Are you looking for the honest SEMrush vs Ahrefs review?

If yes then you are in the right place.

Why? Because I’m going to compare Ahrefs with SEMrush point-wise and I’ll also announce the winner of each of these competitions with the proper reason.

It’s a detailed Ahrefs vs SEMrush comparison

NOTE: If you want to get better ranking then you should read this Surfer SEO review. I’ve been using this tool from last 4 months.

Ahrefs and SEMrush both are the best SEO tool which can help you to increase your organic traffic. 

I know that It’s very difficult for you to decide which tool should you purchase. So, without any further delay let’s start this honest SEMrush vs Ahrefs comparison.

Special Note: I’ll highly recommend you try both the tool yourself. So that you can decide which tool is perfect for you.

Disclosure: I’m an affiliate partner of SEMrush. If you’ll purchase SEMrush through my affiliate link then I’ll receive a small commission (without costing you anything extra). But if you’ll purchase Ahrefs. I’ll not receive any commission.

Here is my small promise to you: I’m going to write an honest review of SEMrush vs Ahrefs with lots of screenshots and data. 

Both SEMrush and Ahrefs are the good SEO tools. So, read this article carefully and decide which tool is good for you.


SEMrush vs Ahrefs: Which is the best SEO tool?

semrush vs ahrefs

SEMrush and Ahrefs both are the good SEO tools. 

SEMrush plan starts from  $99.95/mo. It provides SEO tool, Advertising tool, Content Marketing Tool, Competitor Analysis tools & Social media tool. 

Ahrefs plan starts from $99/mo. It mainly provides SEO tools to grow your organic traffic. 

And the best part? both provide detailed SEO report to understand what you need to do to grow your organic traffic.

If you are interested in this feature then you’ll be glad to know that SEMrush and Ahrefs are not alone.

There are some more amazing tools for SEO reporting. you can check complete list from here.

Quick Comparison

SEMrush PRO

Ahrefs Lite

Pricing

$99.95/mo

$99/mo

User Allowed

1

1

Tracked Keywords

500

500

Update Frequncy

DAILY

Weekly

Site Audit: Pages to crawl per months

100,000

10,000

Advertising Toolkit

Yes

No

Note: I’ve also written a detailed step by step SEMrush Tutorial with 50+ screenshot. So, must read it to understand how to use SEMrush.

Also, don’t forget to read our SEMrush Content Marketing Platform review and step by step tutorial.

Now, Let’s start this Ahrefs vs SEMrush comparison to decide which tool is the best (with proper reason).

Also Read: 9+ Best Keyword Rank Tracking Platform for 2024


1. SEMrush vs Ahrefs: Popularity

Let’s start this Ahrefs vs SEMrush comparison with the popularity of these two tools.

To check the popularity, I use the Google Trend and the result was as per my expectation.

semrush vs ahrefs popularity

According to Google Trends data, SEMrush is more popular than Ahrefs. 

After checking Google trend data, I can say that SEMrush is more popular than Ahrefs. 

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Because According to Google Trends data, SEMrush has more searches as compared to Ahrefs.


2. Poll & Thread Results from Social Media 

After checking the popularity of SEMrush on Google Trends, I was sure that SEMrush is more popular than Ahrefs.

So, I decided to confirm it manually by doing more research on social media like Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

I did research around 3-4 hours on Facebook and Twitter.

And Result was as expected.

Here is a Twitter poll result.

semrush vs ahrefs poll result

After checking above screenshot, you can understand which is the best SEO tool.

Now let’s see some Twitter thread result…

…Where people are discussing about which tool they will use if they have to choose only one SEO tool between Ahrefs and SEMrush.

Must read all these threads. 

ahrefs vs semrush thread

I also did my research on LinkedIn. As you can see in the below screenshot that Shanta Narang created a poll about “which SEO tool is better?”

As you can see in the below screenshot that 400+ People participated in this poll.

SEMRush is the winner of this poll

I researched more on LinkedIn and found one more poll about SEMrush vs Ahrefs. 

semrush vs ahrefs poll result

Recently, one of my friends Santosh Gairola created a poll in his Facebook group. 

As you can see in the below screenshot that SEMrush is the winner of this poll.

I collected some more Ahrefs vs SEMrush thread results from social media. I hope that it’ll help you decide which is the best SEO tool.


From the above screenshot, it’s clear that if they have to select only one product then they’ll select SEMrush due to it’s wide range of features.

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Because it’s the winner of the Twitter, Facebook & LinkdIn polls and as you can see in the above treads that many people said that if they have to select only one tool between Ahrefs and SEMrush then they’ll choose SEMrush. 

Also Read: Learn SEO Step by Step


3. SEMrush vs Ahrefs: Ease of Use

Now, let’s discuss between Ahrefs and SEMrush which tool is easy to use. We’ll also see which tool has simple & attractive dashboard.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs Dashboard looks awesome. It’s very easy to use and looks simple. 

ahrefs dashboard overview

As you can see in the above image, I’ve opened Site Explorer of Ahrefs. It looks very simple and easy to understand.

SEMrush

SEMrush Domain Overview tool looks like as shown below.

SEMRush dashboard overview

If we compared it with Ahrefs then it’s clear that Ahrefs is easier to use. 

Winner: Ahrefs

Why? Because as you can see in the above screenshots that Ahrefs dashboard is very simple and easy to understand. But in case of SEMrush, it’ll take you some time to understand how to use this tool.


4. Between SEMrush & Ahrefs: Which is the best Keyword Research tool?

SEMrush and Ahrefs both are famous for their keyword research tool.

Both tools provide search volume and related keywords of any particular keyword.

Did you know? SEMrush has 18.8B keywords for Google in its database but Ahrefs has only 8.7B.

So, let’s see which tool is best for doing keyword research.

Ahrefs Keyword Research Tool

The one thing which I like about Ahrefs is that it not only provides the search volume of the keywords but also it show the no. of clicks (i.e. estimated traffic) 

If you’ll scroll down then you’ll see the list of other related keywords and questions as shown below.

Apart from this, Ahrefs also shows the position history for the pages that are currently ranking in the top 5 for the entered keyword.

One of the best thing which I liked about Ahrefs that with the help of Ahrefs, you check keywords data for any search engine like:

But SEMrush shows data for only Google.

So, If you want to do keyword research for other search engines like Bing, Amazon and Yahoo then you should use Ahrefs.

SEMrush Keyword Research Tool

SEMrush is also a great tool for doing keyword research. 

Same as Ahrefs, SEMrush also shows the keyword volume, related keywords, CPC and keyword difficulty.

Here are some amazing features of SEMrush which are not available in Ahrefs:

1. Additional Information: 

SEMrush provides more details for analyzed keywords like no. of SERP result, SERP features, PLA and Ads.

  • No. of SERP Results: You can check no. of URLs showing on Google for any particular keyword.
  • SERP Features: In SERP feature section, you can check the no. of the result showing on Search Engine Result Page (SERP) that is different from the traditional organic search result. (Ex. featured snippet, site link, top stories, reviews etc)
  • PLA: You can check top PLA (Product Listing Ads) appear for the analyzed keywords.
  • Ads: The Ads which appears for the analyzed keywords.

So, these are some additional details available in SEMrush which is not possible to check with Ahrefs.

2. Database

SEMrush has 18.8B keywords for Google in its database but Ahrefs has only 8.7B.

3. Device wise Keyword Research

With the help of SEMrush, you can do keyword research for both desktop or mobile. But in Ahrefs there is not an option like this.

4. Find Keywords database for a specific country

Suppose, you want to do keyword research for any specific country then you’ll glad to know that it’s possible in SEMrush.

Just select the country from the drop-down menu as shown in the image below to do country wise keyword research.

5. Questions Related to Your Target Keywords

As we all know that we should add FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) in our article to make it more helpful.

The good news is that SEMrush also shows the Questions related to your target keywords. 

So, select some good questions from this list and add in your article.

6. You can check  PLA copies

With the help of SEMrush, you can see the PLA copies showing in SERP for the analyzed keyword.

7. Ad copies

SEMrush also shows the ads copies which are showing on SERP for the Analyzed keyword.

8. Keyword Ads History

With the help of SEMrush, you can check how actively domains were bidding on the analyzed keyword over the last 12 months.

So, These are 8 amazing additional information which you can check on SEMrush.

That’s why SEMrush a better keyword research tool than Ahrefs.

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Because SEMrush shows lots of additional information like PLA copies, ads copies, ads history etc of any keyword. Also, SEMrush has 18.8B keywords for Google in its database but Ahrefs has only 8.7B


Backlink analysis is a very important SEO task. With the help of backlink analysis tool, we can check the backlinks of our competitors to find link building opportunities. 

So, without any further delay let’s check which tool is the best for analyzing backlinks.

Ahrefs: 

Ahrefs don’t provide separate backlink analysis tool. Backlink analysis feature is available inside the “Site Explorer” tool.

Open the Ahrefs Site Explorer and enter either your or your competitor’s domain URL to analyze the backlink.

NOTE:I’m going to enter NeilPatel.com in both SEMrush and Ahrefs tool. So that we can compare the result easily.

As you can see in the above image, Ahrefs is showing that it NeilPatel.com has 1.4 Million Backlinks and its traffic is 2.3 Million.

If you’ll scroll then you’ll see more details like no. of referring domains in the form of a graph.

Apart from this, you can also check for which anchor text they are getting the maximum backlinks.

If you’ll scroll more then it’ll show you new and lost backlinks in the form of graph and you can check CTLDs distribution as shown below.

In the right sidebar, you’ll see some amazing details like type of backlinks and referring domains.

It means that you can do complete backlink analysis with the Ahrefs tool.

SEMrush:

SEMrush is also a great tool for doing backlink analysis. Login to your SEMrush account and enter the domain of your competitor in the SEMrush Backlink Analytic tool.

For Example, I’m going to enter NeilPatel.com

As you can see that above screenshot. SEMrush is showing that NeilPatel.com has 4.3 million backlinks and 8.9 million organic traffic.

But According to Ahrefs, NeilPatel.com has 1.4 million backlinks and 2.3 million Organic Traffic. So, it’s clear that SEMrush provides more accurate backlink and organic traffic data.

If you’ll scroll down then SEMrush will show you the referring domains and backlinks graphs. With the help of these graphs, you can also check new and lost backlinks.

SEMrush also divides all these backlinks categories wise so that you can understand it in a better way. Also, you can check the top anchor text for which your competitors are getting maximum backlinks. 

The best thing about SEMrush is that this tool also divides these backlinks based on authority. It’s very helpful to check how many authority backlinks any site has.

You can also check the backlinks attributes and types as shown below.

Apart from this, TLD distribution and top countries feature is also available. With the help of Top countries section, you can analyze from which country your competitors are getting most of the backlinks.

Link Profile Distribution can help you to analyze the referring domains, referring IPs and Ref. subnets. 

The Similar Profiles section can help you find those domains which have similar backlink profile to the analyzed domain.

And With the help of  Top Pages section, you can find those pages which have the maximum backlinks. 

As you can see in the above screenshots that SEMrush shows everything about the backlinks of the analyzed domain. That’s why it’s my favourite tool for backlink analysis.

Winner: SEMrush

Why? SEMrush and Ahrefs both are the best tools for backlink analysis. As you can see in the above screenshots that I checked the backlink profile of NeilPatel.com in both SEMrush and Ahrefs. According to the Ahrefs, no. of backlinks are 1.4 Million and According to SEMrush, no. of Backlinks are 4.3 Million. So, it’s clear that SEMrush provides more accurate backlink data as compared to Ahrefs.

That’s why SEMrush is winner of this Ahrefs vs SEMrush competition. 

6. Ahrefs vs SEMRush: Which is the best SEO tool for Site Audit?

As we all know that we should do site audit time to time so that we can find and fix all the technical issues of our site.

If your site has lots of technical issues then it can hurt your ranking. So, doing the site audit is very important.

Let’s discuss the Site Audit feature of SEMrush and Ahrefs. 

Ahrefs Site Audit:

Ahrefs site audit tool checks for all the technical errors of your site and it also suggests that what should you do to fix all these errors.

Ahrefs site audit interface looks like as shown below.

But the thing I don’t like in Ahrefs Site Audit is that it takes too much time to perform the site audit

It’s a good tool for doing site audit but not as good as SEMrush. 

Site audit feature was added in Ahrefs a few years back but SEMrush has site audit feature from a very long time. So, they had enough time to make their site audit tool perfect.

SEMrush Site Audit

SEMrush site audit tool does the complete audit of your site and generates a full report.

It checks your site for 120+ common issues from simple issues like missing alt tag, meta description to very complex issues like hreflang conflicts within page source code, sitemap error, robot.txt file error etc.

SEMrush’s site audit tool is faster than Ahrefs and it’s also very easy to use. 

semrush site audit report

And the best thing about SEMrush is that you can also check internal and external link issues of your site.

internal linking issues

In the SEMrush site audit, you can also check the major internal and external links issues like:

  • Broken External link
  • Too many on-page links
  • The no-follow attribute in internal links
  • Malformed links 
  • And many more

SEMrush also checks all the pages of your website for which you should build internal links.

By going to the internal link distribution section, you can find the weak pages for which you should build internal links to improve ranking.

internal link distribution semrush

You can set up automatic site audit (daily or weekly or monthly). SEMrush will perform site audit time to time and also send your report through email.

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Because SEMrush site audit tool is faster and very easy to use as compared to Ahrefs. 


As we all know that broken link building is one of the most popular and easiest ways to build backlink. 

So, now let’s check that between SEMrush and Ahrefs, which tool provides the feature to find broken links.

Ahrefs:

It’s very easy to find broken links of any site using Ahrefs tool. 

Open site explorer in Ahrefs and enter any domain name and press enter. 

Now, in the left sidebar, you’ll see an option called broken links. Just click on it to find the broken links of any site.

Also, in the Ahrefs Content Explorer, you can enter any topic and apply the advanced filter to find the broken links easily.

SEMrush:

SEMrush doesn’t have any separate tool to find the broken links of any site. You can find the broken links using SEMrush but for this, you need to do a complete site audit.

That’s why it’s difficult to find broken links of any site using SEMrush.

Winner: Ahrefs

Why? Because Ahrefs has an option called “broken links” in site explorer. Through which you can easily detect the broken links. But in the case of SEMrush, you need to do a site audit to find the broken link of any site.


8. Ahrefs vs SEMrush: Domain Analysis

If we want to analyze our competitor’s website then we can do domain analysis to know about their top pages, backlinks, top keywords, their competitors and many more.

Ahrefs:

Ahrefs provides the best Domain analysis feature. Open the “Site Explorer” of Ahrefs and enter the URL of your competitor. 

I’m going to enter NeilPatel.com in the site explorer. 

ahrefs site explorer backlink analysis

As you can see in the above screenshot Ahrefs Site Explorer shows the following details:

  • Ahrefs Rank
  • UR 
  • DR
  • Backlinks 
  • Referring Domains
  • Organic Keywords
  • Organic Traffic
  • And Traffic Value

What Makes Ahrefs Site Explorer Better Than SEMrush?

Ahrefs shows some additional information which is not available in SEMrush Domain Overview tool.

1) Internal Backlinks: By clicking on this link, you can check all the internal links of any particular page.

2) Top Pages: With the help of this option, you can check the top pages of your competitors which are driving maximum traffic to their sites.

3) Top Subdomains: With the help of this option, you can check your competitors’ top subdomains.

4) Best By link Section: You can click on this link to find the pages of your competitors which has maximum backlinks.

5) Broken Links: It’ll help you to find all the broken links of analyzed domains. It’s a good tool for broken link building.

SEMrush 

You can analyze any domain by visiting SEMrush’s Domain Overview tool.

Enter the domain of your competitor in the Domain overview tool and press enter. It’ll show you the following details:

  • Authority Score
  • Organic Traffic
  • Paid Search Traffic
  • Backlinks
  • Display Advertising

What Makes SEMrush Domain Overview Better Than Ahrefs Site Explorer?

SEMrush shows some additional information which is not available in Ahrefs Site Explorer tool.

1) Keyword Trend with Google Update: In the SEMrush Domain Overview tool, you can clearly see your ranking change with Google Algorithm updates. 

2) SERP Feature: SEMrush also shows for how many keywords your site is showing in the different SERP features.

3) Branded vs Non-branded Traffic: With the help of the Domain Overview tool, you can also check your branded and non branded traffic.

4) Sample Ads: You can also check the ad copies of the analyzed domain.

Winner: TIE

Why? Because both SEMrush and Ahrefs have some unique features which I explained above. That’s why it’s very difficult to select a winner.


As we all know that to improve our ranking we should build quality links. 

Right? But did you know that removing the bad backlinks is as important as building a quality backlink?

Because these low-quality spammy links can affect your ranking. 

So, now let’s see which tool has the feature to find the low-quality spammy link of our site.

Ahrefs 

Ahrefs don’t have any tool to find the toxic backlinks of your site.

SEMrush

SEMrush has “Backlink Audit” tool. With the help of this tool, you can find and remove the bad links in just a few clicks.

Let me tell you how it works.

Login to your SEMrush account and go to Projects >> Backlink Audit then click on “Audit” tab and it’ll show you all the backlinks with the toxic score:

SEMrush Divide The Domain from which you are getting Backlink in 3 categories:

  • 0-44: If the domain from which you are getting the backlink has a toxic score from 0-45. It means that it’s a Good Domain
  • 45-59: If the toxic score is 45-56. It means that the domain is potentially toxic.
  • 60-100: If the toxic score is above 59. It means that the Domain is Toxic
semrush backlink audit tool toxic scores

I’ll suggest you disavow all the backlink which has Toxic score greater than or equals to 45.

How to Delete Bad Backlink using SEMrush Tool?

Follow these simple step by step guide to remove the toxic backlinks of your site:

STEP 1: Open your SEMrush account and from the left sidebar click on the “Backlink Audit” option.

semrush backlink audit tool overview

As you can see in the above screenshot that It’ll show you the overall toxic score of your site and other important information.

STEP 2: In the right side of every backlink, it’ll show you the toxic score and delete option.

remove-or-disavow-bad-backlinks-semrush-backlink-audit-tool

So, select all the backlinks which has a toxic score from 45-100 and click on the Delete button and then click on “To Disavow” option.

STEP 3: It’ll move all these low-quality links in the “Disavow” tab. Now, click on the “export” button to export all these backlinks as “.txt” file.

export disavow backlink list from semrush backlink audit tool

STEP 4: Open the Google Disavow tool and submit the .txt file.

In this way, you can disavow bad backlinks of your site from SEMrush.

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Because SEMrush has a separate tool to do backlink audit but Ahrefs don’t have any tool like this to find the toxic backlinks of the site.


As we all know that backlinks are the most important ranking factors. So, it’s very important for us to build high-quality backlinks for our site.

So, let’s see which tool is the best for building backlinks.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs don’t have any separate tool for this. You have to analyze your competitors backlink profile manually in Ahrefs to find the good sites from where you can build backlinks.

SEMrush

SEMrush has a separate tool which can help you to build backlinks for your site.

Go to SEMrush and open your project and click on the “Link Building” option.

Now, you need to add your target keywords and top 10 competitors in this tool. After that, it’ll show you all the link building prospects.

The best thing about this tool is that you can add your Gmail or Outlook account to send emails directly from SEMrush Dashboard.

You’ll see a button “In Progress” beside each link. You can simply click on it and it’ll show a drop-down menu.

From this drop-down menu, you can select how are you planning to get a backlink from that site like:

  • Manual link
  • Directory/ Catalogue
  • Add link to article
  • Product Review
  • Link From Mention
  • Guest Post
  • Recover Lost Backlinks

When you’ll select any of these options then that link will move to “In Progress” tab. By visiting this tab, you can send emails to these prospects.

The best thing about this tool is that it automatically find the email address of these prospects. So, you don’t need to worry about anything.

Apart from this, by clicking on the “Prospects” tab, you can check all the link building ideas in one place.

SEMrush also helps you to find toxic domains in this list so that you can remove it from this list.

After sending the outreach emails, you can also check the following status of your email:

  • Email Send
  • Open
  • Read and 
  • Replied

That’s why It’s my favourite link-building tool.

Winner: SEMrush

Why?  Because SEMrush has a separate tool for link building and Ahrefs don’t have any tool for link building. So, SEMrush is the winner of this challenge.


11. Between Ahrefs & SEMrush: Which tool provides best On Page SEO Suggestion?

As we all know that if we want to rank our article on Google then we should do proper on-page SEO. 

So, let’s see which tool can help you to avoid all on-page SEO mistakes like keyword stuffing, missing image alt tag, missing meta description etc.

Let’s dive in.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs Don’t have any tool for this which can help you to improve your On-Page SEO to get more organic traffic.

SEMrush 

SEMrush offers a separate On-page SEO checker tool.

With the help of this tool, you can check ON-page SEO mistakes of your site.

What you have to do is just open your SEMrush dashboard and Go to Project >> On-Page SEO Checker and add your articles link in this tool.

on page seo checker semrush

After adding your article links, It’ll give you some awesome suggestions like: 

  • Technical SEO Ideas
  • Backlink Ideas
  • SERP Features Idea
  • Semantic Ideas
  • Content Ideas
  • User Experience Ideas
  • LSI Keywords Ideas
  • And many more

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Ahrefs don’t have any tool to check your on-page SEO mistakes but SEMrush has a separate tool called “On-page SEO Checker” which can help to find all the on-page SEO mistakes. 


12. SEMrush vs Ahrefs: Generate SEO Template for Next Article

As we all know that before writing our article we should check the top 10 ranking articles to find average word count, readability etc to write a perfect SEO optimized article.

Now, let’s see which tool can help you to generate the SEO optimized content template for your next article.

Ahrefs

Unfortunately, Ahrefs doesn’t have any tool which can help you to write a good article.

SEMrush

SEMrush has a tool called “SEO Content Template”.

With the help of this tool, you can generate a content template for your upcoming articles.

Just open the SEMrush SEO Content Template tool from the left sidebar.

Suppose, you want to write an article about “Weight loss” then you only need to enter the keyword “weight loss” in this tool. 

enter target keyword in semrush content template tool

After that, it’ll check the top 10 ranking article and generate a perfect SEO Optimized content template for you as shown in the image below.

semrush content template tutorial

As you can see in the above image that it recommends the following things:

  • Average Word count of the top 10 ranking articles.
  • LSI keywords you should use in your article
  • Average Readability of the top 10 ranking articles.
  • Websites list from where the top-ranking sites have build the backlinks.
  • And many more

In this way, this tool can help you to write a full SEO optimized article.

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Because Ahrefs doesn’t have any tool like this which can help you to write a good SEO optimized article. 


Now, let’s see which tool can help us to find the most popular content based on social shares, traffic etc.

Ahrefs 

You can use Ahrefs Content Explorer tool to find the popular blog posts.

Open the Ahrefs “Content Explorer” and enter any topic and press enter. 

Ahrefs will show you the following details:

1. No. of Pages: Ahrefs will show you the no. of pages published over time in the form of a graph. 

2. Newly Published & Republished Content: With the help of Content Explorer, you can find the newly published and republished content date wise.

3. No. of Social Shares: This tool also shows you the no. of social shares of each article.

Also, you can also find the persons who tweeted any particular article.

4. Top Websites: By clicking on the Websites tab, you can check the top websites which are publishing the content around your entered topics.

5. Broken Links: You can apply the advanced filter to find the broken links. It’ll help you in the broken link building.

SEMrush

SEMrush offers a special tool “Topical Research”. You can use this tool to find the blog post ideas category wise.

Just open the SEMrush Topical Research tool and enter your niche name. For Example, if you are in the blogging niche then you can simply write “blogging” and press enter.

semrush topical research toolkit

As you can see in the below screenshot. It’s showing me the tons of category wise blog posts ideas.

semrush showing topic ideas

Also, you can find the most popular questions related to any category as shown below.

And the best thing about this tool is that you can export all these ideas by clicking on the export button.

Winner: Ahrefs

Why? Both are good tool for finding the blog post ideas but Ahrefs Content Explorer provides some additional information as compared to SEMrush Topical Research. 


14. Ahrefs vs SEMRush: Which tool provides the best Social Media Marketing Tool?

Social media tool is very important to schedule your posts on social media, track your competitors’ post, etc. So, now let’s see which tool provides the best social media toolkit.

Ahrefs 

Ahrefs don’t provide any social media toolkit. 

SEMrush 

SEMrush provides a separate Social media toolkit called “Social Media Tracker” which can help you to schedule your posts on social media, track your competitors, boost your post and create ads.

You can do the following things with the help of SEMrush’s “Social Media Tracker” 

  • Schedule post: SEMRush not only helps you to schedule your posts on social media but also it suggests the best time to post on social media. 
  • Get Insights: Social media tracker tool can help you to find your best performing content on social media. Also, you’ll get details like your audience’s country, age etc.
  • Track Competitors: You can also track your competitors’ social media posts. Also, you can check which type of content is working for your competitors.
  • Boost Your Posts: With the help of this tool, you can boost your post to reach as many audiences as possible.
  • Create Ads: This tool also allows you to create and manage your ads. Also, you can track your low performing ads and optimize it.

SEMrush provides a complete social media toolkit. So, if must try it.

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Because Ahrefs doesn’t provide any social media toolkit. And SEMrush’s “Social Media Tracker” tool can do everything from scheduling a post to creating and managing your ads.


15. Between SEMrush and Ahrefs: Which tool provides the best Advertising Toolkit?

Now, let’s see which tool provides the best Advertising toolkit for doing the advertising research. 

Ahrefs 

Ahrefs don’t provide any separate tool for doing Advertising research. You can only check the CPC of any keyword through its Keyword Explorer tool.

SEMrush 

SEMrush provides a set of tools for doing Advertising research. 

There are lots of tools available in SEMrush like Advertising Research, Display Advertising, PLA Research, CPC Map, Ad Builder, Keyword Gap, Keyword Magic Tool, PPC Keyword Tool, Charts, Position Tracking and Social Media Ads.

That’s why SEMrush is the best tool for Advertising research. 

There are 11 different tools available in SEMrush’s Advertising toolkit. Let me explain each of these tools.

1) Advertising Research: Open the Advertising Research tool and enter the URL of your competitor. With the help of this tool, you can see the keywords they are bidding on and you can also check the examples of their live ads.

2) Display Advertising: With the help of Display advertising tool, you can do the following things: 

  • You can check the audience targeted by your competitors, 
  • Check their campaigns for both mobile and desktop.
  • You can find and check the text and banner ads of your competitors

3) PLA Research: PLA Research tool can help you to find your competitors in Google Shopping and also you can check for which keywords their products are showing on the Google Shopping Result.

4) CPC Map: CPC Map tool can help you to analyze the CPC for different locations and the search demand of the service.

5) Ad Builder: With the help of Ad Builder tool, you can easily create your Ads. Also, you can export the keywords and Ads.

6) Keyword Gap: Keyword Gap tool can help you to find those keywords which your competitors are targeting but you are not. It’ll help you to improve ROI.

7) Keyword Magic Tool: This tool can help you to find the most profitable long-tail keyword with CPC data.

8) PPC Keywords Tool: PPC keyword tool is best for you if you want to design your Google Ads campaigns. Also, you can remove the conflicting keywords to save your hard-earned money.

9) Charts: In this tool, you can add up to 5 competitors domain to find their PPC spend, keywords and traffic. Also, you can export this chart.

10) Position Tracking: Position tracking is a good tool to check your visibility in paid search. With the help of this tool, You can compare yourself with your competitors and find new competitors easily.

11) Social Media Ads: With the help of Social Media Ads tool, you can create and manage your social media ads and also you can find and optimize your low performing ads. 

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Because with Ahrefs, you can only check the CPC of any keyword. But SEMrush has 11 different tyeps of tools in its Advertising toolkit.


16. Ahrefs vs SEMrush: Which tool provides Google Docs Addon?

Let’s see which tool provides the best Google Docs addon for writing fully SEO optimized article.

Ahrefs 

Ahrefs don’t provide any Google Docs addon. 

SEMrush

SEMrush provides Google docs addon “SEO Writing Assistant”. With the help of this addon, you can write the fully SEO optimized article.

It’s very easy to use. Just open your Google docs and click on Add-ons >> SEMrush SEO Writing Assistant >> Show

semrush seo writing assistant setup

In the right sidebar, you’ll see SEMrush SEO Writing Assistant as shown below.

Now, enter your target keyword in this tool and click on the “Get recommendations” button. 

semrush seo writing assistant

With the help of this tool, you can check the following things:

  • Overall SEO Score
  • Readability Score
  • It’ll check the top 10 ranking articles and suggests you the avg word count of your article.
  • It will check your content for plagiarism
  • You’ll get a list of LSI keyword 
  • Helps you to avoid keyword stuffing.

Winner: SEMrush

Why? Because SEMrush provide a Google Docs addon “SEO Writing Assistant” which can help you to write the fully SEO optimized article.


17. Between Ahrefs & SEMrush: Which tool provides the best & fastest support?

Now, it’s time to discuss about the support of SEMrush and Ahrefs.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs provides the fastest support. They reply within 10 minutes.

You can simply click on the chat icon which is showing in the bottom right corner. And you can start live chat with Ahrefs support team.

SEMrush

SEMrush also provides good support but it’s little difficult to find it. 

You have to go to footer section and click on the “Contact Us” link.

After that, it’ll redirect you to another page where you need to enter your question, name , email address etc. After that, you have to wait for their email.

You’ll get detailed help by them but it’s not as easier as Ahrefs.

Winner: Ahrefs

Why? Both SEMrush and Ahrefs provide the best support. But in the case of SEMrush, it’s little complicated to contact them. That’s why I selected Ahrefs as the winner.


18. Pricing of SEMrush & Ahrefs: Which tool is affordable?

Now, it’s time to discuss the pricing of SEMrush and Ahrefs. Let’s see which tool provides the best service at affordable price.

Ahrefs 

Ahrefs plans starts from $99/mo. It provides 4 types of plans:

  • Lite ($99/mo)
  • Standard ($179/mo)
  • Advance ($399/mo)
  • Agency  ($999/mo)

You can select the plan according to your requirements.

SEMrush

semrush pricing

SEMrush plans starts from $99.95/mo which is same as Ahrefs. There are 3 different plans available in SEMrush:

  • Pro Plan ($99.95/mo)
  • Guru Plan ($199.95/mo)
  • Business Plan ($399.95/mo)

Please visit the SEMrush pricing page for more details about these plans.

Winner: TIE

Why? Because Starting plan of both the tools is approx $99


Ahrefs vs SEMrush: Which tool is the Winner?

SEMRush is the winner. 

Let me again show you it in the form of table.

SEMrush Vs Ahrefs

Winner

1. Popularity

SEMrush

2. Social Media Poll & Threads

SEMrush

3. Ease of Use

Ahrefs

4. Keyword Research

SEMrush

5. Backlink Analysis

SEMrush

6. Site Audit

SEMrush

7. Finding Broken Links

Ahrefs

8. Domain Analysis

TIE

9. Backlink Audit

SEMrush

10. Backlink Building

SEMrush

11. On-page SEO suggestion

SEMrush

12. SEO Template

SEMrush

13. Find Most Popular Content

Ahrefs

14. Social Media Marketing Tool

SEMrush

15. Advertising Tool

SEMrush

16. Google Docs Addon

SEMrush

17. Support

Ahrefs

18. Pricing

TIE


What’s the starting price of SEMrush & Ahrefs?

SEMrush plan starts from $99.95 per month and Ahrefs plan starts from $99 per month.

Does SEMrush Provide a free trial?

Yes, SEMrush provides a 14-days free trial. So that anyone can try this tool for free of cost to decide that this tool is good or not for their business.

Does Ahrefs offer any free trial?

Ahrefs doesn’t offer any free trial. But still, you can try this tool for 7-days at just $7. So, try it yourself to decide it’s good for your business or not.


Final Words

In this SEMrush vs Ahrefs comparison. I tried to cover every topic so that you can easily decide the best SEO tool for you.

But don’t blindly believe me. Try both these tools yourself and decide which tool is the best for you. 

I’ve given the trial link of both SEMrush and Ahrefs. It’ll help you to try both the tools.

If you found this Ahrefs vs SEMrush article helpful then please let me know via comment below.”

And don’t forget to share it on social media. 

Thanks in Advance! ♥

semrush vs ahrefs

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54 Comments

  1. Ahrefs has a large collection of links that we can use to find weak competitors and potential keywords. Regarding the recommendation, I personally suggest Ahrefs.
    Thanks.

  2. You cover everything in this post. I am now using Ahrefs. But now Semrush going to my cup of tea. Thanks frnd.

  3. Hi Sumit

    This is an amazing detail depth comparison of ahrefs vs semrush

    and i use both tool those seo tool hase their own pros and cons

    both tool are best for seo

    Thanks

  4. This is a never ending battle and this is a good review

  5. This is a great article.
    Thank you for sharing such useful information.
    Also, very congratulations for winning the contest.

  6. hi, Sumit Sao,
    Thanks for Sharing Best Review Semrush Vs Ahrefs. I have been using SEMrush Best SEO keyword research tools. but I am thinking. Use Ahrefs keyword research tools. That is the most popular tools.
    I read this Article full understood for Ahrefs.

  7. Sumit,

    Such a detailed comparison between SEMRush & Ahrefs. One good reason I love SEMRush (than Ahrefs) is its powerful Keyword Magic Tool. One of the strategic Keyword research tools I have used so far. Surprisingly, SEMRush team keeps on growing its keyword index database too. That’s impressive!

  8. Great post, this post help many people to choose between SEMrush and Ahref.

  9. Congratulation Sumit, for holding a position in this contest. This article is very in-depth and genuine review article

  10. Hi Sumit
    You are amazing thanks for providing the best comparison between SemRush and Ahref. All the doubts regarding them are cleared. I think both have some Specific features and we have to decide which one to choose as per our requirement.
    thanks once again…
    keep writing such useful content.

  11. Awesome post Sumit, very well written.

    Using both tools for the last couple of months, I’ve also concluded that SemRush is way better and the best SEO tool. I use it’s free resources every week without paying anything especially when it comes to find the Keyword overview.

    Anyways, you put a lot of hardwork, great content man!

  12. It’s a detailed comparison between SEMRush and Ahrefs, Sumit. I always prefer and feel easy with Ahrefs tools for checking the keyword difficulty and competitor analysis. Thanks for the detailed article, you always rock with the in-depth content, keep doing it!

  13. Hi Sumit,
    This is an amazing article as always.
    There is always a dilemma is choosing the best tool between SEMrush and Ahrefs. Thanks for this amazing elaborative post.

  14. Really great post.
    It was a really deep informative blog. Made everything clear.

    Thanks for sharing Sumit

  15. I’m so much happy to be here on your website. The design is awesome, The website is fast loading while the content is making sense.

    Thanks for this awesome article, you took your time to write.

  16. Found a amazing and honest review. Detailed guide with everything we want to know about these tools.
    Both of these are professional tools for SEO but their cost is much higher to buy for us.
    Please also review some free tools for SEO audit and keywords research.

  17. Hi Sumit bro,

    This is one of the best comparison article on SEMRush vs Ahrefs. Both have Advantage and Disadvantage similarly, and I can see SEMRush is the winner here.

    But both are not affordable for the beginner blogger like me with 0 income source from the website.

    Why don’t you write an article on some free SEO tools, which can help us to grow more as a beginner???

    Regards,
    Rohit Gupta

    1. Hi Rohit,

      Glad to know that you found this article helpful.

      I’ll definitely write an article about free SEO tools. Thanks for your valuable feedback.

      Regards,
      Sumit Sao

  18. Kingsley Nnaemeka says:

    Awesome content Sumit Sao. Just get to learn new stuff here.
    I will share this, I recommend everybody to share this post please to help each other.
    I saw this post from @litbloging. If we share it then more and people will get benefits from this Ahrefs vs SEMrush article.
    Thanks

  19. Amazing Comparison brother, never saw anything like this Before.

    I really like the SEMrush tool and yes sometimes I also prefer Ahrefs both are good in some or the other things.

    Really appreciate your Content bro.

    1. Hi Tarun,

      Gald to know that you found this Ahrefs vs SEMrush article helpful.

      It took me more than one months to do all this research. Thanks for your valuable comment.

      Regards,
      Sumit Sao

  20. Awesome and winning article bro. It can eliminate the confusion of bloggers to use which one out of both.

    Great insights.

    Regards
    Masood

    1. Hi Masood,

      Glad to know that you found this Ahrefs vs SEMrush review helpful.

      Thanks for your valuable comment.

      Regards,
      Sumit Sao

  21. Such a amzing comparison i never see this type of comparison artical you are such a pro sumit brother

    Thanxs for amazing article

    1. Hi Nirmal,

      Thanks for your valuable feedback. Glad to know that you found this Ahrefs vs SEMrush article helpful.

      ~ Sumit Sao

  22. So finally, SEMrush is a Clear winner. By the way, fall in love with the analysis and your explanation. You have put all into it to get this Article ready. Great work.

    1. Hi Siddhant,

      Glad to know that you found this SEMrush vs Ahrefs review helpful.

      Regards,
      Sumit Sao

  23. I was checking who is the winner in your opinion. You made it final bro. SEMrush is the winner. Amazingly described brother!

    1. Hi Sayem,

      SEMrush and Ahrefs both are good tools. But SEMrush is the winner because it provides some amazing tools like Backlink Audit, Backlink Building, SEO Content Template, on-page SEO checker and many more which are not available in Ahrefs.

      Thanks for your valuable feedback. Gald to know that you found it helpful.

      Regards,
      Sumit Sao

    2. Amazing comparison Sumit Bhai, you are really put everything that an average buyer want to know..

      Regards,
      Basant Kumar

      1. Hi Basant,

        Glad to know that you found this article helpful.

        Thanks for your valuable comment.

        Regards,
        Sumit Sao

  24. Hi Sumit,
    This is an amazing guide . I can see a lot of unique information here. Semrush is an all in one tool. And I love the explanation and social profffs you have Shared

    1. Hi Chayan,

      Thanks for your valuable feedback.

      It took me more than one month to do all this research. Also, I spend 3-4 hours on social media to find and collect these polls and threads results. So that my readers can easily decide which is the best SEO tool.

      I tried to share an honest SEMrush vs Ahrefs review. Glad to know that you found this article helpful.

      Regards,
      Sumit Sao

    1. Hi Sreenath,

      Thanks for your valuable feedback. Glad to know that you found this article helpful.

      ~ Sumit Sao

    1. Hi Nishant,

      I mainly use SEMrush for doing Site Audit, Backlink Audit and Finding the easy to rank long-tail keywords.

      ~ Sumit Sao

      1. Same here♥️☺️

        Jo popup aata h wo elementor pro se banaye h?

  25. This is no wonder the best article. I honestly say, I usually not read so long blogs but Sumit bhai you are awesome.

    Personally I use Ahref for daily activities but yeah Semrush sounds cool. Definitely will try it in next month.

    Thanks for detailed information.

  26. Never seen such a high quality content in other blogs. You are pro bro

    1. Nailed it man!!
      No words for this ❣️
      Great structure…. Quality words with alot of unique information…
      Thanks 😊

      1. Hi Usman,

        Glad to know that you found this SEMrush vs Ahrefs review super helpful.

        Thanks for your valuable feedback.

        Regards,
        Sumit Sao

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