SEO & Marketing ToolsOur pick #1 of 3

Semrush

by Semrush

4.3out of 5, from79 ratings

The widest SEO and marketing toolkit in one subscription: keywords, competitors, site audits, rank tracking and paid-search data.

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Free plan. Limited free account, then paid

Why Semrush is on the shortlist

Semrush is on this list because it is the closest thing to a single marketing-visibility toolkit: keyword research, competitor comparison, site audits, rank tracking, local listings and paid-search data in one subscription.

For a small team with one person doing all of SEO, that breadth beats a better single-purpose tool. You can answer “what should we write”, “why did that page drop” and “what are they bidding on” without three logins and three invoices.

Best for in-house marketers and agencies who need to cover several jobs and report on them. The free account is real but narrow — enough to look something up, not enough to work in.

Skip it if you only need one of these jobs done. Buying the whole toolkit for backlink data or rank tracking alone is the most expensive way to get either.

What readers say about Semrush

Ratings come from readers who use it, not from us, and they sit beside our pick rather than deciding it. Vendors cannot buy, edit or remove them.

Sample figures. Reader ratings open soon; the stars and counts shown are placeholders so you can see how the page will read, not measurements of anything.

4.3out of 5

79 reader ratings for Semrush

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How the votes fall

  1. 5 stars38
  2. 4 stars25
  3. 3 stars10
  4. 2 stars4
  5. 1 star2

Scored on

  • Ease of use4.0
  • Value for money3.7
  • Support4.2
  • Does the job4.7

86% of raters would recommend it to a business like theirs.

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How Semrush is priced

We describe the shape of the pricing rather than quoting a figure, because figures go stale within weeks. The number is on the vendor's own page, one click away.

Free plan
A lasting free account that lets you run a limited number of lookups and one small project, enough to look something up but not to work in.
What you pay for
Tiered subscriptions sold as Pro, Guru and Business that raise project, keyword and report limits as you move up, with additional users and specialist toolkits such as local or content sold as add-ons.
In one line
Limited free account, then paid
Check current pricing on Semrush

Who Semrush is for, and who should skip it

Best for

  • One person doing all SEO
  • Agency reporting
  • Competitor research

Skip it if

  • You only need one job done
  • Backlinks or ranks alone

Alternatives to Semrush

The other picks on our SEO Tools shortlist, each with its own reason to be there.

  • Ahrefs

    The strongest backlink and referring-domain data on the shortlist, in an interface that gets you to the answer quickly.

    4.5out of 5, from91 ratings

  • Moz Pro

    The gentlest entry point to real SEO tooling, with dependable rank tracking and the clearest teaching material in the category.

    4.1out of 5, from47 ratings

Semrush questions people ask

Is Semrush free?

There is a free account, and it is real but narrow: a handful of lookups a day and one small project. It is enough to check a keyword or a competitor, not to run an SEO programme. The paid tiers are where the toolkit actually opens up.

Is Semrush worth it for a small business?

Worth it when one person has to cover several jobs — keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, competitor and paid-search analysis — and report on them. If you only need one of those, buying the whole toolkit is the most expensive way to get it.

Semrush or Ahrefs?

Semrush for breadth: more jobs covered in one subscription, including paid search and local listings. Ahrefs for link data, where its index is the strongest of the tools we list, and for a more direct interface. Many agencies end up with both; a small business should pick the one that matches its main job.

Semrush or Moz Pro?

Moz Pro is the gentler way in, with clearer teaching material and good rank tracking, and it is the better first tool for someone learning SEO. Semrush goes much wider and deeper once you know what you are looking for, and it is the one an agency will grow into.

What does Semrush actually include?

Keyword research, competitor comparison, site audits, rank tracking, backlink analysis, local listing management and paid-search data, plus content and social tools depending on tier and add-ons. The point is answering “what should we write”, “why did that page drop” and “what are they bidding on” without three logins.

What this page is, and what it is not

This entry is desk research: Semrush's own pricing and documentation read on the day this page was written, and our editorial judgement of who it suits. The reader ratings are separate from that judgement and do not change our position. We have not run every tool here in a live business for a year, so treat the day-to-day claims as informed reading rather than a field test.