The 6 best Semrush alternatives for every budget (2026 review)

Semrush is a prominent platform in the marketing world. It’s an all-in-one platform that many Fortune 500 companies rely on. It covers a wide range of needs for SEO, PPC, and content marketing. However, its comprehensive nature comes with a significant price tag and a learning curve that may be steep for some users.

Some teams find they are paying for a full suite of features while only utilizing a few. This often leads them to search for a Semrush alternative. You may not need all the available features, or perhaps the cost is a primary consideration for your budget. The good news is that you have many options. Several tools can handle specific jobs effectively.

This guide will walk you through some of the best ones, whether you need heavy-duty data analysis or want to create quality content that gets seen. On that note, tools like the eesel AI blog writer are making a difference by focusing on a core aspect of SEO: creating optimized content at scale with less complexity.

Why look for Semrush alternatives in the first place?

An all-in-one tool sounds great on paper, but there are a few common reasons why people start looking for other options.

• Pricing: Semrush represents a serious investment. Its Semrush One Starter plan is $199/month, which can be a significant factor for freelancers, startups, and smaller businesses. Even if you purchase individual toolkits, the costs add up, and you might start questioning if the value aligns with your usage.

• Learning Curve: The Semrush interface can be complex for new users. Its extensive reports, tools, and metrics require time to navigate effectively. A lot of people pay for the full package but only use the couple of features they've managed to figure out. Semrush has a free "Getting Started" course, but that still means you have to carve out significant time to get comfortable with it.

• Specific Needs: Not every marketing team needs a tool that does everything. Sometimes, you just need a tool that does one thing exceptionally well. Your entire focus might be on building backlinks, tracking keyword rankings, or just publishing a steady stream of blog content. For these specific jobs, specialized tools can be simpler, more focused, and more budget-friendly.

Our criteria for choosing the best Semrush alternatives

To make this list helpful, we had some clear rules for what makes a tool a worthy contender.

• Core functionality: The tool had to be excellent in at least one key area that Semrush is known for, like keyword research, backlink analysis, site audits, or content marketing.
• Usability: It needed to have a clean, intuitive interface. You shouldn't have to take a course just to figure out how to pull a basic report.
• Pricing and value: The tool has to offer a great return on investment. This could mean a lower price, more generous usage limits, or unique features that make the cost worth it.
• Data accuracy: At the end of the day, an SEO tool is only as good as its data. We focused on platforms known for providing reliable information you can confidently build a strategy around.

Comparison of the top Semrush alternatives

Here’s a quick side-by-side look at our top picks to help you see how they stack up.

The 6 best Semrush alternatives to try

Alright, let's get into the specifics. Each of these tools offers something unique, whether you're a solo blogger trying to make a splash or an agency juggling dozens of clients.

1. eesel AI blog writer

While it's not a direct all-in-one replacement, the eesel AI blog writer is a powerful alternative for what is often the most time-consuming part of SEO: creating content. After all, what good is all that keyword data if you can't turn it into articles that actually rank? For many of us, content is the final product, and eesel automates the entire workflow from a single keyword. It’s the tool we used to grow our own traffic from 700 to 750,000 daily impressions in just 3 months.

Pros: The eesel AI blog writer produces complete, publish-ready posts. It handles the research, finds and embeds relevant YouTube videos and real Reddit quotes for social proof, and even generates assets like tables and infographics. A major advantage is its focus on AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), which is becoming essential for gaining visibility in Google’s AI Overviews and other AI-driven search results.

Cons: It is a specialized tool. The eesel AI blog writer is laser-focused on content generation. It won’t help you with technical site audits, managing PPC campaigns, or deep-diving into a competitor’s backlink profile. For those tasks, you'll want to pair it with one of the other tools on this list.

Pricing:

• You can generate your first blog completely free to see the quality for yourself.
• The paid plan is straightforward: $99 for a credit pack of 50 blog posts.

2. Ahrefs

If you’re looking for the most direct alternative to Semrush, it’s Ahrefs. It’s a complete SEO suite famous for its massive backlink database and powerful keyword research tools. It’s powered by one of the most active web crawlers out there, so the data is consistently high-quality.

Pros: Ahrefs' backlink index is its main attraction, with over 35 trillion live backlinks. This makes it a leading choice for backlink analysis. Its Site Explorer gives you a clean, visual overview of any website's SEO health, which is great for figuring out what your competitors are doing right. They've also added tools to help you track your brand's visibility in AI search.

Cons: Just like Semrush, Ahrefs is a significant investment. Its entry-level Lite plan starts at $129/month. A point of consideration for some users is its credit-based system on the lower-tier plans. While they’ve made some user-friendly adjustments, you can still use your credits quickly during intensive research sessions.

Pricing:

• Lite: $129/month
• Standard: $249/month
• Advanced: $449/month

3. SE Ranking

SE Ranking balances powerful features with affordable pricing. This has made it a popular choice for freelancers, small agencies, and in-house teams who need solid client-facing features.

Pros: Its strengths include highly accurate rank tracking and excellent white-label reporting capabilities, which are a huge help for agencies. The platform is easy to navigate and includes a detailed site audit tool that checks over 115 different technical metrics. It also provides AI visibility tracking for Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT, a feature you often pay extra for elsewhere.

Cons: While SE Ranking covers all the SEO essentials, its keyword and backlink databases are less extensive than what you'll find with Semrush or Ahrefs. Some users also feel the interface has a different design compared to some competitors.

Pricing:

• Essential: $65/month
• Pro: $119/month
• Business: $259/month
• They offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, so you can give it a proper test run.

4. Moz Pro

Moz Pro is a long-standing tool in the SEO industry, and it’s still a great option, particularly for those just getting their feet wet with SEO. It's famous for creating its own metrics like Domain Authority (DA) and the newer Brand Authority™, which have become industry benchmarks for measuring a website's strength.

Pros: Moz Pro is incredibly user-friendly. It also positions itself as being nearly 65% less expensive than competitors on its entry-level plan. The interface is clean and easy to understand, and Moz provides some of the best educational resources available, including their well-known Beginner's Guide to SEO.

Cons: The platform offers a 7-day free trial. Moz’s data indexes for keywords and backlinks are smaller than those of Semrush and Ahrefs. The platform's feature release schedule may differ from other tools.

Pricing:

• Starter: $49/month
• Standard: $99/month
• Medium: $179/month

5. Ubersuggest

Created by marketer Neil Patel, Ubersuggest was designed to be an affordable and accessible alternative to larger suites. It covers all the basics, including keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, and backlink analysis, at what it claims is 90% cheaper than competitor plans.

Pros: The price is, without a doubt, its main appeal. You can get started for just $12/month. The interface is minimal and very easy for beginners to navigate. It also offers a 7-day free trial to let you try it out.

Cons: The tool offers essential features at a low price point. The data's scope and precision might differ from premium tools. The platform includes in-app notifications about plan upgrades. It is a suitable starting point, though users with advanced SEO needs might require more extensive features.

Pricing:

• Individual: $12/month
• Business: $20/month
• Enterprise: $40/month

6. Mangools

Mangools isn't a single tool but a suite of five well-designed SEO tools bundled together (including KWFinder, SERPWatcher, and LinkMiner). It’s built for bloggers, small businesses, and anyone looking for a more straightforward user experience.

Pros: Its user interface is a key feature. It’s clean, intuitive, and does a great job of making complex SEO data easy to digest. Its keyword difficulty score is especially well-regarded. KWFinder, its keyword research tool, is one of the best for finding valuable long-tail keywords. The pricing is also clear and affordable.

Cons: Like other budget-friendly options, its data libraries are smaller than some larger platforms (it has 9.5 trillion backlinks compared to Ahrefs' 35 trillion). Because the tools are separate apps within the suite, it doesn't always feel as seamless as a true all-in-one platform.

Pricing:

• Basic: $49/month
• Premium: $69/month
• Agency: $129/month
• It also offers a 48-hour money-back guarantee.

Tips for choosing the right Semrush alternatives

Feeling a bit stuck with all the options? Here are a few quick tips to help you find the right tool for your needs.

• Start with your main goal: What's the number one thing you need to accomplish? If it’s building backlinks, a tool like Ahrefs is probably your best bet. If it’s creating content, look at a specialist tool. If it's technical SEO, a site audit tool is key. Don't pay for a bunch of features you'll never use.
• Be realistic about your budget: There are great tools at every price point. A $12/month tool like Ubersuggest might be all you need to get started. But if you need enterprise-grade data, you'll have to be prepared to invest more.
• Take advantage of free trials: This one is a must. Almost every tool on this list offers a free trial or a limited free version. Sign up, connect your website, and play around. See which interface you prefer and whose data feels most useful for your site.
• Think about your workflow: Do you really need one tool that does everything? Or could you build a more cost-effective "stack" of specialized tools? For example, pairing a powerful content generator like the eesel AI blog writer with a free backlink checker can give you the best of both worlds without breaking the bank.

Hearing directly from experts who have tested various platforms can provide additional clarity. The video below offers a detailed comparison of several top Semrush alternatives, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses in real-world scenarios.

This video offers a detailed comparison of several top Semrush alternatives, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses in real-world scenarios.

Finding the right Semrush alternative for your workflow

Semrush is a great platform, but it’s not the only option out there. The "best" Semrush alternative is simply the one that fits your specific needs, your budget, and your daily workflow. For many teams focused on growing through organic traffic, a specialized tool can deliver better results than a single, do-it-all suite.

Ultimately, SEO is about taking action, not just analyzing data. Focusing on action, such as content creation, can be more effective than analysis alone. You can generate your first complete, SEO-optimized blog post in minutes and for free with the eesel AI blog writer. See for yourself what a difference a content-first approach can make.