Marketing · alternatives
Alternatives to Ahrefs
23 marketing tools sit alongside Ahrefs in this directory. Below is what separates each from Ahrefs on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 23
- With a free tier
- 6
- Cheaper to start
- 5
- Ahrefs starts at
- Free, then $29/month
Why people look past Ahrefs
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Ahrefs entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
Cost climbs steeply across the tiers
Ahrefs publishes 6 tiers, from Free up to $1499/month. Teams that outgrow the entry plan can find the next rung a large step, the Ahrefs pricing page breaks each one down.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Do SEO, content marketing, competitor research, PPC and social media marketing from just one platfor
- Starts $88.33 a month dearer, at $117.33/month.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than Per month by credits and usage limits.
- 5 tiers to Ahrefs's 6.
SEO platform built around Domain Authority, local listings management and a weekly campaign workflow
- Starts $20 a month dearer, at $49/month.
- Sold on a Per month by usage limits model rather than Per month by credits and usage limits.
Website traffic and competitive analysis
- Starts $29 a month cheaper, at Free.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Per month by credits and usage limits.
- 1 tier to Ahrefs's 6.
The main open source marketing automation platform, self-hosted and GPL licensed
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Per month by credits and usage limits.
- 2 tiers to Ahrefs's 6.
Open source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database
- Starts $29 a month cheaper, at Free.
- Sold on a Per month by event count model rather than Per month by credits and usage limits.
- 4 tiers to Ahrefs's 6.
A/B testing for Google Analytics
- Starts $29 a month cheaper, at Free.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Per month by credits and usage limits.
- 1 tier to Ahrefs's 6.
Every Ahrefs alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs (this page) | Free, then $29/month | Per month by credits and usage limits | 6 | |
| SEMrushComprehensive SEO platform similar to Ahrefs with backlink analysis, keyword research, and site auditing; stronger in paid search and content marketing integrations. | Free, then $117.33/month | Subscription | 5 | vs Ahrefs |
| MozPioneer in SEO software with Moz Pro offering keyword research, rank tracking, and site auditing; lower pricing tier than Ahrefs with different data sources. | Free, then $49/month | Per month by usage limits | 6 | vs Ahrefs |
| SimilarWebCompetitive intelligence platform focusing on website traffic analysis, benchmarking, and market research; complements Ahrefs for traffic and audience insights. | Free | Freemium | 1 | vs Ahrefs |
| Mautic | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs Ahrefs |
| Umami | Free | Per month by event count | 4 | vs Ahrefs |
| Google Optimize | Free | Freemium | 1 | vs Ahrefs |
| Swydo | €69/month | Per month by data source count | 1 | vs Ahrefs |
| Onclusive | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Ahrefs |
| Roxhill | On request | Quote | 4 | vs Ahrefs |
| Wunderkind | On request | Quote | 2 | vs Ahrefs |
| Invoca | On request | Quote | 5 | vs Ahrefs |
| WebEngage | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Ahrefs |
| Postscript | $49/month | Per month plus per message sent | 4 | vs Ahrefs |
| Bloomreach | On request | Quote | 2 | vs Ahrefs |
| Netcore Cloud | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Ahrefs |
| Zoho Marketing Automation | $19/month | Per month by contact count | 3 | vs Ahrefs |
| CallRail | $50/month | Per month by plan, plus per-number and per-minute overages | 4 | vs Ahrefs |
| CleverTap | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Ahrefs |
| Insider | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Ahrefs |
| Optimove | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Ahrefs |
| Octoboard | €25/month | Per month by connected client count | 1 | vs Ahrefs |
| Freshpaint | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Ahrefs |
| Madgicx | $49/month | Usage-based | 2 | vs Ahrefs |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Ahrefs badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (6)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- SEMrush , Free, then $117.33/month
- Moz , Free, then $49/month
- SimilarWeb , Free
- Mautic , Free
- Umami , Free
- Google Optimize , Free
Cheaper than Ahrefs (5)
Entry price under Ahrefs's $29/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- SimilarWeb , Free
- Umami , Free
- Google Optimize , Free
- Zoho Marketing Automation , $19/month
- Octoboard , €25/month
What you would be giving up
Ahrefs is most often brought in for seo research, competitor analysis, content planning, backlink analysis, rank tracking. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Ahrefs is broadly right and the question is cost, the Ahrefs pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Marketing category lists everything the directory holds, and best marketing tools ranks them.
Ahrefs runs on web. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Ahrefs alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Ahrefs?
- 23 other marketing tools are listed in this directory, led by SEMrush, Moz, SimilarWeb, Mautic. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Ahrefs?
- 6 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: SEMrush, Moz, SimilarWeb, Mautic, Umami.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Ahrefs?
- Yes. 5 of the alternatives below start under Ahrefs's $29/month: SimilarWeb at Free, Umami at Free, Google Optimize at Free, Zoho Marketing Automation at $19/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Ahrefs?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: cost climbs steeply across the tiers. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Ahrefs?
- Ahrefs is most often brought in for seo research, competitor analysis, content planning, backlink analysis, rank tracking. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Ahrefs?
- None of the marketing tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Ahrefs alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Marketing, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Ahrefs against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Ahrefs covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every marketing tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Marketing category, 23 tools beside Ahrefs. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.