Semrush vs Ahrefs vs Moz, the battle of giants that dominate the SEO tools market. They all offer keyword research, competitor analysis, SEO tracking, backlink monitoring, and more.
For those new to SEO, it’s hard to tell them apart at first, but a deeper look reveals clear differences. Curious which tool performs best in each area? 😉
We’ll break down Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Keep reading to find the tool that fits your needs and why.
What Is Semrush?
Semrush is a digital marketing platform launched in 2008 that integrates SEO, content, and advertising tools in one workspace. It brings together keyword data, backlinks, and traffic metrics to support performance analysis and strategy adjustments.
Marketers use Semrush to monitor search results, track competitors, and manage both organic and paid campaigns. Its tools cover keyword research, optimization, and reporting, and the regularly updated global datasets provide insights for both international and local markets.
What Are Semrush Popular Features?
Semrush offers an extensive suite of tools to support every facet of SEO, advertising, and social media. Its main features are outlined below.
- Keyword Overview: Identify high-value keywords using metrics like volume, CPC, difficulty, and SERP features.
- Backlink Tools: Track link profiles across domains and evaluate authority, anchor text, and growth patterns.
- Traffic Analytics: Measure traffic sources, user behavior, and market share across competing websites.
- PPC Tools: Refine paid search campaigns through keyword testing, bid analysis, and ad performance tracking.
- Site Audit: Scan websites for technical SEO issues and organize recommendations into fixable tasks.
- ContentShake AI: Produce SEO-driven articles with automated outlines, keyword prompts, and AI image tools.
- Domain Overview: Evaluate domain strength, traffic trends, keyword rankings, and top-performing regions.
- My Reports: Combine data from Semrush, GA, GSC, and GBP into automated, client-ready PDF reports.
What is Semrush Pricing?
Semrush charges premium rates and offers tiered plans with different levels of access based on user needs and budgets.
- Pro Plan: $139.95/month, 5 projects, tracking up to 500 keywords, and checking up to 10,000 results per report.
- Guru Plan: $249.95/month, 15 projects, tracking up to 1,500 keywords, and checking up to 30,000 results per report.
- Business Plan: $499.95/month, 40 projects, tracking up to 5,000 keywords, and checking up to 50,000 results per report.
What Is Moz?
Moz is an SEO platform launched in 2004 that offers tools for keyword research, technical audits, and link analysis. The platform combines rank tracking, site crawling, and backlink monitoring in a single interface.
Users rely on it to adjust on-page elements, measure domain authority, and plan content based on search data. Its interface focuses on clarity, with accessible metrics for both individuals and teams managing SEO across multiple sites and regions.
What Are Moz Popular Features?
Moz places particular emphasis on authority metrics and link analysis. Key functions from its toolset are listed below.
- Keyword Explorer: Identify valuable keywords, examine SERPs, and access over 1.25 billion search term suggestions.
- Link Explorer: Review backlink counts, anchor usage, domain sources, and link influence on rankings.
- Site Crawl: Detect SEO issues like crawl blocks, duplicate content, and site structure problems with weekly scans.
- Domain Authority Checker: Monitor domain authority scores and evaluate potential to rank on search engine results.
- GeoRank: Compare keyword positions across specific local areas and track visibility in location-based searches.
- True Competitors: Discover SERP competitors that share your keyword targets and overlap in ranking space.
- Custom Reports: Assemble tailored SEO reports that highlight specific KPIs for internal or client use.
- Moz AI: Interpret search intent, support keyword selection, and enrich content recommendations using AI-driven insights.
What is Moz Pricing?
Moz charges higher-than-average prices but provides flexible plans, from basic to advanced, with features designed for individuals, small businesses, and larger enterprises.
- Starter Plan: $39 per month, 1 user, 1 tracked site, 50 tracked keywords, 20K pages crawled.
- Standard Plan: $79 per month, 1 user, 3 tracked sites, 300 tracked keywords, 400K pages crawled.
- Medium Plan: $143 per month, 2 users, 10 tracked sites, 1,500 tracked keywords, 2M pages crawled.
- Large Plan: $239 per month, 3 users, 25 tracked sites, 3,000 tracked keywords, 5M pages crawled.
What Is Ahrefs?
Ahrefs is an SEO platform launched in 2011 that helps marketers track performance, analyze competitors, and improve search visibility. It provides tools for keyword research, link analysis, and rank tracking within a single interface.
The platform allows users to find ranking opportunities, address technical issues, and compare performance with competitors. While geared toward experienced users, Ahrefs includes resources to support learning and strategy development.
What are Ahrefs Popular Features?
Ahrefs offers a broad set of SEO tools designed to support various tasks. Below are some of the key features.
- Keyword Generator: Generate keyword suggestions across six idea types using input phrases and a database of over 8 billion queries.
- Backlink Checker: Review backlink counts, referring domains, and link type distribution for any URL or domain.
- Site Audit: Scan your site for technical problems, visualize issues, and receive optimization advice with an overall SEO health score.
- Content Explorer: Discover high-performing pages using filters like traffic, backlinks, and topic relevance across 14.4 billion URLs.
- Rank Tracker: Track keyword positions over time, filter by group, and evaluate Share of Voice across regions and devices.
- Site Explorer: Reverse-engineer competitor strategies using backlink data, top keywords, and ad visibility metrics.
- AI Content Helper: Compare your content against top-ranking pages and improve on-page SEO using keyword-specific suggestions.
- Website Authority Checker: Measure a site Domain Rating on a scale of 0 to 100 to assess link authority and ranking strength.
What is Ahrefs Pricing?
Ahrefs offers four pricing tiers designed to accommodate various business needs. Certain features like the report builder and AI content helper are available as add-ons.
- Lite Plan: $129/month, 5 projects, 6 months of history, 750 tracked keywords, and 100,000 crawl credits.
- Standard Plan: $249/month, 20 projects, 2 years of history, 2,000 tracked keywords, and 500,000 crawl credits.
- Advanced Plan: $449/month, 50 projects, 5 years of history, 5,000 tracked keywords, and 1.5M crawl credits.
- Enterprise Plan: $14,990/year, 100 projects, unlimited history, 10,000 tracked keywords, and 5M crawl credits.
Features Face-Off: Semrush, Moz, or Ahrefs?
Semrush, Moz, and Ahrefs offer powerful SEO tools with many similarities, but small differences significantly affect your daily SEO tasks and results. We’ll compare their features, ease of use, pricing, and overall value.
1. Keyword Research
Semrush delivers a keyword research system that explores over 26 billion keywords, generating long-tail variations, question-based terms, and niche ideas. Metrics include search volume, intent, CPC, keyword difficulty, and SERP features. Additional tools support PPC planning, keyword gap analysis, and full-site keyword strategy building.
Moz has Keyword Explorer that provides over 1.25 billion keyword suggestions, which helps users uncover opportunities using search volume and difficulty score. The tool groups related terms, highlights SERP features, and enables users to create keyword lists with custom relevance ratings. It supports focused targeting by aligning search data with content planning.
Ahrefs Keyword Explorer feature analyzes search data from nine platforms, including Google and YouTube. It features 29 billion keywords with metrics like search volume, difficulty, CPC, and traffic potential.
The winner for keyword research is Semrush
Semrush offers broader keyword coverage, stronger data segmentation, and deeper metric integration. The Keyword Magic Tool reveals more long-tail terms and commercial intent indicators, which enable precise targeting for both SEO and PPC strategies.
2. Content Optimizer
Semrush brings together several content tools to simplify optimization. The Writing Assistant checks SEO, readability, tone, and originality directly while ContentShake AI generates optimized articles and helps manage publishing workflows.
Though it doesn’t have dedicated content tools, Moz supports content optimization with tools for keyword targeting and on-page analysis. It highlights keyword usage, page structure, and tag relevance.
Ahrefs supports content strategy with tools like the AI Content Helper, which analyzes content against top-ranking pages and scores it for keyword relevance. For topic research, Content Explorer scans over 14 billion pages to surface high-performing content ideas.
The winner for Content Editor and Optimizer is Semrush
Semrush delivers deeper optimization with AI-backed editing, SERP-based outlines, and full integration into writing platforms. Its content toolkit supports planning, writing, refining, and publishing.
3. Site Audit
Semrush offers a high-speed crawler that checks for over 140 technical SEO issues, including crawlability, broken links, site speed, and hreflang tag errors. The Site Audit tool delivers structured reports with actionable fixes. Log File Analyzer tracks bot behavior, while the On Page SEO Checker suggests improvements for page content, links, and SERP targeting.
Moz Site Crawl tool identifies critical SEO issues such as duplicate content, broken links, and missing tags. The platform prioritizes problems based on their impact, recommends specific fixes, and supports deeper analysis by evaluating individual page content and suggesting improvement steps.
Ahrefs offers a Site Audit tool that scans all site pages for common SEO problems like slow loading, meta tag gaps, and crawl issues. The tool highlights errors and warnings with fix instructions to help users improve technical SEO and user experience across the site.
The winner for site audit is Moz
Moz wins with a simpler, more intuitive interface that presents technical issues in an easy-to-digest format. Weekly automated crawls and prioritized recommendations make it easier to manage ongoing SEO health.
4. SERP Analysis
Semrush provides SERP analysis with detailed insights into top-ranking pages for any keyword, including search volume, keyword difficulty, and domain-level metrics. The SERP Checker Tool lets users view Google results by location. Position Tracking follows keyword movements over time, showing performance trends for your site and competitors.
Moz focuses on keyword-based SERP analysis, offering data on ranking difficulty, competing pages, and estimated organic CTR. It displays link metrics for top results to help explain ranking factors. The Rank Tracker monitors keyword visibility across search engines and locations, though its data remains less in-depth.
Ahrefs analyzes SERPs through its SERP Checker, showing the top 10 organic results for any keyword across regions. It highlights features like “People also ask” and product carousels, includes Domain Rating and backlink data, and tracks historical ranking shifts to reveal long-term trends and volatility.
The winner for SERP analysis is Ahrefs
Ahrefs outperforms others with precise SERP snapshots, historical ranking data, and granular metrics for each top result. It supports competitive comparisons at scale with location-specific depth.
5. Rank Tracking
Semrush delivers daily rank tracking with precise keyword monitoring across devices and search engines. Position Tracking highlights high-opportunity keywords for content updates and reveals cannibalization risks.
Moz offers multi-engine rank tracking with support for Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Users generate on-demand updates up to 200 times per day, although routine reports arrive weekly. The Rank Tracker integrates with visibility scores and domain metrics to help users assess overall SEO progress.
Ahrefs tracks keyword rankings across 190+ countries on desktop and mobile. The Rank Tracker feature presents Share of Voice, traffic estimates, and SERP feature coverage through interactive graphs.
The winner for rank tracking Ahrefs
Ahrefs stands out for its global coverage and interactive visual reports. It tracks rankings in over 190 locations and integrates with Google Search Console to support ongoing SEO monitoring.
6. Domain Authority Metrics
Semrush uses an Authority Score to estimate a domain influence based on backlink quality, organic traffic strength, and spam indicators. The score reflects a domain potential to impact rankings when linking to other sites. Domain Overview supplements this by showing market-level presence, traffic sources, and visibility trends for any domain.
Moz developed Domain Authority, a widely used metric that estimates a site’s ranking potential based on backlink volume, linking root domains, and machine learning signals. The Domain Authority Checker displays DA alongside key domain metrics and top backlinks in a single, simplified view.
Ahrefs uses Domain Rating (DR) to evaluate the strength of a domain backlink profile. DR scores sites from 1 to 100 based on the quantity and quality of linking domains. The metric appears within their Website Authority Checker, which helps users benchmark a site authority within its industry or region.
The winner for authority metrics is Moz
Moz wins with its long-established DA metric and a clean, accessible interface. The tool combines predictive scoring with clear backlink analysis, which makes it easy to understand authority trends and take action based on reliable, recognized data.
7. Backlink Analysis
Semrush gives a broad view of backlink health, combining audits with competitor insights. Tools like Backlink Audit help identify toxic links and anchor trends, while Backlink Gap uncovers missed opportunities by comparing competitor profiles.
Moz provides core backlink data with a focus on clarity and ease of use. Link Explorer shows referring domains, anchor text, and spam scores, while Link Intersect reveals overlaps between competitors.
Ahrefs stands out for its massive, frequently updated live link index. With Backlink Checker, users analyze domain strength, track new and lost links, and identify which content attracts backlinks.
The winner for backlink analysis is Ahrefs
Ahrefs wins on data depth and speed. Its link index is both large and fresh, which make it the most dependable tool for detailed link tracking, competitive analysis, and identifying high-impact backlink strategies.
8. Competitive Analysis
Semrush offers a detailed breakdown of competitor strategies across search, paid ads, backlinks, and traffic channels. Users track keyword performance, link-building methods, ad activity, and social presence. Traffic Analytics compares site visits, sources, and audience behavior to refine digital campaigns with competitor benchmarks.
Moz Pro helps users identify real SERP competitors and evaluate keyword overlap and ranking gaps. Tools like Top Competitor Content reveal missed opportunities and ranking advantages. Users access traffic lift estimates and keyword-level metrics to guide strategic content updates.
Ahrefs uses Site Explorer to give a full view of competitor domains, including organic traffic, backlinks, and keyword rankings. Users examine paid traffic performance, broken links, and top-performing content.
The winner for competitive analysis is Ahrefs
Ahrefs consolidates all competitive insights into Site Explorer, combining organic, paid, and backlink data in one interface. Its focus on actionable data and historical trends makes it ideal for successful SEO strategies.
9. Ease of Use
Semrush presents a steeper learning curve because it offers an extensive range of features. While powerful, its complexity overwhelms new users. However, the platform provides comprehensive guides and tutorials that help users navigate its tools effectively over time.
Moz delivers a more user-friendly experience with an intuitive interface and clear navigation. Its simple tools help beginners start SEO tasks like backlink analysis and keyword tracking easily. The platform welcomes users without deep SEO experience.
Ahrefs features a clean, easy-to-navigate interface, which allows users to jump straight into analyzing backlinks, keywords, and competitors. Although the tool includes many advanced features, its design keeps it manageable for both beginners and experienced users.
The winner for ease of use is Moz
Moz excels in ease of use, offering a straightforward interface that makes it accessible to newcomers while still providing powerful insights. Its simplicity in navigating between tools and interpreting data makes it an ideal choice for users who prioritize usability over complexity.
10. Unique AI Capabilities
Semrush uses AI tools like ContentShake AI and the AI Toolkit. ContentShake AI blends SEO data with generative writing to produce optimized articles with keyword suggestions and image support. The AI Toolkit tracks brand presence across platforms, analyzing LLM data to uncover strategic content opportunities.
Moz applies AI in Keyword Explorer and Search Intent, combining machine learning and expert insights to classify queries by intent. Moz AI aids Domain Overview and audience analysis by detecting patterns in evolving search behavior to help refine SEO plans.
Ahrefs enhances SEO with SERP AI that assesses keyword intent and segments traffic, which allow tailored content alignment and AI Content Helper that compares content to competitors, suggesting on-page improvements to boost rankings for targeted keywords.
Tied when it comes to AI capabilities
These AI features focus mainly on content rewriting and search intent analysis rather than fully automating SEO tasks or decision-which make. To truly transform SEO, these platforms need deeper AI integration that automates workflows end to end.
11. Pricing
Semrush uses a tiered pricing model with three main plans. It ranks among the more expensive SEO tools due to its extensive features, which make it costly even for larger businesses and agencies.
Moz provides several pricing options for different SEO needs. It’s generally more affordable than premium tools but still be pricey for small businesses or individuals needing advanced features.
Ahrefs charges monthly fees that cover core features but adds extra costs when users exceed 500 credits. Add-ons like Content Kit and advanced reports increase expenses, which make Ahrefs less budget-friendly, especially for small businesses.
There is no clear winner for pricing
Semrush, Moz, and Ahrefs have pricing that strain many businesses. Extra fees for add-ons or additional credits often raise the total cost. For budget-conscious users, alternative tools provide competitive features at lower prices, delivering better overall value.
A New Era of SEO Tool Evolution: Search Atlas vs. Semrush, Moz, and Ahrefs
Semrush, Moz, and Ahrefs offer reliable features and wide adoption, but they lack the AI-driven innovation shaping the next phase of SEO. Search Atlas changes the game. It matches traditional platforms on essentials and pushes further with tools built for speed, automation, and scale. 📈
The platform combines everything in one place: content creation, link building, UX optimization, technical fixes, press releases, PPC, PR outreach, and more, without switching between tools.
Domain Authority Metric
Search Atlas Domain Power (DP) metric combines keyword rankings and organic traffic using data pulled directly from GSC. Unlike traditional scores based only on backlinks or third-party estimates, DP relies on first-party performance data to assess domain strength. This setup helps prioritize link-building by highlighting domains with measurable influence.
Keyword Research Tools
Search Atlas streamlines keyword discovery with tools designed for clarity and precision. The Keyword Research Tool displays volume, difficulty, intent, and trend shifts in one view. The Keyword Magic Tool groups terms by topic and behavior to guide structured content creation. Keyword Gap reveals missed opportunities by comparing your rankings with competitors.
Content Optimization Tools
Search Atlas brings everything into one workflow for content planning, execution and optimization. The Content Planner identifies relevant keywords, builds topic clusters, outlines articles, and generates full drafts from a single dashboard. The Topical Map Generator organizes semantically related themes into structured clusters, supporting stronger topical coverage.
Content Genius serves as an AI writing assistant that analyzes high-ranking pages and provides real-time suggestions. It highlights improvements for keyword usage, content structure, NLP terms, and internal links.
To ensure quality, SCHOLAR, the content evaluation tool, reviews each piece based on clarity, factual accuracy, and human-like effort. These scores contribute to better content performance and greater search reliability.
Competitor Analysis
Search Atlas helps users benchmark SEO performance with features like Site Explorer and Traffic Insights. It reveals keyword visibility, traffic drivers, and backlink sources for any domain or page. Tools like Backlink Gap Analysis highlight missed linking opportunities, while keyword comparison functions expose ranking gaps and untapped queries.
Topical Dominance in Site Explorer shows how well your site covers a subject compared to competitors. It measures content depth across key topics and identifies gaps where additional pages improve topical relevance and authority.
Outreach Tools
Search Atlas streamlines link-building and PR outreach by reducing campaign timelines from weeks to days. Integrated tools enable finding contacts, creating pitches, and tracking responses within a single platform.
The HARO Automation feature uses AI to identify relevant queries and generate responses automatically. Digital PR Prospector matches expert insights with journalist requests, enabling timely media contributions.
OTTO AI SEO Agent
OTTO is the AI SEO assistant that manages all complex workflows across technical fixes, local SEO, authority building, and on-page optimization. This reduces routine work while maintaining performance through continuous adaptation to algorithm changes.
PPC Tools and OTTO Google Ads
Search Atlas brings pay-per-click tools into one centralized platform, combining PPC with SEO insights for unified campaign planning. The PPC toolkit covers competitor keyword tracking, ad copy research, and bidding strategy comparison. These tools offer visibility into how other brands allocate their budgets and what messages they promote.
OTTO Google Ads enhances this process by reviewing your site, selecting high-value keywords, grouping ads, and generating tailored ad copy. Campaigns launch quickly and remain optimized through OTTO continuous oversight.
Automated and Custom Reporting
Search Atlas takes reporting to the next level by integrating GSC, GA4, OTTO performance metrics, and its own custom tools. Track page performance, rankings, engagement, and bounce rates effortlessly with automated insights that enable real-time adjustments.
Usability
Search Atlas dominates as the most user-friendly SEO platform. Its intuitive design, tutorial videos, blogs, and personalized 1-on-1 onboarding sessions help you and your team get up to speed quickly with minimal effort.
Search Atlas Pricing
Search Atlas delivers unbeatable value with competitive pricing and free OTTO SEO activations, which make it the most comprehensive and cost-effective SEO platform available.
| Starter plan | Growth plan | Pro plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price: | $99 monthly | $199 monthly | $399 monthly |
| Free OTTO Activation | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| User Seats | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| GSC Projects | 5 | 15 | 100 |
| Keywords per Site | Top 10K | Top 100K | Top 1M |
| Onpage In-Depth Audits | 40 | 100 | 200 |
| Keyword Rank Tracking Projects | 20 | 50 | 1000 |
| Backlink Analyzer Projects | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Total Pages Crawled per Month | 50K | 100K | 10M |
| Aggregator Network Citations | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Content Genius – AI Blog and Landing Page Generation | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Local SEO Heatmaps/Geogrids | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Search Atlas vs. The World: Winning the SEO Race with Groundbreaking Features
While Semrush, Moz, and Ahrefs are making efforts to enhance their AI capabilities, their progress is slow and incremental. In contrast, Search Atlas has already leaped ahead, delivering innovative features that redefine SEO standards. 🦾
Search Atlas doesn’t just match its competitors, it surpasses them by integrating cutting-edge AI-powered tools, like OTTO, into a robust, enterprise-level platform. From content creation to technical SEO, authority building, and competitor analysis, it provides everything you need, all at an accessible price point.
Prepare to be astounded. The future of SEO is within reach, and it’s yours to explore. Start your free trial today!
