Best SEO software: seven tools compared on price, tracked keywords and update frequency

Best SEO software at a glance: seven tools, prices and limits

SE Ranking Core is the best SEO software for daily checks on 10 sites, Ahrefs or Semrush for search volume data, Serpstat Individual for five sites on a smaller bill, and Moz Pro for weekly checks.

SE Ranking Core is $129 a month billed monthly or $103.20 a month billed annually, as read on 7 October 2026 from SE Ranking's FAQ page and its US pricing page as captured on 5 October 2026. Rival prices come from each vendor's own page, read the same day. Three of the seven vendors showed no price for US buyers that day, so their rows point to the vendor's page.

In the table, a project is one website tracked. SE Ranking counts keyword pairs, one keyword on one search engine, and Serpstat counts position checks, its monthly pool of rank checks. Ahrefs, Moz Pro, Mangools and Ubersuggest count tracked keywords.

Best for daily tracking across client sites: SE Ranking

SE Ranking Core covers 10 projects and 1 manager seat (a user who can create and edit projects). It tracks 2,000 keyword pairs a day, so 30 keywords on 2 engines use 60 of them. Rankings refresh once a day on a schedule SE Ranking's help center says cannot be changed.

Core also runs a website audit of 250,000 pages a month and keyword, competitor and backlink research. Growth is $279 a month billed monthly or $223.20 a month billed annually, with 30 projects, 3 manager seats and 5,000 keyword pairs a day. The SE Ranking review lists the plan limits.

SE Ranking can be tried for 14 days with no card before you weigh it against the rest, and it has no permanent free plan.

Best for search volume data: Semrush and Ahrefs

SE Ranking's own FAQ says its search volume figures currently trail both Semrush and Ahrefs, so a buyer who puts volume data first should price those two. Semrush's SEO plan covers 5 websites and 500 keywords tracked daily, and its price is on Semrush's page. Semrush lists a free plan for one website and 10 tracked keywords, and a seven-day trial that checks a card.

Ahrefs Lite is $129 a month billed monthly or $108 a month billed annually, with 5 projects and 750 tracked keywords updated weekly. Ahrefs lists no free trial on its pricing page and offers Ahrefs Free to website owners.

Best on a smaller budget: Serpstat and Moz Pro

Serpstat Individual is $69 a month billed monthly or $50 a month with the annual discount. It covers 5 projects and 10,000 keyword position checks a month. Its 7-day trial takes a card and turns into the paid plan unless canceled.

Moz Pro Standard is $99 a month billed monthly or $79 a month for the first year billed yearly ($950). It covers 1 user, 3 tracked sites and 300 tracked keywords, with weekly updates and the top 20 positions only. On monthly billing both cost less than SE Ranking Core and cover fewer sites.

Best for a short keyword list: Ubersuggest, Mangools and Moz Pro Starter

Ubersuggest Individual covers 1 project and 125 tracked keywords with weekly rank checks, and its price is on Ubersuggest's page. Mangools Basic tracks 200 keywords with weekly updates, which become daily only on its Agency plan, and its price is on Mangools' page.

Moz Pro Starter is $49 a month for one website, with 1 campaign (Moz's word for a tracked site plus three competitors) and 50 keyword rankings. Moz's page does not say whether the $49 is billed monthly or yearly.

How to choose: count sites, keywords and update frequency

Count sites first: Moz Pro Starter and Ubersuggest Individual take 1, Moz Pro Standard 3, Serpstat Individual 5, Ahrefs Lite 5, Semrush's SEO plan 5 and SE Ranking Core 10. Then compare units: pairs, position checks and tracked keywords are not interchangeable, so read each limit in its own unit.

Last, check update frequency. SE Ranking, Semrush and Serpstat refresh ranks daily; Ahrefs, Moz Pro, Mangools Basic and Ubersuggest refresh weekly.

• SE Ranking Core for daily tracking across up to 10 sites.
• Serpstat Individual for five sites on a smaller bill.
• Moz Pro for weekly checks on a few sites.
• Ahrefs or Semrush when search volume data matters most.

A single-site business can start with best SEO software for small business. Rivals of SE Ranking and Semrush are compared in SE Ranking alternatives and Semrush alternatives.