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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Ahrefs vs Microsoft Clarity vs Peec AI

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

Microsoft Clarity

4.3

Free to start

Peec AI

4.0

From $95/mo

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.

Best value

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

Pick it if: Marketers, SEO teams and agencies who want to track AI search visibility for themselves or clients at a published price.

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

AttributeAhrefsMicrosoft ClarityPeec AI
In one lineKeyword research, backlink checks and site audits in one toolkit.Free heatmaps and session replays that show where visitors get stuck.Tracks how often AI search answers mention your brand, and which sources they trust.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreePaid
Starting price$29/moFree$95/mo
Free plan Yes Yes No
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

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

AttributeAhrefsMicrosoft ClarityPeec AI
Overall rating4.4Winner4.34.0
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
4.5
4.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
5.0
4.0
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.5
4.0
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.5
5.0
3.5
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.

AttributeAhrefsMicrosoft ClarityPeec AI
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes No
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 No Yes
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/ 175/ 176/ 17

Pricing

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

AttributeAhrefsMicrosoft ClarityPeec AI
Plans

Ahrefs Free

Free

Checking the health and backlinks of a site you own.

FreeOur pick

Free

Every website and online store.

Starter

$95/mo

A single brand starting out.

Starter

$29/mo

Occasional keyword research on a tight budget.

ProOur pick

$245/mo

Brands in several markets or small agencies.

LiteOur pick

$129/mo

A business doing its own SEO seriously.

Advanced

$495/mo

Agencies and bigger brands.

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.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.Starter is enough to see where one brand stands. Most businesses with more than one product line or market will want Pro for the extra prompts and countries. Agencies should look at Advanced or Peec's separate agency pricing.

Key features

AttributeAhrefsMicrosoft ClarityPeec AI
Standout features
  • Site Explorer
  • Keywords Explorer
  • Site Audit
  • Rank Tracker
  • Brand Radar
  • MCP server
  • Session recordings
  • Heatmaps
  • Copilot
  • Smart events and funnels
  • AI visibility
  • MCP server
  • Daily AI visibility tracking
  • Source analytics
  • Fact checks and objections
  • Crawl insights
  • API and MCP

Pros and cons

AttributeAhrefsMicrosoft ClarityPeec AI
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
  • 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
  • Published prices, much cheaper than Profound to start
  • Unlimited seats, competitors and languages on every plan
  • Clear, easy reports agencies can share
  • MCP server on every plan
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
  • 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
  • 50 prompts on Starter runs out fast
  • Only three AI models tracked at a time below Enterprise
  • Perplexity tracking needs Enterprise
  • No free plan, and the trial length varies

Who each one is for

AttributeAhrefsMicrosoft ClarityPeec AI
Best for
  • Keyword research
  • Competitor traffic estimates
  • Backlink analysis
  • Technical site audits
  • Finding topics competitors cover that you don't
  • Finding checkout drop-offs
  • Watching real user sessions
  • Scroll and click heatmaps
  • Spotting broken buttons
  • Tracking your brand in ChatGPT and Google AI answers
  • Agencies reporting AI visibility to clients
  • Seeing which sources AI quotes in your category
  • Comparing your AI mentions with competitors
You'll find it used by
  • SEO specialists
  • Marketers
  • Agencies
  • Content teams
  • Store owners
  • Marketers
  • Product teams
  • Agencies
  • Agencies
  • SEO teams
  • Marketers
  • Brand managers

Questions people ask

Which is better, Ahrefs, Microsoft Clarity or Peec AI?

Ahrefs scores highest overall in our ratings (Ahrefs 4.4/5, Microsoft Clarity 4.3/5 and Peec AI 4.0/5). Ahrefs is best for keyword research and competitor traffic estimates. Microsoft Clarity is best for finding checkout drop-offs and watching real user sessions. Peec AI is best for tracking your brand in ChatGPT and Google AI answers and agencies reporting AI visibility to clients.

Which is cheaper, Ahrefs, Microsoft Clarity or Peec AI?

Ahrefs: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $29/mo. Microsoft Clarity: It's free to use. Peec AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $95/mo.

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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