mdabdulhamidk8
Newbie
- Nov 17, 2025
- 2
- 1
If you could only afford one tool for finding low-competition, high-volume keywords, which one would you choose and why? Or should I just stick to group buys for now to learn the ropes?
Ahrefs vs Semrush for a beginner on a strict budget?
- Thread starter mdabdulhamidk8
- Start date
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- Tags
- seo tool
- Mar 2, 2012
- 3,541
- 1,626
dataforseo lets you pay per search, which might be better starting out instead of a monthly fee. not sure the quality of their data, though, never used them. im sure there are probably other keyword tools that let you pay per search, might want to look into.
- May 18, 2012
- 7,888
- 5,915
This. Also, I posted about an open-source tool that uses dataforseo api for KW research here: https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/f...rush-check-out-this-open-source-tool.1846656/
sadiaOutreach
Registered Member
- Jun 29, 2026
- 80
- 15
For a beginner, I'd start with one reliable keyword research tool and learn the basics before considering group buys.
- May 2, 2010
- 10,114
- 15,956
Ahrefs free webmaster. Forget about needing to snoop on other peoples site, use your brain and creativity to build a site that is interesting, conveys your message, and has traffic potential. You can get all your backlinks, traffic keywords, and live traffic with it. Not sure if you get this on sem rush?
You can add as many sites as you like.
You can add as many sites as you like.
I would choose Semrush. Its for begunner level to provide vastly higher daily reporting limits and a superior Keyword Magic Tool for finding low competition phrases and Avoid group buys they suffer from frequent downtime and security risk.
- Jul 25, 2026
- 114
- 79
This.. I was literally about to say the exact same thing with a little addition.
It’s so simple these days to “vibe code” up an interface to your specific needs - then use the dataforseo’s api to feed your new creations data points.
As bonzo pointed out they’re on a per usage basis. I know of them because I’ve used them for the exact purpose I just laid out above in a SaaS I’m currently building so I know it works.
koppie
Newbie
- Jul 27, 2025
- 23
- 6
I would personally chose Semrush
Germangardy
Newbie
- Sep 3, 2024
- 10
- 8
To be honest, if you don't have the money to pay for tools you have no business trying to target high volume high competitive keywords :/
stick to low competition and go from there
thomassaylor
Newbie
- Jan 25, 2024
- 5
- 2
if your budget allows then ahrefs is worth considering but if you mainly need keyword research then google has some free tools that can do the job too
AliesLiu
Newbie
- Jun 8, 2026
- 40
- 15
Infact, I think it will be more sensible to first make use of free resource until you get the idea of what type of information you need nd then ahrefs nd semrush.
learnandearnwithseo
Senior Member
- Aug 12, 2024
- 1,113
- 324
You should go with semrush in this case. It is cheap and still does the job almost as good as ahref.