Ahrefs vs Profound

Two SEO tools side by side: what each does, what it costs and who it suits.

The verdict Side by side Plans and pricing Who each is for Other options

The verdict

On the data we hold, Ahrefs comes out ahead. Here is why, point by point.

What the data says

Both cover 2 of the 2 features we compared.
Both have a free plan, so you can try each before you pay.
Both have an API and an MCP server, so either works with AI employees.
In our SEO ranking, Ahrefs places 2 and Profound 7 of 15.

Side by side

Ahrefs and Profound compared
6 points compared	Ahrefs	Profound
Starts at	€27/mo	Not known yet
Free plan	Yes	Yes
API	Yes	Yes
MCP server	Yes	Yes
Citation & source tracking	Yes	Yes
Share of voice vs competitors	Yes	Yes
Links	Visit	Visit

Plans and pricing

Ahrefs

Ahrefs FreeFree limited access to Site Explorer and Site Audit for verified site owners.Free
StarterEntry plan to see what people search and spy on competitors, limited data.€27/mo
LiteIncludes 1 user, 5 projects, 750 tracked keywords and API and MCP access; extra users cost 37.4 per month.€119/mo
StandardIncludes 1 user and more projects and data than Lite; extra users cost 56.1 per month.€229/mo
AdvancedFor in-house teams, includes 1 user; extra users cost 74.8 per month.€419/mo
EnterpriseAnnual commitment required; uncapped API, SSO, audit log and unlimited historical data.€1,394/mo

Profound

Free trialLimited AI Marketer credits and 50 prompts tracked daily for 7 days on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.Free

Prices as the vendors list them. They change often; the final price is on their sites.

Who each is for

Choose Ahrefs if…

B2B founders, marketers and agencies who treat organic search and content as a real growth channel and need reliable backlink, keyword and competitor data.

Visit Read the review

Choose Profound if…

Marketing, content and PR teams at established brands that run answer engine optimisation next to classic SEO and need to see, fix and track how AI assistants describe their brand.

Visit Read the review

Other options worth a look

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Track how your brand appears in AI search answers and measure your share of voice.
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Scrunch AI
Monitor how your brand appears in AI search and serve optimised pages to AI crawlers.
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