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SEO · head to head

Lighthouse vs SE Ranking

Lighthouse logo

Lighthouse

SEO

Audit web page performance and quality

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SE Ranking logo

SE Ranking

SEO

SEO and AI visibility platform with daily rank tracking, priced on published tiers plus per-unit extras

From
$129/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Lighthouse has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Lighthouse performance scores vary significantly due to A/B testing, device differences, browser extensions, and antivirus software affecting results; SE Ranking keyword allowances are counted as targets, keyword multiplied by search engine, so a set tracked across Google desktop and mobile consumes twice the allowance and a plan sized on a raw keyword count runs out early.
  • They diverge on capability: Lighthouse covers Performance scoring, SE Ranking covers Daily rank tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lighthouse and SE Ranking actually diverge.

Attributes where Lighthouse and SE Ranking differ
AttributeLighthouseSE Ranking
Starting priceFree$129/month
Pricing modelfreePer month by tracked keywords and projects
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsChrome, EdgeWeb
Founded1998Unknown

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

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 Lighthouse

  • Performance scoring
  • Accessibility audit
  • SEO check
  • PWA validation
  • Chrome support
  • Edge support

Only in SE Ranking

  • Daily rank tracking
  • Target-based keyword counting
  • Competitive and keyword research
  • Backlink research and monitoring
  • Website and on-page audit
  • On-page checker and SERP analyzer
  • AI search tracking
  • AI competitive research

What people use each for

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

Lighthouse

  • Performance auditing to identify page loading speed improvementsnot SE Ranking
  • Accessibility compliance checking for users with disabilitiesnot SE Ranking
  • SEO optimization verification for search engine compatibilitynot SE Ranking
  • Security and best practices scanning for code healthnot SE Ranking
  • Progressive web app validation and CI/CD pipeline integrationnot SE Ranking

SE Ranking

  • Tracking daily keyword positions across up to 10 client projects on the entry plannot Lighthouse
  • Auditing large sites, with 250,000 pages per month included on Core and 2 million on Growthnot Lighthouse
  • Running SEO reporting for an agency that needs more than one manager seatnot Lighthouse

Where each one falls short

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

Lighthouse

  • Performance scores vary significantly due to A/B testing, device differences, browser extensions, and antivirus software affecting results
  • Limited to metrics that contribute to scores; Opportunities and Diagnostics don't directly impact scoring
  • Diminishing returns above 0.96 score, making perfect 100 scores extremely challenging
  • Scores based on HTTP Archive data which may not reflect all performance scenarios

SE Ranking

  • Keyword allowances are counted as targets, keyword multiplied by search engine, so a set tracked across Google desktop and mobile consumes twice the allowance and a plan sized on a raw keyword count runs out early.
  • There is no free tier at all, only a 14-day trial, so evaluation is time-boxed rather than open-ended and comparison against Moz or Ahrefs free tools is not like for like.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published, so the only tier suited to large keyword volumes cannot be budgeted from the pricing page without contacting sales.
  • Core includes exactly one manager seat, so the second person needing full access means extra seats from 16 USD each or the jump to Growth at 279 USD.
  • Three of the add-ons, Agency Pack at 69 USD, the API at 45 USD and the discounted AI Search price, are available only on annual billing, so a monthly customer either pays more or commits for a year.
  • Audit capacity on Core is capped at 250,000 pages per project as well as per account, so a single large site consumes the whole allowance and leaves nothing for other projects that month.
  • Its keyword and backlink databases are smaller and less frequently refreshed than the Ahrefs first-party crawl, so it is a better tracking and reporting tool than a link discovery one.

Pricing, plan by plan

Lighthouse

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Performance audit
    • Accessibility check
    • SEO analysis

SE Ranking

$129/month
  • Core$129/month
    • 103.20 USD per month billed annually, a 20 percent saving paid upfront
    • 10 projects and 1 manager seat
    • 2,000 daily keyword targets, counted as keyword times search engine
  • Growth$279/month
    • 223.20 USD per month billed annually, a 20 percent saving paid upfront
    • 30 projects and 3 manager seats
    • 5,000 daily keyword targets, 250 daily AI prompts, 15 AI research domains
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom limits and pricing, quoted by sales
    • Flexible terms
    • Full API and advanced integrations
  • Extra capacity$undefined/month
    • Extra manager seats from 16 USD each
    • Extra tracked keywords from 22.40 USD on Core and from 32 USD on Growth
    • Extra business locations from 18.40 USD each

Which should you pick?

Choose Lighthouse if

  • You need performance scoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Chrome, Edge.
  • You also want accessibility audit.
Lighthouse review

Choose SE Ranking if

  • You need daily rank tracking.
  • You also want target-based keyword counting.
SE Ranking review

Questions people ask

Is Lighthouse or SE Ranking better?
Neither clearly leads. Lighthouse starts at Free and SE Ranking at $129/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lighthouse or SE Ranking?
Lighthouse has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Lighthouse and $129/month for SE Ranking.
Does Lighthouse or SE Ranking run on more platforms?
Lighthouse runs on Chrome, Edge. SE Ranking runs on Web.
Can I use Lighthouse for free?
Yes. Lighthouse has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SE Ranking starts at $129/month.
What is Lighthouse best used for?
Lighthouse is most often used for performance auditing to identify page loading speed improvements, accessibility compliance checking for users with disabilities, seo optimization verification for search engine compatibility, security and best practices scanning for code health. Of those, performance auditing to identify page loading speed improvements and accessibility compliance checking for users with disabilities are not what SE Ranking is typically brought in for.
What can Lighthouse do that SE Ranking cannot?
Lighthouse covers Performance scoring, Accessibility audit, SEO check, PWA validation. SE Ranking covers Daily rank tracking, Target-based keyword counting, Competitive and keyword research, Backlink research and monitoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lighthouse: Is Lighthouse free?

Yes. Lighthouse is completely free and open-source. It is developed by Google and integrated into Chrome DevTools, PageSpeed Insights, and available as a command-line tool. There are no licensing fees or premium tiers.

Source
SE Ranking: How much does SE Ranking cost?

Core is 129 USD a month, or 103.20 USD a month billed annually. Growth is 279 USD a month, or 223.20 USD billed annually. Annual billing is a flat 20 percent saving charged upfront. Enterprise is quoted by sales.

Lighthouse: Can I run Lighthouse offline?

Yes. Lighthouse can run offline in multiple ways: through Chrome DevTools (built into Chrome), as a command-line tool (Node.js), or as a Node.js module integrated into your build process. You do not need an internet connection after installing the tool.

Source
SE Ranking: How does the price change with keyword volume?

Core includes 2,000 daily keyword targets and Growth 5,000. Beyond that you buy extra keywords from 22.40 USD a month on Core and from 32 USD on Growth rather than being forced onto the next tier. A keyword is counted once per search engine, so thirty keywords across two engines uses sixty targets.

Lighthouse: What pages can Lighthouse audit?

Lighthouse can audit any web page, including pages that require authentication. This is an advantage over some alternative tools that cannot test behind login screens. You can run audits on public pages or authenticated pages via command-line with custom headers.

Source
SE Ranking: What is the difference between Core and Growth?

Growth triples projects to 30, raises daily keyword targets from 2,000 to 5,000 and prompts from 100 to 250, gives 3 manager seats instead of 1, lifts audit capacity from 250,000 to 2 million pages a month, raises on-page checks from 50 to 1,000, adds page changes monitoring, guest links, historical data across the project lifetime and dedicated support.

Lighthouse: Can Lighthouse prevent performance regression during development?

Yes. Lighthouse CI is available to prevent performance degradation during development cycles. You can integrate Lighthouse CI into your continuous integration pipeline to automatically audit pages on every commit and fail builds if performance metrics fall below thresholds you define.

Source
SE Ranking: Does SE Ranking have a free plan?

No. There is a 14-day trial with no credit card required, but no permanently free tier.

SE Ranking: What do the add-ons cost?

Agency Pack for white-label reporting and client seats is 69 USD a month on annual billing only. The AI Search toolkit is 89 USD monthly or 71.20 USD billed annually. The API add-on is 45 USD a month, annual billing only.

SE Ranking: Does it track rankings daily?

Yes, daily on both published tiers, through the full Google Top 100. Moz and Ahrefs both refresh rankings weekly.

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