Best free option: Ahrefs (Strong). Switching saves about $1,408 USD a year.
$1,408 USDa year
≈$2,007.39 CAD (converted from USD)
Every pick below has a free version.
4 alternatives
Covers most of the same work, with trade-offs noted on each card.
Best for free site audits and backlinks on your own sites
This is Ahrefs Free (formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools). It works only for sites you verify as your own. Needs an Ahrefs account. Free version: Ahrefs Free (formerly Webmaster Tools) covers Site Audit, Site Explorer and Web Analytics for sites you verify as your own.
Best for first-party search data on your own site
Free with a Google account after you verify ownership. It reports what Google sees about your site, not your competitors.
Right for specific needs, or not yet mature enough to recommend widely.
Best for Bing search data and a free site scan
Free with a Microsoft account. Data covers Bing and its partners, which have a much smaller share than Google.
Best for free keyword ideas and volume ranges
Part of Google Ads and needs a Google Ads account with billing details entered. It covers keyword research only.
Sponsor this page: $149 for 30 days. Sponsors appear above the ranking, labeled; the ranking itself is not for sale.
How each alternative covers what people use Semrush for. Numbers link to editor notes.
| Feature | Ahrefs | Google Search Console | Bing Webmaster Tools | Google Keyword Planner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research | ||||
| Keyword research with search volume | PartialNote 1Organic keywords of your own sites; top 1000 shown | PartialNote 2Queries your site already ranks for; no volume or new ideas | PartialNote 3Search volumes for Bing queries only | PartialNote 4Keyword ideas with estimated monthly volume; built for ad planning |
| Competitor traffic and keyword analysis | NoNote 5Competitor analysis needs a paid plan | NoNote 6Own verified sites only | No | No |
| Links | ||||
| Backlink analysis | PartialNote 7Backlinks to your own sites; top 1000 shown | PartialNote 8Links report for your own site | PartialNote 9Backlink profile for your own verified sites | No |
| Technical | ||||
| Site audit | YesNote 10170+ checks and 5000 crawl credits per project each month | PartialNote 11Indexing, Core Web Vitals and rich result reports; no crawler | PartialNote 12On-demand Site Scan for technical issues | No |
| Monitoring | ||||
| Position tracking | PartialNote 13Organic positions in Site Explorer; no dedicated tracker | PartialNote 14Average position per query and page | PartialNote 15Search performance with average position on Bing | No |
| AI | ||||
| AI search visibility tracking | No | No | NoNote 16No AI answer tracking listed | No |
| Parity score | 42% | 33% | 33% | 8% |
Not covered by any free alternative yet: Keyword research with search volume, Competitor traffic and keyword analysis, Backlink analysis, Position tracking, AI search visibility tracking. See all feature gaps
Switching saves about $1,408 USD / ≈$2,007 CAD (estimated from the USD price) a year. Prices checked ; ≈ means converted from USD.
Based on SEO plan, cheapest paid plan. Price source. USD to CAD at 1.4257 as of Oct 7, 2026.
Last verified . Ranking: tier first, then the published score.
Something wrong or out of date? Report outdated info.
Semrush is a product of Semrush, named here for comparison only. Platforms listed for Semrush: Web.