Semrush vs Surfer SEO
Both are SEO tools aimed at marketers, freelancers, agencies and site owners. They differ most on backlink data, rank tracking and site audits.
At a glance
| Semrush | Surfer SEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 84/100 Higher | 52/100 |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Paid from | £113/mo (about $149.39) monthly; £95.07/mo billed annually; 500 tracked keywords | $59/mo (about £44.63) monthly; $49/mo billed yearly |
| Positioning | full suite | content optimisation |
| Launched | 2008 | — |
| Best for | Teams that want every SEO and AI-search job in a single suite and can justify the price. | Content teams that want to write pages that rank and track how AI answers mention their brand. |
Where each one leads
| Dimension | Semrush | Surfer SEO | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | 3/5 | 4/5 | Surfer SEO |
| Value for money | 2/5 | 3/5 | Surfer SEO |
| Keyword research | 5/5 | 3/5 | Semrush |
| Free plan | 1/5 | 1/5 | Tie |
| Rank tracking | 5/5 | 2/5 | Semrush |
| Site audits | 5/5 | 2/5 | Semrush |
| Breadth of features | 5/5 | 2/5 | Semrush |
| Backlink data | 4/5 | 1/5 | Semrush |
| AI-search tracking | 5/5 | 5/5 | Tie |
Scores are 1–5 per dimension. Semrush leads on 5 dimensions, Surfer SEO 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semrush | SEO | £113 | monthly; £95.07/mo billed annually; 500 tracked keywords |
| Starter (SEO + AI) | £161 | monthly; £133.84/mo billed annually; 50 AI prompts | |
| Pro+ | £242 | monthly; £201.09/mo billed annually; 1,500 tracked keywords | |
| Advanced | £444 | monthly; £369.23/mo billed annually; API access | |
| Surfer SEO | Discovery | $59 | monthly; $49/mo billed yearly |
| Standard | $119 | monthly; $99/mo billed yearly | |
| Pro | $219 | monthly; $182/mo billed yearly | |
| Peace of Mind | $359 | monthly; $299/mo billed yearly |
Pricing checked 23 September 2026 and 24 September 2026 against each vendor's own pricing page. Semrush: Shown to UK visitors in GBP. Annual billing saves up to 17%. Surfer SEO: Billed in USD. Yearly billing saves about 17%. Where the two bill in different currencies, conversions use the European Central Bank reference rate.
Verdict
Semrush
- +The widest toolset in the category — keyword research, rank tracking, audits, competitor analysis and AI-search tracking in one login.
- +Every plan includes some AI-search tracking; Starter and above add daily prompt tracking, starting at 50 prompts.
- +Tracks rankings daily and supports multi-location and device tracking on Pro+ and above.
- −Expensive — £113 a month for the entry SEO plan, and extra users cost from £36 a month each.
- −Historical SEO data and content optimisation tools start at Pro+, £242 a month.
Surfer SEO
- +Tracks how AI models including ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews mention your brand, from the Standard plan.
- +Standard includes 360 documents with one-click content optimisation and a plagiarism checker.
- +Discovery, at $49 a month billed yearly, covers 120 documents and 10 tracked pages.
- −Its plans list no backlink analysis, so link research needs another tool.
- −Monthly billing costs about 20% more: Standard is $119 a month, or $99 billed yearly.
Common questions
Is Semrush cheaper than Surfer SEO?
Semrush starts at £113/mo (about $149.39; monthly; £95.07/mo billed annually; 500 tracked keywords), and Surfer SEO starts at $59/mo (about £44.63; monthly; $49/mo billed yearly) — so Surfer SEO is the cheaper entry point. Converted at the European Central Bank reference rate. Compare what each includes at that tier, and what it renews at, rather than the headline figure alone.
Which is better, Semrush or Surfer SEO?
On our weighted scoring across the use cases in this category, Semrush 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
- api.frankfurter.app — checked 24 September 2026European Central Bank reference rate, published via Frankfurter.
- surferseo.com — checked 24 September 2026No free plan is listed on the pricing page.
- semrush.com — checked 23 September 2026Free trial available on paid plans; no free plan listed on the pricing page.