Which is better - SEMRush vs Aherfs (Comparison)

[roydan]

Every few days, someone asks whether they should buy Ahrefs or SEMRush. This is an important question, but the answers to this type of thread are based on personal impressions and there is usually very little, if any, data in the answers.
So I decided to compare them here back to show you where each of them shines, so you can make an informed decision about which to buy.

I’m going to compare them in these four aspects (feel free to suggest more):

1. Pricing (and more specifically, the monthly cost of the cheapest usable plan)
2. Accuracy in traffic estimation (organic estimation vs GSC)
3. Backlinks (Total and RD vs GSC)
4. Paid Search (Keywords, clicks, and cost vs Google Ads - only the established and small brands)
5. Keyword Expansion (SEMRushKeyword Magic Tool broad vs Aherfs matching terms)

I’m going to compare just the US market, on three sites: an established brand (root only, no blog.domain.com), a small brand, and a small blog.
The established brand is in the home services industry, the small brand is a movie streaming service, and the small blog relates to music.
Please note that I won’t compare their made-up metrics, such as DR, KD, UR, because I have nothing to compare them to.

The keyword expansion comparison will include five keywords that are not related to any of the sites above. I’ll compare the number of results and the total search volume of the lists they provide. Since I can’t really measure relevance, I’ll just share the CSV files so you can see for yourself.

Pricing​

We all know that Ahrefs changed their plans recently, making them a lot less attractive.
SEMRushstarts at $130/mo, and it’s usable in most cases. Aherfs starts at $99, which is cheaper, but for that price, they show cached SERPs, no content gaps, and a couple of other annoying things. The cheapest usable plan costs $199/mo.
SEMRush pricing | Ahrefs Pricing

Accuracy in Traffic Estimation​

1. Established Brand:​

5,054 organic visits (to the root only, excluding subdomains) in June 2023, according to the search console.
SEMRush: 20.9K visits.
Aherfs: 18.1K visits.

2. Small brand:​

5,740 organic visits in June 2023 according to Google’s Search Console.
SEMRush: 3K visits
Ahreft: 1.7K visits

3. Blog: ​

5,353 visits in June 2023, according to GSC.
SEMRush: 7.2K visits
Ahrefs: 12.3K visits.

My Impression​

Stats are all over the place. SEMRushhas a slight edge.

Backlinks​

1. Established Brand​

GSC: 173 referring domains, with a total of 3,649backlinks
SEMRush: 1.4K referring domain, total 12.6K
Ahrefs: 876 RD, 2.9K backlinks

2. Small Brand​

GSC: 277 RD, 3544 backlinks
SEMRush: 114 RD, 825 backlinks
Ahrefs: 59 RD, 171 backlinks

3. Blog​

GSC: 146 RD, 276 backlinks
SEMRush: 1.4K RD, 5.5K backlinks
Ahrefs: 466 RD, 1.1K backlinks

My Impression​

Inconclusive because there isn’t a single source of truth.

Paid Search (Google Ads)​

1. Established Brand​

Google Ads: Clicks: 91K Cost: $502K Keywords: 830
SEMRush: Clicks: 13.1K Cost: $47K Keywords: 392
Ahrefs: Clicks: 270 Cost: $1K Keywords: 39

2. Small Brand​

Google Ads: Clicks: 4.1K Cost: $3.8K Keywords: 1K
SEMRush: Clicks: 151 Cost: $68 Keywords: 11
Ahrefs: Clicks: - Cost: - Keywords: -

My Impression​

Both are very inaccurate, SEMRush seems to be a little less inaccurate than Ahrefs.

Keyword Expansion​

1. Brown Leather waller​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 992
Total volume: 5,310

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 1,381
Total volume: 2.5K

2. Glucometer​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 9,767
Total volume: 105,710

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 10,479
Total volume: 69K

3. White headphones​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 4,535
Total volume: 36,440

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 5,587
Total volume: 33K

4. Wooden picture frame​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 6,488
Total volume: 68,620

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 1,610
Total volume: 7.2K

5. Sun screen​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 6,953
Total volume: 71,210

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 13,580
Total volume: 35K

My Impression​

It looks like Ahrefs inflates the number of keywords they bring but can’t catch all the keywords that have real search volume, resulting in much less total search volume. I think SEMRush’s got this one.
Keywords download | VT

Final Verdict:​

Just like every other thread, at the end of the day, it’s all up to what’s more important to you. SEMRush won by points, assuming that each aspect of the tools is equally important, but in reality, they are not all equal, and price matters, too.

 

[HenryObi]

Every few days, someone asks whether they should buy Ahrefs or SEMRush. This is an important question, but the answers to this type of thread are based on personal impressions and there is usually very little, if any, data in the answers.
So I decided to compare them here back to show you where each of them shines, so you can make an informed decision about which to buy.

I’m going to compare them in these four aspects (feel free to suggest more):

1. Pricing (and more specifically, the monthly cost of the cheapest usable plan)
2. Accuracy in traffic estimation (organic estimation vs GSC)
3. Backlinks (Total and RD vs GSC)
4. Paid Search (Keywords, clicks, and cost vs Google Ads - only the established and small brands)
5. Keyword Expansion (SEMRushKeyword Magic Tool broad vs Aherfs matching terms)

I’m going to compare just the US market, on three sites: an established brand (root only, no blog.domain.com), a small brand, and a small blog.
The established brand is in the home services industry, the small brand is a movie streaming service, and the small blog relates to music.
Please note that I won’t compare their made-up metrics, such as DR, KD, UR, because I have nothing to compare them to.

The keyword expansion comparison will include five keywords that are not related to any of the sites above. I’ll compare the number of results and the total search volume of the lists they provide. Since I can’t really measure relevance, I’ll just share the CSV files so you can see for yourself.

Pricing​

We all know that Ahrefs changed their plans recently, making them a lot less attractive.
SEMRushstarts at $130/mo, and it’s usable in most cases. Aherfs starts at $99, which is cheaper, but for that price, they show cached SERPs, no content gaps, and a couple of other annoying things. The cheapest usable plan costs $199/mo.
SEMRush pricing | Ahrefs Pricing

Accuracy in Traffic Estimation​

1. Established Brand:​

5,054 organic visits (to the root only, excluding subdomains) in June 2023, according to the search console.
SEMRush: 20.9K visits.
Aherfs: 18.1K visits.

2. Small brand:​

5,740 organic visits in June 2023 according to Google’s Search Console.
SEMRush: 3K visits
Ahreft: 1.7K visits

3. Blog: ​

5,353 visits in June 2023, according to GSC.
SEMRush: 7.2K visits
Ahrefs: 12.3K visits.

My Impression​

Stats are all over the place. SEMRushhas a slight edge.

Backlinks​

1. Established Brand​

GSC: 173 referring domains, with a total of 3,649backlinks
SEMRush: 1.4K referring domain, total 12.6K
Ahrefs: 876 RD, 2.9K backlinks

2. Small Brand​

GSC: 277 RD, 3544 backlinks
SEMRush: 114 RD, 825 backlinks
Ahrefs: 59 RD, 171 backlinks

3. Blog​

GSC: 146 RD, 276 backlinks
SEMRush: 1.4K RD, 5.5K backlinks
Ahrefs: 466 RD, 1.1K backlinks

My Impression​

Inconclusive because there isn’t a single source of truth.

Paid Search (Google Ads)​

1. Established Brand​

Google Ads: Clicks: 91K Cost: $502K Keywords: 830
SEMRush: Clicks: 13.1K Cost: $47K Keywords: 392
Ahrefs: Clicks: 270 Cost: $1K Keywords: 39

2. Small Brand​

Google Ads: Clicks: 4.1K Cost: $3.8K Keywords: 1K
SEMRush: Clicks: 151 Cost: $68 Keywords: 11
Ahrefs: Clicks: - Cost: - Keywords: -

My Impression​

Both are very inaccurate, SEMRush seems to be a little less inaccurate than Ahrefs.

Keyword Expansion​

1. Brown Leather waller​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 992
Total volume: 5,310

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 1,381
Total volume: 2.5K

2. Glucometer​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 9,767
Total volume: 105,710

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 10,479
Total volume: 69K

3. White headphones​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 4,535
Total volume: 36,440

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 5,587
Total volume: 33K

4. Wooden picture frame​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 6,488
Total volume: 68,620

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 1,610
Total volume: 7.2K

5. Sun screen​

SEMRush​

Keywords: 6,953
Total volume: 71,210

Ahrefs​

Keywords: 13,580
Total volume: 35K

My Impression​

It looks like Ahrefs inflates the number of keywords they bring but can’t catch all the keywords that have real search volume, resulting in much less total search volume. I think SEMRush’s got this one.
Keywords download | VT

Final Verdict:​

Just like every other thread, at the end of the day, it’s all up to what’s more important to you. SEMRush won by points, assuming that each aspect of the tools is equally important, but in reality, they are not all equal, and price matters, too.

For anything backlinks, I would mostly rely on Ahrefs even over GSC. But for most other things, I think there isn't much difference.


From my experience Semrush inflates search traffic sometimes when compared to the true figures. But of recent I noticed even Ahrefs does same thing. At the end of the day, they are third-party tools and don't have direct access to your site so there would a few inaccuracies.

 

[roydan]

For anything backlinks, I would mostly rely on Ahrefs even over GSC. But for most other things, I think there isn't much difference.


From my experience Semrush inflates search traffic sometimes when compared to the true figures. But of recent I noticed even Ahrefs does same thing. At the end of the day, they are third-party tools and don't have direct access to your site so there would a few inaccuracies.

I agree, but I wanted to point out that even though both are very different, each of them can technically pull out any job.
I personally prefer SEMrush, but I was surprised by how well it stood up against Ahrefs in the backlinks comparison. This thread by @dmister shows that it crawls backlinks slower than Ahrefs, but it turns out that after some time passes, they show more results.

@Panther28 's comment on the above thread, by the way, made me try to compare them.

 

[dragonlube]

Both are best at its own figures, nowadays due to the changes in price plan, Semrush beats Ahrefs
Also, semrush has many interesting features and handy to analyze

 

[Rulingseo]

My opinion, both are has good features but ahrefs is better than semrush,

also those are lit expensive.

 

[NeedMyLink]

Both are the best. If choosing between SEMrush and Ahrefs then I look more towards Ahrefs. I actively check my projects with it and I am completely satisfied with the features.

 

[roydan]

Both are best at its own figures, nowadays due to the changes in price plan, Semrush beats Ahrefs
Also, semrush has many interesting features and handy to analyze

SEMRush really upped their game in the past few months.

My opinion, both are has good features but ahrefs is better than semrush,

also those are lit expensive.

What do you think Ahrefs does netter than SEMRush?

Both are the best. If choosing between SEMrush and Ahrefs then I look more towards Ahrefs. I actively check my projects with it and I am completely satisfied with the features.

That's another thing, the best tool is the one you are used to ;-)

 

[DeadJoe]

Imho, ahrefs USED to be better, and I'm not making this statement because of their pricing change.

SEMRush has really picked up, and their data is actually better than ahrefs in most cases.

I think ahrefs has a better UI (maybe I am biased?) I am used to ahrefs, it feels comfortable. SEMRush UI is pretty shit in comparison. ahrefs just feels premium every time I log in, I don't know why. But in reality, SEMRush beat them to it.