Ahrefs vs SE Ranking
Both are SEO tools aimed at marketers, freelancers, agencies and site owners. They differ most on backlink data, value for money and rank tracking.
At a glance
| Ahrefs | SE Ranking | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 81/100 Higher | 78/100 |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Paid from | £23/mo monthly; keyword and competitor research only | £95/mo monthly; £76/mo billed annually; 2,000 tracked keywords, 100 AI prompts |
| Positioning | full suite | value suite |
| Launched | 2011 | 2013 |
| Best for | Anyone whose SEO work centres on links and competitor research. | Freelancers and small agencies who want most of a full suite at a fraction of the price. |
Where each one leads
| Dimension | Ahrefs | SE Ranking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | 4/5 | 4/5 | Tie |
| Value for money | 2/5 | 4/5 | SE Ranking |
| Keyword research | 5/5 | 4/5 | Ahrefs |
| Free plan | 3/5 | 1/5 | Ahrefs |
| Rank tracking | 4/5 | 5/5 | SE Ranking |
| Site audits | 4/5 | 4/5 | Tie |
| Breadth of features | 4/5 | 4/5 | Tie |
| Backlink data | 5/5 | 3/5 | Ahrefs |
| AI-search tracking | 4/5 | 4/5 | Tie |
Scores are 1–5 per dimension. Ahrefs leads on 3 dimensions, SE Ranking on 2. The overall figure weights these for SEO tools generally — see methodology.
Pricing
Plans are listed per tool rather than paired row by row — tiers rarely line up, and putting one vendor's second plan beside another's implies an equivalence that is not there.
| Tool | Plan | Per month | Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs | Free | Free | your own sites only |
| Starter | £23 | monthly; keyword and competitor research only | |
| Lite | £99 | monthly; 750 tracked keywords, 6 months of history | |
| Standard | £199 | monthly; 2,000 tracked keywords, 2 years of history | |
| Advanced | £359 | monthly; 5,000 tracked keywords, 5 years of history | |
| SE Ranking | Core | £95 | monthly; £76/mo billed annually; 2,000 tracked keywords, 100 AI prompts |
| Growth | £209 | monthly; £167.20/mo billed annually; 5,000 tracked keywords, 250 AI prompts |
Pricing checked 23 September 2026 against each vendor's own pricing page. Ahrefs: Shown to UK visitors in GBP. Annual billing saves up to 17%. Enterprise needs an annual commitment. SE Ranking: Shown to UK visitors in GBP. Annual billing saves 20% and includes free migration.
Verdict
Ahrefs
- +Its backlink and site data come from what Ahrefs describes as the world's second-most active web crawler.
- +A genuinely useful free plan for sites you own, and a £23 Starter plan for light keyword research.
- +API and MCP access included on every paid plan from Lite upwards.
- −Lite is £99 a month with only six months of historical data and one user.
- −Additional users cost £32–£64 a month each depending on plan.
SE Ranking
- +Core gives twice the projects and four times the tracked keywords of Semrush's entry plan (10 and 2,000), for less — £95 a month.
- +AI-search tracking comes built in: 100 prompts a day on Core, 250 on Growth.
- +Unlimited keyword, competitor and backlink research on every plan.
- −API use is capped — 25,000 credits a month on Core.
- −White-label reporting for agencies is a £49-a-month add-on, annual billing only.
Common questions
Is Ahrefs cheaper than SE Ranking?
Ahrefs starts at £23/mo (monthly; keyword and competitor research only), and SE Ranking starts at £95/mo (monthly; £76/mo billed annually; 2,000 tracked keywords, 100 AI prompts) — so Ahrefs is the cheaper entry point. Compare what each includes at that tier, and what it renews at, rather than the headline figure alone.
Does Ahrefs or SE Ranking have a free plan?
Ahrefs has a free plan, and SE Ranking has no free plan.
Which is better, Ahrefs or SE Ranking?
On our weighted scoring across the use cases in this category, Ahrefs comes out ahead overall. The honest answer is that it depends on the use case — the tables above break the score down by dimension so you can weight it to your own priorities.
Other comparisons
Sources & verification
- ahrefs.com — checked 23 September 2026Ahrefs Free covers data for sites you own; researching competitors needs a paid plan.
- seranking.com — checked 23 September 2026No free plan; a 14-day free trial with no card required.