Is Ahrefs or Preset better?

Neither clearly leads. Ahrefs starts at Free and Preset at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Ahrefs or Preset?

Ahrefs starts at Free and Preset at Free.

Does Ahrefs or Preset run on more platforms?

Ahrefs runs on Web. Preset runs on Web, Cloud.

Can I use Ahrefs for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Ahrefs best used for?

Ahrefs is most often used for seo research, competitor analysis, content planning, backlink analysis. Of those, seo research and competitor analysis are not what Preset is typically brought in for.

What can Ahrefs do that Preset cannot?

Ahrefs covers Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit, Rank Tracker. Preset covers Managed Superset, Auto-scaling, Enterprise Security, Custom Branding. Both handle Web support.

Marketing · head to head

Ahrefs vs Preset

Ahrefs

Marketing

Backlink and keyword research platform run on its own web crawler, metered by credits since 2024

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Preset

Business Intelligence

Managed Apache Superset

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Ahrefs the April 2024 move from unlimited usage to credits was a real downgrade for existing customers: Lite meters 1,000 credits per user per month and the data tools lock when they are gone, so heavy research on the entry plan now forces an upgrade to Standard at 249 USD.; Preset limited SQL IDE advanced features compared to specialized query tools
They diverge on capability: Ahrefs covers Site Explorer, Preset covers Managed Superset.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Ahrefs and Preset actually diverge.

Attributes where Ahrefs and Preset differ
Attribute	Ahrefs	Preset
Pricing model	Per month by credits and usage limits	Unknown
Platforms	Web	Web, Cloud
Category	Marketing	Business Intelligence
Founded	2010	2019

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Ahrefs

Site Explorer
Keywords Explorer
Site Audit
Rank Tracker
Content Explorer
Competitive analysis
Backlink checker
Keyword research

Only in Preset

Managed Superset
Auto-scaling
Enterprise Security
Custom Branding
API Access
Snowflake
BigQuery
Redshift

Both cover

Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Ahrefs

SEO researchnot Preset
Competitor analysisnot Preset
Content planningnot Preset
Backlink analysisnot Preset
Rank trackingnot Preset

Preset

Self-service analyticsnot Ahrefs
Data explorationnot Ahrefs
Ad-hoc reportingnot Ahrefs
Collaborative analysisnot Ahrefs
Embedded analyticsnot Ahrefs

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Ahrefs

The April 2024 move from unlimited usage to credits was a real downgrade for existing customers: Lite meters 1,000 credits per user per month and the data tools lock when they are gone, so heavy research on the entry plan now forces an upgrade to Standard at 249 USD.
Pay-as-you-go credits are charged automatically once enabled, so a busy research month can produce an unbudgeted overage bill rather than a hard stop.
Every paid tier includes exactly one user, and additional seats cost 40, 60 or 80 USD a month by tier, so a three-person team on Standard pays 369 USD a month rather than 249.
Row caps bind before credit caps for many jobs: Lite returns at most 2,500 rows per report, which is not enough to export a mid-sized site backlink profile in one pass.
Ahrefs states plainly that it never runs discounts and offers no free trial of the paid plans, so evaluation means paying a full month or working from the ownership-verified free tier.
Rank Tracker updates weekly on every tier including Enterprise, so teams needing daily positions have to buy a separate tracker such as SE Ranking or Semrush.
A growing share of capability is sold as add-ons rather than included: Report Builder at 99 USD a month, Content Kit from 99 USD, Project Boost at 20 or 200 USD per project, and Brand Radar from 199 USD.

Preset

Limited SQL IDE advanced features compared to specialized query tools
Viewer licenses add substantial cost for embedded analytics deployments
Dataset-centric approach requires preprocessing by data teams for some use cases

Pricing, plan by plan

Ahrefs

Free

Ahrefs FreeFree
- Limited Site Explorer and Site Audit for sites you verify ownership of
- No access to competitor data
- Where paid subscriptions land after cancellation
Starter$29/month
- Search and competitor data with reduced row limits
- No projects tier of the main plan ladder
- Sits below Lite on the published pricing page
Lite$129/month
- 1 user included, up to 2 more at 40 USD each per month
- 1,000 credits per user per month, the only tier with a credit cap
- 5 projects, 750 tracked keywords, 6 months of historical data
Standard$249/month
- 1 user included, up to 5 more at 60 USD each per month
- Unlimited report credits under fair use
- 20 projects, 2,000 tracked keywords, 2 years of historical data

Preset

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Preset review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Ahrefs if

You need site explorer.
You want to start without paying.
You also want keywords explorer.

Ahrefs review

Choose Preset if

You need managed superset.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Cloud.
You also want auto-scaling.

Preset review

Questions people ask

Is Ahrefs or Preset better?: Neither clearly leads. Ahrefs starts at Free and Preset at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs or Preset?: Ahrefs starts at Free and Preset at Free.
Does Ahrefs or Preset run on more platforms?: Ahrefs runs on Web. Preset runs on Web, Cloud.
Can I use Ahrefs for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Ahrefs best used for?: Ahrefs is most often used for seo research, competitor analysis, content planning, backlink analysis. Of those, seo research and competitor analysis are not what Preset is typically brought in for.
What can Ahrefs do that Preset cannot?: Ahrefs covers Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit, Rank Tracker. Preset covers Managed Superset, Auto-scaling, Enterprise Security, Custom Branding. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Ahrefs: How much does Ahrefs cost?

Starter is 29 USD a month, Lite 129, Standard 249, Advanced 449 and Enterprise 1,499 with an annual commitment. Paying annually saves up to 17 percent, which Ahrefs describes as two months free, and it is arranged through support rather than on the site.

Preset: Is Preset free?

Preset offers a free tier for small teams called Starter with 5 users and no credit card required. Paid plans start at $25 per user per month.

Source

Ahrefs: What are Ahrefs credits and when did they start?

Ahrefs replaced unlimited report usage with credits in April 2024. It meters report credits, crawl credits and API units. Lite includes 1,000 credits per user per month; Standard and above are unlimited under a fair use policy. Purchased pay-as-you-go credits last three billing months.

Preset: Can I export my data from Preset?

Yes. Preset uses Apache Superset and the founders contribute over 75% of commits to the open-source project, enabling migration to Superset without vendor lock-in.

Source

Ahrefs: Is Ahrefs or Moz better?

Ahrefs has the deeper and fresher link index and stronger competitive research, and it is the default for link work. Moz is cheaper at entry, owns Domain Authority as a reportable metric, and has a real local listings product. If you report DA to clients or manage multi-location listings, Moz earns its place; otherwise Ahrefs wins on data.

Preset: Does Preset include embedded analytics?

Yes. Embedded dashboards are available on Professional and Enterprise plans, with viewer licenses starting at $500 per month for 50 licenses.

Source

Ahrefs: Is there a free version or a trial?

There is Ahrefs Free, limited to Site Explorer and Site Audit on sites you verify you own, so it gives you no competitor data. Ahrefs states it never runs discounts and does not offer a trial of the paid plans.

Preset: What is the enterprise pricing for Preset?

Enterprise plans are custom quoted. The median buyer pays $35,495 per year.

Source

Ahrefs: How many users are included?

One, on every paid tier up to Advanced. Extra seats cost 40 USD a month on Lite, 60 on Standard, 80 on Advanced and 100 on Enterprise, and unpaid additional users are billed automatically as pay-as-you-go.

Preset: Does Preset support AI-powered analytics?

Yes. As of 2026, Preset includes an AI Chatbot and MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration for building charts and dashboards via natural language.

Source

Ahrefs vs Preset

Ahrefs

Preset

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Ahrefs

Only in Preset

Both cover

What people use each for

Ahrefs

Preset

Where each one falls short

Ahrefs

Preset

Pricing, plan by plan

Ahrefs

Preset

Which should you pick?

Choose Ahrefs if

Choose Preset if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Ahrefs

More on Preset

Keep looking

Other head to heads