Cheaper Semrush Alternatives in 2026: Yearly Cost for One Marketer and 3 Sites

Semrush is the SEO suite most marketers start with, and its entry plan is the invoice this page tests. The question here is narrower: what does a cheaper tool cost for one marketer running 3 sites and 500 tracked keywords, billed yearly? The baseline is in the Semrush review.

Toolradar data: the SEO tools ranking we run at Toolradar, the software directory, evaluated 253 tools. Most tools priced below have profiles on Toolradar too: Semrush, Ahrefs, SE Ranking, Moz Pro, SEO PowerSuite, Raven Tools and AccuRanker.

MarketingShot data: the scenario table prices 8 alternatives against one baseline. The cheapest yearly plan saves $1,058.96 a year against Semrush's SEO plan.

How we ranked: each price was checked on the vendor's own pricing page, in USD, on 10 October 2026. A plan had to cover 3 sites and 500 tracked keywords on its own card. Where a vendor prints only a monthly rate, we multiply it by 12 and say so. Where a yearly figure is computed from a printed discount, we say that too. Mangools, SpyFu, Ubersuggest, Serpstat and KeySearch are not ranked yet, because we have no dated USD plan price for any of them. They join the table once one is verified.

This page compares rank tracking and SEO software by what one marketer pays a year for a fixed job: 3 sites, 500 tracked keywords, billed yearly where the vendor prints a yearly rate. A cheaper tool is one whose own card covers that job at a lower annual total than Semrush's SEO plan. Rows that cost more stay in the table as the top-end reference. For the wider cost of Ahrefs' plans, the Ahrefs pricing guide lists every tier.

Semrush's SEO plan is the baseline at $117.33 a month billed annually, with 5 websites and 500 keywords tracked daily. On monthly billing, the same plan prints $139 a month. Starter at $165.17 a month billed annually adds 50 AI prompts a day to the same 500 keywords.

Start with the job, not the brand. Count the sites, the keywords checked each day and the seats. Then read each vendor's own card and take the cheapest plan that covers all three. A plan that caps at 300 keywords is out, even when it is the lowest price on the page. The Ahrefs vs Semrush comparison covers the research side of that choice.

The tools count differently. Semrush and Ahrefs price by websites or projects and tracked keywords, and both bundle keyword research with rank tracking. Raven prices by domains and position checks, so 500 keywords checked every day uses about 15,000 checks a month, which is the whole Start allowance. RankTracker prices by daily keyword checks, and SEO PowerSuite does not cap projects or keywords on its Professional card.

Annual figures come from the yearly rate printed on each card. Where a card prints only a monthly rate, the monthly rate times 12 is the figure, and the table says so. AccuRanker prints a 10% yearly discount but no yearly total, so its yearly figure is our arithmetic on that printed discount.

Semrush's own pricing page, read in USD on 10 October 2026, prints its SEO plan at $117.33 a month billed annually, with $139 printed on monthly billing. Starter, Pro+ and Advanced step up from there at $165.17, $248.17 and $455.67 a month billed annually. Additional users start at $45 a month.

The cheaper trackers are priced on other meters. RankTracker's Launch is $31.20 a month billed annually and $39 a month on monthly billing, for 500 keywords checked daily with unlimited projects. Raven's Start plan is $79 a month prepaid yearly, which is $948 a year, and $109 on monthly billing.

Ahrefs Lite is $1,290 billed annually, and its card adds users at $40 a month each. SE Ranking Core is $103.20 a month billed annually, which is $1,238.40 a year. Moz Pro Medium is $143 a month billed yearly, $1,719 for the first year, and $179 on monthly billing. Moz labels the first-year price as such.

AuthorityLabs PRO prints $129 a month on monthly billing and no annual rate, so its yearly figure here is the monthly rate times 12, $1,548. AccuRanker Professional is $224 a month, and the page offers 10% off on yearly billing, which we compute as about $2,419.20 a year. SEO PowerSuite Professional is billed every year, on a single yearly price. For an SEO suite with a bigger toolset at a different price, see the best AI SEO tools roundup.

This page is for a marketer or a small in-house team that tracks rankings across a few sites and pays for the tool from a modest budget. Pick the cheapest row that covers 3 sites and 500 keywords and still does the rest of the job.

It is not for a team that runs keyword research, site audits and backlink reviews every week from one login. For that job the Semrush or Ahrefs bundle earns its line item, and the gap in this table is the price of those extras. A team that wants a free starting point should first read the free keyword research tools guide.

An agency managing many clients should price per client or per domain on each card, because this table models one marketer. Content teams comparing research and optimization tools should also read the content optimization tools guide.