Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics
Ahrefs vs Frase vs Semrush
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
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: Agencies and marketers who do both search ads and SEO and want one subscription for both.
Ahrefs scores highest overall, but Frase gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Frase | Semrush |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Keyword research, backlink checks and site audits in one toolkit. | Researches, briefs and drafts SEO articles, and tracks if AI search cites you. | Keyword, competitor and ad research with a bigger toolbox and a bigger bill. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Paid | Freemium |
| Starting price | $29/mo | $49/mo | $139/mo |
| 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.
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Frase | Semrush |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.4Winner | 4.0 | 3.9 |
| 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 | 5.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
| 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.
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Frase | Semrush |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | – | Yes |
| Desktop app | No | – | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | – | Yes |
| 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 | – | Yes |
| 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 | No |
| Learns your brand or style | No | Yes | – |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 7/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Frase | Semrush |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | Free Free A quick look before you commit. |
Starter $29/mo Occasional keyword research on a tight budget. | ProfessionalOur pick $129/mo, or $103/mo billed yearly Small teams publishing weekly. | SEO $139/mo, or $117.33/mo billed yearly A business that wants classic SEO research without the AI extras. | |
LiteOur pick $129/mo A business doing its own SEO seriously. | Scale $299/mo, or $239/mo billed yearly Agencies running several sites. | StarterOur pick $199/mo, or $165.17/mo billed yearly Marketers who want SEO plus AI visibility and the Claude connection. | |
Standard $249/mo Freelancers and small agencies. | Enterprise Custom Large teams needing white-label and SSO. | Pro+ $299/mo, or $248.17/mo billed yearly Agencies managing several clients. | |
Advanced $449/mo Agencies and in-house teams with many sites. | Advanced Custom Large teams and enterprise accounts. | ||
Enterprise $1,499/mo billed yearly Large companies that need SSO and unlimited data. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Start 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. | The free account is only good for a look around. If you want the Claude connection and AI visibility tracking, Starter is the one; the SEO plan is cheaper but leaves both out. Budget for extra users too, which start at $45 a month each. |
Key features
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Frase | Semrush |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Frase | Semrush |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Ahrefs, Frase or Semrush?
Ahrefs scores highest overall in our ratings (Ahrefs 4.4/5, Frase 4.0/5 and Semrush 3.9/5). 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. Semrush is best for Competitor Google Ads research and keyword gap reports.
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs, Frase or Semrush?
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. Semrush: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $139/mo.
Which is easier to use, Ahrefs, Frase or Semrush?
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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