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Marketing · head to head

Ahrefs vs Roxhill

Ahrefs logo

Ahrefs

Marketing

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Roxhill logo

Roxhill

Marketing

UK-focused journalist database and media monitoring, founder-owned and annual only

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Ahrefs has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Roxhill the database is UK-centric by reviewers’ own account, with weak US, Australian and broader Asian journalist coverage, so any multi-market programme needs a second vendor and the single-vendor cost case disappears.
  • They diverge on capability: Ahrefs covers Site Explorer, Roxhill covers Journalist database.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Ahrefs and Roxhill actually diverge.

Attributes where Ahrefs and Roxhill differ
AttributeAhrefsRoxhill
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month by credits and usage limitsquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2010Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Marketing).

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 Roxhill

  • Journalist database
  • Journalist profiles
  • Media lists and distribution
  • Media requests and alerts
  • Media monitoring
  • Bespoke newsletters
  • Historical search
  • Journalist Assistant

What people use each for

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

Ahrefs

  • SEO researchnot Roxhill
  • Competitor analysisnot Roxhill
  • Content planningnot Roxhill
  • Backlink analysisnot Roxhill
  • Rank trackingnot Roxhill

Roxhill

  • A UK in-house press office that needs journalist contacts with current pitching preferences rather than a scraped byline list.not Ahrefs
  • An agency tracking forward features across UK trade and consumer titles to place clients into planned coverage months ahead.not Ahrefs
  • A communications team monitoring named spokespeople and measuring their share of voice against competitors in UK media.not Ahrefs
  • A UK public sector body procuring through G-Cloud that needs EEA-hosted media monitoring with a published framework price band.not 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.

Roxhill

  • The database is UK-centric by reviewers’ own account, with weak US, Australian and broader Asian journalist coverage, so any multi-market programme needs a second vendor and the single-vendor cost case disappears.
  • Contact records go stale: reviewers report old email addresses and phone numbers, distribution bounces, and there is no self-serve verification step before you send.
  • At roughly 200,000 to 300,000 journalists it is far smaller than the million-plus figures Cision and Prowly claim, with repeated complaints about thin trade, academic and journal coverage.
  • Selling is annual only with no monthly plan and a trial functionally restricted to around two weeks, so you cannot genuinely pilot before a twelve-month commitment, which is a poor fit for project or retainer agency work.
  • Licence bands are 1, 3 and 5 seats, and extra logins, workspaces, smart folders, historical search, share of voice and the spokespeople platform are all chargeable add-ons, so a team of eight to fifteen pays well above any headline band.
  • Search behaviour is described as counter-intuitive and sometimes returns implausibly few results, which means a null result cannot be trusted and lists need manual cross-checking.
  • Monitoring accuracy takes time to settle after switching, so coverage is missed in the first weeks after a cutover, which is a real gap risk if you time the migration badly.

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

Roxhill

On request
  • Core$undefined/year
    • 1 licence
    • Standard database access
    • Journalist Assistant
  • Boutique$undefined/year
    • 3 licences
    • Adds press release distribution
    • 3 workspaces, 6 smart folders, 10 spokespeople, 3 newsletters
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 5 licences
    • 5 workspaces, 10 smart folders, 5 newsletters
    • Spokespeople platform
  • Premium$undefined/year
    • Everything in Enterprise
    • Insights analysis and bespoke reporting
    • Competitor share of voice

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 Roxhill if

  • You need journalist database.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want journalist profiles.
Roxhill review

Questions people ask

Is Ahrefs or Roxhill better?
Neither clearly leads. Ahrefs starts at Free and Roxhill at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs or Roxhill?
Ahrefs has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Ahrefs and On request for Roxhill.
Does Ahrefs or Roxhill run on more platforms?
Ahrefs runs on Web. Roxhill runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Ahrefs for free?
Yes. Ahrefs has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Roxhill starts at On request.
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 Roxhill is typically brought in for.
What can Ahrefs do that Roxhill cannot?
Ahrefs covers Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit, Rank Tracker. Roxhill covers Journalist database, Journalist profiles, Media lists and distribution, Media requests and alerts.

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.

Roxhill: How much does Roxhill cost?

Not published on the vendor site, but the UK G-Cloud 14 listing discloses £6,450 to £25,000 per instance per year. Use that as your anchor.

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.

Roxhill: Is Roxhill owned by Cision or Access Intelligence?

No. Companies House shows a single individual holding over 75% of shares and no corporate PSC. It is founder-controlled and unfunded. Note the founder previously sold Gorkana to Cision, so ask for a change-of-control clause.

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.

Roxhill: Is it usable for US or APAC media relations?

Not well. Reviewers describe US, Australian and Asian coverage as materially weaker than UK. Budget for a second database.

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.

Roxhill: Can I buy monthly?

No. Contracts are annual, sales-gated, with a trial of around two weeks.

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.

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