial for the paid plans
  • Extra users cost $40 to $80 a month each
  • Traffic figures are estimates and can be well off for small sites
  • Steep learning curve
  • Needs tracking set up before it's useful
  • Growth and Enterprise prices aren't published
  • Overkill for simple website reporting
  • Your visitor data goes to Microsoft, which some businesses won't accept
  • Recordings keep for 30 days, so you can't go back far
  • The interface is rougher than Hotjar and filters take some learning
  • Can slow a page slightly if it's already heavy with scripts

Who each one is for

AttributeAhrefsAmplitudeMicrosoft Clarity
Best for
  • Keyword research
  • Competitor traffic estimates
  • Backlink analysis
  • Technical site audits
  • Finding topics competitors cover that you don't
  • Deep product analytics for apps
  • AI agents that flag metric changes
  • A free plan with up to 2 million events
  • Connecting your data to Claude through MCP
  • Finding checkout drop-offs
  • Watching real user sessions
  • Scroll and click heatmaps
  • Spotting broken buttons
You'll find it used by
  • SEO specialists
  • Marketers
  • Agencies
  • Content teams
  • Product teams
  • Growth marketers
  • Data analysts
  • Large companies
  • Store owners
  • Marketers
  • Product teams
  • Agencies

Questions people ask

Which is better, Ahrefs, Amplitude or Microsoft Clarity?

Ahrefs scores highest overall in our ratings (Ahrefs 4.4/5, Amplitude 4.0/5 and Microsoft Clarity 4.3/5). Ahrefs is best for keyword research and competitor traffic estimates. Amplitude is best for deep product analytics for apps and AI agents that flag metric changes. Microsoft Clarity is best for finding checkout drop-offs and watching real user sessions.

Which is cheaper, Ahrefs, Amplitude or Microsoft Clarity?

Ahrefs: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $29/mo. Amplitude: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at First 2M events free. Microsoft Clarity: It's free to use.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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