Ahrefs vs. Semrush

Is Ahrefs better than Semrush?

We think so, and we’ll prove it. Explore the features, data, and automations that make top marketers choose Ahrefs over Semrush.

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Adobe logo
Ebay logo
IBM logo
Zoom logo
Pinterest logo
Dell logo
Capital One logo
Westpac logo
Survey Monkey logo
Play Station logo
UBER logo
Adidas logo
LinkedIn logo
Johnson Johnson logo
Accenture logo
Trip Advisor logo
Hubspot logo
Shopify logo
Expedia logo
Huffpost logo
Alibaba logo
Wunderman Thompson logo

Marketers at 44% of the Fortune 500 use Ahrefs to stay ahead in search and AI.

Better data than anyone else in the industry

35
T
The world's largest index of live backlinks
28.7
B
Keywords. Filtered from 110B
217
Locations with keyword data

Semrush
43
T
Live & dead backlinks
26.7
B
Keywords
143
Locations with keyword data
Competitive Intelligence
Get deep competitor insights, from market overviews to individual page changes. No surface-level snapshots.
Site Explorer
Compare 10 competitors instantly. Not just 5.

Use the Performance chart to scan up to 10 competitors across Organic Traffic, Referring Domains, Share of Voice (SOV), and more metrics.


Semrush limits you to 5 competitors and restricts SOV to the highest pricing tier.

Only in Ahrefs
See how often your competitors get cited, not just mentioned, in AI search.
See which competing site sections drive the most organic traffic, links, and ads.
Find your competitors’ top pages, track their growth, and spot when they update their content.
Track strategic changes in messaging and see the exact content edits that lead to traffic growth or drops.
AI tools

AI that drives results. Not noise.

Track brand visibility across AI search and LLMs

Optimize for global markets with AI-powered localization.

173+
Explore all of Ahrefs AI →
Content Marketing
Create winning content with deep, actionable insights. Not just keyword lists.
AI Content Helper
Write for topical depth. Forget keyword stuffing.

AI Content Helper optimizes your writing with topical scores, SERP insights, and AI chat to uncover topical gaps fast.


Semrush's optimizer focuses on keyword density, while its AI chat can't analyze competitors in real time.

Only in Ahrefs
Go beyond generic keyword intents to reveal exact SERP content types and traffic share.
Compare SERPs side-by-side. Spot shifts in intent over time–across same or different keywords.
SEO
Access better backlink data and discover valuable links faster. No meaningless toxicity scores.
67
%
of SEOs trust DR as their SEO metric of choice
Source: Aira
77
backlink-related API points
Backlinks report
See backlinks that matter. Cut through the noise.

Ahrefs’ Best Links filter lets you configure the type of links you see across all reports and charts.


Semrush’s Best Filter only shows dofollow links.

Only in Ahrefs
Track backlink spikes in real time as soon as they happen.
Discover top authors for outreach and guest blogging.
Unlike Semrush, we don't offer toxic link scores since Google ignores most bad links. But, you can still filter link spam.
Technical SEO
Find technical issues faster with detailed diagnostics. No surface-level crawls.
Site Audit
Every page detail in one panel. No report hopping.

Page Explorer gives you a complete diagnostic panel—plus instant page recrawl to check if changes worked.


Semrush shows less data, making you hung across multiple reports and wait for the next crawl.

Internal Link Opportunities suggests which pages on your website should link to each other to boost rankings.
Only in Ahrefs
Always-on audits crawl your site 24/7 to find new issues as they happen. No waiting for the next crawl.
IndexNow integration instantly notifies search engines about page changes and helps get them indexed faster.
Patch SEO fixes to your website live—no developers needed.
Automate site audits at scale →
Ahrefs SEO Toolbar gives you on-page insights for any website: wordcount, page titles, outgoing links, structured data, and more—right from your browser.
Learn more →
Ahrefs API

Get access to industry-leading marketing data.

Create an API request at the touch of a button with the most granular API endpoints on the market:

77
Backlink
data points
52
Organic traffic
data points
36
Paid traffic
data points
17
Keywords
data points
Semrush

API requests

1–10 units
Select the data fields you need
10–100 units/row
No data point flexibility

Historical data

Full history available on most reports
Monthly historical trends

Unit Add-ons

1M units $50/month
1M units $50/month
Only in Ahrefs

Connect to Ahrefs MCP

Turn ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot into your personal marketing analyst with real-time Ahrefs data.

Seen enough? Try out Ahrefs for yourself and start growing your site today!
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