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8 Best Moz Alternatives for 2026 (Cheaper & Free Options)

SE

SmartWorkflowLab Editorial Team

22 min read

Updated

Eight SEO tools compared as alternatives to Moz Pro on a laptop dashboard

The best Moz alternative for most people is Semrush, which covers everything Moz Pro does with deeper keyword and competitor data, from $139.95 a month. Ahrefs is best for backlinks, SE Ranking is the best value full suite at $103.20 a month billed yearly, and Google Search Console is free.

Prices checked November 6, 2026, against vendor pages where they publish them, and against dated sources from September to November 2026 where they don’t.

The 8 Best Moz Alternatives

The best Moz alternatives in 2026 are Semrush, Ahrefs, SE Ranking, Mangools, Serpstat, Ubersuggest, SpyFu and Google Search Console:

  1. Semrush: best all-round replacement for Moz Pro
  2. Ahrefs: best for backlink research
  3. SE Ranking: best value full SEO suite
  4. Mangools: best for beginners, with KWFinder
  5. Serpstat: best budget suite for small teams
  6. Ubersuggest: cheapest long-term option, with lifetime plans
  7. SpyFu: best for competitors’ Google Ads
  8. Google Search Console: best free option for your own site

How we compared them: This is a research comparison of pricing pages, plan limits and documentation, not a hands-on test. We ranked tools by how fully they replace Moz Pro’s keyword research, rank tracking, site crawl and link research, then by data depth, cost for similar limits and free options. SmartWorkflowLab has no sponsorship or affiliate deal with any tool here, and every source is listed at the end.

Moz Pro Pricing in 2026: The Baseline

What is Moz Pro? Moz Pro is an SEO suite with Keyword Explorer for keyword research, rank tracking, site crawls and Link Explorer for backlinks. It’s best known for its own metrics:

  • Domain Authority (DA): a 1-to-100 score that predicts how well a whole website could rank, based mainly on its links.
  • Page Authority (PA): the same idea for a single page.
  • Spam Score: the share of sites with similar features that Moz has found penalized or banned by Google.
  • Brand Authority: a 1-to-100 score for the strength of a brand, based on branded search demand.

Moz’s plan limits, as listed on Moz Pro’s G2 pricing page, where pricing is supplied by the vendor or taken from its public pricing (updated April 2026), and confirmed by LaunchRanked on October 8, 2026:

Plan Billed monthly Billed yearly (per month) Tracked keywords Keyword queries a month Seats Sites
Starter $49 $39 50 75 1 1
Standard $99 $79 300 150 1 3
Medium $179 $143 1,500 5,000 2 10
Large $299 $239 3,000 15,000 3 25

Extra seats cost $49 a month on any plan, and Moz’s yearly prices apply to the first year.

Four things push people toward sites like Moz:

  1. Tight entry limits. Starter tracks only 50 keywords and allows 75 keyword lookups a month.
  2. A narrow free trial. The trial covers the Medium plan and needs a card, according to Best GEO Platform (October 27, 2026).
  3. Data freshness. Costbench (November 3, 2026) lists monthly keyword data updates and a smaller backlink index than some competitors among Moz Pro’s hidden costs.
  4. Crawl credits. Costbench also notes that site crawl credits can’t be bought on their own, so running out means upgrading or waiting for the next billing period.

When to Stay With Moz

Moz is still the right choice if:

  • Your clients or team report in Domain Authority, and switching metrics would break years of reports.
  • You need simple tracking for a few sites and Standard’s 300 keywords are enough.
  • You manage one business location and want Moz Local, which at $199 a year for Lite is cheaper than BrightLocal for a single location.

If none of these apply, the tools below give you more tracked keywords, fresher data or deeper link research for similar money.

Moz Alternatives at a Glance

Tool Best for Free option Entry paid plan
Semrush All-round SEO Free account, 10 queries a day Pro: $139.95 a month
Ahrefs Backlink research Ahrefs Webmaster Tools for your sites Starter: $29 a month
SE Ranking Best value full suite 14-day trial Core: $103.20 a month, billed yearly
Mangools Beginners 10-day trial, no card Basic: $61 a month
Serpstat Budget suite for teams None on its pricing page Individual: $50 a month
Ubersuggest One-off lifetime payment 7-day trial $29 a month or $290 lifetime
SpyFu Competitors’ Google Ads None listed Basic: $39 a month
Google Search Console Your own site’s real data Free Free
Moz Pro, for comparison Domain Authority Free account, 10 queries a month Starter: $49 a month

Feature Checklist

✓ means the feature appears in the tool’s plans or documentation; ✗ means we didn’t find it there.

Tool Keyword research Rank tracking Site audit Backlinks Local SEO AI visibility
Moz Pro ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ (Moz Local) ✓
Semrush ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ (Semrush Local) ✓ (extra $99)
Ahrefs ✓ ✓ (Lite and up) ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ (Lite and up)
SE Ranking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓
Mangools ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
Serpstat ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗
Ubersuggest ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗
SpyFu ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✓ (Pro + AI)
Google Search Console Your site only Your site only Indexing only Basic ✗ ✗

Moz Local and Semrush Local are separate products with their own prices.

What Similar Plans Cost

Moz Standard at $99 a month is the plan most small businesses compare against. These are the nearest plans on each tool:

Tool Plan Billed monthly Billed yearly (per month) Tracked keywords
Moz Pro Standard $99 $79 300
Semrush Pro $139.95 $117.33 500
Ahrefs Lite $129 Up to 17% off 750
SE Ranking Core $129 $103.20 2,000
Mangools Basic $61 Not confirmed 200
Serpstat Individual $50 $31 Not listed

SE Ranking tracks the most keywords for the money. Mangools and Serpstat are cheaper than Moz Standard but track fewer keywords or don’t say how many. Serpstat’s yearly figure is its $50 monthly price minus the $228 yearly saving on its pricing page.

Domain Authority Alternatives: DA vs DR vs Authority Score

If you mainly use Moz for Domain Authority, every major tool has its own version:

Metric Tool Scale Based mainly on
Domain Authority (DA) Moz 1 to 100 Backlinks
Domain Rating (DR) Ahrefs 0 to 100 Backlinks
Authority Score (AS) Semrush 0 to 100 Backlinks, plus traffic and spam signals
Trust Flow (TF) and Citation Flow (CF) Majestic 0 to 100 Link quality (TF) and link volume (CF)

The scores aren’t interchangeable. A DA of 40 and a DR of 40 come from different link indexes and formulas, so pick one metric and use it for every comparison. None of them is a Google ranking factor; each is a tool’s estimate of a site’s link strength.

AI Search Visibility: What Each Tool Tracks

AI answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Overviews now send traffic of their own, and most SEO suites track how often your brand appears in them:

Tool What’s included Source
Moz Pro Weekly checks in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Perplexity, with 150 questions on Standard Best GEO Platform, October 27, 2026
Semrush A separate AI Visibility plan at $99 a month per domain, with 25 prompts checked daily Ryze AI, August 29, 2026
Ahrefs Brand Radar prompts on Lite (5), Standard (10) and Advanced (20); standalone plans cost more Ryze AI, August 29, 2026
SE Ranking 100 AI prompts a day on Core and 250 on Growth, with an add-on for more DIYAI
SpyFu AI visibility on the Pro + AI plan SpyFu’s pricing FAQ

Ryze AI sells a competing AI visibility tool, so confirm Semrush and Ahrefs prices at checkout. For how AI answers change what to track, see our guide to SEO for Google’s AI Overviews.

1. Semrush: Best All-Round Replacement for Moz Pro

What is Semrush? Semrush is an all-in-one marketing platform whose SEO toolkit covers keyword research, rank tracking, site audits, backlinks and competitor analysis.

Best for: small businesses and marketers who want one tool for every SEO job.

Semrush covers every Moz Pro job, and its Pro plan tracks 500 keywords against Moz Standard’s 300. Prices and limits come from Semrush’s help center, and yearly prices from Docket’s Semrush pricing guide (April 2026):

Plan Billed monthly Billed yearly (per month) Tracked keywords Results per report
Pro $139.95 $117.33 500 10,000
Guru $249.95 $208.33 1,500 30,000
Business $499.95 $416.66 5,000 50,000

A free Semrush account allows 10 queries a day each in Domain Overview, keyword research, competitor research and backlinks, according to Semrush’s December 2025 guide.

Downsides vs Moz

  • Pro costs $139.95 a month, against Moz Standard’s $99.
  • AI visibility tracking is a separate $99-a-month plan.
  • Its Authority Score differs from Moz DA, so past DA reports won’t line up.

Verdict: Choose Semrush if you want the most complete replacement and will use its competitor and keyword data every week.

What is Ahrefs? Ahrefs is an SEO platform best known for its backlink index, with keyword research, rank tracking, site audits and Brand Radar for AI visibility.

Best for: anyone who used Moz’s Link Explorer and wants deeper link data.

Ahrefs is our pick for link research, and its Domain Rating is the score most often compared with Moz DA. Starter, at $29 a month, is a light plan for keyword and competitor checks. According to Ahrefs’ pricing page:

Plan Billed monthly Tracked keywords Projects Users
Lite $129 750 5 1
Standard $249 2,000 20 1
Advanced $449 5,000 50 1

Yearly billing saves up to 17%, but you arrange it through Ahrefs’ support team.

Free option: Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, now called Ahrefs Free, covers unlimited verified sites with Site Audit (5,000 crawl credits a project each month), Site Explorer (up to 1,000 backlinks and 1,000 keywords at a time) and Web Analytics.

Downsides vs Moz

  • Lite costs $129 a month, against Moz Standard’s $99.
  • Rank tracking and multiple projects start on Lite, not Starter.
  • Extra users cost $40 a month on Lite.

Verdict: Choose Ahrefs if backlinks drive your SEO decisions; for everything else, Semrush or SE Ranking cost less per feature.

3. SE Ranking: Best Value Full SEO Suite

What is SE Ranking? SE Ranking is an SEO platform with rank tracking, keyword and competitor research, backlinks, site audits and AI search visibility tracking.

Best for: small businesses and freelancers who want Moz-style tools with far more tracked keywords.

According to SE Ranking’s pricing page and DIYAI’s SE Ranking review:

Plan Billed monthly Billed yearly (per month) Projects Keywords tracked daily Manager seats
Core $129 $103.20 10 2,000 1
Growth $279 $223.20 30 5,000 3

DIYAI notes a 14-day trial with no card, and that white-label reports and extra seats cost more.

Downsides vs Moz

  • One manager seat on Core, and only one session can be active at a time.
  • Add-ons such as extra AI search tracking raise the real cost.
  • Lighter backlink research than Ahrefs.

Verdict: SE Ranking tracks almost seven times as many keywords as Moz Standard for about $24 a month more billed yearly.

4. Mangools: Best for Beginners, With KWFinder

What is Mangools? Mangools is a set of five simple SEO tools: the KWFinder keyword tool, SERPChecker, the SERPWatcher rank tracker, the LinkMiner backlink tool and SiteProfiler for domain metrics.

Best for: bloggers and small business owners who find Moz’s interface too busy.

Mangools splits SEO into five small tools with a simple interface, and KWFinder focuses on finding low-competition keyword ideas. Mangools’ own pricing page couldn’t be reached by our tools, so these come from Costbench (October 29, 2026):

Plan Billed monthly Keyword lookups a day Tracked keywords Seats
Basic $61 100 200 1
Premium $81 500 700 4
Agency $141 1,200 1,500 6

There’s a 10-day free trial with no card and no permanent free plan. Mangools’ Chrome extension also shows Moz DA and PA with a free account, according to DIYAI’s MozBar alternatives guide.

Downsides vs Moz

  • No site audit tool among its five tools.
  • Smaller data sets than Semrush or Ahrefs.
  • Daily lookup limits on every plan.

Verdict: Mangools is the easiest switch for beginners, and Basic tracks four times Moz Starter’s keywords for $12 a month more.

5. Serpstat: Best Budget Suite for Small Teams

What is Serpstat? Serpstat is an all-in-one SEO platform with keyword research, site analysis, rank tracking, site audits and backlink analysis.

Best for: small teams that want every SEO module and more than one user without a big bill.

Serpstat’s Team plan gives three users for $100 a month, about the price of one Moz Standard seat. According to Serpstat’s pricing page:

Plan Billed monthly Users Searches a day
Individual $50 1 100
Team $100 3 500
Team x2 $169 6 1,000
Agency $410 30 5,000

Yearly billing saves $228 on Individual and $348 on Team. The Team plan adds API access and an integration with ChatGPT and Claude.

Downsides vs Moz

  • No free plan on its pricing page.
  • One user only on Individual.
  • Tracked keyword limits aren’t listed on the plan table.

Verdict: Serpstat is the cheapest way here to give a small team a full SEO suite.

6. Ubersuggest: Cheapest Long-Term Option

What is Ubersuggest? Ubersuggest is Neil Patel’s SEO tool for keyword research, rank tracking, competitor estimates, site audits and backlinks, aimed at beginners.

Best for: occasional users who’d rather pay once than every month.

Ubersuggest is the only tool here with lifetime access for one payment. According to Neil Patel’s pricing post (updated July 8, 2026) and the Ubersuggest pricing page:

Plan Monthly Lifetime Projects
Individual $29 $290 once 1
Business $49 $490 once 7
Enterprise/Agency $99 $990 once 15

Monthly plans include a one-time 7-day free trial.

Downsides vs Moz

  • Lighter data, built for beginners.
  • Fewer link research features than Moz’s Link Explorer.
  • One project on Individual.

Verdict: Ubersuggest’s $290 lifetime plan costs less than three months of Moz Standard billed monthly ($297), or under four months billed yearly ($316).

7. SpyFu: Best for Competitors’ Google Ads

What is SpyFu? SpyFu is a competitor research tool focused on the keywords a site ranks for and the Google Ads keywords it buys.

Best for: businesses that run Google Ads and want to see what competitors bid on.

Every paid plan includes unlimited searches, according to SpyFu’s pricing FAQ (February 12, 2026), which doesn’t list prices. These come from Costbench (October 31, 2026):

Plan Billed monthly Adds
Basic $39 Unlimited searches, current keyword and ad snapshots
Pro + AI $119 Historical data, RivalFlow AI and AI visibility
Team/Agency $249 More seats and historical data

Downsides vs Moz

  • No site audit for your own site’s technical SEO.
  • No history on Basic, only current snapshots.
  • No local SEO tools.

Verdict: Pair SpyFu with a free tool if competitor and ads research is what you used Moz for.

8. Google Search Console: Best Free Option for Your Own Site

What is Google Search Console? Google Search Console is Google’s free tool that shows how your own website performs in Google Search.

Best for: anyone who mainly used Moz to track their own rankings.

Search Console’s Performance report shows clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position for your queries and pages, according to Google’s Search Console Help. It keeps 16 months of history and adds index coverage, Core Web Vitals and URL inspection, according to Superframeworks (August 18, 2026).

Downsides vs Moz

  • Your own verified sites only, with no competitor data.
  • A shallow link report and no keyword difficulty scores.
  • No Domain Authority-style score.

Verdict: Every site should use Search Console; pair it with Ahrefs Webmaster Tools and you may not need a paid tool at all.

Free MozBar Alternatives

MozBar’s guest mode shows on-page basics only, and you need a free Moz account to see DA and PA. These free browser extensions cover the same ground, according to DIYAI’s MozBar alternatives guide (updated October 17, 2026):

Extension What it shows Account needed
Ahrefs SEO Toolbar Domain Rating and URL Rating Free sign-in
SEOquake Page, domain and backlink data, with CSV export No
Detailed SEO Extension On-page SEO checks, no authority score No
Keywords Everywhere Moz DA, backlinks and free traffic metrics No, for free features
Mangools SEO Extension Moz DA and PA, plus other link metrics Free account

Moz Local Alternatives

Moz Local manages business listings per location, at $199, $299 or $399 a year for Lite, Preferred and Elite. According to DIYAI’s Moz Local alternatives guide (October 16, 2026):

Tool Price Notes
BrightLocal Manage $54 a month or $485 a year for one location 6 to 10 locations cost $980 a year in total
Semrush Local Pro $60 a location a month, billed yearly Local Base at $30 doesn’t include listing management
Whitespark From $1 a location a month No ongoing listing syndication
Yext Quote only Built for large brands

For one location, Moz Local Lite is still the cheapest. From about six locations, BrightLocal costs far less.

How to Switch From Moz

  1. Export your rank history from Moz before you cancel, since a new tool starts tracking from day one and can’t import old positions reliably.
  2. Run both tools in parallel for a few weeks so you can see how the new tool’s positions and volumes compare with Moz’s.
  3. Record new baselines. Note your DR or Authority Score on the day you switch, and keep old DA reports in a separate file instead of mixing scores.
  4. Re-enter competitors and keyword groups by hand, since lists rarely transfer cleanly between tools.
  5. Tell clients about the new metric if you report on authority scores, with one line explaining that DR or AS replaces DA.

Also Considered

  • Majestic is a backlink-only tool known for Trust Flow and Citation Flow, from £39.99 a month for Lite, or £33.33 billed yearly, as of October 31, 2026. It’s priced in pounds and has no keyword or rank tracking suite.
  • Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop site crawler, free for up to 500 URLs or €245 a year for a licence without that limit. It’s a strong replacement for Moz’s Site Crawl if you hit crawl-credit limits.
  • Similarweb estimates total website traffic across every channel, not just search. See our Similarweb alternatives guide if that’s what you need.
  • Moz’s own free account gives 10 keyword, 10 competitive research and 10 backlink queries a month, according to LaunchRanked, which may be enough for occasional checks.

Which Moz Alternative Should You Choose?

  • “I want one tool for everything.” Semrush.
  • “Backlinks matter most.” Ahrefs, or Majestic if you only need link data.
  • “I want more tracked keywords for the money.” SE Ranking.
  • “I’m a beginner.” Mangools.
  • “I want something cheaper than Moz.” Serpstat monthly or Ubersuggest lifetime.
  • “I run Google Ads.” SpyFu.
  • “I only track my own site.” Google Search Console with Ahrefs Webmaster Tools.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best alternative to Moz?

Semrush is the best alternative for most people, because it covers keyword research, rank tracking, site audits and backlinks with deeper data, from $139.95 a month on Pro. Ahrefs is the best pick for backlink research, and SE Ranking is the best value full suite, tracking up to 2,000 keywords from $103.20 a month billed yearly.

Is there a free alternative to Moz?

Yes. Google Search Console is free and shows real clicks, impressions and rankings for your own site. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools adds a free site audit and up to 1,000 backlinks and keywords for sites you verify, and a free Semrush account allows 10 queries a day in its main reports.

How much does Moz Pro cost in 2026?

Moz Pro costs $49 a month for Starter, $99 for Standard, $179 for Medium and $299 for Large, billed monthly. Yearly billing brings them to $39, $79, $143 and $239 a month. Starter tracks 50 keywords for one site, Standard 300 and Medium 1,500, and extra seats cost $49 a month.

What is the Ahrefs equivalent of Moz Domain Authority?

Ahrefs uses Domain Rating (DR), Semrush uses Authority Score and Majestic uses Trust Flow and Citation Flow. Each scores a site from 0 or 1 to 100 based mainly on its backlinks, but each tool calculates its score differently, so a DA of 40 and a DR of 40 don’t mean the same thing. Compare sites using one metric consistently.

What is a good free MozBar alternative?

The Ahrefs SEO Toolbar shows Domain Rating and URL Rating free after you sign in, SEOquake shows page, domain and backlink data with no account, and the Detailed SEO Extension checks on-page SEO for free. Keywords Everywhere shows Moz Domain Authority itself as a free feature.

What can I use instead of Moz Local?

BrightLocal Manage costs $54 a month or $485 a year for one location, Semrush Local Pro costs $60 a location a month billed yearly, and Whitespark starts at $1 a location a month without ongoing listing syndication. For a single location, Moz Local Lite at $199 a year is still the cheapest of these.

Is there an SEO tool cheaper than Moz?

Yes. Ubersuggest costs $29 a month or $290 once for lifetime access, SpyFu Basic $39 a month, Serpstat $50 a month and Mangools Basic $61, against Moz Standard’s $99. Google Search Console and Ahrefs Webmaster Tools are free for your own site. Moz Starter at $49 is cheap, but it tracks only 50 keywords.

Sources

All checked November 6, 2026 unless a date is shown.