Ahrefs and Semrush are good tools with good data. They're also extremely expensive, and what I hate most is the model: a subscription, charged every month, whether you ran one audit that month or none.
For what I do, audits of a site and research on keywords, competitors and backlinks, DataForSEO gives me the data per call, for pennies, and an agent does the work the dashboard used to do. It doesn't replace everything they do, so credit where it's due: a marketing team that lives in rank tracking and reports every day gets real value from the interface, and if a client already pays for one, use it.
Use it when
- A marketing team that works in the dashboards every day: the reports, the rank tracking and the interface are the product, and DataForSEO has none of them.
- The client already pays for one: use it, and don't add a second source of numbers.
Don't use it when
- Occasional audits and keyword research: you pay every month for the few days you use it.
- Agent-driven SEO: DataForSEO is an API first, priced per call. Semrush only lists API access on its Advanced plan, at a custom price.
Pricing
Monthly subscriptions. Ahrefs from $129 (Lite) to $449 (Advanced) a month, $1,499 for Enterprise, extra users $40 to $80 a month each. Semrush from $139 (SEO) to $299 (Pro+) a month billed monthly, extra users from $45 a month.
In my words: what hurts
- Extremely expensive.
- A subscription, charged whether you use it that month or not.
Gotchas, with fixes
Gotcha: The price is per user: every extra seat is another $40 to $80 a month on Ahrefs, or from $45 on Semrush.
Fix: Keep one seat for the person who lives in it, and give everyone else the reports. Or run the research through DataForSEO and share the agent's write-up.
Gotcha: Ahrefs' Lite plan caps usage at 1,000 credits per user, and limits history to 6 months.
Fix: Check the plan's limits against the work before you buy. For a one-off audit, a few dollars of DataForSEO calls is the cheaper path.
Use instead
DataForSEO, pay as you go, with an agent doing the research.
Alternatives
- DataForSEO Audits, keyword research, rankings and backlinks, paid per call.
Where it fits
- SEO audits and keyword research: Don't.
Ahrefs and Semrush: good data, but an expensive subscription you pay every month, whether you ran one audit or none. DataForSEO gives the same kind of data per call, for pennies.
Instead: DataForSEO
Sources
Last reviewed by Nicolas Dao