Semrush vs Ahrefs vs Moz: an honest comparison for 2026

Semrush is better if you need one tool for several marketing channels, and Ahrefs is better if SEO research, and links in particular, is the job. Moz sits a step behind both on breadth but costs less and bundles AI prompt tracking into its mid plans. All three now market themselves on AI search as much as on Google.

Ahrefs has the cheapest entry plan, Moz is the cheapest for full SEO plans, and add-ons decide what you really pay. Monthly prices below are list prices on 2 Oct 2026.

Watch the add-ons. Semrush sells its AI Visibility Toolkit at $99 a month per domain billed annually and its Content Toolkit at $60 billed annually. Ahrefs sells Brand Radar indexes from $199 a month and AI Content Helper at $99. Moz charges $50 per extra 100 prompts and $20 per extra AI dashboard.

Semrush and Ahrefs are close on keyword coverage, and both are far larger than Moz. Semrush claims 28 billion keywords across 142 geo databases; Ahrefs claims 28.7 billion filtered keywords across 217 locations. Moz's Keyword Explorer claims 1.25 billion keyword suggestions and 170 Google search engines.

Limits matter as much as size. Moz caps keyword queries per month (150 on Standard, 5,000 on Medium, 15,000 on Large). Ahrefs' Lite plan comes with 1,000 credits per user, while Standard and above have unlimited credits per user. Semrush's plans are framed around websites and tracked keywords: 500 tracked daily on the SEO plan.

Ahrefs is the usual pick for link work, and its claims back that up: a 35-trillion backlink history, an index of 493.9 billion pages and fresh data every 15 to 30 minutes. Semrush claims 43 trillion backlinks and Moz 44.8 trillion links indexed, so all three are large.

Moz's edge is a metric rather than an index: Domain Authority, which Moz calls "the original authority metric". If your team or clients already report in DA, Moz is the source of it.

Semrush has the most AI-aware audit, Ahrefs lists the most checks, and Moz is the simplest. Semrush Site Audit checks 140+ issues, including llms.txt problems and blocked AI crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Claude-SearchBot, on free and paid plans. Ahrefs Site Audit covers 170+ issues and 190+ structured data requirements; AI features like Patches are paid add-ons. Moz Site Crawl runs weekly and groups issues by type, with forced recrawls on Medium and above.

Ahrefs covers the most engines, Moz gives the most prompts for the money, and Semrush integrates AI best with its other reports. All three track ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and Perplexity in some form.

• Semrush covers ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, with Perplexity in its Brand Performance report. Semrush One tracks 50, 100 or 200 prompts daily; the standalone toolkit tracks 25.
• Ahrefs Brand Radar indexes AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot from its keyword data, re-tested monthly; Custom Prompts add Claude. Paid plans include 5, 10 or 20 tracked prompts.
• Moz Pro tracks four models (GPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and Perplexity) weekly, with 150, 300 or 600 prompts on Standard, Medium and Large. Starter has none.

If AI answers matter to your pipeline, our guide to AI visibility explains mentions, citations and share of voice before you compare tools.

Semrush is the most complete here, because content and local are full toolkits rather than features. Its Content Toolkit ($60 a month billed annually) covers AI and SEO content optimisation and writing in your brand voice. Its Local Toolkit starts at $30 a month per location billed annually and includes Google Business Profile management with an AI agent.

Ahrefs sells AI Content Helper at $99 a month for 50 documents, or a Content Kit with more documents and a content grader. Moz offers AI Content Briefs in beta (2, 10 or 50 a month by plan) and an On-Page Grader, and sells Moz Local separately from $20 a month.

If content is your main channel, test each writer on one real brief before you commit. Our guide to SEO content strategy covers what to brief first.

Yes, all three now connect to AI assistants over MCP, with different access rules. Ahrefs includes API and MCP access on every paid plan. Semrush lists MCP access on its Semrush One plans and API data on Advanced. Moz offers MCP in beta on its separate API plans, from a free tier of 50 rows a month.

For agent workflows that means Claude Code or Cursor can pull keyword and link data from any of them. Our roundup of MCP servers and the Semrush MCP guide cover setup.

Choose by the work you do most, and expect to pay for add-ons as you grow.

• Pick Semrush if you run SEO, paid search, local listings and AI visibility from one login, or report to a marketing team.
• Pick Ahrefs if links and competitor research drive your strategy, or you want MCP access on every paid plan.
• Pick Moz Pro if budget is tight, you manage one to a few sites, or you want AI prompt tracking included without an add-on.
• Use free tiers first: Semrush's free plan, Ahrefs Free for your own sites, or Ahrefs Starter at $29.

All three report what is happening; deciding what to do this week, and doing it, stays with your team. That is the gap LogNorm fills: it turns audits, Search Console, keywords, competitors and AI answers into moves ranked against each other, and hands them to your team and your coding agent. It complements a data suite rather than replacing its backlink or ads data. See how it compares in LogNorm vs Semrush and LogNorm vs Ahrefs.