In the world of SEO, it is commonly accepted that SEMrush is among the most powerful tools available and that it uses a range of features covering all SEO optimization needs. It’s an all-in-one tool, as powerful in keyword research and keyword suggestions as it is in thebacklink analysis.
But SEMrush is not the only tool available for SEO: there are many other tools, different from SEMrush and at a lower price (and sometimes completely free).
At the end of SEMrush's trial period, you must pay a monthly subscription to continue benefiting from its features. Depending on the functions you want in your dashboard, the price starts at €69 per month.
Often, at the end of the free version, many users look for alternatives to Semrush not because they're dissatisfied, but because they have to pay — and rather expensively at that. Among the alternatives, these users may find a plethora of software, but rarely as effective as this one, and they may need to combine several tools…
So here is a selection of tools that, in at least some respects, can replace SEMrush.
Free alternatives to SEMrush
1. UpCity
The "SEO Report Card" from UpCity analyzes your site to see how it compares to its competitors. Small businesses seeking simple, easy-to-understand metrics to evaluate the success of their SEO strategy may find it sufficient.
For a free tool, it still provides fairly in-depth data on your site's ranking (across several search engines), as well as on the success of your keyword strategy.
The platform also provides trust metrics and information about site accessibility, allowing the user to evaluate key data such as your site's authority level and its loading time.
2. Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest
From Neil Patel, one of the most prominent thought leaders in the field, Ubersuggest is a free tool with basic attributes comparable to Google Keyword Planner, although somewhat different: indeed, unlike Google Keyword, Ubersuggest it displays only 3 metrics: the search volume associated with the query, the PPC price (CPC) and the ranking difficulty, but all three are fairly accurate and similar to SEMRush.
In addition, it recently created a new attribute «Content ideas», where it will suggest topic ideas, as well as useful metrics such as the number of backlinks created by identical articles and estimated monthly visits.
Compared to SEMRush or Google Keyword Planner, it doesn't give many keyword ideas. You can however search for your keyword suggestions in Google Keyword Planner and replicate them on Ubersuggest to get more accurate metrics (and article suggestions).
Other paid alternatives to SEMrush (paid tools)
3. Majestic
Majestic is one of the earliest SEO tools, and it remains one of the most powerful tools on the market.
Specializing in comprehensive link analysis, Majestic provides reliable, up-to-date insights, offering users an enormous link database that allows them to drill down into SEO details. One of its main advantages is the ability to explore a domain or a URL in depth thanks to a unique site-crawling tool.
4. SEO PowerSuite
SEO PowerSuite is an all-in-one desktop-based toolkit, used by more than 5 million SEO professionals and site managers.
Consisting of 4 different tools, it is ideal for diving into technical SEO data and conducting in-depth SEO audits to define an SEO strategy. Its advanced analytical tools are excellent for assessing what your competitors are doing well.
5. Ahrefs
It's probably not surprising that Ahrefs appears on this list, as it is one of SEMrush's main competitors: arguably the tool closest to it, it offers comparable features, with a few bonuses…
Ahrefs it has excellent crawling capabilities at the internet-wide or site-specific level, as well as powerful features like keyword management and competitive analysis. Although its interface can seem confusing, it is an authoritative tool for marketing professionals.
6. Moz Pro
Another major name in the world of SEO, you may have already come across Moz through its excellent digital marketing blog.
Moz Pro Moz is a versatile and powerful SEO platform combining the best of keyword research, competitive analysis, and content marketing. Easy to use, Moz's clear presentation makes it a practical, user-friendly option.
7. SerpStat
Serpstat is an SEO platform that emphasizes its easy-to-use, in-depth keyword research tool for both your own site and competing domains.
Providing information on 180 million domains, it has a significantly smaller database than SEMrush, which has data on 816 million domains. However, Serpstat's domain database remains substantial in its own right.
The clean visuals let users see metrics clearly presented with color-coding and numbers.
8. CognitiveSEO
By focusing on site crawling, Cognitive SEO will crawl your entire site and uncover its weak points, which you can improve by adjusting your SEO strategy.
By running SEO audit algorithms, Cognitive SEO it pinpoints the finer aspects of SEO across your site, including backlink checks and keyword strategy to ensure your approach is consistent and fully optimized.
9. SpyFu
As its name suggests, SpyFu it focuses on spying on your competitors' sites: while SEMrush offers similar metrics, SpyFu provides more comprehensive and varied competitor analyses. The tool is presented clearly, but don't be fooled by the simplicity of the user interface: SpyFu tracks 80 million domains and 5 billion results.
Discover the competition's secret SEO and PPC tactics, and get ahead of your rivals with your own strategy.
10. GrowthBar
GrowthBar is one of the SEO tools favored by marketing specialists and bloggers: built for growth, its mission is to make customer acquisition “10x easier.”
It is a web application that simplifies keyword research, competitive analysis, one-click content generation, and rank tracking.
The company also offers a Chrome extension that displays SEO data on the fly as you browse the web…
But its most impressive feature is its content generation tool: enter any keyword and GrowthBar’s powerful AI will instantly create a content plan that tells you exactly what you need to write to rank well.
GrowthBar is indeed free for 5 days, then plans start at $29/month.
Conclusion
SEMrush is often considered the gold standard among SEO platforms. However, if you are new to the field, its high cost can be prohibitive, and the huge number of features and tools can overwhelm a beginner.
That said, even for an experienced SEO professional, it can be worthwhile to review the competition to see if there are new features you may be missing.
Before making a decision, think about the features you need most, the number of sites you will monitor, the size of your team, and your SEO budget.
And of course, before committing to a subscription, don’t forget to take advantage of all the free features and trial periods. Once you’ve found a platform that fits your business, go for it, but still keep an eye on alternatives.
You can also delegate the management of your SEO to a freelance SEO consultant. That way, you won’t have to find SEO tools yourself: your provider will take care of them and deliver the results of their analyses and recommendations directly to you.
