Ahrefs review
SEO software for backlink analysis, keyword research, and rank tracking, built for marketers and agencies.
By Noahlast updated pricing verified
Ahrefs screenshots & video
Ahrefs in 20 seconds
Best for: SEO teams and content marketers needing backlink analysis, keyword research, and rank tracking in one platform
Pricing: Plans run from a free tier and $29/month Starter plan up to $129/month (Lite), $249/month (Standard), $449/month (Advanced), and custom Enterprise pricing from $1,499/month, all billed monthly with annual billing saving up to 17%.
- Ahrefs' Lite plan costs $129/month and includes 5 projects, 750 tracked keywords, and 100,000 crawl credits.
- Ahrefs' Standard plan costs $249/month for 20 projects and 2,000 tracked keywords.
- Ahrefs' Advanced plan costs $449/month for 50 projects and 5,000 tracked keywords.
- Ahrefs offers a $29/month Starter plan for basic keyword and competitor research, plus a free tier called Ahrefs Free.
- Ahrefs Enterprise starts at $1,499/month and requires an annual commitment.
- Ahrefs' index covers 41.9 billion tracked keywords and 170 trillion crawled pages, per the company's own site.
Limitations: Full plans start at $129/month, pricier than many competing SEO tools.; Only one user seat is included per plan; extra seats cost $40-80/month each.; Crawl-credit and tracked-keyword caps require active management on larger sites.; Enterprise pricing requires an annual commitment, not month-to-month billing.
Top alternatives: Semrush, Moz Pro, Majestic, SE Ranking, Serpstat — full list
What is Ahrefs?
Ahrefs is a subscription SEO platform that combines a backlink index, keyword database, site crawler, and rank tracker into one dashboard. It is used by SEOs, content marketers, and agencies to research competitors, find keyword opportunities, audit technical site health, and track search rankings. Newer modules extend this into AI search visibility, tracking how brands appear in LLM-generated answers.
Ahrefs is a web-based SEO and marketing platform built around a proprietary index of 170 trillion crawled pages and 41.9 billion tracked keywords. Its core tools cover backlink analysis (Site Explorer), keyword research (Keywords Explorer), technical audits (Site Audit), rank tracking, and content/competitor research (Content Explorer). Ahrefs has also added AI-search tools, including Brand Radar for tracking brand visibility in LLM answers and Custom Prompts for monitoring specific AI queries.
Standout feature: A proprietary web index built from continuous crawling (170 trillion pages, 41.9 billion tracked keywords) that powers backlink analysis, keyword data, and newer AI-search visibility tools like Brand Radar.
Biggest weakness: Full-featured plans start at $129/month for Lite and jump to $249/month (Standard) and $449/month (Advanced); only one user seat is included per plan, with extra seats costing $40-80/month each, so team pricing scales quickly.
Ahrefs: pros and cons
Pros
- Large proprietary backlink and keyword index (41.9B keywords, 170T pages) not dependent on third-party data
- Combines backlink analysis, keyword research, site audit, rank tracking, and content research in one dashboard
- Newer AI-visibility tools (Brand Radar, Custom Prompts) track brand mentions across LLM answers, not just classic search
- API and MCP access included on every paid plan
Cons
- Full plans start at $129/month, notably pricier than budget SEO tools
- Only one user seat included per plan; additional seats cost $40-80/month each
- Crawl-credit and tracked-keyword caps require active budgeting for larger sites
- Enterprise tier requires an annual commitment rather than month-to-month billing
Ahrefs pricing
Free tier · paid from $29/mo · verified from the vendor's pricing page
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Free | Free | Limited free tools for checking your own site's SEO data. |
| Starter | $29/mo | Entry plan for keyword research and competitor snooping, feature-limited vs. full plans. |
| Lite | $129/mo | 5 projects, 750 tracked keywords, 100,000 crawl credits, 1 user included. |
| Standard | $249/mo | 20 projects, 2,000 tracked keywords, 500,000 crawl credits, 1 user included. |
| Advanced | $449/mo | 50 projects, 5,000 tracked keywords, 1,500,000 crawl credits, 1 user included. |
| Enterprise | $1499/mo | All Advanced features plus uncapped API access, SSO, and unlimited historical data; requires annual commitment. |
What reviewers say
No third-party review scores on file yet.