Semrush is a digital marketing and SEO software platform used for keyword research, competitive intelligence, rank tracking, site auditing and paid-search analysis. It is built around a very large keyword and advertising database, which makes it strongest as a competitor-research tool rather than a pure technical SEO crawler.
Semrush ranking and coverage
- In SEO
- #10 of 13
- Overall
- #99 of 122 tied
- Terms score
- 4.6 /10
- Referenced here
- 16 pages
Cost position 0.8 · Portability 5 · Subscription flexibility 8 - Ranked on published terms only: entry price against category peers, portability and subscription flexibility, equally weighted. This is not a quality score.How the rank is calculated.
Semrush: the short answer
Every line below is drawn from facts verified on 18 August 2026.
- What it is
- All-in-one SEO, PPC and competitive research platform for marketing teams
- Best for
- In-house SEO and marketing teams
- Starts at
- Free plan available; paid from $139/month (SEO)
- Free option
- Free plan available, Offered through the vendor's "Try for free" flow; length not stated on the pricing page trial
- Biggest strength
- Advertising and competitor research data with no real equivalent in Ahrefs
- Biggest drawback
- Expensive once you add seats, and seats cannot be shared
- Based on
- Primary-source research, not hands-on use
- Closest alternative
- Ahrefs - Stronger backlink index and a cleaner interface; weaker on paid-search data
- True annual cost
- from $1,668 a year on SEO, the cheapest paid tier ($139 a month)
Semrush at a glance
| Best for | In-house SEO and marketing teams, Agencies reporting to multiple clients, Competitor and paid-search research |
|---|---|
| Category | SEO, Marketing, AI |
| Starting price | Free plan available; paid from $139/month (SEO) |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free trial | Offered through the vendor's "Try for free" flow; length not stated on the pricing page |
| Pricing model | subscription |
| Company | Semrush Holdings, Inc. |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Founders | Oleg Shchegolev, Dmitry Melnikov |
| Platforms | Web |
| Public API | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes |
| Mobile apps | None |
| Self-hosting | No |
| Affiliate programme | Up to $200 per subscription sale, $10 per trial, via Impact |
| Data source | Vendor pricing page and public records |
| Last checked | August 2026 |
Semrush pricing
Prices below were read from the vendor's own pricing page on 18 August 2026. Pricing model: subscription. Free trial: Offered through the vendor's "Try for free" flow; length not stated on the pricing page.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | per month | Limited daily requests and rows per report |
| SEO | $139 | per month | $117.33/month billed annually. 5 sites, 500 keywords tracked daily, AI-search performance and custom prompt monitoring with no prompt count published |
| Starter | $199 | per month | $165.17/month billed annually. 50 prompts tracked daily, one domain for AI brand performance, 300 AI visibility reports a day, MCP access |
| Pro+ | $299 | per month | $248.17/month billed annually. 15 sites, 1,500 keywords, 100 prompts tracked daily, content optimisation and cannibalisation analysis |
| Advanced | $549 | per month | $455.67/month billed annually. 40 sites, 5,000 keywords, 200 prompts tracked daily, SEO share of voice, API data integration |
| Enterprise | Custom | Negotiated | - |
| Additional users | From $45 | per month | per user - Seats are strictly per person; the pricing page quotes additional users from $45 a month |
| Base Report | $10 | per month | Data from 20-plus tools, Google Analytics and Search Console integrations, PDF export |
| Pro Report | $20 | per month | All Base Report features plus 20-plus external integrations and timed delivery |
What Semrush actually costs over a year
A monthly price is not the same thing as a monthly contract. These are the plans above resolved both ways, per seat or unit where the plan is charged that way. Where a vendor quotes only a yearly figure it is divided by twelve rather than left out, and the Quoted column says which figure the vendor actually publishes.
| Plan | Quoted | Monthly | Over 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | per month | $139 | $1,668 |
| Starter | per month | $199 | $2,388 |
| Pro+ | per month | $299 | $3,588 |
| Advanced | per month | $549 | $6,588 |
| Additional users add-onper user | per month | $45 | $540 |
| Base Report add-on | per month | $10 | $120 |
| Pro Report add-on | per month | $20 | $240 |
Which Semrush plan should you buy?
| Your situation | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want to sample the data before paying | Free | Limited daily requests and rows. Enough to judge the interface, not to work in. |
| You are a freelancer or small business | SEO | $139 a month, or $117.33 billed annually. |
| You need AI search visibility tracking | Starter | $199 a month. Increasingly the reason teams upgrade as answer engines take traffic. |
| You work across several markets or locations | Pro+ | $299 a month. |
| You need API access and automation | Advanced | $549 a month, and the tier where reporting can be built on top. |
| Several people need access | Budget additional seats | Plans are single-seat, and sharing one login is against the terms. Extra users are charged separately. |
| You mainly do link research | Consider Ahrefs instead | The backlink index is larger and fresher. |
Verdict by who you are
In-house marketing teamYes
The broadest toolset in the category, covering organic, paid and competitor research in one subscription.
Agency reporting to several clientsYes
Multi-market and multi-location tracking on Pro+ is built for this.
PPC specialistYes
Paid-search and competitor advertising research is genuinely better here than in Ahrefs, which is organic-first.
Solo bloggerNo
$139 a month is hard to justify against Search Console plus a cheap crawler.
Link builderCompare first
Capable, but Ahrefs' index is the better tool for that specific job.
Should you buy Semrush?
Buy Semrush if…
- In-house SEO and marketing teams
- Agencies reporting to multiple clients
- Competitor and paid-search research
Do not buy Semrush if…
- Solo bloggers on a tight budget
- Teams who only need a technical crawl
- Anyone needing one seat shared across several people
Key features
- Keyword Magic Tool with a very large keyword database
- Domain Overview and organic competitor analysis
- Position Tracking with daily rank updates
- Site Audit crawler with prioritised issue lists
- Backlink Analytics and link-building outreach workflow
- Advertising Research covering competitors' paid keywords and ad copy
- Content Marketing Toolkit and SEO Writing Assistant
- Listing Management and local SEO tools
Integrations
- Google Analytics 4
- Google Search Console
- Google Ads
- Google Business Profile
- Looker Studio
- Trello
- Zapier
- Microsoft Word and Google Docs (SEO Writing Assistant)
Semrush screenshots
Captured by us in August 2026 at 1440px, unedited. Interfaces change, so these show the product as it looked on the date we verified this profile. Pricing pages are captured from a US vantage point, so the currency shown matches the USD figures recorded above.
Our assessment
Semrush is the most complete marketing research platform in this category, and the breadth is genuinely useful if more than one team touches SEO, content and paid search. The trade-off is price and seat policy: additional users cost extra on every tier, and several of the tools marketers assume are included - historical data, API access, share of voice - sit behind the higher plans. If your work is mostly technical SEO on a single site, you will pay for a great deal you never open.
What works in Semrush
- Advertising and competitor research data with no real equivalent in Ahrefs
- Very wide toolset covering SEO, content, PPC and local in one subscription
- Position tracking and site audit are reliable and easy to schedule
- Strong reporting and white-label client deliverables for agencies
What doesn't
- Expensive once you add seats, and seats cannot be shared
- API access is restricted to Advanced, at $549 a month
- Interface is dense and takes real time to learn
- Keyword volume figures diverge noticeably from Google Ads in smaller markets
EveryAny Decision Score
3 of these 8 dimensions are calculated from verified facts; the rest are our judgement, shown as a band rather than a figure unless something specific sits behind them. How each score works.
- Cost position0.8/10
derivedentry tier at $139 a month against a category median of $49 a month across 12 comparable tools
- Portability5/10
derivedpublic API
- Subscription flexibility8/10
derivedfree plan, free trial, subscription, monthly billing
- Feature depthVery high
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- Ease of learningModerate
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- CollaborationModerate
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- AI capabilityHigh
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- Professional adoptionVery high
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
What leaving Semrush would cost
moderate lock-in
Semrush scores on public API. Portability 5/10 ; lock-in is the inverse. How this is calculated.
Semrush competitors and alternatives
| Alternative | Why you might pick it instead |
|---|---|
| Ahrefs | Stronger backlink index and a cleaner interface; weaker on paid-search data. |
| Google Search Console | Free and authoritative for your own site, but gives no competitor data. |
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | A far cheaper desktop crawler if all you need is technical auditing. |
Ahrefs
SEO
SEO toolset built on one of the largest independent backlink and keyword indexes.
Checked Aug 2026
What Semrush is actually for
Semrush began as a keyword-and-competitor research tool and the database is still the reason to buy it. When you type a competitor’s domain into Domain Overview you get their estimated organic traffic, their top ranking keywords, the keywords they bid on, and the ad copy they run. Very few products do all four well.
Everything else Semrush has added over the years - site auditing, content optimisation, social scheduling, listing management - is competent, but it is not usually the reason a team switches.
Who should not buy it
Three situations where Semrush is the wrong purchase:
- You need one shared login. Semrush enforces per-seat pricing and actively logs out concurrent sessions. Budget for real seats or pick something else.
- You only crawl your own site. A dedicated crawler costs a fraction of the price.
- You work in a small non-English market. Keyword volumes get thin, and the estimates drift further from reality the smaller the market gets.
How the pricing actually lands
Semrush restructured its plans in 2026. The old Pro, Guru and Business ladder is gone, replaced by SEO, Starter, Pro+ and Advanced, and the split now turns on whether you need AI Search visibility as well as classic SEO: the SEO plan is search only, everything above it adds AI answer tracking.
The advertised entry price is a single seat. Annual billing removes roughly a sixth of the cost ($117.33/month against $139 on the SEO plan). API access sits on Advanced at $549/month, which is a long way from the entry tier, so check that before assuming it is included.
One line on that page decides more purchases than the price does. The SEO plan at $139 says it monitors custom prompts but publishes no prompt count; the first plan with a stated allowance is Starter at $199 a month, at 50 prompts tracked daily, rising to 100 on Pro+ and 200 on Advanced. If AI-answer tracking is part of why you are buying, the entry price is $199 rather than $139, and that is the figure to compare with the dedicated trackers in our AI SEO tools guide.
Semrush versus Ahrefs, briefly
Buy Semrush if paid search and competitor advertising matter to you, or if several disciplines share the tool. Buy Ahrefs if backlinks and a fast, uncluttered interface matter more. Teams doing serious link acquisition often run both and drop one at renewal.
Semrush questions, answered
- Is Semrush worth it?
- Semrush is the most complete marketing research platform in this category, and the breadth is genuinely useful if more than one team touches SEO, content and paid search.
- How much does Semrush cost?
- Free plan available; paid from $139/month (SEO). The cheapest paid tier we recorded is SEO, published at $139 a month, which works out at $139 a month or $1,668 over a year. Verified against the vendor's pricing page.
- Does Semrush have a free plan or free trial?
- Semrush has a free plan. A free trial is available: Offered through the vendor's "Try for free" flow; length not stated on the pricing page.
- What is the best Semrush alternative?
- It depends on the job. Ahrefs: Stronger backlink index and a cleaner interface; weaker on paid-search data. Google Search Console: Free and authoritative for your own site, but gives no competitor data. Screaming Frog SEO Spider: A far cheaper desktop crawler if all you need is technical auditing.
- Can I self-host Semrush?
- No. Semrush is a hosted service only, so your data lives on the vendor's infrastructure.
What this profile is based on
Every claim below is about our work, not about Semrush. A "no" is recorded rather than omitted, because the difference between a tested review and careful desk research is the reader's to weigh. How we research a profile.
-
Prices read from the vendor : yes
Read from Semrush's own pricing page on 18 August 2026
-
Plans and terms recorded : yes
9 rows, each with its billing period
-
Original screenshots : yes
2 captured by us: homepage, pricing page
-
Sources cited and dated : yes
4 primary sources, each with the date it was read
-
Product used first-hand : no
Not tested. This profile is desk research from primary sources
-
Alternatives used first-hand : no
None, so comparisons here rest on published facts rather than use
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Vendor contacted : no
Not contacted for this profile
Where Semrush appears on this site
16 other pages here reference Semrush. Every one is listed below, so the figure can be checked rather than taken.
- Buyer guide Best AI SEO tools in 2026, priced by the job you need doing ranked #1
- Article How to Read a SaaS Pricing Page (and Find the Real Cost) listed as related
- Article What a SaaS Affiliate Programme Reveals listed as related
- Article When to Use a SaaS Free Trial vs a Free Plan listed as related
- Another profile Ahrefs names it as a competitor
- Another profile AirOps names it as a competitor
- Another profile Clearscope names it as a competitor
- Another profile Google Search Console names it as a competitor
- Another profile Moz Pro names it as a competitor
- Another profile Otterly.ai names it as a competitor
- Another profile Peec AI names it as a competitor
- Another profile Profound names it as a competitor
- Another profile Screaming Frog SEO Spider names it as a competitor
- Another profile Scrunch names it as a competitor
- Another profile Sitebulb names it as a competitor
- Another profile Surfer names it as a competitor
Counts pages on this site that name the product by choice - buyer guides, articles, deal records and other profiles. Category and directory indexes list everything automatically and are not counted.
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Provenance and freshness
When each fact was last checked
- Pricing ·
- Plans ·
- Free trial
- Features ·
- Platforms
- Integrations
- Affiliate programme
- Company details
What has changed
-
August 2026
- Prices re-read for the AI SEO tools guide; every plan rate unchanged
- Recorded the daily tracked-prompt allowance per plan, and that the SEO plan publishes none
- Added the additional-user and reporting add-ons
-
August 2026
- Pricing verified, monthly and annual
- Added plan picker and verdicts
Sources & verification
Facts on this page were read from the sources below on the dates shown. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, we record it as not disclosed rather than estimating it.
- Semrush pricing page - checked 18 August 2026
- Semrush AI Visibility toolkit - checked 18 August 2026
- Semrush affiliate programme terms - checked 9 August 2026
- Semrush Holdings investor relations - checked 9 August 2026
Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we will re-check it. Corrections are logged on the page.