SE Ranking vs Semrush: which one is worth your money in 2026?

Quick verdict

Pricing plan by plan

SE Ranking has two self-serve plans and Enterprise. Semrush has three self-serve SEO plans, a custom Advanced plan and a free tier. Prices below come from the SE Ranking subscription page and the Semrush pricing page, checked October 31, 2026.

SE Ranking's annual discount is 20%; Semrush's is "up to 17%." Extra Semrush users start at $45/mo. Extra SE Ranking seats and keywords can be bought on top of a plan.

What does a year cost?

• SE Ranking Core, annual: $103.20 × 12 = $1,238.40
• Semrush SEO, annual: $117.33 × 12 = $1,407.96
• SE Ranking Growth, annual: $223.20 × 12 = $2,678.40
• Semrush Pro+, annual: $248.17 × 12 = $2,978.04

At the entry level SE Ranking saves about $170 a year and gives you four times the tracked keywords. One step up, it saves about $300 a year and tracks 5,000 keywords against 1,500.

Rank tracking

SE Ranking wins on volume. Core tracks 2,000 keywords daily, Growth 5,000. On Semrush you get 500 on SEO and Starter, 1,500 on Pro+, and 5,000+ only on the custom Advanced plan. Semrush adds multi-location and device tracking from Pro+.

If you track a few hundred keywords for one site, both are fine. If you track several client sites, the difference adds up fast.

Keyword and competitor research

SE Ranking Core lists "unlimited keyword, competitor, backlink research." Semrush's base SEO plan offers "basic keyword research and competitor analysis," with fuller keyword research and competitor insight tools from Starter ($199/mo).

Semrush's research tools are broader, with market and traffic analytics, PPC research and more. It markets its databases as some of the largest in the industry. We haven't measured database size ourselves, so test both on keywords and competitors you know before deciding.

Backlink analysis

Both include backlink research. SE Ranking makes it unlimited on Core and sells a Backlinks API. Semrush includes backlink analytics in its SEO toolkit.

Backlink totals always differ between tools because every crawler sees a different part of the web. If links are your main job, also look at Ahrefs; our Ahrefs alternatives guide explains the trade-offs.

Site audits

SE Ranking Core audits 250,000 pages a month; Growth audits 2 million. Semrush includes Site Audit on every plan and an "AI-ready Site Audit" from Starter, with crawl limits per monitored website.

For most small and mid-size sites, either is plenty. Large e-commerce sites should check crawl limits on the plan they'd actually buy.

Content tools

SE Ranking includes content marketing tools on Core. Semrush puts content optimization and keyword cannibalization analysis on Pro+ ($299/mo).

If on-page content optimization is the main reason you're buying, a dedicated tool may serve you better. See our best AI SEO tools guide.

AI visibility tracking

Both now track how your brand shows up in AI answers.

• SE Ranking: Core and Growth each include AI visibility tracking for 25 prompts a day. For more, SE Visible (SE Ranking's standalone tracker) starts at $71/mo on annual billing with 75 daily prompts, unlimited users and coverage that SE Ranking describes as "AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot and more."

For a single brand, Semrush Starter tracks more prompts. Per dollar, SE Ranking Core plus its full SEO suite is cheaper, and SE Visible is cheaper still if AI tracking is the main job. More options in our AI visibility tools guide.

Testing both? Start with SE Ranking. Its 14-day trial doesn't need a card, so you can run your keyword list there first, then use Semrush's 7-day trial for the comparison. Start the SE Ranking trial →

API, MCP and integrations

This is a quiet win for SE Ranking.

• SE Ranking: Core includes 25,000 API credits and MCP access; Growth includes 100,000. A separate API add-on with 3M credits costs $45/mo on annual billing ($48 monthly). Integrations include Looker Studio (listed as Data Studio), Matomo, Google Analytics and Search Console.
• Semrush: MCP access starts on Starter. "Advanced API data integration" is listed on the custom Advanced plan.

If you want to pull SEO data into AI assistants or your own reports without an enterprise contract, SE Ranking makes that easier.

Agencies and white-label reports

SE Ranking sells an Agency Pack for +$69/mo (annual billing only): 30 extra projects, 30 client seats, white-label platform and reports, unlimited scheduled reports with AI summaries, a lead generator and a listing in its agency catalog.

Semrush offers report add-ons: Base Report at $10/mo and Pro Report at $20/mo, the latter with branding, white-labeling and AI summaries. Its Lead Generation add-on is $90/mo. Extra users start at $45/mo each.

For an agency with several people who need logins, compare the price of extra seats on both pricing pages before you commit: seats often decide the real monthly bill.

Trials, refunds and payments

Both trials are generous enough to do a real test. Plan your test list before you start so you don't waste days.

Ease of use and support

On support, SE Ranking lists Help Center, Academy, chat and email for everyone, with a dedicated manager and onboarding on Growth. Semrush offers a Help Center and onboarding on the free tier, and a dedicated account manager at the enterprise level.

One note for teams: SE Ranking allows one active session per login, so sharing a single account won't work well. Use seats or guest links.

Pros and cons at a glance

SE Ranking

Pros: - 2,000 to 5,000 daily tracked keywords on self-serve plans - Unlimited keyword, competitor and backlink research on Core - API credits and MCP on every plan - 14-day trial with no card - Cheap white-label Agency Pack

Cons: - One manager seat on Core - Payments generally aren't refunded - Smaller toolset outside SEO than Semrush - No free plan

Semrush

Pros: - Broad platform: SEO, PPC, content, market research - Free plan and a 7-day trial - More AI prompts per brand on Starter and Pro+ - Familiar name with clients

Cons: - 500 tracked keywords on the $139 and $199 plans - Historical data and content optimization only from Pro+ ($299) - Extra users from $45/mo each - Full API on the custom Advanced plan

SE Ranking vs Semrush vs Ahrefs

A lot of people compare all three. Here are the entry plans side by side, from official pricing pages on October 31, 2026.

Ahrefs is the pick for heavy link research, if you can live without a trial and with credit limits on Lite. For everything else, the choice is usually between the two tools in this article.

A 14-day test plan for both tools

You can test both properly in two weeks if you plan the days.

1. Day 1. Start the SE Ranking trial. Add your main site and two competitors, and import up to 750 keywords.
2. Days 2 to 4. Run a site audit, export keyword ideas for 10 seed terms, and check backlinks for your site and the two competitors. Write down the numbers.
3. Day 5. Add 20 AI prompts about your brand and category.
4. Day 8. Start the Semrush trial. Repeat the same steps with the same keywords and domains.
5. Days 9 to 13. Compare rankings against Search Console, keyword volumes against what you know, and how long each report takes you.
6. Day 14. Decide before the SE Ranking trial ends. Cancel the Semrush trial before day 7 of its period if you're not keeping it.

Keep the test small and identical in both tools. A fair test on one site tells you more than a messy test on five.

Who should choose SE Ranking

• You track hundreds or thousands of keywords across several sites
• You want unlimited research without credit counting
• You work with clients and want cheap white-label reports
• You want API and MCP access without an enterprise contract
• You'd like to test before paying, without a card

Try SE Ranking free for 14 days

Who should choose Semrush

• You also run Google Ads, social or PR and want one platform
• You value Semrush's research depth and are happy to pay for it
• You want a free plan for occasional checks
• You need more than 25 AI prompts a day for one brand inside your SEO tool

Not sold on either? See Semrush alternatives or compare Semrush vs Ahrefs.

How we compared them

On October 31, 2026 we read both vendors' official pricing pages and FAQs (rendering the JavaScript that loads prices) and recorded list prices, annual discounts, projects, tracked keywords, audit limits, seats, AI visibility limits, API and MCP access, add-ons, trials, refunds and payment methods. We also looked at the questions people search around "SE Ranking vs Semrush," such as price, trials and data migration. We didn't run a hands-on data accuracy test for this version.

We earn a commission if you buy SE Ranking through our links. Semrush is a plain link. Prices change, so check both pages before buying.