Ahrefs vs SEMrush vs Moz Comparison – Which Is Better?

May 2nd , 2019

When it comes to SEO tools, there are 3 clear leaders and we’re about to put them head to head. Here they are:

Ahrefs vs SEMrush vs Moz

Why did I do an Ahrefs vs SEMrush vs Moz comparison? While I prefer Ahrefs overall, SEMrush or Moz also enable you to dig into your website, competitors, and search engines for valuable data and I wanted to reevaluate to know if I was STILL making the right choice.

As you already know, each of the three has its own unique value proposition, but there are large overlaps between them as well so I’ll be breaking down each tool in detail to help us both understand which one is necessary for our agencies.

 

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Why only Ahrefs, Moz or SEMrush for the comparison?

I’ve been working in SEO for over 10 years at this point – there’s a tool for everything.

Having a tool for everything isn’t a good thing – I want a tool that does everything.

These 3 tools present the best “all in one SEO tool” in the market.

Strengths

Link analysis. Solid ways to inspect your backlinks and competitors.

Competitive analysis. Awesome at investigating what your competitors are doing.

Keyword research. Industry leaders to help you find valuable keywords.

Rank tracking. Easy methods to track progress of keyword rankings.

Weaknesses

Technical audits. I wouldn’t use these tools for deep, forensic technical SEO. While they each have their own version of a site audit, I prefer to use a tool like DeepCrawl or ScreamingFrog for more advanced auditing.

Let’s break them down individually.

 

SEMrush Review

semrush dashboard

SEMrush was the first SEO tool I fell in love with – I like to call it the “swiss army knife” of SEO tools.

There’s a free version of the tool that gives you 10 requests per day. The free version can be more than enough if you’re doing some light work. As your business grows and your demands increase, you’ll need more than that.

There’s a TON of features in SEMrush, but I like to use it for 4 main things.

Content improvements

By simply entering your URL the “organic research” report will spit back the exact keywords your site is currently ranking for.

keyword research

I love this because it has allowed me to double down and optimize specific content. Using this data you can easily go back into your content and make additional optimizations to improve the current rankings.

There is a downside – I’ve found their data to be slightly inaccurate at times.

For example, keyword search volume and traffic estimates rarely match up with actuals. In all fairness, this data is constantly changing and very difficult to estimate – as long as you’re looking at this data in a silo (i.e. not comparing data from SEMrush to Google Analytics), then it works out.

Topical / keyword research

You can use this same function for competitive keyword analysis. Plug in another website’s URL and you can see which keywords they rank for and how they’re SEO is performing.

semrush competitive analysis

I like to use this data to understand the “keyword gaps” on my client’s websites. We will then build a content strategy and topics matrix to build out new content to attack these keywords.

I break this process down in detail through the video below.

Some of you may be aware SEMRush rolled out a Competitive Research Bundle in April 2020. It boasts powerful tools for analyzing competitor traffic.

Honestly, I think it’s overkill for most clients, and it’s held back by accuracy issues.

The Organic report gives us everything we need.

Keyword movements

While SEMrush has a rank tracker, I don’t use it – I find it too expensive.

Instead, I like to use their “Position Changes” report. It does the same thing, you just have to dig for it manually.

semrush keyword movement report

This report tells me the keyword movements on my site over the last few days.

I like to use this data to understand how my pages are progressing in the SERPs and to decide if I need to put in additional effort to maintain / improve rankings.

For example, look at the screenshot below. You can see one of my blog posts lost the following rankings:

  • kpi – slid from position 50 to 85
  • digital marketing kpis – slide from position 11 to 13
semrush keyword movement report

This tells me to take another look at this blog post and make improvements:

There’s a number of angles you can take, but this report gives you the quick pulse you need to make fast decisions.

 

API access

While all 3 of these tools have an API, SEMrush’s is BY FAR the most robust. I’ll run you through a more detailed comparison at the end of this article, but you can check out their documentation here.

semrush api

If you’re a beginner, let me break it down for you a little more simply.

An API gives you access to the tool’s functionality without having to access the tool.

We like to use their API to build our own tools – in fact, a lot of the tools here in The Blueprint run on SEMrush’s API.

 

  • Content analyzer
  • Bulk social media posting
  • Domain versus domain comparison
  • On page SEO checker
  • PPC keyword research
  • Display advertising data
  • Read all features here
  • SEO and or content marketing agencies
  • Bloggers and content creators
  • SEO consultants
  • I would NOT recommend SEMrush for advertising agencies. While there are advertising features, it’s a far better solution for organic search marketing.

 

SEMrush pricing
  • Starting price: Free
  • Pro: $99.95/month
  • Guru: $199.95/month
  • Business: $399.95/month
  • Custom plans: Available
  • Enterprise solution: Available
Pros of SEMrush
  • Free version available.
  • Great for competitive research, keyword research and content marketing.
  • Easy to navigate and use.
  • Arguably the best SEO API in the market.
Cons of SEMrush
  • Pricing can be a bit high for some, especially their API access. It’s out of control.
  • Data can be slightly inaccurate at times.
  • Their technical analysis module is solid, and getting better, but you still need a technical audit tool.
  • The backlink analysis isn’t great. Their link database is improving – but I would NOT recommend it for link building analysis.

 

Moz Review

If there is one thing that stands out about Moz, it’s their blog. I can’t think of a single better resource for learning SEO. If you ever need to sharpen your skills, give it a read.

I’ve written there a number of times, including filming a Whiteboard Friday at their headquarters in Seattle.

What about tools?

Well, they have a lot of those as well:

  • Keyword explorer
  • Site explorer
  • Chrome extension to analyze any web page
  • Business listing analysis

 

Link Explorer (formerly Open Site Explorer)

As of December 4th, 2020, Moz’s Link Explorer includes over 7 trillion URLs, 718 million root domains, 40.7 trillion backlinks.

When we checked this on February 5th, 2018, the Moz OSE had 145 billion URLs, 258 million root domains and 1 trillion links.

Needless to say, you’ll have a lot of data at your fingertips. Just type in any domain and you’ll see a complete SEO profile on them.

ose and link explorer

One of the key metrics here is DA and PA.

  • DA = Domain Authority. Domain Authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). A Domain Authority score ranges from one to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a greater ability to rank.
  • PA = Page Authority. Page Authority (PA) is a score developed by Moz that predicts how well a specific page will rank on search engine result pages (SERP). Page Authority scores range from one to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a greater ability to rank.

These metrics were developed by Moz almost two decades ago. They became industry standard when referring to the “ranking power” of a website, but eroded as a trusted metric over time.

DA and PA underwent a massive update in 2019, which has gone a long way to reinstate the metric as industry leading.

da and pa

A clear list of backlinks, anchor text and PA/DA is displayed. Compared to SEMrush, Moz’s link index is far larger and more reliable.

Moz definitely has the advantage over SEMrush when it comes to link analysis.

Moz shows you more backlinks than SEMrush which is a huge plus. I’ve found it very useful to scouting out where my competitors are getting their links from.

 

Keyword Explorer

SEMRush and Moz have both updated their free plans since the original publication of this article, so now you have pretty good free keyword research options with both tools.

But when it comes to keywords, Moz still reigns supreme. Their Keyword Explorer is great for gaining a deeper insight on your website and competitors.

It’s been seperated into the Keyword Overview Tool, the Keyword Suggestions tool, and a SERP analysis tool.

moz keyword explorer

The Keyword Overview tool is undoubtedly the most useful. It shows top ranking keywords, a distribution chart and the ability to see all of their keyword rankings. For a free tool, it doesn’t get much better than this.

First we can see that a monthly search volume is displayed. You want to typically rank for keywords for higher searches so you can get more traffic.

Next, the difficulty level will let you know how hard it is to rank for that specific search term. Moz has a reputation for great accuracy when it comes to Keyword Difficulty.

Organic CTR determines how likely users are to click on results with that keyword.

Finally, priority is a unique metric developed by Moz to inform you if a keyword should be a focus of yours.

Keyword Suggestions is the second part for you to to check out. It’s pretty straightforward. The Monthly Volume column and has both volume ranges and more precise selections.

One thing that’s great about Moz’s free plan is you get 10 queries per day with every tool, not 10 queries total.

moz keyword research tool

Overall, the keyword explorer is an awesome tool that’s perfect for beginner’s looking for a low cost keyword research solution.

Moz Local

For a while, Moz’s local tools were the best in their arsenal. Their other tools have caught up now, but their local ones still hold their weight.

moz local

This is a great tool for small, local businesses who need help managing their local presence.

For example:

  • Check in on your online listings (Yelp, GMB, etc)
  • Manage your reviews across platforms
  • Find and cleanup duplicate citations

This product is well worth the price (starting at $129/year).

It’s important to note, though, that this is now a seperate product from Moz Pro. Moz Pro includes a majority of their other SEO tools and requires a seperate subscription.

Moz Bar

A free Chrome plugin that lets you analyze a website’s SEO from your browser. Or, my personal favorite, let’s you do in SERP analysis of a keyword and results.

mpz bar plugin

This is a great little add on that you can use 100% free, or supercharge it when you sign up for a Moz Pro membership.

 

  • Open site explorer
  • Keyword explorer
  • SERP analysis
  • Keyword suggestions
  • SEO audit
  • Moz integrations
  • Klipfolio
  • Bitium
  • Cyfe
  • LinkTrust
  • Read all features here
  • SEO and or content marketing agencies
  • Bloggers and content creators
  • SEO consultants

 

Moz Local pricing

Moz Pro

  • Starting price: Free
  • Standard: $99/month
  • Medium: $149/month
  • Large: $249/month
  • Premium: $599/month

Moz Local

  • Local Performance Audit: Free
  • Lite: $129/month
  • Preferred: $179/month
  • Elite: $299/month
Pros of Moz
  • Great value from their free tools.
  • Excellent community and support.
  • A new CEO is pushing a better product than in previous years.
Cons of Moz
  • Their paid tools are pricy for the value
  • Moz Local is priced by location, which makes it difficult for agencies to use
  • They’re still playing catch up in regards to functionality and efficiency

 

Ahrefs Review

Last but not least, Ahrefs. One immediate downside compared to SEMrush and Moz is that nothing is free besides their toolbar. That’s great and all, but you’ll be spending $7 for a 7 day trial of anything else.

Just like the others though, they do offer a site explorer, keyword explorer, rank tracker and very similar tools. Is it worth the money? Let’s find out.

 

Site explorer

Okay, lots going on here. Ahrefs takes all of the important information and puts it on one screen. You don’t need to be wondering all over the platform to find the main data.

ahrefs dashboard

We can see backlinks, keywords, traffic level and more right off the bat. On the side bar, everything else you need from checking anchor text to competing domains is accessible.

Ahrefs boasts the world’s largest backlink index too – with a total of over 170 trillion. This makes their site explorer tool stand out from the crowd, in a major way.

You can also check exactly which keywords and pages are bringing in the most traffic, for yourself or competitors. It’s very detailed and has almost identical functionality to SEMrush now.

top organic pages report

 

Link explorer

Ahrefs started as a backlink analysis tool, but recently expanded into SEMrush’s territory of keyword and competitor analysis.

Ahrefs link tool is by far and away the best in the market – there’s nothing that comes close.

backlink explorer

We can not only monitor our own links, but competitors as well.

Everything from when the link when live, to if they are do-follow or no-follow, anchor text and more. This is incredibly powerful when building your SEO strategy, as links are a huge ranking factor.

 

Keyword explorer

This tool has come a long way in a short time. In my opinion, Ahrefs keyword tools has leap frogged both Moz and SEMrush.

ahrefs keywords

A very impressive tool for:

  • Rounding up endless keyword suggestions
  • Finding accurate search volume for keywords
  • Determine how difficult a keyword is to rank for

The charts and graphs are very organized. It has everything you need for doing your traditional keyword research and competitive analysis.

 

  • Open site explorer
  • Keyword explorer
  • Backlink checker
  • SEO toolbar
  • Batch analysis
  • Content explorer
  • Read all features here
  • SEO professionals, agencies and consultants
  • Link builders

 

Ahrefs pricing
  • Trial: $7 for 7 days(Standard/Advanced only)
  • Lite: $99/month
  • Standard: $179/month
  • Advanced: $399/month
  • Agency: $999/month
Pros of Ahrefs
  • Best link index, by far.
  • Vastly improved keyword and competitive research functionality.
  • Growing community and support.
  • A free Chrome extension toolbar.
Cons of Ahrefs
  • Expensive.
  • Weak API.

 

SEMrush vs Ahrefs vs Moz, which is better?

Looking at all three of these tools, it’s clear they all have their pros and cons, I’ve broken them down as best as I could.

Moz vs SEMrush vs Ahrefs comparison chart

Feature SEMrush Moz Ahrefs
Technical audit 7.0 8.0 7.0
Link analysis 6.0 8.0 10.0
KW research 9.0 8.0 9.0
Competitive audit 9.0 5.0 9.0
API 10.0 7.0 4.0

If I was only allowed to pick one option between Moz, Ahrefs or SEMrush, personally I’d go with Ahrefs. I spend most of my time analyzing backlinks and competitors, Ahrefs has both of those on lock.

That said, Moz or SEMrush are also worthy contenders, you can’t go wrong with any of the three – and you need one of them. They all have their nuances, it’s all about finding the one you’re comfortable with.

This article has been updated: 2nd March 2021

Ryan Stewart

I build, grow and sell digital agencies. Most recently, WEBRIS, a 7 figure SEO agency.

May 2nd , 2019

66 Comments

COMMENTS (66)

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  • Victorsays

    Awesome report. I don’t normally leave comments on these types of reviews, but this has been super helpful so I just wanted to thank you!

    • Thanks Victor! Let us know if you have any questions 🙂

  • Haroonsays

    Really great insight into the tools. I am looking one to suggest for my company, I decided to go with Ahrefs

  • sewasays

    Hi Ryan,
    You have given the best information, i could search on google regarding seo tools.

    • Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂

      • Teresa Blaessays

        Thanks for the review its given me something to consider in my SEO tools search so would it be fare to say SEM rush or Mas are better for on site SEO, and HREFS is better for back linking tracking?

        • Yes, Ahrefs is the best for link analysis, Moz for on page and SEMrush for keyword research / tracking, but if you HAD to go with ONE, I’d go with Ahrefs

  • mohansays

    Good explanation and clarified my doubts on SEM Rush. I suppose to go with SEM Rush but after your explanation got clarity. Shall go with Ahref ?

  • Atta ul HAYEsays

    Hi what is the best package to select for a small or medium size company is standard version of ahrefs is a good way to start ?or should go for medium and large?

  • Satyanshsays

    Dude this is amazing comparison. Now I am going to buy ahrefs.

  • starcertificationsays

    Great analysis you have done. Tons of thanks for coming up with such awesome article.

    All 3 moz, semrush, ahrefs are very usefull tools. Keep sharing.

    Thank you.

  • Carlossays

    Thank you!. Very useful information.

  • Mitchell Cohensays

    Awesome overview Ryan. Super informative and well organized. Thank you!

  • Albertsays

    I used both and I prefer Ahrefs too! Great writeup Ryan

  • Greg LeRouxsays

    If they were all $99 mo and you had to choose two, which one would you eliminate?

  • bobysays

    that’s really a fantastic one to read …

  • Philsays

    What about Raven Tools, Cognitive SEO? They seem 2 really competitive solutions, perhaps I’m wrong. Raven has had a recent “makeover” too.
    What do you think of them Ryan?
    Thanks.

  • Tran Locsays

    I did search google Semrush vs Ahref and the result as you know: bring me here. Its a good analysis on 3 SEOs dominator on the internet.

  • Marksays

    Solid write up – THANKS! What would you recommend for a company that needs a full content audit, gap analysis and then a modest SEO maintenance? SEMRush seems to be the best option there, but you’re the expert, so what do you think? Help!!

  • Priyanka Deysays

    Thanks.Awesome reports. Really help me a lot.

  • Tony Hsays

    Hi Ryan,

    I too don’t normally leaved too many comments. I have reguarly used Moz in past and have much respect for the platform. But I have also been on the lighter side familiar with Semrush and a long while back with Ahrefs. With the abundance of morphing and updates over the months / years. I needed to choose a suitable platform again for my new employer. I really found this balanced, useful and helpful. Thank you for your great report and information on all of this. I too feel now that I will be keener towards Ahrefs or Semrush this time but of course will try trials first. Thanks Ryan!

  • ENRIQUE QUIROZsays

    Thannnnnnk you veryyyy muuuch.
    Incredible report
    Helped me a lot
    I send you a hug from Mexico City

  • William Greensays

    Thanks for this insight. I think SEMRush seems the best of the three, but would be interested in using it in conjunction with Screaming Frog -!

  • Shivam Agrawalsays

    I was very much confused and having problems in deciding.
    But after reading this, I have to say – “Man, what a review”.

    So detailed and real. Thank you so much.

  • Adam Youngsays

    I’ve been with Ahrefs for the past couple of years, really was looking at other tools (particularly SEMrush) to see about alternatives. In terms of cost and performance, can’t really justify anything else at the moment.

  • mark robertssays

    I’ve been a mozzer for years now, but I find it take ages for them to discover backlinks?

  • Vladsays

    how about completely free alternatives, like get-metrics.com ?

  • Varunsays

    Wow graet analysis of 3 major Seo tools. I also go with the ahref but all looks pricey for the beginner like me. Let’s see.
    By the way I am curious to know what is that “Table of Content” plugin name used at the very top. of the post.
    Thanks for the article.

  • nina nguyensays

    i took a test drive on all three before I stumbled on your article. Great comparison! got the subscription for ahref and love it.

  • Julien Scottsays

    Great report Ryan, very well structured and informative. Definitely helps with the comparison and ultimately decision making. Thanks!

  • Ricardo Novelasays

    Ryan… first thanks for the great article. And 2nd… Do you rely on the Key Word Difficulty of “ahrefs”?

    The thing is that for a certain KW in SemRush, it gives me 82%, in MOZ, 42% and in ahrefs, 0%… which one do you think it’s more reliable…

    I’m starting a Blog, and I think this feature, if works, could help me.

    • ehhh i dont really use the difficulty metrics too much, i dont find them to overly accurate

  • greg gillespiesays

    Hi Ryan,
    Majestic (seo) – does this fit into this category of tools to consider? Or do these three (or just one) pretty much have it covered?

    • majestic would be close, but it doesnt have the same functionality for keyword tracking that these do. majestic (to me) is only a link building tool, not complete seo tool.

  • Digitalexperiment.xyzsays

    Great article.

    If I had to only pick one, I prefer the suite of tools from SEMrush personally for my agency.

    If Ahrefs has an advantage, it is in a larger link database. SEMrush has better market, competitor, and keyword research tools. I find that SEMrush does a better job with their keyword volume estimates, especially after Jumpshot went down. I also think SEMrush gives you more functionality at each of the pricing tiers.

  • Jes Wrightsays

    Which tool do you use?

  • Shaurya Jainsays

    Amazing post! I love it. Thanks for sharing such informative and descriptive stuff.

  • Asim Shahzadsays

    Hi Ryan,
    You have given the best information, I could search on google regarding seo tools. I decided to go with Ahrefs. thanks a lot

    • PureLocal Australiasays

      We compared our domain metrics to 3 competitors using SEMRUSH and MOZ. According to SEMRUSH we’re near the top , according to MOZ we’re at the bottom. We have emailed both SEMRUSH and MOZ to explain why their 2 results are so vastly different.

  • Ron the Web Guysays

    Hi Ryan,
    Roughly 1.5 years since this was posted: Has any of these 3 tools been updated enough to make you change your recommendation?

    • it was updated last week

      • Karan Bhattsays

        Looks like it’s time to change the SEO title of this article to 2021 and the date at top of article which is May 2019.
        Love your stuff, Ryan, big fan, and keep rocking with 301 redirects.😉

  • Elishahsays

    This was a fantastic article! You helped me decide on the one tool I will utilize for my SEO for now, as well as which tool is best depending on what my needs/focus may be in the future. I went into this article thinking it would be Moz and came out with Ahrefs! The side by side ratings was also a great help at the very end.

  • Anshulsays

    Thanks, Ryan:)
    To help me out from this problem. After reading this article my query is solved.

  • Donaldsays

    This is the most impressive review breakdown of the top 3 seo tools. Just FANTASTIC mate!!

    Many thanks!

  • Amit Ghoshsays

    Awesome research – Thanks man for such a comprehensive report

  • risingsonltd.com@gmail.comsays

    For a Small Startup Agency with 7 Clients Paying less than $200 a month… which would you recommend and what do you think the monthly cost would be?

  • M Khansays

    Hello,

    I would like to add that SEMRush is a full digital marketing tool (not only SEO) when it comes to SEM analysis, links prospecting campaigns directly from SEMRush and social media management in the same package (from pro $99/month). Also they have unique features when you upgrade like Content Templates, technical content audits, google data studio integrations etc. So when you compare in this way, SEMRush has clear advantage over almost all the tools available in the market and the reason is quite simple that its really economical both for companies and agencies.

    Regards,