Best for
In-house SEO teams and agencies running keyword, backlink and content audits
Pricing
From $129/mo
Setup time
Under 10 min
Learning curve
Moderate
Support
Email, chat, extensive docs
Company
Ahrefs Pte. Ltd.
Launched
2011
About Ahrefs
Ahrefs is the SEO platform most link building and SEO agencies end up on once a free tool stops being enough. The strengths show up in two places — fastest-refreshed and most complete backlink index on the market, and Site Explorer is the clearest competitor-analysis workflow in SEO. The two features you'll use most are Site Explorer and Backlink Checker. No free tier — paid plans start from $129/mo. Ahrefs is the best-in-class tool for backlink work and competitor analysis.
Available on
WebAPI
Pros and cons
Pros
- Deepest backlink index of any tool
- Site Explorer is unmatched for competitor research
- Fast, reliable rank tracker
- Content Explorer surfaces proven topics quickly
Cons
- No free tier — hard to try before buying
- Starter plan limits reports per day
- Content gap and keyword difficulty score can lag behind on new keywords
Bottom line
Should you use Ahrefs?
If you do SEO as a job, Ahrefs is the subscription to keep. The combination of backlink depth, rank tracking and content research is still the benchmark the rest of the market is measured against.