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SEO software · head to head

SE Ranking vs Semrush

Sebastiaan Smits Editor Sebastiaan Smits · Published September 30, 2026 · Updated October 20, 2026

SE Ranking covers keyword research, audits, backlinks and daily rank tracking, with its Core plan at €109 a month or €87.20 billed annually. Semrush's SEO plan is €134 a month, or €112.52 annually, and sits inside a wider suite with advertising and local toolkits sold separately. Small teams and agencies watching cost pick SE Ranking; marketing departments wanting breadth pick Semrush.

Side by side

SE RankingSemrush
What it isAll-in-one SEO platform priced below the big twoBroad search and digital marketing suite, now owned by Adobe
Best forSmall businesses and agenciesMarketing teams wanting breadth
HeadquartersUnited KingdomUnited States
Pricing modelTiered monthlyTiered monthly + add-ons
PricingPublished monthly tiers by projects, tracked keywords and seats, with Core listed at €109 a month or €87.20 billed annually, and add-ons for AI search visibility, the agency white-label pack and extra seats.Published monthly tiers, with the SEO plan listed at €134 a month or €112.52 billed annually for one user and including basic AI search tracking, extra charges per additional user and separately sold toolkits for advertising, traffic and local; a limited free account and a 7-day trial are available.
Free optionFree trialFree plan
List price
as listed on September 30, 2026		€109 per month billed monthly, or €87.20 per month billed annually (Core plan)€134 per month billed monthly, or €112.52 per month billed annually (SEO plan)
Place in our SEO software ranking#2 of 12#6 of 12
Websiteseranking.comsemrush.com

Both are reviewed in full in Best SEO Software in 2026. Position in that ranking can be paid for; the wording of a review or of this comparison cannot. Placement disclosure.

Which one to choose

Choose SE Ranking if

you need keyword research, audits, backlink checks and daily local rank tracking for a handful of sites or clients, and want more tracked keywords and cheaper seats for the monthly fee.

SE Ranking, #2 in the ranking · Visit SE Ranking →

Choose Semrush if

you research niche or long-tail markets where database size shows, or you want paid search research and advertising tools next to SEO and have budget for extra users.

Semrush, #6 in the ranking · Visit Semrush →

Where they differ

Database size for niche research

Semrush states more than 28 billion keywords across 142 regional databases and a backlink index of over 43 trillion links from 390 million referring domains. SE Ranking lists 188 geographic keyword databases, with about 5 billion keywords across Europe, North America and Asia, and 2.9 trillion backlinks from 428 million domains. The two count differently, but for niche and long-tail research Semrush has more to show.

Edge: Semrush

What a small team actually pays

Billed monthly, SE Ranking Core is €109 with 10 projects, 2,000 keywords tracked daily and extra seats at €14.40. Semrush's SEO plan is €134 with 5 projects and 500 keywords tracked daily, and additional users start at €43 a month. Annual billing brings them to €87.20 and €112.52. For two or three people doing core SEO, SE Ranking is the smaller bill with the larger allowance.

Edge: SE Ranking

Rank tracking for local businesses

SE Ranking tracks daily positions on Google, Bing, Yahoo and YouTube, on desktop and mobile, down to a city, region or ZIP code, within its standard plans. Semrush includes daily position tracking in the SEO plan, but its Map Rank Tracker for local results comes with the Local toolkit at $30 per location a month. For an agency reporting local rankings to clients, SE Ranking covers more in one subscription.

Edge: SE Ranking

Paid search and competitor intelligence

Semrush sells an Advertising toolkit from €94.94 a month billed annually, with competitor ad positions and ad copy, and its Pro tier adds competitors' display, video and social ads. SE Ranking offers unlimited keyword, competitor and backlink research on every plan, with CPC data for PPC planning, but its plans are built around SEO. Teams that plan ads and organic search together get more from Semrush.

Edge: Semrush

Agency reporting

SE Ranking's Agency Pack, €59 a month on annual billing, adds a white-label platform with custom logos and URLs plus 30 client seats, and rank data feeds a ready-made Looker Studio template. Extra manager seats are €14.40 a month. Semrush charges from €43 a month for each additional user. For an agency serving many small clients, SE Ranking makes client-facing reporting cheaper to run.

Edge: SE Ranking

Tally: SE Ranking 3, Semrush 2, even 0.

When neither fits

If the real job is fixing your own site and not researching competitors, neither suite is the best spend. Screaming Frog SEO Spider is the most capable technical crawler for a small annual license, and Google Search Console gives free first-party data on how Google sees your pages.

See Screaming Frog SEO Spider and Google Search Console among the 12 products in Best SEO Software in 2026.

Questions and answers

Is SE Ranking's data as good as Semrush's?

Not in size. Semrush states over 28 billion keywords and 43 trillion backlinks; SE Ranking lists about 5 billion keywords across three regions and 2.9 trillion backlinks, though it offers 188 geographic databases. The gap matters most for niche research. Test both on keywords you already know.

Do SE Ranking and Semrush track AI search visibility?

Both do. SE Ranking Core includes 100 AI prompts tracked daily, and its AI Search add-on is €79 a month, or €63.20 billed annually, for larger volumes. Semrush's SEO plan includes AI visibility reports, while daily prompt tracking starts on its Starter plan at €190 a month with 50 prompts.

Which is better for an agency, SE Ranking or Semrush?

For a small agency, SE Ranking: the Agency Pack adds white-label reports and 30 client seats for €59 a month on annual billing, and extra seats cost €14.40. Semrush charges from €43 a month per additional user. Heavy agency use does eventually push SE Ranking toward its €235 Growth plan.

Can I try SE Ranking and Semrush for free?

Yes. SE Ranking offers a 14-day free trial without a credit card. Semrush has a seven-day trial, also without a card, plus a free account limited to one demo project and 10 reports a day across its tools. Either is enough to test the data on your own sites.

Sources

Prices, plan limits and product facts on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on September 30, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.