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Home › Categories › SEO Software

SEO Software, Compared: Verified 2026 Pricing

Bill BelcaminoBy Bill Belcamino · Last updated September 23, 2026 · Our methodologyResearched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team

Side-by-side pricing for Semrush, Ahrefs and Moz Pro: entry price, free plan, how each vendor bills for AI, and the date we last checked each figure against the vendor’s own pricing page.

SEO Software, ComparedVerified Sep 23, 2026
Bill Belcamino
Bottom line up frontby Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
Editorial assessment

Bottom line up front: What will SEO software really cost, Semrush or Ahrefs?

Ahrefs looks cheaper at $29/mo, but that's Starter, and its full toolset starts at $129/mo on Lite, against Semrush from $117.33/mo billed annually or $139 month to month.

I've paid for both, and the number that matters more than price is how far each tool's traffic and keyword estimates sit from reality. Both build those figures from outside data, so treat them as good for spotting trends and comparing competitors, not as your actual traffic. Calibrate them. Both have free accounts (Semrush gives 10 Analytics requests/day and 1 project, Ahrefs Free covers sites you own), so connect a site where Google Search Console shows your real clicks and see whose estimates track closer. Then buy the plan you'll use every week, not the one on the banner.

Verified data · quick answer
  • Lowest published entry price: Ahrefs — From $29/mo (Starter); full toolset from $129/mo (Lite).
  • Free plans: Semrush (Limited free account — 10 Analytics requests/day, 1 project); Ahrefs (Ahrefs Free — limited Site Explorer & Site Audit for sites you own).

My read of the verified data on this page, checked against vendor sources on September 23, 2026. Disagree or spot an error? Tell Bill

SEO Software pricing at a glance

Every row links to the comparison where the figure was verified and to the vendor’s pricing page.

ToolEntry priceFree planAI billingG2 ratingVerifiedSource
SemrushFrom $117.33/mo billed annually ($139 monthly)Limited free account — 10 Analytics requests/day, 1 project——September 17, 2026in Semrush vs AhrefsVendor pricing ↗
AhrefsFrom $29/mo (Starter); full toolset from $129/mo (Lite)Ahrefs Free — limited Site Explorer & Site Audit for sites you own——September 17, 2026in Semrush vs AhrefsVendor pricing ↗
Moz ProStarter $49/mo (single site, 1 seat)No free plan — trial offered——September 23, 2026in Moz Pro vs SemrushVendor pricing ↗

Head-to-head comparisons

Moz Pro vs AhrefsUpdated September 23, 2026Moz Pro vs SemrushUpdated September 23, 2026Semrush vs AhrefsUpdated September 17, 2026

Switching guides

Ahrefs to Moz ProSwitching guideAhrefs to SemrushSwitching guideMoz Pro to AhrefsSwitching guideMoz Pro to SemrushSwitching guideSemrush to AhrefsSwitching guideSemrush to Moz ProSwitching guide
Verified data

SEO Software: security, offline & remote work

The SEO tools we track, side by side on compliance, single sign-on, offline access and remote or office controls. Every value links to the vendor page it came from.

What we checkedSemrushAhrefsMoz Pro
Security & compliance
SOC 2 reportNot publishedNot publishedNot published
ISO/IEC 27001Not publishedNot publishedNot published
Other certificationsPCI DSS Level 1sourceNot publishedNot published
HIPAA (BAA)Not publishedNot publishedNot published
GDPR data processing agreementDPA offeredsourceDPA offeredsourceNot published
Single sign-on (SAML/OIDC)YesGurusourceYesEnterprisesourceNot published
SCIM user provisioningNot publishedYessourceNot published
Two-factor authenticationYessourceYesEnforcement: Workspace owner/admin setting (plan not stated)sourceNot published
Admin audit logNot publishedNot publishedNot published
Data residency choicesUS onlysourceNot publishedNot published
EncryptionAES-256 at rest; TLS 1.2+ in transitsourceEncrypted at rest (AWS RDS) and in transit (TLS)sourceNot published
Self-hosting optionNot publishedNot publishedNot published
Offline access
Offline modeNot documentedNot documentedNot documented
Desktop appsNot publishedNot publishedNot published
Mobile appsiOS, AndroidsourceNot publishedNot published
Remote, hybrid & in-office
IP allowlistingNot publishedNot publishedNot published
Device & session controlsNot publishedNot publishedNot published
Editorial assessment

What this means for your team

  • Audit reports: we found no SOC 2 or ISO/IEC 27001 statement on any vendor’s site. For regulated or enterprise buyers, request security documentation before committing.
  • Single sign-on: Semrush includes it on Guru; Ahrefs includes it on Enterprise. Moz Pro doesn’t document single sign-on with your own identity provider. If your team signs in through Okta, Microsoft Entra ID or Google, price the plan that includes SSO, not the entry plan.
  • Working offline: Semrush, Ahrefs and Moz Pro don’t document an offline mode. Details are in the Offline mode row above.

Semrush: worth knowing

  • RemoteSemrush's mobile app is a Position Tracking companion (projects, visibility, traffic and keyword positions), not the full toolkit. source
  • SecuritySAML SSO is set up by request, and password login stays available until the integration is tested and you ask for it to be disabled. source
  • SecuritySemrush hosts service data in the US on Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Digital Reality data centers. source

Ahrefs: worth knowing

  • SecurityAhrefs says SOC 2 certification is in progress and not yet complete. source
  • SecuritySAML SSO is Enterprise-only; Lite, Standard and Advanced plans do not include it. source
  • SecurityAdmins can make SAML the only login method, but owners and admins keep email/password access as a fail-safe. source
  • SecurityWhen 2FA is enforced, members without it are signed out until they set it up, and new invitees must set it up before joining. source

Moz Pro: worth knowing

  • SecurityMoz's privacy policy says transfers of personal data out of the EEA to countries without an adequacy decision rely on standard contractual clauses. source

Checked September 24, 2026 against each vendor’s own trust center, help docs and app pages. Hover or tap “source” to see the exact wording we relied on. “Not published” means we could not find the vendor saying it on its own site; it doesn’t mean the feature is missing. Plan names are the lowest plan the vendor says includes the feature. Security · Offline · Remote vs office · Download the data

Frequently asked questions

Which SEO tool is cheapest?

Of the 3 SEO tools HelpCompare tracks, the lowest published entry price belongs to Ahrefs (From $29/mo (Starter); full toolset from $129/mo (Lite), verified September 17, 2026). Entry prices are the cheapest paid tier each vendor publishes; the right answer at your team size depends on seat minimums and add-ons, which each head-to-head comparison breaks down.

Which SEO tools have a free plan?

Free plans: Semrush (Limited free account — 10 Analytics requests/day, 1 project); Ahrefs (Ahrefs Free — limited Site Explorer & Site Audit for sites you own).

Where does this pricing data come from?

Every figure was recorded from the vendor's own pricing page during research for a HelpCompare comparison, and is dated. The most recent check in this category was September 23, 2026. Nothing is estimated: where a vendor publishes no price, we say so. The full dataset is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 at helpcompare.com/data/.

Sources

Figures come from each vendor’s pricing page, recorded on the date shown. Download the full dataset from Open Data (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0).

Cite this page: HelpCompare, “SEO Software, Compared: Verified 2026 Pricing”, helpcompare.com/seo-software/ (updated ).

Source links on this site are checked every month; last check . How sources are checked.

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01 · CompareWhich tool fits your team, side by side.133 comparisons 02 · Price & approveSourced, dated pricing and a one-page brief for sign-off.Decision brief 03 · SwitchWhat moves, what you rebuild, what it costs.264 guides 04 · ShareDownload and cite the data. CC BY 4.0.Open data
Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
About the author

Bill Belcamino

Founder and author, HelpCompare

Engineer by training, operator by experience, marketer by choice. Bill spent eight and a half years as an engineer at HP, was COO of Auctiva (the number one third-party selling platform on eBay, past 200,000 users) and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. Then he spent 13 years building his own web properties with his own money at stake. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.

“I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”

Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 23, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.

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