Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics
Ahrefs vs Semrush vs Surfer
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
Ahrefs
4.4Pick it if: Marketers and business owners who want to see what competitors rank for and find keywords worth chasing.
Semrush
3.9Pick it if: Agencies and marketers who do both search ads and SEO and want one subscription for both.
Surfer
3.9Pick it if: Content marketers and bloggers who publish regularly and want each page to have a fair shot at ranking.
Overview
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Semrush | Surfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Keyword research, backlink checks and site audits, all in one toolkit. | Keyword, competitor and ad research with a bigger toolbox and a bigger bill. | Tells you what to add to a page so it can rank for a chosen keyword. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | $29/mo | $139/mo | $49/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.
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Semrush | Surfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.4Winner | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Semrush | Surfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | No | Yes | No |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | 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 | No |
| Makes images | No | No | – |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | No | No | No |
| Learns your brand or style | No | – | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 9/ 17 | 7/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Semrush | Surfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Ahrefs Free Free Checking the health and backlinks of a site you own. | Free Free A quick look before you commit. | Discovery $49/mo billed yearly A solo blogger publishing a couple of posts a week. |
Starter $29/mo Occasional keyword research on a tight budget. | SEO $139/mo, or $117.33/mo billed yearly A business that wants classic SEO research without the AI extras. | AI Search Analytics $82/mo billed yearly Brands that only want to track their AI visibility. | |
LiteOur pick $129/mo A business doing its own SEO seriously. | StarterOur pick $199/mo, or $165.17/mo billed yearly Marketers who want SEO plus AI visibility and the Claude connection. | StandardOur pick $99/mo billed yearly A small content team publishing weekly. | |
Standard $249/mo Freelancers and small agencies. | Pro+ $299/mo, or $248.17/mo billed yearly Agencies managing several clients. | Pro $182/mo billed yearly Agencies managing content for several brands. | |
Advanced $449/mo Agencies and in-house teams with many sites. | Advanced Custom Large teams and enterprise accounts. | Peace of Mind $299/mo billed yearly High-volume publishers who want no limits. | |
Enterprise $1,499/mo billed yearly Large companies that need SSO and unlimited data. | Enterprise Custom Large organisations with security requirements. | ||
| 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. | 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. | Discovery is enough if you publish a couple of posts a week. Standard is the sensible pick for a team because it adds collaboration and triples the document count. The prices shown are for yearly billing; Surfer says monthly billing costs up to 17 percent more. |
Key features
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Semrush | Surfer |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Semrush | Surfer |
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How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.
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