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Ahrefs vs Semrush: Should You Switch? Plus, How

Written by: Adrienne Kmetz Tags: analytics, data

Published: Dec 2, 2025  |  Last Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Thinking about switching from Semrush to Ahrefs? I recently made the jump myself, and I'm walking you through the details of both plans, comparing features and data, and showing you how I canceled my Semrush subscription to upgrade to Ahrefs.

-->Watch the video walkthrough

Key Differences

• Semrush raises prices on its "Classic SEO" products. If you cancel, you'll likely be encouraged to sign up for the new "Semrush One" plans.
• Ahrefs Lite plan offers 750 keywords vs. Semrush's 500
• Ahrefs Lite includes a social poster, whereas Semrush now charges extra for this.
• Authority metrics vary: Ahrefs put our DR at 41 while Semrush had it at 22 (Moz also at 22). More information on how it's tabulated could help turn this into a selling point because it's unclear why it's so much higher.
• Keyword, traffic, and backlink numbers are all different between the tools by quite a bit, which is somewhat expected. 
• Ahrefs doesn't include "update SERP" in the keyword explorer for Lite, but Semrush does for Basic. So if you work in an industry with a lot of long-tail words with low volume, you may find that you don't have as much data available than with the Standard plan. 

Watch the walkthrough

Semrush vs. Ahrefs Plans and pricing

When I looked at the comparison page, Semrush Pro (which I was on) runs around $139/month, while Ahrefs Lite is $129/month – potentially saving me about $10-30 per month depending on your current plan.

If you're not on Semrush yet, you will be pushed to the new Semrush One plans which start at $199. 

However, Semrush's Basic Plan is a better direct comparison to Ahrefs' Standard plan rather than the Lite: 

Ahrefs Standard vs. Semrush Basic

There are several features on Ahrefs' Lite plan that aren't available until you upgrade to the Standard tier, which is over $220 per month. So compare the exact specific features you need from tier to tier to know which one fits your current and future needs. 

What you get on the Lite Tier on Ahrefs vs. the Basic Tier on Semrush

Ahrefs Lite ($99/month):

• 750 tracked keywords (50% more than Semrush)
• 50 keyword lists
• Social poster included
• 50 AI prompts

Semrush Pro ($129/month):

• 500 tracked keywords
• Social poster now costs extra
• Includes Keyword Magic

Both tools give you page-level diagnostics, internal link opportunities, and batch SEO features. 

Why I chose to switch

Despite losing Keyword Magic, which is the feature I used most, a few things convinced me to go through with the move to Ahrefs:

• The tracking of messaging and page-level diagnostics are solid. I love internal link opportunities because that's a paid feature in Yoast, so it's nice to get things you'd have to pay for somewhere else.
• More features I need. Has a browser bar for research, internal linking tools, a social poster and portfolio URLs. 
• The batch SEO feature is like the Wix accessibility tool—just show me a bunch of things I need to do in a row, and I'll knock them out.
• Cost savings. Switching to Ahrefs saves me money while giving me more keyword capacity.
• Portfolios does the work of URLProfiler (I think?): Allows you to analyze a batch of URLs that you can't otherwise easily track together. 

How to switch from Semrush to Ahrefs

1. Sign up for Ahrefs. Go to their plans and pricing page and select your tier. I went with Lite.
2. Export your data from Semrush before canceling. You have 30 days after cancellation to download everything. Name your files with a clean and consistent naming convention. 
3. Import to Ahrefs. In your Ahrefs dashboard, go to Rank Tracker and add your keywords. You can upload via CSV or text file. 
4. Cancel Semrush. Go to your subscription info in Semrush. They make it really easy to buy stuff, but canceling takes a few extra clicks. Navigate to "Continue to cancel" and follow the prompts.

One thing Ahrefs should add

Is a dedicated switching page that walks you through the step-by-step process, reassures customers that the process will be easy, tells you where to get support, and explains how to import data.

That's one of the biggest obstacles – the dread of having to do it. If you're on a bigger team with more folders and tracked keywords, you really don't want to deal with organizing 100 exports and 100 imports. It was surprisingly easy... It took only a minute or two to export all the keywords into a text file, then upload it from a text file. 

The Ahrefs VS page would also benefit from more direct comparisons to Semrush features and pricing, and specific information on how to switch. I had to do too much work to find the various differences in features between the Lite, Pro, Standard, and Basic. 

But even without that dedicated resource, the switch was straightforward. Payment successful. I'm in. And honestly, even just seeing the interface feels better. I know it will take time for me to learn how to find the same information in a new place. So I'll be trying to use it daily to re-learn and get the most out of it. 

Have you switched from one SEO tool to another? What was your experience? Let us know in The Community.