Alternatives
The best Semrush alternatives in 2026 (honest picks)
Full disclosure: I build Pinned, and it's on this list of Semrush alternatives, so keep that in mind. To be clear from the start, Pinned replaces only one small part of Semrush, the blog writing, and only for Shopify stores. For everything else Semrush does, the good alternatives are other SEO suites, and I'll rank those honestly.
The short version: Ahrefs is the closest like-for-like suite, SE Ranking does most of the same jobs for less, Moz Pro is the friendliest place to start, and Surfer fits people who mainly used Semrush for content. If you're a Shopify store owner who only needs articles written and kept fresh, Pinned's Business plan may be all you need.
Semrush alternatives at a glance
| Product | Best for | Price | Free option | AI visibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinned (mine) | Shopify blog articles only | $100/month per brand + AI key | 14-day trial | Yes |
| Ahrefs | Full SEO suite | From $129/month | Ahrefs Free, no trial | Brand Radar, 5 prompts on Lite |
| SE Ranking | Cheaper all-in-one | From $103.20/month billed annually | 14-day trial, no card | 100 prompts daily on Core |
| Moz Pro | One small site | From $49/month | Free trial | 150 prompts weekly on Standard |
| Surfer | Writing and content scores | From $49/month billed yearly | 7-day trial, card needed | From Standard |
Why people look for Semrush alternatives
Semrush earns its reputation. One account covers keyword research, competitor analysis, backlink analysis, Position Tracking and Site Audit, and the Semrush One tiers add daily AI prompt tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI answers. There's a free plan, and most plans and toolkits have a 7-day trial. For agencies and in-house SEO teams it's hard to beat.
So why do people leave? Going by Semrush's own pricing pages, these are the usual friction points:
- The bill stacks up. The core SEO plan is $139/month month to month. Content ($60/month), Social, Local and other toolkits are separate subscriptions, and extra users start at $45/month each.
- Key features sit on higher tiers. Prompt tracking starts with Starter at $199/month month to month, and content optimization in the core plans starts at Pro+, $299/month month to month.
- Too much tool for one small site. If you check a few keywords a month, you're paying for agency-scale features.
- Trials are limited. Exports are disabled during trials, and the free plan stops at 10 reports a day.
- No Shopify publishing. The Content Toolkit publishes to WordPress, not to a Shopify blog.
1. Pinned
Mine- Best for
- Shopify store owners who used Semrush mainly to plan and write blog posts
- Price
- Business plan, $100/month per brand or $1,000/year per brand, plus your AI provider's usage charges
- Free option
- 14-day free trial of Business; the free plan covers the link in bio, not the SEO Tool
Pinned isn't an SEO suite. Its SEO Tool writes and refreshes Shopify blog articles from your keywords and Google Search Console data, checks each draft against a rulebook, stages it as an unpublished Shopify draft, and publishes only after a person approves it. It tracks whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews mention your brand, and can auto-translate your store.
Business also includes the social media scheduler, an email campaign builder and 4 AI agents, including an SEO Manager for site audits, keyword strategy and internal links, for up to 10 team members per brand.
The catch: no keyword database, no backlink tool, no rank tracker. The AI runs on your own key (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google or xAI), billed by that provider. Shopify only.
2. Ahrefs
- Best for
- SEOs and teams who want a full research suite to replace Semrush one for one
- Price
- Lite $129/month or $1,290/year; Standard $249/month or $2,490/year; Starter $29/month for basic research
- Free option
- Ahrefs Free for your own site; no free trial
Ahrefs is the obvious swap. Every main plan includes Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit, Rank Tracker, Brand Radar for AI visibility, and API and MCP access. Lite gives 5 projects, 750 tracked keywords and 5 tracked AI prompts for 1 user, with up to 2 more users at $40/month each.
Content isn't included: the Content Kit add-on starts at $99/month. Standalone Brand Radar AI starts at $199/month if AI visibility is your main need.
The catch: no free trial and no discounts, by Ahrefs' own policy, and it generally doesn't refund. Ahrefs Free gives site owners limited Site Explorer and Site Audit data.
3. SE Ranking
- Best for
- small teams and agencies who want most of Semrush's jobs at a lower price
- Price
- Core $129/month month to month or $103.20/month billed annually; Growth $279/month or $223.20/month billed annually
- Free option
- 14-day free trial, no credit card
SE Ranking bundles more into its base plan than most. Core includes 10 projects, 2,000 keywords tracked daily, 100 AI prompts tracked daily, unlimited keyword, competitor and backlink research, website audits, 25 articles in its content marketing tool, Google Analytics and Search Console integrations, and MCP access.
Growth raises that to 30 projects and 3 manager seats, and adds history across the project's lifetime and dedicated support. Extra manager seats start at $16.
The catch: annual plans are billed up front, and extras cost more. A bigger AI Search pack is $89/month month to month, and agency white-label is an add-on billed annually.
4. Moz Pro
- Best for
- a business owner managing one site who wants clear metrics without a steep learning curve
- Price
- Starter $49/month; Standard $99/month month to month or $79/month billed yearly ($950 for the first year)
- Free option
- Free trial; a free Moz account gives limited Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer and MozBar access
Moz has been in SEO for more than 20 years, and Moz Pro is the gentlest of the suites here. Standard covers 3 tracked sites, 300 tracked keywords and 400,000 crawled pages a month for 1 user, plus AI visibility: 150 tracked prompts across GPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and Perplexity, refreshed weekly, and 2 AI content briefs a month.
The Starter plan at $49/month is aimed at individuals with a single website, which is exactly the person who often overpays for Semrush.
The catch: Standard's limits are modest, prompts refresh weekly rather than daily, and the yearly price shown is for the first year.
5. Surfer
- Best for
- writers and content teams who mainly used Semrush for content
- Price
- Discovery $49/month billed yearly or $59 month to month; Standard $99/month billed yearly or $119 month to month
- Free option
- 7-day Pro trial; card at checkout
If your Semrush use was mostly briefs and content optimization, Surfer does that job with more focus. Its Content Editor gives live guidelines and a score for Google and AI search, and it adds keyword research, a Topical Map, Content Audit and AI tracking. It works with WordPress, Google Docs and Contentful.
The catch: Surfer is built around content, so it won't cover everything Semrush's suite does, and plans are capped by documents.
My pick
If SEO is a core channel and you're leaving Semrush over price, go to SE Ranking first; if you want the same depth with a different dataset, go to Ahrefs. If you run one site and felt lost in Semrush, try Moz Pro's Starter plan. If you were really paying Semrush to help you write, Surfer is the better fit.
Pinned is the pick only for a Shopify store owner whose real need was "get blog posts written and kept current." For that job, staged drafts you approve plus your social and email in one app may suit you better than a research suite. For any research job, it won't.
What I'd do today
- Open your Semrush subscription page and list each plan, toolkit and extra user you pay for. Price out only the ones you used last month.
- Keep a free Semrush account for occasional lookups: 1 demo project and 10 reports a day cost nothing.
- Trial the replacement for your main job. SE Ranking's 14-day trial needs no card; Ahrefs Free covers your own site.
- If the job was Shopify blog articles, start Pinned's 14-day free trial and approve your first draft.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to Semrush?
No free tool replaces all of Semrush. Ahrefs Free gives site owners limited Site Explorer and Site Audit data for their own site, and a free Moz account gives limited access to Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer and MozBar. Semrush's own free plan, with 1 demo project and 10 reports a day, is also worth keeping. For a full suite, you will pay something.
Is Ahrefs cheaper than Semrush?
At the entry level they're close. Ahrefs Lite is $129/month, or $1,290/year, for 1 user, and Semrush's SEO plan is $139/month, or $117.33/month billed annually. Ahrefs has a $29/month Starter plan for basic research, while Semrush has a free plan. Content and some AI tools are paid add-ons with both, so compare the full bill, not the base price.
Which Semrush alternative is best for a small business?
For one site, Moz Pro's $49/month Starter plan or SE Ranking's Core plan, at $103.20/month billed annually, cover the basics for less than Semrush plus its toolkits. If your small business is a Shopify store and the real need is blog content rather than research, Pinned's Business plan writes and refreshes articles for your approval instead.
Can Pinned replace Semrush?
Only for one job. Pinned writes and refreshes Shopify blog articles, checks each draft against a rulebook and publishes after your approval, and it tracks AI answer engine mentions. It has no keyword research database, no backlink tool and no rank tracker, so it can't replace Semrush's research. Many stores would use a research tool alongside it.
Try Pinned free
If you run a Shopify store and want blog articles you only have to approve, create a free account and start the Business plan's 14-day free trial on your first paid subscription. Cancel during the trial and you pay nothing.
I checked prices and features for every product here on October 3, 2026. They change often, so double-check before you buy.