Semrush vs Ahrefs: Which SEO Tool is Right for You?

There was a time when SEO tools were only judged by their keyword research and backlink capabilities. However, as things have advanced, other features have also become imperative, with AI topping the list. A staggering 72% of professionals now use AI in their SEO strategies, which is why most high-end SEO tools now offer AI features.

Speaking of top-notch SEO tools, Semrush and Ahrefs are undeniably the crowned leaders in the market. While Ahrefs primarily focuses on SEO, Semrush is an all-in-one digital marketing platform with SEO, social, content, PPC, and competitive research tools. Ahrefs has been the go-to for backlink analysis and keyword insights. Meanwhile, Semrush presents a comprehensive solution where you can manage all your SEO requirements under one roof.

Additionally, Semrush has solidified its leadership in the SEO space, especially with its recent acquisition of Third Door Media’s brands, including Search Engine Land, Digital Marketing Depot, SMX, and MarTech. Earlier, in 2023, Semrush welcomed Traffic Think Tank, a leading marketing education company, into its ecosystem to enhance the Semrush Academy. Back in 2022, it also brought Backlinko, a renowned resource for SEO training and strategies, under its umbrella.

Both Ahrefs and Semrush come with an extensive set of features, and choosing between them can be quite a task. We took it upon ourselves to do the extensive research for you. Below, we've provided a comparison of Semrush and Ahrefs to help you select ''the one'' that fits your needs.

Keyword Research: Depth, Features, and Flexibility

At the crux of it all, keyword research is the foundation of SEO. So, it's no surprise that we start here. Both tools provide keyword research options, including limited free versions. You can find keyword variations and related questions along with their relevant metrics like intent, difficulty, CPC, volume, and so on.

Semrush

When it comes to keyword research, the Semrush Keyword Magic Tool stands out as a prime option. It shows you results from a database of over 26 billion keywords and 808 million domain profiles. Depending on the term, you can get up to 20 million ideas for a single keyword. Even better, the database is updated regularly to keep the information fresh.

Keyword magic tool

You can use this tool to get keywords related to your seed term and see personalized data for your domain. Since Semrush provides data from more than 140 countries, you can select your desired region and language for keyword research.

At first glance, you can see the expanse of data Semrush offers. It starts with a list of keywords along with their intent, volume, and other metrics.

The most notable feature here is Semrush's AI insights. Besides the Keyword Difficulty column, you'll also see another column titled Personal Keyword Difficulty %. This is a measure of how hard it is for your website specifically to rank for that keyword based on your domain's authority. This is a unique feature that is not available in Ahrefs.

Semrush also provides a multitude of filtering options. For example, you can list keywords by intent, CPC, volume, PKD%, and including or excluding certain terms.

Semrush filtering options

If you want to see more information about a keyword, simply click on it. You will be directed to the Keyword Overview tool, where you can see the regional and global volume for a keyword with more personalized insights.

Besides the PKD%, this tool also shows you your site's topical authority for that term. Plus, you can see your current and potential position on the SERP for the keyword. These are all AI-assisted personalized insights that Ahrefs lacks.

Keyword Overview

The Keyword Overview tool further shows you long-tail keywords and questions related to your term, which are suitable for content written for voice searches and generative engines.

Keyword variations and questions

Semrush also provides a SERP analysis with this tool. It shows you the top 100 pages on Google for this keyword so that you can go through them to get content inspiration.

If the keyword has been used for paid campaigns in the past, you can see the Keyword Ad History graph to see how many ads were run using it. The tool also provides ad copies, which you can further use to guide your PPC campaigns.

Keyword ad history

Ahrefs

Keyword Explorer is Ahrefs’ main keyword research offering. It works quite like any other tool, showing you a list of keywords along with their traffic potential, volume, difficulty, clicks, and cost per click.

Like Semrush, you can expand the keyword results to see more ideas, such as questions and terms matching. Ahrefs has a database of over 28 billion keywords, although it updates less frequently, on a weekly basis.

Ahrefs keyword research

Recently, Ahrefs introduced some AI features to its keyword research tool. If you're not sure where to start your keyword research, the platform lets you select a seed keyword in its presets. Then, AI can brainstorm the related terms for you.

Ahrefs AI feature

You get six reports for each keyword that you can select based on what you're looking for. These include terms match, phrase match, questions, rank for, also talk about, and search suggestions. While Ahrefs shows a keyword difficulty score, it's generic. The score is not calculated for your specific website or niche.

Like the Semrush Keyword Overview tool, you can see the global search volume for each keyword. Plus, Ahrefs shows the current SERPs along with their main metrics, like organic traffic, backlinks, and keywords.

Ahrefs SERP analysis

Rank Tracking: Precision and Update Frequency 

Both Semrush and Ahrefs can be used as website traffic checkers for specific keywords in your campaign. They can analyze your keywords' ranking in SERPs and how their position has changed over time. In Semrush, you can also see the rankings for local keywords, which is quite helpful for your regional SEO strategies.

Semrush

The Semrush Position Tracking tool is designed to keep you updated on your website's keyword rankings day by day. You can set it up to track keywords on your site or even conduct in-depth competitor traffic analysis. 

It's highly customizable, allowing you to choose device types (desktop, tablet, or mobile) and target specific regions. You can give it a shot in the free version with 10 keywords, but paid plans let you check up to 5,000 keywords in your campaign.

Semrush position tracking

With features like sorting, tagging, filtering, and exporting, the tool offers a detailed look into your site's SEO and PPC success. For a basic overview, the tool shows you a Visibility Trend chart, which indicates how visible your website is based on its click-through rate (CTR) in Google's top 100 search results.

What's quite interesting about this tool is that it doesn't limit you to organic results. You can also see your keyword rankings in rich results like featured snippets and the map pack.

Semrush SERP features

Where Semrush really shines is in its innovation. It is among the first tools to show data for AI Overviews. You can view how your domain's keyword rankings change in AI Overviews, which is something that will become even more important in the future as the shift towards search generative engine experiences accelerates.

Mert Erkal, an AI-driven conversion expert, explains that he uses this tool at his digital marketing and SEO agency, Stradiji, to view clients' keyword rankings in AI Overviews and prepare strategies accordingly. This is something more and more businesses will have to do going forward.

AI Overview rankings

For local SEO campaigns, you can narrow down tracking to specific areas and view keywords that rank in local searches. Businesses like Sam The Concrete Man have successfully used this feature to improve visibility for their 100 franchises in local map packs for multiple locations. Like keyword research, this data also updates every day across devices and locations. So you are always on top of your local SEO campaigns.

You can also view your competitors' keyword performance side by side. Semrush lets you add up to five competitor domains and show how their keyword trends and positions change over time. This shows you whether changes in your rankings are industry-wide or site-specific.

Competitor tracking

Semrush also has an additional feature in its position tracking tool — the Cannibalization tab. Here, you can see which keywords are cannibalizing each other's rankings, allowing you to make strategic decisions for your keyword targeting.  

Keyword cannibalization

If you need regular updates, Semrush supports scheduled reports that automatically land in your inbox on your selected days. You can also integrate Position Tracking with Google Looker Studio to create custom dashboards. Semrush's AI Copilot further enhances reporting by alerting you of rank changes.

Scheduled reports in Semrush

Ahrefs

Ahrefs Rank Tracker shows you your keywords' rankings across mobile and desktop in nearly 190 countries. Like Semrush, it shows you the average position, traffic, and position distribution for keywords. Plus, you can see if your domain ranks in SERP features like local pack, featured snippet, ads, people also ask, etc. 

Ahrefs rank tracker

However, where it falls short is limited flexibility for local keyword tracking. Semrush is better in this regard because it comes with an individual local SEO feature suite in which you can track your rank on Google Maps and list your business in hundreds of directories around the world. In Ahrefs, you don't get these additional features to streamline local SEO as much.

However, its competitor keyword ranking analysis is just as decent. You get automatic reports on the following metrics: positions, SERP features, and traffic.

Ahrefs competitor analysis

To track ranking movements over time, you may schedule monthly email reports. These reports also show you the gained and lost rankings or SERP features. 

However, Ahrefs doesn't have an AI assistant to send alerts or make sense of the data you receive. Also, it lacks the Cannibalization tool that Semrush offers, which helps you identify and resolve keyword cannibalization issues within your website.

Backlink Analysis: Uncovering Link Opportunities

Semrush and Ahrefs also make for excellent backlink checker tools, with features like backlink audits, link-building, and more. A good backlink checker tool not only lets you see who's linking to your site but also helps you find new opportunities for backlinks. Plus, if it's laced with the outreach features that Semrush boasts, it also lets you track new backlink collection efforts.

Semrush

The Semrush Backlink Analytics tool is the most up-to-date backlink checker that provides in-depth link profiles for any domain. With over 43 trillion quality backlinks and a reliable authority score, you can expect a lot from this tool.

Semrush backlink analytics tool

The tool is not merely for checking backlinks but also for monitoring them. You can spot new backlinks and get alerts when old ones are deleted.

Semrush also provides an Authority Score for each incoming website, which helps you filter out potentially low-quality backlinks. Plus, you can see backlink types, such as text, image, form, and frame.

Backlink analytics

If you want to audit your backlink profile, the Backlink Audit tool comes in handy. It shows you the toxic backlinks and enables you to disavow them with Google Search Console integration. Since the tool prioritizes URLs with errors, you can tackle the topmost problems easily.

Backlink audit

The best part? Once Semrush shows new backlink opportunities, it also facilitates the process of reaching out to these websites. The Link Building tool identifies domain prospects, including which keywords to target. You can add a mailbox within the tool and monitor your outreach progress, such as which domains you've contacted, the response rate, and more.

Semrush link building

If you want to compare your backlink profile to that of your competitors, the Backlink Gap tool can help. It identifies the domains that are backlinking to your competitors but not to you. This information can guide your outreach efforts and help you secure valuable backlinks to boost domain authority.

Semrush backlink gap

Ahrefs

The Backlink Checker in Ahrefs is one of the tool's most extensive features, with a database of over 24 trillion internal and 35 trillion external backlinks. However, we will say that its index is not as large as Semrush.

We checked the backlink profile for healthline.com. While Ahrefs showed 26 million backlinks from 332k linking websites, Semrush identified 264 million backlinks from 541k referring domains.

Ahrefs backlink checker

However, the additional information provided by both tools is somewhat similar. Ahrefs also shows referring domains and the anchor text used for the backlink. You can also see the types of backlinks and the top referring domains.

Ahrefs backlink checker

Ahrefs also has another tool called Link Intersect, which shows you sites that link to your competitors but not you. It's similar to the Backlink Gap tool by Semrush but has very limited data compared to it. Plus, it lacks the filters that you see in Semrush, such as best, weak, strong, unique, and shared backlinks.

Ahrefs link intersect

Site Audits: Technical SEO and Site Health Insights

Site health is an important aspect of SEO because it's directly related to how well your content will perform in SERPs. Not paying attention to technical SEO means missing out on potential traffic.

Semrush and Ahrefs site audit features ensure this doesn't happen to you.

Semrush

Semrush's Site Audit tool is like having a website health inspector at your fingertips. It crawls through your site and gives you a full report on any issues that could be holding back your SEO.

With over 140 checks, it covers everything from the basics, like duplicate content and broken links, to more advanced elements, such as AMP performance, HTTPS setup, hreflang usage, and the crawlability of your site. Whether you're dealing with a domain, subdomain, or just a specific subfolder, the Site Audit tool gives you the flexibility to customize exactly what you want to analyze.

Semrush site audit

You can even decide whether to crawl the mobile or desktop version of your site. The tool can also handle JavaScript, which is often tricky for crawlers. What we find really helpful is the Statistics tab, which shows you the number of issues for each category.

Semrush site audit statistics

Site Audit also has a Progress tab with a chart to show you how site issues have improved or declined over time. As you make the required changes, you can keep track of how well your site is doing and if there's still room for improvement.

Semrush progress tab

You can run a scan on-demand whenever you want or set up automatic re-crawls on a daily or weekly schedule. Plus, the tool includes Semrush Copilot, which uses AI to guide you through the results with recommendations, making it easier to tackle any problems found.

While there are no major issues with the Site Audit tool, one Redditor pointed out that neither Ahrefs nor Semrush have the option to mark an issue "Done." They let you "Hide" the problem, but there's no way to indicate to your team that an effort has been made to solve it.

In the comments, Semrush was quick to take this feedback into consideration. So, you can expect this feature to be added in the near future. It's also a great example of how serious Semrush takes customer service, and that too across different platforms.

Ahrefs

The Ahrefs Site Audit tool crawls your website to find 170+ on-page and technical SEO issues. These problems are then grouped by categories so that it's easier to prioritize which ones to fix first.

Some of the problems the tool covers are slow pages, Core Web Vitals, titles, duplicates, localization, images, redirects, and structured data. It also shows you the recommendations for fixing every problem alongside it.

Ahrefs site audit

Like Semrush, you can view charts to visualize how bad things are at the technical end. The tool crawls your website 24/7 to make sure issues are reported as soon as they arise.

Ahrefs visuals

However, we found a Redditor complaining about the free Ahrefs site audit version giving them false alarms. Other commenters also added that the tool is not perfect and sometimes shows false positives. The paid version may be more accurate. You should still consult the Google Search Console for a more accurate analysis.

Advanced SEO and Emerging Features: Catering to Next-Gen SEO Needs

AI features, voice search optimization, generative engine optimization, and similar features are becoming a necessity for SEOs. Both Semrush and Ahrefs have made strides in this process, the former more than the latter.

Semrush

In 2024, Semrush brought about a ton of updates to its suite. Both the Keyword Magic Tool and Keyword Overview have gotten AI-driven enhancements, such as PKD% and personalized domain authority and SERP visibility potential scores.

Semrush has also introduced AI automation in its Keyword Strategy Builder, which helps cluster keywords into full-fledged content campaigns. You can also integrate the Ads Launch Assistant app from the Semrush App Center into this tool to add keywords from here to your existing Google Ads campaigns.

The Semrush Copilot is another excellent addition to the tool that helps you identify website issues, uncover new SEO opportunities, get competitor insights, and receive personalized recommendations.

Semrush copilot

However, the most notable update in Semrush is AI Overviews tracking, which is available in Position Tracking and Semrush Sensor. You can use these tools to see your domain's performance in AI Overviews, which will eventually help you design your GEO campaigns effectively.

Semrush's My Reports 2.0 has also gotten a facelift. It now supports more integrations, including Microsoft Ads, X Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Snapchat Ads, Mailchimp, Matomo, LinkedIn Pages, TikTok Ads, Pinterest Ads, and CallRail. Plus, the AI Summary widget summarizes data from any report you want.

In local SEO, Semrush has come out with the Listing Management API, which you can use to update your business in all major directories within seconds. You can even make changes to your business details, working hours, and categories within Semrush.

ChatGPT is now available in Semrush Local, too. You can use it to write responses to reviews customers leave on Google or other directories. 

ChatGPT integration in Semrush

Ahrefs

Ahrefs has also updated its tool quite a lot this year. Earlier in 2024, they released the Backlinks calendar report, which shows you exactly the day on which you got or lost a backlink.

The tool also lets you export your data from Site Explorer and Keywords Explorer to Google Sheets, where you can run your own analysis. This feature is particularly useful if you have a large amount of data to analyze and want more flexibility in how you present it.

On the AI side of things, Ahrefs now has an AI Content Helper that shows you competitor data to optimize your own content. You can even compare your content scores to those of your competitors.

Ahrefs AI content helper

The Keyword Explorer also has an AI feature to translate keywords. You can see the same keyword in multiple languages and dialects. However, we'd suggest being careful when using this feature, as automated translations may not always be accurate or reflect regional nuances perfectly.

Ahrefs keyword translation

Ahrefs hasn't yet started analyzing AI Overviews. However, you can integrate it with some other tools to get more detailed insights. Some of these integrations include Screaming Frog SEO Spider, BuzzStream, and Agency Analytics.

Content Optimization: Crafting High-Quality, SEO-Friendly Content

Since content is one of the many organs of a website, many SEO suites also contain content marketing tools, whether for template creation, content writing, keyword addition, AI-powered suggestions, and so on. Ahrefs has a Content Explorer tool that provides ideas and link prospects for any keyword.

On the other hand, Semrush has a comprehensive content marketing framework that includes AI writing, content planning, strategy building, and more. Let's see how both tools fare against each other.

Semrush

Part of what makes Semrush such a stellar digital marketing tool is that it has extensive offerings for every aspect of online marketing. The same applies to the content vertical, too.

The Topic Research tool is Semrush's primary offering that you can use to discover trending content topics in your industry. You can view the topics in a list or as a mind map. 

Topic research

Each topic card is further supplemented with optimal headlines and questions. Plus, the keyword search volume for each topic is also shown so that you can make the choice according to your domain's competitiveness.

Topic research tool

What makes this tool better than Ahrefs' is that it lets you search for content ideas on a specific domain. Suppose you want to see what topics your competitor is getting traction on. You can then enter their website's URL to get a sneak peek into their content.

Once you find a topic to write about, you can enter it into the SEO Content Template tool. The tool will create an optimized outline for you to follow. This outline takes data from organic SERPs, so you're covering everything your competitors have.

SEO content template

Plus, you get key recommendations for semantically related keywords and content length based on the data from the top 10 rivals on Google. Semrush also shows you how these websites use the target keywords in their content. You can scan through all keyword occurrences to see how to structure your content.

SEO content template

If you want a real-time content checker as you're writing content on this topic, you can export it to the SEO Writing Assistant. Here, you'll get keyword, SEO, readability, originality, title, image, and linking suggestions for your article. You can also rephrase sections of your text or compose new sentences.

SEO writing assistant in Semrush

Ahrefs

While Ahrefs has some other content marketing offerings (we'll touch on them, too), the Content Explorer is the platform's most notable feature. With a database of over 16 billion pages, Ahrefs really scours the web for content ideas and domains from which to get backlinks.

The tool lets you analyze the backlinks, keyword rankings, social shares, and organic traffic of any web page. You can use this feature to find low-competition topics to cover in a competitive landscape. Similarly, you may search for topics that seem to generate a large number of backlinks.

Ahrefs content explorer

Content Explorer also lets you see how often your competitors publish. You can then create a similar publishing schedule or modify it to publish more often, depending on your resources.

Competitor analysis

As we've mentioned earlier, Ahrefs has also introduced an AI Content Helper that goes through the SERPs to find snippets from the top pages. It then provides recommendations on content length and other metrics that you can replicate to optimize your articles. The AI helper also helps brainstorm title tags, headings, and meta descriptions.

AI content helper

Apart from these two tools, Ahrefs also offers some free AI writers, such as an outline generator, a paragraph rewriter, a paraphrasing tool, a meta title generator, etc.

Customization, Flexibility, and Workflow Optimization

When you're using an SEO tool, you don't only rely on its inherent features but also the interface. You want the tool to be user-friendly, customizable, easy to navigate, and quick to fetch data. How well the platform manages to do this will determine if it's better for agencies or solo SEOs.

Semrush

With Semrush, customization is a breeze. If you're working with clients, Semrush offers robust white-label reporting, meaning you can add your own branding and make it look like the report came straight from your agency.

Need to combine SEO data with other marketing analytics? Semrush integrates smoothly with Looker Studio, allowing you to build custom dashboards that combine insights from multiple sources. You can also tweak your reports to only show what's relevant for each client, saving you time on the back-and-forth.

You can also schedule most reports and choose the emails where you want to receive them. This way, you don't have to log in to Semrush each time you need a report.

Scheduled reporting

The AI Copilot is sort of like a virtual assistant that alerts you every time a major change takes place. You can also use it to get insights from your reports rather than having to go through them yourself.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is more streamlined and straightforward in its reporting. It's a bit simpler, with reports that are direct and easy to interpret. So, it is ideal if you're a solo SEO professional who doesn't need to get too fancy with customizations. The straightforward setup makes it quick to dive into the data and take action.

Just like Semrush, Ahrefs also lets you schedule reports in tools like Rank Tracker. However, Ahrefs does not allow you to white-label your reports. So, that's an additional step you'll have to take yourself.

Scheduled reporting in Ahrefs

Our Verdict

If you're part of an agency or regularly dealing with client-facing reports, Semrush's extensive customization and reporting options are probably going to be a better fit. But if you're working solo and just need efficient insights, Ahrefs' simplicity might be more up your alley.

Pricing and Support: Value and Help When You Need It

Even the best tools can get tricky to navigate at times. So, you need a reliable customer support system to help you get the most out of your investment. At the same time, you want to make sure you're getting value for money. Are the features worth the price? Let's see.

Semrush

Starting at $139.95 per month, the most basic Semrush plan, Pro, may seem steep. But the amount and quality of features offered make up for it.

You're getting a lot more than just SEO tools. Semrush covers PPC, content marketing, social media analytics, and detailed reporting all in one place. This makes it ideal if you're looking for an all-in-one toolkit that can handle more than just search engine optimization.

The tool also comes with a dedicated support team that you can contact through their website. If you're on one of the higher-tier plans, you even get priority support, so you're never left waiting for a response when you need help.

In one of the examples above, we saw how Semrush was able to resolve a customer's query even on Reddit. They’re also active on X, where they respond to queries quickly. So, you can expect multi-platform assistance. After you get your free demo, you are connected to a point of contact to forward all your Semrush-related questions.

.@semrush Any update yet, please? https://t.co/JI4n3aKw5p

— Felix Akinnibi 💎 (@felixak_) November 12, 2024

Speaking of the free demo, Semrush comes with a trial period during which you can test all its features. Here's what we recommend doing during this time to really get a feel of what Semrush has to offer:

• Use the time to explore not just the SEO features but also test its PPC and content marketing tools to see how they can support your entire marketing strategy.
• Set a sample report to see how client-friendly the documents are.
• Play with filters and customization options to see how much control you have over the data.
• Take advantage of the tutorials and user guides to learn how you can use every feature to its full potential.
• Check tools like Organic Research and Traffic Analytics every day to see how the daily data updates impact results.

While you’re at it, don’t only analyze your own website. Wherever possible, monitor your competitors’ site too, especially in Organic Research, Topic Research, Traffic Analytics, and Backlink Analysis. 

Ahrefs

A slight shortcoming of Ahrefs is that it doesn't come with a free trial. However, if you're a website owner, you can get free limited access to Site Audit and Site Explorer by signing up for the Webmaster Tools.

As for the pricing, the most basic plan costs $129 per month. So, there's not much of a difference compared to Semrush's pricing. However, you don't get PPC and social media tools in the basic plan, which is something to consider if you heavily rely on those channels for your marketing strategy.

Their customer support is available 24/5 through email. You can also consult the Help Center for DIY problem-solving or shoot the Ahrefs team a question on X, where they're quite active.

Our Verdict

While neither tool will leave you disappointed, Semrush offers a more comprehensive range of features and a better user experience in our opinion. The value for money is also more impressive since you get a ton of tools that work quite nicely with each other.

Semrush or Ahrefs – What's Your Ideal SEO Companion?

Let's wrap this up. If you're looking for a solid, all-in-one tool that goes beyond just SEO, Semrush is the clear winner here. Not only does it cover your SEO needs, but it also delivers on PPC, content marketing, competitor analysis, and social media insights, making it a true powerhouse for any marketer or agency wanting more than just basic search data.

Plus, with flexible pricing and handy customizations (like white-label reporting for agencies), it definitely makes SEO jobs easier. Report scheduling further lets you automate SEO tasks, which can save a lot of time. 

Ahrefs is no slouch, especially if you're focused specifically on SEO and backlink analysis at a lower price. It's straightforward, powerful, and keeps things simple, which can be great if that's all you need. Plus, it has several free tools that you can use if you’re not ready to commit to a paid platform yet. 

However, if you want a tool that'll grow with you, handle multiple marketing channels, innovate rapidly, and be ready with support whenever you need it, Semrush really stands out.

About the Author

Djanan Kasumovic

Writer

Djanan Kasumovic, Head of Growth at Influencer Marketing Hub, drives innovation in digital marketing with expertise in AI marketing and AI influencer strategies. He is directly involved in shaping content strategies for top clients like Viral Nation, NeoReach, Brandwatch, and more, blending creative flair with data-driven insights to ensure people not only enjoy the content but leave a little smarter.