SE Ranking alternatives: top competitors compared
Named alongside SE Ranking
SemrushBest forFreelancers and small businesses through to agencies and enterprises managing multiple brands, regions and teams.90% of SE Ranking answersAhrefsBest forFreelance SEOs, marketing consultants, and lean in-house marketing teams, from small businesses to Fortune 500 teams.90% of SE Ranking answersScreaming FrogBest forTechnical SEOs and SEO agencies who audit websites for technical SEO issues62% of SE Ranking answersGoogle Search Console56% of SE Ranking answers
Data from SlateIndex weekly runs
SE Ranking has a visibility score of 27.6 in SEO Tools, #4 of 58. AI answers that name SE Ranking most often also name these 4.
Quick reference
| Alternative | Best for | Starting price | Visibility | Key differentiator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semrush | Freelancers and small businesses through to agencies and enterprises managing multiple brands, regions and teams. | Free; paid from $139 / mo | 64.3% | Built on what the vendor calls the world's most powerful traffic, visibility and market dataset, with 29 billion keywords and 43 trillion backlinks. |
| Ahrefs | Freelance SEOs, marketing consultants, and lean in-house marketing teams, from small businesses to Fortune 500 teams. | Free; paid from $29 / mo | 56% | It is the only AI marketing platform built on Ahrefs' proprietary web index. |
| Screaming Frog | Technical SEOs and SEO agencies who audit websites for technical SEO issues | — | 17.4% | Free desktop crawler, with a paid licence removing the 500 URL limit |
| Google Search Console | — | — | 47.3% | — |
Alternative 1
Semrush vs SE Ranking →Semrush
Semrush suits freelancers and small businesses through to agencies and enterprises managing multiple brands, regions and teams..
Quick facts
- Free; paid from $139 / mo · flat tiers
- Free plan available
- 64.3% visibility score · #1 in SEO Tools
Key features
- Semrush One — Unified SEO and AI search platform that bundles SEO and AI visibility tools.
- SEO Toolkit — Keyword research, backlink analysis, rank tracking and technical site audits.
- AI Visibility — Tracks prompt-level brand visibility in AI answers and AI market share against competitors.
- Traffic and Market — Traffic analysis for any website, market trends and competitor benchmarking.
Semrush vs SE Ranking
| Dimension | Semrush | SE Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 64.3% | 27.6% |
| Pricing model | Flat tiers | Flat tiers |
| Entry price | Free; paid from $139 / mo | $129 / mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Trial | Free plan available | 14-day free trial |
Pros
- Widely recommended as a top-tier all-in-one platform for broad suites
- Strong keyword research, competitor analysis, and site auditing
- Strongest overall all-in-one SEO choice for most businesses
- Good value with discounts on annual billing and free trial
- Useful AI search visibility and rank tracking
Cons
- Pricing is high, with enterprise-style suites costing around $100 or more per month
- Less comprehensive than Ahrefs for backlinks in some comparisons
Alternative 2
Ahrefs vs SE Ranking →Ahrefs
Ahrefs suits freelance SEOs, marketing consultants, and lean in-house marketing teams, from small businesses to Fortune 500 teams..
Quick facts
- Free; paid from $29 / mo · flat tiers
- Free plan available
- 56% visibility score · #2 in SEO Tools
Key features
- Site Explorer — Backlink and organic traffic research for any domain.
- Keywords Explorer — Keyword research and search intent data.
- Site Audit — Website health checks and technical SEO issue detection.
- Rank Tracker — Tracks keyword rankings in search results.
Ahrefs vs SE Ranking
| Dimension | Ahrefs | SE Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 56% | 27.6% |
| Pricing model | Flat tiers | Flat tiers |
| Entry price | Free; paid from $29 / mo | $129 / mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Trial | Free plan available | 14-day free trial |
Pros
- Strong backlink analysis and index
- Strong competitor research
- Honest, transparent pricing
- Deep technical site audits
- Free Webmaster Tools tier for verified site owners
Cons
- High monthly cost, especially for smaller budgets
- Seat-based pricing needs careful evaluation against team size
Alternative 3
Screaming Frog vs SE Ranking →Screaming Frog
Screaming Frog suits technical SEOs and SEO agencies who audit websites for technical SEO issues.
Quick facts
- Pricing not available
- 17.4% visibility score · #7 in SEO Tools
Key features
- SEO Spider — Desktop website crawler that audits technical SEO issues such as broken links, errors, redirects, page titles, meta data and duplicate content.
- Log File Analyser — Desktop tool that uploads raw server log files, verifies bots and shows how search engines crawl a site.
Screaming Frog vs SE Ranking
| Dimension | Screaming Frog | SE Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 17.4% | 27.6% |
| Pricing model | — | Flat tiers |
| Entry price | — | $129 / mo |
| Free plan | — | No |
| Trial | — | 14-day free trial |
Pros
- Deep technical website crawling
- Broken link and site architecture audits
- Free version for crawling up to 500 URLs
- Strong user satisfaction and ratings on review platforms
- Recommended as part of a core SEO tool stack
Cons
Google Search Console is ranked #3 in SEO Tools.
Quick facts
- Pricing not available
- 47.3% visibility score · #3 in SEO Tools
Key features
- Google Search Console — Free web-based service for site owners to monitor and troubleshoot their presence in Google Search results, with performance, URL inspection, indexing, and Core Web Vitals reporting.
Google Search Console vs SE Ranking
| Dimension | Google Search Console | SE Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 47.3% | 27.6% |
| Pricing model | — | Flat tiers |
| Entry price | — | $129 / mo |
| Free plan | — | No |
| Trial | — | 14-day free trial |
Pros
- Free first-party search data
- Essential foundation for indexing and performance diagnostics
- Strong integration with Google Analytics and Google Ads
- Tracks queries, impressions, clicks, and rankings
- Widely used and highly rated
Cons
- Does not show total website traffic
- Not directly comparable to paid SEO suites
How to choose
Match the pricing model to your cost driver: headcount, usage or features.
| Platform | Pricing model | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| SE Ranking | Flat tiers | $129 / mo |
| Semrush | Flat tiers | Free; paid from $139 / mo |
| Ahrefs | Flat tiers | Free; paid from $29 / mo |
| Screaming Frog | — | — |
| Google Search Console | — | — |
More alternatives
Ranked by how often AI answers name them alongside SE Ranking in the latest weekly run.