The best SE Ranking alternatives in 2026
SE Ranking now starts at $129 a month, close to Semrush and Ahrefs. The SE Ranking alternatives worth a look, with prices checked today and who each suits.
SE Ranking is often recommended as the cheaper Semrush. With Core now at $129 a month on monthly billing, the gap is $10, so SE Ranking alternatives deserve a fresh look. Here is what else does the job, what it costs today, and when SE Ranking is still the best value.
Prices below were read from each vendor's own pricing page on 4 October 2026.
What SE Ranking costs now
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Seats | Tracked daily | Projects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $129 | $103.20 | 1 | 2,000 keywords | 10 |
| Growth | $279 | $223.20 | 3 | 5,000 keywords | 30 |
| Enterprise | Quote | Quote | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Extra seats start at $16. Several things agencies want are add-ons: the Agency Pack is $69 a month and the API add-on $45 a month, both on annual billing only. More tracked keywords start at $22.40 on Core, and an AI Search add-on is $89 a month or $71.20 billed annually.
Why people look for SE Ranking alternatives
The price gap has closed. Core sits at the same $129 as Ahrefs Lite and $10 below Semrush's SEO plan. If you chose SE Ranking to save money, compare again.
One seat on Core. A second person means an extra seat or a jump to Growth at $279.
Agency features cost extra. The Agency Pack and API add-on are separate and annual-only, so an agency's real bill is above the headline price.
The fair side: 2,000 keywords tracked daily, a site audit of up to 250,000 pages a month and AI search tracking for $129 is a lot. On tracking volume per dollar, SE Ranking still beats Semrush and Ahrefs. The 14 day trial needs no card.
SE Ranking alternatives compared
| Tool | From | Best at | Publishes prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semrush | $139/mo ($117.33 annual) | Depth and extra toolkits | Yes |
| Ahrefs | $129/mo (Lite, monthly) | Backlinks | Yes |
| Serpstat | $50/mo (monthly) | Cheap seats and API | Yes |
| Moz Pro | $99/mo ($79 annual) | Domain Authority, small sites | Yes |
| Nightwatch | €79/mo (annual) | Rank tracking with no seat fees | Yes |
| AccuRanker | $249/mo monthly, $224 annually | Rank tracking, unlimited users | Yes |
Semrush, for depth
The SEO plan is $139 a month or $117.33 billed annually, for five websites and 500 keywords tracked daily. That is a quarter of SE Ranking's tracking allowance for slightly more money, but Semrush's research data and its separate toolkits for advertising, content and local go further. Extra users start at $45. Full detail in SE Ranking vs Semrush.
Pick Semrush if research depth matters more than how many keywords you track.
Ahrefs, for links
Lite is $129 a month on monthly billing for five projects and 750 tracked keywords updated weekly, with extra users at $40 each. If backlinks are the core of your work, this is the upgrade. If tracking is, it is a downgrade. See SE Ranking vs Ahrefs.
Pick Ahrefs if you build links or audit competitor link profiles every week.
Serpstat, for seats and an API on a budget
Individual is $50 a month on monthly billing, single seat, no API. Team is $100 a month with three users and API access, where SE Ranking needs Growth at $279 for three seats. Agency at $410 gives 30 users and white label reports. The 7 day trial needs a $1 card verification. More in Serpstat alternatives.
Pick Serpstat if you need several logins and an API and SE Ranking's add-ons were pushing the bill up.
Moz Pro, for small sites
Standard is $99 a month billed monthly or $79 annually (the annual figure is labelled first-year), with one user, three sites and 300 tracked keywords. Fewer keywords than SE Ranking for less money, plus Domain Authority, which many link and PR teams still quote.
Pick Moz Pro if you track a small site and DA matters to the people you report to.
Nightwatch and AccuRanker, if tracking is the whole job
Nightwatch prices in euros: Starter is €79 a month billed annually (€948 a year) for 500 keywords tracked daily across five websites, and it says it does not charge per seat. Its trial is 14 days with no card. AccuRanker starts at $249 a month on monthly billing, or $224 a month billed annually, for 2,000 keywords, and includes unlimited users on every plan.
Pick one of these if rank tracking for many clients is the service you sell and research tools are an afterthought. The best rank tracking tools covers more.
What Figo does not replace
Ours, so judge accordingly. Figo is not an SEO platform. It has no site audit, no keyword research and no backlink data, and it does not track your own long keyword lists, so it is not an SE Ranking alternative for SEO work.
It does cover one thing SE Ranking's competitor research also touches: Figo checks each competitor's Google keyword positions and estimated organic traffic every week, next to their new pages, Google, Meta and TikTok ads, pricing and reviews, and sends a plain-English briefing on Monday. That starts at $49 a month for three competitors.
When SE Ranking is still the right call
- You track a lot of keywords daily. 2,000 on Core is generous at $129.
- You want rank tracking, audits and AI search tracking in one bill. Core includes all three for $129 a month.
- You are a small agency happy with annual billing. Growth plus the Agency Pack comes to $292.20 a month for three seats, 5,000 daily keywords and agency features.
Every add-on is listed in SE Ranking pricing.
The short answer
SE Ranking still wins on tracking volume per dollar. Move to Semrush for research depth, Ahrefs for links, Serpstat for cheap seats and an API, Moz for a small site that lives on DA, or a dedicated tracker if rankings are all you sell.
Questions people ask
Does SE Ranking have a free trial?
Yes, 14 days with no credit card. The trial includes up to 10 projects, 750 tracked keywords a day, 20 AI prompts a day and AI competitive research for up to three domains.
How much is an extra user on SE Ranking?
Core includes one manager seat and Growth includes three. Extra seats start at $16 each, and the page does not give a fixed figure beyond that.
Is SE Ranking cheaper than Semrush?
Slightly. SE Ranking Core is $129 a month billed monthly against Semrush's SEO plan at $139, and Core tracks 2,000 keywords daily against Semrush's 500. Semrush offers more depth and separate toolkits for ads, content and local.
What happened to SE Ranking's Essential and Pro plans?
The pricing page no longer shows them. It now lists Core, Growth and a custom Enterprise plan, with AI search tracking built into each.
See it on your own competitors
Figo checks their ads, pages, rankings and reviews every week, then tells you what to do in plain words. Set up in two minutes.
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