Listed whether or not they pay us. Prices from each tool's own pricing page, checked Oct 16, 2026.

Ahrefs

SEO toolset known for backlink data, plus rank tracking, audits, keyword research and Brand Radar AI visibility.

Best for Backlink research and data heavy SEO teams

What it does

Ahrefs is a marketing platform built for search and AI visibility. You enter your domain, target keywords, or competitor websites to get backlink data, search rankings, audit metrics, and AI platform mentions. It is designed for content marketers, SEO professionals, PPC specialists, and marketing teams aiming to grow web traffic.

Read more: 3 features and how people use themShow less
  1. Brand Radar

    Tracks brand citations, mentions, and sentiment across AI chatbots and compares visibility against competitors.

    Use caseAn AEO specialist checks which AI platforms recommend their brand and spots citation gaps across generative answer engines.

    From ahrefs.com
  2. Site Audit

    Scans websites to monitor technical health and diagnose over 170 search engine optimization issues.

    Use caseAn SEO specialist scans a client website to identify indexability problems, duplicate content, and site speed bottlenecks.

    From ahrefs.com/use-cases/seo
  3. Ahrefs: Rank Tracker

    Rank Tracker

    Monitors search engine positions and tracking updates across different geographical locations.

    Use caseA marketing consultant monitors regional keyword positions over time to measure the growth of a local business.

    From ahrefs.com/use-cases/seo · image from Ahrefs

Written from Ahrefs's own website, checked . Each feature links to the page it comes from; images are Ahrefs's own.

Every plan

PlanMonthlyBilled yearlyPerWhat it includes
FreeFreeNot listedper accountlimited Site Explorer + Site Audit for owned sites
Starter$29Not listedper accountentry research access
Lite$129Not listedper user5 projects, 750 tracked keywords, 1,000 credits/user, 5 AI prompts, 6 mo history
Standard$249Not listedper user20 projects, 2,000 tracked keywords, unlimited credits, 10 AI prompts, 2 yr history
Advanced$449Not listedper user50 projects, 5,000 tracked keywords, 20 AI prompts, 5 yr history
Enterprise$1,499Not listedper account, annual commitment10,000+ tracked keywords, unlimited history, uncapped API

From Ahrefs's own pricing page, checked . Prices are in US dollars per month; "billed yearly" is the monthly price when you pay for a year up front. A few figures (often the yearly price) are derived rather than printed on the page.

Before you pay

Trains on your data
No
What Ahrefs saysNo training on your data Source page
Export your data
Yes
What Ahrefs saysPersonalized higher limits & data exports Source page
Discounts
Pay annually to save up to 17%
What Ahrefs saysPay annually, save up to 17% Source page

Only what Ahrefs's own pages state, with the quote behind each answer. Anything they don't publish is left out rather than guessed.

Getting started with Ahrefs

  1. Enter in your website and click on "Analyze" to let Brand Radar automatically find your brand name and commonly associated competitor brands and websites.
  2. Click on "add your brand and competitors manually" if you want to manually specify your brand and your competitors.
  3. Fill out the form to set up both names and websites for each brand.

Tips

  • Any brand can be configured to have multiple brand names and websites and tracked together as a single entity.
  • Custom prompts can be adjusted to check AI platforms monthly, or as frequently as daily.
  • Claude is tracked via API and is available for custom prompts only, consuming 8 checks per check without requiring a special add on.

Written from Ahrefs's own help pages: help.ahrefs.com/en/articles/11064852-what-is-...

Ahrefs video tutorials

Ahrefs Explained in 2026: The Complete Beginner's Guide To the Most Powerful SEO ToolTravis Wilkie · 5 min

Independent creators on YouTube, not Ahrefs or us. The video loads from YouTube only when you press play.

What the free plan includes

Ahrefs Free: limited Site Explorer and Site Audit for verified site owners; no free trial on paid plans.

Questions people ask about Ahrefs

How much does Ahrefs cost?

Paid plans start at $29 a month (Starter). 6 plans are listed above, from Ahrefs's own pricing page.

Is Ahrefs free?

Yes, there is a free plan: Ahrefs Free: limited Site Explorer and Site Audit for verified site owners; no free trial on paid plans..

Does Ahrefs train its AI on my data?

No, the company says your data is not used for training. Source

Does Ahrefs have a student or other discount?

Pay annually to save up to 17% Source

Does Ahrefs have an API?

Yes.

Works with

Integrations
Looker Studio, Google Search Console, IndexNow, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, Facebook, X
Languages
173+ languages

Where this came from

Plans, prices and limits were copied from Ahrefs's own pages, then checked .

How we collect prices and rank tools · Is something wrong? Correct this listing

Others that do the same job

Visit Ahrefs Ahrefs (opens the tool's site)