Softwr

Marketing · head to head

Moz vs Roxhill

Moz logo

Moz

Marketing

SEO platform built around Domain Authority, local listings management and a weekly campaign workflow

From
Free
Rated
-
Roxhill logo

Roxhill

Marketing

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

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • Only Moz has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Moz moz refreshes its link index less often and discovers fewer links than Ahrefs, so a new backlink frequently appears in Ahrefs days before it shows up in Link Explorer, which matters if link acquisition reporting is your job.; 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: Moz covers Keyword Explorer, Roxhill covers Journalist database.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Moz and Roxhill actually diverge.

Attributes where Moz and Roxhill differ
AttributeMozRoxhill
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month by usage limitsquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2004Unknown

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 Moz

  • Keyword Explorer
  • Link Explorer
  • Site Crawl
  • Rank Tracking
  • Page Optimization
  • Competitive research
  • Local SEO tools
  • Fresh Web Explorer

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.

Moz

  • SEO auditsnot Roxhill
  • Keyword researchnot Roxhill
  • Link buildingnot Roxhill
  • Local SEOnot Roxhill
  • Competitive analysisnot Roxhill

Roxhill

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

Where each one falls short

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

Moz

  • Moz refreshes its link index less often and discovers fewer links than Ahrefs, so a new backlink frequently appears in Ahrefs days before it shows up in Link Explorer, which matters if link acquisition reporting is your job.
  • Rank tracking is weekly on every tier, so a site watching a volatile SERP or validating a same-week change cannot see daily movement without buying a separate rank tracker.
  • The Standard plan allows only 150 keyword queries a month, which a single afternoon of research exhausts, and the jump to a workable 5,000 queries means paying 179 USD a month rather than 99.
  • Almost every limit is separately metered and separately billable: extra seats are 49 USD each, campaigns 10 USD, tracked keywords 20 USD per 200, crawl capacity 15 USD per 50,000 pages, so the real bill drifts well above the plan price.
  • Domain Authority is a Moz score, not a Google ranking factor, and teams that optimise for it directly are optimising for a proxy that its own vendor sells.
  • Moz Local is a separate subscription per location, so a business with twenty sites is buying a second product at twenty times the per-location price on top of Moz Pro.

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

Moz

Free
  • Free toolsFree
    • Domain Analysis and Domain Authority lookups
    • Limited Keyword Explorer and Link Explorer queries
    • Competitive Research and Brand Authority checks
  • Starter$49/month
    • Entry plan for an individual managing a single website
    • Sits below Standard on the published pricing page
    • Upgrade path into the campaign-based tiers
  • Standard$99/month
    • 79 USD per month billed annually, 950 USD for the first year
    • 1 user seat
    • 3 campaigns and 300 tracked keyword rankings
  • Medium$179/month
    • 143 USD per month billed annually, 1,719 USD for the first year
    • 2 user seats
    • 10 campaigns and 1,500 tracked keyword rankings

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 Moz if

  • You need keyword explorer.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want link explorer.

Choose Roxhill if

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

Questions people ask

Is Moz or Roxhill better?
Neither clearly leads. Moz 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, Moz or Roxhill?
Moz has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Moz and On request for Roxhill.
Does Moz or Roxhill run on more platforms?
Moz runs on Web. Roxhill runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Moz for free?
Yes. Moz has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Roxhill starts at On request.
What is Moz best used for?
Moz is most often used for seo audits, keyword research, link building, local seo. Of those, seo audits and keyword research are not what Roxhill is typically brought in for.
What can Moz do that Roxhill cannot?
Moz covers Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer, Site Crawl, Rank Tracking. Roxhill covers Journalist database, Journalist profiles, Media lists and distribution, Media requests and alerts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Moz: How much does Moz Pro cost?

Starter is 49 USD a month for a single site. Standard is 99 USD a month or 79 USD billed annually, Medium 179 or 143, and Large 299 or 239. Moz lists first-year annual totals of 950, 1,719 and 2,868 USD respectively.

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.

Moz: Is Moz or Ahrefs better?

Ahrefs is the stronger choice for backlink depth, index freshness and competitive research, and its Lite plan is 129 USD against Moz Standard at 99. Moz is the better buy if you need Domain Authority as a reportable metric, if local listings management matters, or if 49 USD a month for a single site is the budget.

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.

Moz: What do the Moz free tools give you?

Free Domain Analysis with Domain Authority, limited Keyword Explorer and Link Explorer queries, Competitive Research, a Brand Authority check and MozCast volatility tracking. Campaigns, site crawls and rank tracking all require a paid plan.

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.

Moz: Is Domain Authority a Google ranking factor?

No. It is a Moz model that predicts ranking strength on a 1 to 100 scale. Google does not use it. It is useful as a comparative shorthand, not as a target.

Roxhill: Can I buy monthly?

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

Moz: How often does Moz update rankings?

Weekly on every Moz Pro tier. Competitors such as SE Ranking update daily as standard.

Share

Related pages

Other head to heads