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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Ahrefs vs Frase vs Similarweb

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

Similarweb

3.7

From About $125/mo

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.

Best value

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: Marketers, founders and analysts who want to size up competitors and markets from the outside.

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

Overview

AttributeAhrefsFraseSimilarweb
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.See roughly how much traffic any website gets and where it comes from.
Pricing modelFreemiumPaidFreemium
Starting price$29/mo$49/moAbout $125/mo
Free plan Yes No Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes No

Rating breakdown

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

AttributeAhrefsFraseSimilarweb
Overall rating4.4Winner4.03.7
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
4.0
4.0
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
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.5
4.0
2.5
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.

AttributeAhrefsFraseSimilarweb
Access & platform
Free plan Yes No Yes
Mobile app No––
Desktop app 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––
Understands images No––
Makes images No No–
Makes video No No–
Writes code No No–
Runs agents or automations No Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style No Yes–
Works in many languages Yes Yes No
Capabilities score8/ 177/ 177/ 17

Pricing

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

AttributeAhrefsFraseSimilarweb
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

Quick checks on a big competitor.

Starter

$29/mo

Occasional keyword research on a tight budget.

ProfessionalOur pick

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

Small teams publishing weekly.

StarterOur pick

About $125/mo billed yearly, $149 monthly

A founder or marketer tracking a handful of competitors.

LiteOur pick

$129/mo

A business doing its own SEO seriously.

Scale

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

Agencies running several sites.

Business packages

Custom, yearly contract

Teams that need SEO, ads or AI search data at depth.

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.Use the free lookups first; for most small businesses they answer the question. Pay for Starter only if you check competitors every month, and get a quote before committing to a yearly package.

Key features

AttributeAhrefsFraseSimilarweb
Standout features
  • Site Explorer
  • Keywords Explorer
  • Site Audit
  • Rank Tracker
  • Brand Radar
  • MCP server
  • SERP research and briefs
  • AI drafting in your voice
  • Content scoring
  • Content Guard
  • AI visibility tracking
  • API, MCP and CLI
  • Website traffic
  • Traffic channels
  • Referral sources
  • Keyword and ad research
  • AI traffic and visibility
  • AI agents and AI Studio

Pros and cons

AttributeAhrefsFraseSimilarweb
Pros
  • The most trusted backlink index in the industry
  • Cleaner and faster to learn than Semrush
  • Site Audit explains problems in plain language
  • 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
  • The quickest way to see any website's traffic and channel mix
  • Useful free lookups for large sites
  • Covers markets and competitors, not just SEO
  • Adds AI search traffic and visibility data
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
  • Estimates are unreliable for small, local sites
  • Expensive beyond Starter, with prices only from sales
  • Higher packages need yearly contracts
  • Overlaps with Semrush and Ahrefs if you already pay for one

Who each one is for

AttributeAhrefsFraseSimilarweb
Best for
  • Keyword research
  • Competitor traffic estimates
  • Backlink analysis
  • Technical site audits
  • Content gap analysis
  • Building SEO content briefs fast
  • Drafting articles from a brief
  • Answering the questions searchers ask
  • Tracking citations in AI search
  • Checking a competitor's traffic and channels
  • Sizing up a market before you launch
  • Benchmarking your traffic share
  • Finding sites that send traffic to competitors
You'll find it used by
  • SEO specialists
  • Marketers
  • Agencies
  • Content teams
  • Content marketers
  • SEO freelancers
  • Agencies
  • Small business owners
  • B2B software teams
  • Marketers
  • Founders
  • Market researchers
  • Investors
  • E-commerce brands

Questions people ask

Which is better, Ahrefs, Frase or Similarweb?

Ahrefs scores highest overall in our ratings (Ahrefs 4.4/5, Frase 4.0/5 and Similarweb 3.7/5). 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. Similarweb is best for checking a competitor's traffic and channels and sizing up a market before you launch.

Which is cheaper, Ahrefs, Frase or Similarweb?

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. Similarweb: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at About $125/mo.

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

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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