SE Ranking vs Ahrefs: same $129, different tools

SE Ranking vs Ahrefs starts with a coincidence: both entry plans cost $129 a month on monthly billing. What you get for it is almost opposite. SE Ranking Core tracks 2,000 keywords every day across 10 projects. Ahrefs Lite tracks 750 keywords once a week across 5, but comes with link history on every plan and a link index it says refreshes every 15 to 30 minutes.

Pick SE Ranking for rank tracking, client reporting and team seats on a budget. Pick Ahrefs if link research is the work.

Prices below were read from each vendor's own pricing page on 4 October 2026.

SE Ranking vs Ahrefs at $129

The SE Ranking pricing and Ahrefs pricing pages have every tier and add-on.

One tier up

For a team of three, our arithmetic: SE Ranking Growth is $279. Ahrefs Standard plus two seats at $60 is $369. And the cheaper option tracks two and a half times as many keywords, every day.

Backlinks: where Ahrefs earns the money

Sources: SE Ranking's backlink checker page and Ahrefs' big data page.

Read the domain row carefully. SE Ranking's domain count is higher, but Ahrefs vets domains before counting them, so the two are not measuring the same thing. The freshness claims also differ in kind: Ahrefs states how often its index updates, SE Ranking states what share of links were updated within 90 days.

What is clear is that Ahrefs builds its whole product around links. Domain Rating, URL Rating and Ahrefs Rank are calculated from its backlink index, and link history comes with every plan. If you prospect for links, audit link profiles or sell link building, that is worth paying for. Our guide to competitor backlink analysis covers what to do with the data either way.

Rank tracking: where SE Ranking earns its keep

Daily against weekly. Ahrefs' pricing table lists weekly rank tracking on every plan, Enterprise included. SE Ranking updates daily on every plan.

Volume. At the same $129, 2,000 keywords against 750.

Seats. Extra SE Ranking seats start at $16 a month. Ahrefs charges $40 to $100 depending on plan, and Lite stops at three users.

Reporting add-ons. SE Ranking sells an Agency Pack for $69 a month on annual plans. Ahrefs sells a Report Builder for $99 a month.

If tracking client rankings is your main job, see the best rank trackers for agencies, which compares the specialists.

Trials and free tiers

SE Ranking gives 14 days with no card, including up to 10 projects and 750 tracked keywords a day. There is no free plan.

Ahrefs gives no trial. Its FAQ says "We never run discounts" and points to Ahrefs Free, which offers limited Site Explorer and Site Audit access for sites you can verify. A $29 Starter plan is also listed, with no limits published.

Pick SE Ranking if

• Rank tracking is the core of what you pay for, especially daily and at volume.
• You are a team or agency adding seats.
• You want to test the full product for two weeks without a card.

Pick Ahrefs if

• Link research is the work: prospecting, auditing, building.
• You want link history included on the cheapest plan.
• You work alone or in a team of three or fewer and can track rankings weekly.

Pick neither if your gap is paid search history or total traffic. SE Ranking vs Semrush and Semrush vs Ahrefs cover the broader suites. The SE Ranking alternatives and Ahrefs alternatives pages list the rest.

If what you actually need is to know what competitors changed each week, rather than to track your own rankings, Figo checks each competitor once a week (their rankings, new pages, ads on Google, Meta and TikTok, pricing and reviews) and sends a Monday briefing, from $49 a month. Ours, so judge accordingly. It has no backlink data and no keyword research.