If you’re weighing BrightEdge vs. Ahrefs, you’re already on the right track, both are powerful platforms, but they serve different needs. 💁
BrightEdge is built for large teams and enterprises, with advanced reporting and data-driven insights. Ahrefs, on the other hand, is loved by marketers and content creators for its unbeatable backlink analysis, keyword research, and user-friendly interface.
For large-scale SEO and detailed reporting, BrightEdge fits best. For quick, actionable insights like competitor backlinks and keyword research, Ahrefs is the go-to.
Still, choosing between them depends on your business size, budget, and goals. 🎯
In this article, we’ll break down what BrightEdge and Ahrefs really offer. Then, we’ll introduce a surprising alternative that could fit your needs even better.
What Is BrightEdge?
BrightEdge is an enterprise SEO platform built for large companies that need to manage complex content strategies and track business results.
It’s used by marketing teams and decision-makers who want to understand what their customers are searching for and how to meet that demand with the right content. Instead of focusing on simple website SEO audits tools or quick fixes, BrightEdge is built for organizations that run multiple campaigns and need deep, data-driven insights.
Industries like finance, retail, and automotive often rely on BrightEdge to guide content creation and monitor its impact on traffic, conversions, and revenue.
BrightEdge is less about individual tasks and more about helping large teams coordinate SEO efforts over time. In the following sections, we’ll explain what Ahrefs is and introduce an unexpected alternative you might not have considered.
BrightEdge Features
BrightEdge helps large companies transform search and content insights into clear strategies and measurable results:
- Data Cube: Access deep research to uncover content gaps and audience interests.
- Share of Voice: Monitor how competitors rank and perform on key topics.
- Content IQ: Scan websites to find technical issues and optimization opportunities.
- Recommendations: Highlight specific actions to strengthen on-page content.
- Backlink Management: Keep tabs on inbound links and competitor link profiles.
- Opportunity Forecasting: Estimats potential traffic and revenue based on market analysis.
- StoryBuilder: Create tailored dashboards for teams to visualize key metrics.
- Page Reporting: Break down the performance of individual pages to guide improvements.
BrightEdge Pricing
BrightEdge customizes pricing for each client, with no free trial. It’s built for large teams and agencies with big budgets, not ideal for small businesses or solo marketers.
What Is Ahrefs?
Ahrefs is an SEO platform built for marketers, content creators, and SEO professionals who want a deeper understanding of how websites perform and compete in search. It allows users to monitor their own website’s growth, analyze blog traffic, and see how competitors rank, offering insights into where they can improve and outperform others.
The platform comes with its own set of unique metrics and tools that often require time to learn, especially for new users.
From exploring keyword potential to tracking ranking changes and spotting content gaps, Ahrefs is designed for those who like to dig into the numbers and fine-tune their strategies.
Its interface can feel overwhelming at first, but the platform provides guides and articles to help users make sense of it all.
Ahrefs Features
Ahrefs offers a range of tools designed to help users deeply analyze websites, monitor competition, and uncover search opportunities:
- AI Keyword Research: Generate keyword ideas and detect search intent with AI assistance.
- AI Content Helper: Receive internal link suggestions in real time while writing content.
- AI Overview Tracking: Track AI-generated SERP overviews and keyword changes.
- Site Explorer Overview 2.0: Get a refreshed look at competitor data and backlink profiles.
- Comparison Mode: Compare keyword gaps across up to 10 competitors side by side.
- Site Audit: Audit websites with a technical SEO tool to provide a detailed view of site health issues.
- Page Inspect Tool: See an in-depth analysis of individual page performance.
- Instant Keyword Clustering: Group keywords instantly to help plan content topics efficiently.
Ahrefs Pricing
Ahrefs provides a free version with limited tools suited for casual site owners, with full access to advanced features and keyword tracking available through its paid subscriptions:
- Lite: $129/month — 5 projects, 6 months of historical data, 750 tracked keywords, 100,000 crawl credits, 500 credits per user, 1 user included (add up to 2 more users at $40/month each).
- Standard: $249/month — 20 projects, 2 years of historical data, 2,000 tracked keywords, 500,000 crawl credits, unlimited credits per user, 1 user included (add up to 5 more users at $60/month each).
- Advanced: $449/month — 50 projects, 5 years of historical data, 5,000 tracked keywords, 1,500,000 crawl credits, unlimited credits per user, 1 user included (add up to 10 more users at $80/month each).
Content Kit and Report Builder are available as add-ons for $99/month each, alongside other optional add-on features.
BrightEdge or Ahrefs: Which Is the Top Contender?
Now, we’ll break down the differences between BrightEdge and Ahrefs, highlight which tool excels in specific areas, and introduce a more competitive and cost-effective alternative.
1. Backlink Analysis
BrightEdge provides tools to analyze backlinks with customizable dashboards that track trends over time. It monitors anchor text and page scores while notifying us of new backlinks, and it integrates with Majestic and Moz for an expanded backlink overview.
Ahrefs offers a powerful backlink analysis tool with access to an index of over 14 trillion websites. It allows for in-depth exploration of both your backlink profile and competitors’, offering insights on organic traffic and backlink opportunities crucial for SEO growth.
Winner: Ahrefs
Ahrefs stands out with its vast database and extensive historical data, offering deeper insights into backlink profiles and link-building opportunities, making it ideal for long-term, comprehensive SEO strategies.
2. Competitor Analysis
BrightEdge offers tools like Data Cube to help compare domain rankings, track keyword performance, and identify content gaps. This allows us to understand how our site performs relative to competitors, helping refine our SEO strategy.
Ahrefs’ competitor analysis provides detailed insights into competitors’ backlinks, keyword strategies, and overall performance. Key features include domain comparison, sentiment analysis, and social media benchmarking, which help identify opportunities and optimize strategies.
Winner: BrightEdge
BrightEdge is more tailored for in-depth performance comparison, focusing on domain rankings, keyword tracking, and content gaps, making it ideal for businesses that need detailed competitor insights to improve their SEO strategy.
3. Keyword Research
BrightEdge provides tools to discover long-tail keywords, analyze search volume, and evaluate competition. It also tracks keyword performance over time, helping us refine our content strategy and drive more targeted traffic to our site.
Ahrefs offers access to a vast database of over 7 billion keywords. It provides insights into keyword difficulty and potential traffic, and it allows users to save and organize keyword lists, making it easier to manage our research and optimize our content.
Winner: Ahrefs
Ahrefs is superior due to its extensive keyword database and detailed insights into keyword difficulty and traffic potential, making it a more comprehensive tool for in-depth keyword research and content optimization.
4. Reporting
BrightEdge offers customizable dashboards to track important metrics and automated reports that save time. The platform integrates with other tools, providing a comprehensive view of marketing performance and streamlining data collection from various sources.
Ahrefs provides in-depth reporting on backlinks and keyword performance, offering a user-friendly interface for easy navigation. Regular updates ensure the data remains current, allowing for effective tracking of SEO efforts.
Ahrefs’ report builder tool costs an additional $99 per month.
Winner: BrightEdge
BrightEdge excels in offering customizable, integrated reporting tools with automated updates, making it easier to track and analyze essential SEO metrics without requiring additional add-ons.
5. Content Marketing
BrightEdge Copilot enables marketers to directly interact with Generative AI to create SEO-friendly titles and descriptions. It helps identify what audiences want, producing content informed by SEO analysis and optimized for search results. Customization options allow matching tone and style with brand guidelines.
Ahrefs provides a Content Kit as an add-on, helping users align content with search intent and gain competitor insights. Its tools like AI Content Helper and Content Grader support content refinement, though these features come at an additional cost starting at $99/month.
Winner: BrightEdge
BrightEdge offers a more comprehensive and integrated content marketing solution with its AI-driven tools included in the plan, while Ahrefs charges extra for its Content Kit add-on, making it more expensive for those seeking full content marketing capabilities.
6. Rank Tracking
BrightEdge allows users to track keywords and keyword groups across different search engines, offering unique technology to measure blended rankings. The platform provides in-depth keyword reporting to monitor high-value keywords driving organic search performance.
Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker monitors keyword rankings across Google in 190 countries, tracking progress and analyzing SERP features. It compares performance against competitors and offers insights into search volume and trending keywords in bulk.
Winner: Ahrefs
Ahrefs’ broader global reach and comprehensive competitor performance analysis provides more detailed insights compared to BrightEdge’s search engine-specific tracking.
7. AI SEO
BrightEdge provides real-time SEO insights through tools like BrightEdge Instant, Copilot, and Data Cube X. These features allow for immediate keyword research and content optimization, helping businesses track keyword performance and adjust strategies as needed.
Ahrefs offers AI-powered keyword suggestions, search intent analysis, and content optimization. Its AI tools, like the Content Helper, assist with creating optimized content, while AI Overview and Technical SEO features enhance on-page optimization and overall SEO strategies.
Winner: Neither of them
While both platforms offer basic AI-powered automation like article writing, they don’t fully leverage AI for comprehensive SEO and content strategy automation. Today’s innovative alternatives can automate nearly all of your work, which we’ll explore later.
8. Pricing
BrightEdge offers a customized pricing model based on the specific features and services businesses require. The cost varies depending on the tools selected, and potential customers must contact BrightEdge directly for a tailored quote.
Ahrefs offers four different subscription plans with increasing costs. While it includes essential tools like the content helper and reporting, many features are available as expensive add-ons, and pricing has increased in recent years.
Winner: No clear winner
Both BrightEdge and Ahrefs are expensive for the basic features and automation they provide, with similar tools available in other SEO platforms at lower prices.
Next, we’ll introduce a more cost-effective alternative with premium tools.
BrightEdge vs. Ahrefs vs. Search Atlas: A Fresh Contender Takes the Spotlight
While BrightEdge and Ahrefs tout premium features, they fail to offer anything particularly groundbreaking or justify their high price tags.
This is where Search Atlas stands out, it provides innovative tools at a much more competitive price point.
Search Atlas Features
Search Atlas goes beyond the basics, offering all the essential SEO functionalities in one platform, from keyword research and SERP analysis to backlink tracking, keyword rank tracker, competitor analysis, on-page optimization, local SEO, site audits, reporting tools, and more.
It also integrates seamlessly with GSC, Google Analytics, and GBP.
What truly sets Search Atlas apart are its AI SEO agent called OTTO SEO, PR outreach tools, link building tools, and innovative tools.
OTTO SEO
OTTO SEO is the world’s first fully automated AI-powered SEO assistant. Unlike traditional tools that only offer suggestions, OTTO SEO actively handles tasks like content optimization, technical fixes, on-page improvements, content creation, link building, local SEO, and even press release publishing.
With OTTO SEO, you don’t just get advice: It implements real changes to optimize your site automatically.
By adding the OTTO pixel to your website, you can quickly deploy thousands of optimizations with just a few clicks, eliminating the manual work that typically consumes hours of time for your marketing or agency teams.
This makes it an incredibly efficient solution for effortless SEO. You can see the time and effort saved by brands and agencies in our 2024 in-review blog.
Backlink Tools
Search Atlas offers powerful backlink tools designed to optimize your link-building efforts and keep you ahead of your competitors:
- Site Explorer: Dive into competitor analysis by evaluating their backlinks, keywords, and overall performance.
- Backlink Gap Analysis: Identify potential link-building opportunities by comparing your backlink profile with those of your competitors.
- Backlink Analyzer: Analyze all the backlinks pointing to your site to gain valuable insights, and compare your profile with others.
- Topical Relevance: Examine how closely your referring domains align with your industry and website content.
- Enhanced Metrics: Instantly access important metrics like DA, PA, Domain Rating, Trust Flow, and Citation Flow, plus the unique Domain Power metric, which is the most reliable for assessing domain strength.
Competitor Analysis
Search Atlas redefines competitor analysis with advanced tools that provide deeper insights:
- Backlink Gap Analysis: Uncover untapped opportunities by comparing your link profile with that of your competitors.
- Backlink Analyzer: Get a thorough overview of the backlinks to your site, allowing you to measure against competitors and optimize your strategy.
- Traffic Insights: Identify which keywords and pages are driving the most traffic to your competitors, helping you fine-tune your approach for a competitive advantage.
In addition, Search Atlas includes a tool for comparing competitors’ keyword strategies, helping you spot new ranking opportunities. It covers keyword gaps, shared keywords, unique opportunities, and all common keywords.
The Site Explorer tool further enhances this by offering detailed insights into competitors’ backlinks, keywords, and overall performance, giving you a comprehensive view of their SEO strategies.
Content Tools
Search Atlas streamlines content creation with Content Genius, an AI-powered tool that analyzes top-ranking competitors to generate SEO-optimized blog posts and product pages.
It provides keyword, heading, and internal link recommendations, helping you create human-like, SEO-friendly content that engages both readers and search engines.
Additionally, Topical Maps highlight important subjects, and the Content Planner reveals keyword trends and clusters, allowing you to fine-tune your content strategy.
Keyword Research
Search Atlas offers comprehensive keyword research tools, including:
- Keyword Research Tool: Features in-depth keyword analysis, including search volume, competition, trends, and keyword intent.
- Keyword Magic Tool: Generates diverse keyword suggestions based on user intent.
- Keyword Rank Tracker: Tracks keyword performance.
- Keyword Gap Tool: Uncovers new opportunities by comparing your rankings with competitors.
Reporting Tools
Search Atlas makes tracking SEO performance simple with automated, fully customizable reports. You can integrate data from Google Analytics (GA4), Google Search Console (GSC), Google Business Profile (GBP), keyword rankings, and other platform tools.
These reports also feature AI-generated summaries that break down complex data into clear insights, helping you quickly spot improvements, wins, and opportunities without digging through spreadsheets.
Search Atlas Pricing
Ahrefs and BrightEdge target big enterprises with high costs and basic, overcomplicated tools.
Search Atlas changes the game, offering advanced features, affordable pricing, and OTTO SEO activations to handle tedious SEO tasks and make your workflow effortless.
| Starter plan | Growth plan | Pro plan | |
| Price: | $99 monthly | $199 monthly | $399 monthly |
| Free OTTO Activation | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| User Seats | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| GSC Sites | 5 | 15 | Unlimited |
| GBP Accounts | 3 | 10 | 25 |
| Regular AI Quota | 100 | 250 | Unlimited |
| Keywords per Site | Top 10K | Top 100K | Top 1M |
| Onpage In-Depth Audits | 40 | 100 | 200 |
| Keyword Rank Tracking Projects | 20 | 50 | 1000 |
| Site Auditor Projects | 5 | 10 | 100 |
| Total Pages Crawled per Month | 50K | 100K | 10M |
| Backlink Analyzer Projects | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Backlink Research Credit | 50K | 200K | 500K |
BrightEdge and Ahrefs Can’t Compete With This New SEO Solution
The battle between BrightEdge and Ahrefs is really just a competition in who can market themselves as the more “premium” tool, but in reality, they both offer the same standard features dressed up with minor AI add-ons.
Their so-called innovation usually stops at AI content suggestions or keyword recommendations, which barely scratch the surface of what AI can truly do. 🤖
That’s where Search Atlas stands apart. We’ve pushed AI to its full potential with OTTO SEO, a first-of-its-kind automation agent that handles technical fixes, content creation, and even link building for you.
Beyond that, Search Atlas equips you with all the advanced tools BrightEdge and Ahrefs provide, and more, giving you everything you need for a complete, holistic SEO strategy.
Leave the past behind and step into the future with OTTO SEO. Try our FREE trial today, no commitment, cancel anytime!
