Ahrefs vs Semrush AI Toolkit

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 3 of the 3 features we compared.
Only Ahrefs has a free plan to start on.
Ahrefs starts lower, at €27/mo against €94.94/mo.
Both have an API and an MCP server, so either works with AI employees.
In our SEO ranking, Ahrefs places 2 and Semrush AI Toolkit 6 of 15.

Side by side

Ahrefs and Semrush AI Toolkit compared
7 points compared	Ahrefs	Semrush AI Toolkit
Starts at	€27/mo	€94.94/mo
Free plan	Yes	No
API	Yes	Yes
MCP server	Yes	Yes
Citation & source tracking	Yes	Yes
Share of voice vs competitors	Yes	Yes
Technical site audit	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

Semrush AI Toolkit

Base (AI Visibility)EUR 94.94 per month per domain: 25 daily tracked prompts, 1 domain for brand performance, 300 reports per day.€94.94/mo

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 Semrush AI Toolkit if…

Content and SEO teams that want to see how their brand is mentioned in AI answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and compare it with named competitors.

Visit Read the review

Other options worth a look

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SurferSEO
Optimise your content in real time with recommendations based on top-ranking search results.
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From €49/mo yearlyAffiliate link
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SEMrush
Unify keyword research, backlink analysis, technical audits and rank tracking in one dashboard.
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From €112.52/mo yearlyFree planAffiliate link
Sign up on SEMrush
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Frase
Research competitors, draft long-form content and optimise it for Google and generative search.
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From $39/mo yearly
Sign up on Frase
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Otterly.AI
Monitor how your brand appears inside AI search results across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI and Copilot.
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From $25/mo yearly
Sign up on Otterly.AI
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Profound
Tracks how AI assistants describe your brand and recommends content changes to improve those answers.
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Free plan
Sign up on Profound
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Scrunch AI
Monitor how your brand appears in AI search and serve optimised pages to AI crawlers.
SEO
From $250/mo
Sign up on Scrunch AI