Ahrefs review

Ahrefs is the pick for teams whose SEO work centers on links and competitor research. Its pricing page lists Starter at $29 per month for keyword lookups and competitor checks, and Lite at $129 per month, which opens the full Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Rank Tracker and Site Audit with 750 tracked keywords, 100,000 crawl credits and 6 months of history. Standard at $249 per month raises tracking to 2,000 keywords, extends history to 2 years and adds Content Explorer, batch analysis, broken link reports and SERP comparison. Ahrefs Free gives verified site owners limited Site Explorer and Site Audit access at no cost, which suits small businesses checking their own site. The weak points are history limits on Lite, per-user fees from $40 per month and no free trial, since Ahrefs says it never runs discounts or trials. Teams that need more than a few seats should price Standard or Advanced from the start.

Who it is for

SEO specialists and agencies who rely on backlink analysis and competitor research.

Price

Free plan for site owners; Starter from $29 per month; Lite from $129 per month.

$ 29 / mo Get started Ahrefs Free Get Ahrefs data on your site
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 6, 2026.

Key features

• Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Rank Tracker and Site Audit on Lite and above
• Lite includes 750 tracked keywords and 100,000 crawl credits
• Content Explorer, batch analysis and SERP comparison from Standard
• Brand Radar for tracking brand mentions across AI prompts
• API and MCP access on paid plans

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Ahrefs Free gives verified site owners limited Site Explorer and Site Audit access
• Strength: Starter at $29 per month is the cheapest verified paid entry on this list
• Strength: Annual billing saves up to 17%
• Weakness: Lite at $129 per month keeps only 6 months of historical data
• Weakness: Ahrefs states it never runs discounts or free trials
• Weakness: Extra users cost $40 to $100 per month each

Key facts

• Free plan: Yes, Ahrefs Free for website owners
• Paid plans: Starter, Lite, Standard, Advanced, Enterprise
• Annual discount: Up to 17%

Where it ranks

Ahrefs is No. 1 in our Best SEO Tools verdict.