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Marketing · head to head

Moz vs Snowplow

Moz logo

Moz

Marketing

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Snowplow logo

Snowplow

Business Intelligence

Behavioural data pipeline you run in your own cloud, relicensed away from Apache 2.0 in 2024

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Snowplow the core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • They diverge on capability: Moz covers Keyword Explorer, Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Moz and Snowplow actually diverge.

Attributes where Moz and Snowplow differ
AttributeMozSnowplow
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month by usage limitsquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebLinux, Web, Docker
CategoryMarketingBusiness Intelligence
Founded2004Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Moz

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

Only in Snowplow

  • Own-cloud deployment
  • Schema enforcement
  • Warehouse loading
  • Enrichment
  • Trackers
  • Streaming output
  • Data models
  • Snowplow BDP

What people use each for

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

Moz

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

Snowplow

  • A data team that needs full-fidelity event data in its own warehouse to build attribution or machine learning features rather than to populate dashboardsnot Moz
  • A regulated business that cannot send behavioural data to a third-party analytics vendor and must keep collection inside its own cloud accountnot Moz
  • A product organisation tired of silently malformed events, which wants a schema contract enforced at collection timenot Moz
  • A company modelling customer behaviour across web, mobile and server events that needs them in one consistent structurenot 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.

Snowplow

  • The core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • You run the pipeline in your own cloud, which means the infrastructure bill, the on-call rota and the upgrade work are yours, and at high event volume that operational cost frequently exceeds what a hosted product would have charged.
  • Schema enforcement is the main benefit and the main friction, because every new event requires a schema to be authored and versioned, and teams without discipline around that end up blocked on their own governance process.
  • There is no analysis layer: Snowplow delivers data to your warehouse and nothing else, so you still need modelling, a BI tool and the people to run them before anyone sees a number.
  • The licence change fractured the community, spawning an Apache 2.0 fork, which means community contributions and third-party tooling are now split across two codebases with uncertain long-term maintenance.

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

Snowplow

On request
  • Snowplow BDP$undefined/year
    • Commercial pricing quoted by event volume and deployment
    • Core pipeline components under the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, not Apache 2.0
    • Trackers, analytics SDKs and Iglu SDKs remain Apache 2.0

Which should you pick?

Choose Moz if

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

Choose Snowplow if

  • You need own-cloud deployment.
  • You work on Linux, Web, Docker.
  • You also want schema enforcement.
Snowplow review

Questions people ask

Is Moz or Snowplow better?
Neither clearly leads. Moz starts at Free and Snowplow at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Moz or Snowplow?
Moz has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Moz and On request for Snowplow.
Does Moz or Snowplow run on more platforms?
Moz runs on Web. Snowplow runs on Linux, Web, Docker.
Can I use Moz for free?
Yes. Moz has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Snowplow 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 Snowplow is typically brought in for.
What can Moz do that Snowplow cannot?
Moz covers Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer, Site Crawl, Rank Tracking. Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment, Schema enforcement, Warehouse loading, Enrichment.

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.

Snowplow: Is Snowplow still open source?

Not in the permissive sense. On 8 January 2024 the core pipeline moved from Apache 2.0 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, with version 1.1 following in December 2024, alongside a community licence based on the Confluent Community Licence. Trackers and analytics SDKs remain Apache 2.0.

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.

Snowplow: Can we still run it for free in production?

Free use of the relicensed core components is materially constrained and commercial use generally requires an agreement. Read the current licence text against your intended use rather than relying on older documentation.

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.

Snowplow: Is there an Apache 2.0 alternative?

Yes, a fork called OpenSnowcat was created in response to the relicensing and continues under Apache 2.0.

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.

Snowplow: What does Snowplow BDP cost?

Not published. It is quoted by event volume and deployment, and your own cloud infrastructure costs are separate and additional.

Moz: How often does Moz update rankings?

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

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