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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Ahrefs vs Frase vs Mixpanel

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

Frase

4.0

From $49/mo

Mixpanel

4.1

From First 1M events free

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best overallEasiest to use

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

Pick it if: Small marketing teams, freelancers and agencies who write SEO content and want research, briefs and drafts in one place.

Pick it if: Founders and product teams with an app or SaaS who want to understand which users stick around and why.

Overview

AttributeAhrefsFraseMixpanel
In one lineKeyword research, backlink checks and site audits in one toolkit.Researches, briefs and drafts SEO articles, and tracks if AI search cites you.Product analytics where you ask questions about your users in your own words.
Pricing modelFreemiumPaidFreemium
Starting price$29/mo$49/moFirst 1M events free
Free plan Yes No Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

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

AttributeAhrefsFraseMixpanel
Overall rating4.4Winner4.04.1
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
4.0
3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
5.0
4.5
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.5
3.5
4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.5
4.0
4.0
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.

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

Pricing

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

AttributeAhrefsFraseMixpanel
Plans

Ahrefs Free

Free

Checking the health and backlinks of a site you own.

Starter

$49/mo, or $39/mo billed yearly

One person writing a few articles a month.

FreeOur pick

Free

Early-stage apps.

Starter

$29/mo

Occasional keyword research on a tight budget.

ProfessionalOur pick

$129/mo, or $103/mo billed yearly

Small teams publishing weekly.

Growth

First 1M events free, then from $140/mo ($100 billed yearly)

Growing apps that need cohorts and alerts.

LiteOur pick

$129/mo

A business doing its own SEO seriously.

Scale

$299/mo, or $239/mo billed yearly

Agencies running several sites.

Enterprise

Custom

Large companies.

Standard

$249/mo

Freelancers and small agencies.

Enterprise

Custom

Large teams needing white-label and SSO.

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.Professional is the plan most teams settle on, because Starter's 10 articles a month runs out quickly. Try the 7-day trial on two or three real articles before paying.Start on Free. It covers most small apps, and you get unlimited seats. Growth makes sense when you need saved cohorts, alerts or more than a million events. Young startups should check the Startup Program, which gives a year free.

Key features

AttributeAhrefsFraseMixpanel
Standout features
  • Site Explorer
  • Keywords Explorer
  • Site Audit
  • Rank Tracker
  • Brand Radar
  • MCP server
  • Search result research and briefs
  • AI drafting in your voice
  • Content scoring
  • Content Guard
  • AI visibility tracking
  • API, MCP and CLI
  • Funnels and retention
  • Mixpanel Agent
  • Session replay
  • Experiments and feature flags
  • MCP server

Pros and cons

AttributeAhrefsFraseMixpanel
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
  • Fast, thorough content briefs
  • Cheaper than Clearscope and Surfer at the entry level
  • Covers Google and AI search in one tool
  • API, MCP and CLI on every plan
  • Generous free plan with unlimited seats
  • Strong funnels, retention and cohorts
  • AI agent and MCP server on every plan
  • Replays, testing and flags built in
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
  • AI drafts need editing to sound human and be accurate
  • Starter limits are tight
  • Rebuilt in 2026, so the newer features have little track record
  • Past complaints about slow replies on billing issues
  • Needs tracking planned and added before it's useful
  • Pricing climbs fast past a few million events
  • Less suited to simple website traffic reports
  • Alerts and saved cohorts need Growth

Who each one is for

AttributeAhrefsFraseMixpanel
Best for
  • Keyword research
  • Competitor traffic estimates
  • Backlink analysis
  • Technical site audits
  • Finding topics competitors cover that you don't
  • Building SEO content briefs fast
  • Drafting articles from a brief
  • Answering the questions searchers ask
  • Tracking citations in AI search
  • Funnels and retention for apps
  • Asking questions about user behaviour in your own words
  • Comparing groups of customers
  • Teams that want unlimited seats on a free plan
You'll find it used by
  • SEO specialists
  • Marketers
  • Agencies
  • Content teams
  • Content marketers
  • SEO freelancers
  • Agencies
  • Small business owners
  • B2B software teams
  • Product teams
  • Founders
  • Growth marketers
  • SaaS companies

Questions people ask

Which is better, Ahrefs, Frase or Mixpanel?

Ahrefs scores highest overall in our ratings (Ahrefs 4.4/5, Frase 4.0/5 and Mixpanel 4.1/5). Ahrefs is best for keyword research and competitor traffic estimates. Frase is best for Building SEO content briefs fast and drafting articles from a brief. Mixpanel is best for funnels and retention for apps and asking questions about user behaviour in your own words.

Which is cheaper, Ahrefs, Frase or Mixpanel?

Ahrefs: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $29/mo. Frase: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $49/mo. Mixpanel: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at First 1M events free.

Which is easier to use, Ahrefs, Frase or Mixpanel?

Ahrefs rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Marketers and business owners who want to see what competitors rank for and find keywords worth chasing.

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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