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Marketing · head to head

Ahrefs vs SurveyLegend

Ahrefs logo

Ahrefs

Marketing

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
SurveyLegend logo

SurveyLegend

Surveys

Swedish survey tool hosted only in Frankfurt, where response limits are counted per survey and export is capped below what you can collect

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

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.; SurveyLegend every paid tier can collect more responses than it can export, with Pro gathering 5,000 per survey but exporting only 1,000 and Business gathering 20,000 but exporting 10,000, so data you have paid to collect can be stranded inside the product.
  • They diverge on capability: Ahrefs covers Site Explorer, SurveyLegend covers Per survey response limits.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Ahrefs and SurveyLegend actually diverge.

Attributes where Ahrefs and SurveyLegend differ
AttributeAhrefsSurveyLegend
Pricing modelPer month by credits and usage limitsPer month by responses per survey
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryMarketingSurveys
Founded2010Unknown

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 SurveyLegend

  • Per survey response limits
  • Frankfurt hosting on every plan
  • Image-led question types
  • Live analytics
  • Conditional logic flows
  • REST API and webhooks

What people use each for

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

Ahrefs

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

SurveyLegend

  • A European organisation that needs survey responses to stay in the EU without paying for an enterprise tier to get itnot Ahrefs
  • Occasional research where a few surveys each collect a large number of responses, which suits a per-survey quota better than a monthly onenot Ahrefs
  • Consumer-facing surveys where picture choice and visual scales lift completion rates on phonesnot Ahrefs
  • Small teams that want a fixed low monthly cost rather than usage-based billingnot 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.

SurveyLegend

  • Every paid tier can collect more responses than it can export, with Pro gathering 5,000 per survey but exporting only 1,000 and Business gathering 20,000 but exporting 10,000, so data you have paid to collect can be stranded inside the product.
  • The free Starter plan cannot export data at all, only preview it in the live analytics, which makes it a demonstration rather than a usable plan and means any real project starts as a paid one.
  • The vendor claims neither SOC 2 nor ISO 27001 nor any third-party audit, and its GDPR page does not disclose hosting location, subprocessors or transfer mechanisms, so an enterprise security review will stall regardless of how good the residency story is.
  • The integration list runs to roughly four connectors with no native Zapier, Make, Slack, Teams, HubSpot or Airtable support, so anything beyond Google Sheets or Mailchimp has to be built against the API, which itself is unavailable below the Business tier.
  • No seat, collaborator or team permission model is documented anywhere in the pricing, features or user guide, so an organisation that needs several people to share and administer surveys has no described way to do it.

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

SurveyLegend

Free
  • StarterFree
    • Free forever
    • 3 surveys, 1,000 responses per survey
    • No data export at all
  • Pro$15/month
    • 170 USD per year billed annually, 19 USD if billed monthly
    • 20 surveys, 5,000 responses per survey
    • Export capped at 1,000 responses per survey
  • Business$25/month
    • 300 USD per year billed annually, 39 USD if billed monthly
    • Unlimited surveys, 20,000 responses per survey
    • Export capped at 10,000 responses per survey
  • Legendary$65/month
    • 780 USD per year billed annually, 89 USD if billed monthly
    • Unlimited surveys, 100,000 responses per survey
    • Unlimited data export

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 SurveyLegend if

  • You need per survey response limits.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want frankfurt hosting on every plan.
SurveyLegend review

Questions people ask

Is Ahrefs or SurveyLegend better?
Neither clearly leads. Ahrefs starts at Free and SurveyLegend at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs or SurveyLegend?
Ahrefs starts at Free and SurveyLegend at Free.
Does Ahrefs or SurveyLegend run on more platforms?
Ahrefs runs on Web. SurveyLegend runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 SurveyLegend is typically brought in for.
What can Ahrefs do that SurveyLegend cannot?
Ahrefs covers Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit, Rank Tracker. SurveyLegend covers Per survey response limits, Frankfurt hosting on every plan, Image-led question types, Live analytics.

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.

SurveyLegend: Where is my data stored?

In Frankfurt, Germany, on DigitalOcean, on every plan including the free one, with backups also held in Frankfurt. There is no United States transfer and no residency upgrade to buy.

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.

SurveyLegend: What is the catch with the free plan?

You cannot export your data. You can build three surveys, collect a thousand responses each and view the analytics, but getting the raw responses out requires a paid plan.

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.

SurveyLegend: Why does Pro cost 170 USD a year when the page shows 15 USD a month?

The published annual total is 170 USD, which is ten dollars below twelve times the stated monthly-equivalent rate. Both figures are printed on the vendor pricing page.

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.

SurveyLegend: Is it suitable for an enterprise rollout?

Probably not. There is no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification, no documented team or permission model, and support is by email with phone access only on the top tier.

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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