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SE Ranking vs Semrush (2026): Features, Pricing and Who Should Pick Which

SE Ranking gives you more projects and tracked keywords per dollar; Semrush gives you a broader platform. A sourced comparison of November 2026 pricing, limits, trials and add-ons.

By SearchStackLab Editorial · Published · Updated · 7 min read

SE Ranking is one of the most common "cheaper alternative" answers when someone balks at Semrush's price. That framing undersells both tools. On the numbers each vendor publishes, SE Ranking gives you noticeably more projects and tracked keywords for less money, while Semrush is the broader platform, with more toolkits, a free plan and a larger self-described database.

Everything below comes from the two companies' own pricing pages and help articles, checked as of November 2026, with links so you can confirm it. This is a researched comparison, not a hands-on review: we have not made up test results, and where a figure is a vendor's own claim we say so.

Quick answer

  • Pick SE Ranking if you manage many sites or many keywords on a budget: its $129/mo Core plan includes 10 projects and 2,000 keywords tracked daily, versus 5 websites and 500 daily keywords on Semrush's $139/mo SEO plan. Its 14-day trial needs no credit card.
  • Pick Semrush if you want one platform for SEO plus PPC, content, local, social and market research, deeper competitive data, or a free plan to keep using after your trial.
  • Agencies should price SE Ranking's Agency Pack (+$69/mo, annual only) against Semrush's reporting and user add-ons before deciding.

Pricing at a glance (as of Nov 2026)

SE Ranking (source) Semrush (source)
Free plan No (14-day free trial instead) Yes: 1 demo project, 10 reports/day
Entry Core: $129/mo, or $103.20/mo billed annually SEO: $139/mo, or $117.33/mo billed annually
Next tier Growth: $279/mo, or $223.20/mo annually Starter (SEO + AI Search): $199/mo, or $165.17/mo annually
Higher tier Enterprise: custom Pro+: $299/mo, or $248.17/mo annually; Advanced: custom
Annual saving "Save 20%" "Save up to 17%"
Free trial 14 days, no credit card required 7 days; nominal card-validation charge, refunded

At the entry level the sticker prices are close ($129 vs $139 monthly). The difference is in what that money buys.

Plan limits compared

SE Ranking Core ($129) SE Ranking Growth ($279) Semrush SEO ($139) Semrush Starter ($199) Semrush Pro+ ($299)
Projects / websites 10 projects 30 projects 5 websites 5 websites 15 websites
Keywords tracked daily 2,000 5,000 500 500 1,500
Users 1 manager seat 3 manager seats 1 (extra from $45/mo) 1 (extra from $45/mo) 1 (extra from $45/mo)
Site audit 250k pages/month 2M pages/month Site Audit included AI-ready Site Audit AI-ready Site Audit
API / MCP 25K API credits & MCP access 100K API credits & MCP access — MCP access MCP access
AI visibility 25 prompts daily, 5 AI engines 25 prompts daily, 5 AI engines AI visibility reports, no prompt-tracking quota 50 prompts daily 100 prompts daily
Historical data — Across project lifetime — — Historical SEO data

Sources: SE Ranking pricing, Semrush pricing, Semrush subscriptions KB. A dash means the vendor's pricing page does not list that item for the plan.

The headline: tracked keywords and projects per dollar

On published limits, SE Ranking's Core plan tracks four times as many keywords daily (2,000 vs 500) across twice as many projects (10 vs 5) for $10 less per month than Semrush's SEO plan. Its Growth plan ($279) tracks 5,000 keywords daily across 30 projects with 3 seats, while Semrush's Pro+ ($299) tracks 1,500 daily across 15 websites with one user.

Put simply, if your bill is driven by how many sites and keywords you track, SE Ranking is the cheaper way to scale, based on both vendors' list prices.

Where Semrush's plans pull ahead

  • Breadth of the platform. Semrush sells separate toolkits for Traffic & Market, Local, Content, Social, Advertising and AI PR on top of its SEO plans, so an in-house marketer can run SEO, PPC research, local listings and social from one account (Semrush subscriptions KB). SE Ranking includes local and content marketing in its plans and sells social media management through a separate product, Planable (SE Ranking pricing).
  • AI-search tracking on the mid tiers. Semrush Starter tracks 50 prompts daily and Pro+ tracks 100, compared with 25 daily prompts on both SE Ranking plans (SE Ranking sells extra AI visibility tracking from $71/mo for 75 prompts).
  • A free plan. Semrush's free tier (10 reports per day, 1 demo project) lets you keep doing occasional lookups without paying; SE Ranking has a trial but no ongoing free plan on its pricing page.
  • Database scale (vendor claim). Semrush says its database covers over 28.8 billion keywords, 43 trillion backlinks and 142 geographic databases (Semrush data article). Treat that as Semrush's own description, not an independent measurement — the best test is how well each tool knows your niche.

Free trials: what you get

SE Ranking offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Its FAQ says the trial is fully functional with "starter usage": up to 10 projects, 750 tracked keywords per day, 20 AI prompts per day, and AI competitive research for up to 3 domains (SE Ranking pricing FAQ).

Semrush offers a 7-day free trial on its SEO + AI Search plans. Exports are disabled during the trial, each toolkit trial can be activated once per account, and you can cancel before it ends without being charged (Semrush subscriptions KB). Semrush places a nominal charge on your card to check it is valid and refunds it immediately (Semrush pricing FAQ).

So SE Ranking's trial is longer and card-free; Semrush's is shorter but covers the full paid plan you pick. Running both trials at the same time on the same set of sites is the fairest comparison you can make.

Start a Semrush free trial

Add-ons and agency features

SE Ranking

  • Agency Pack: +$69/mo, annual billing only: 30 projects, 30 client seats, white label for the platform and reports, unlimited scheduled reporting with AI summaries, Agency Catalog placement and a Lead Generator.
  • API add-on: +$45/mo billed annually ($48 otherwise), 3M credits across backlinks, domain analysis, keyword research, AI search and website audit APIs.
  • AI visibility: from $71/mo for 75 prompts, daily tracking across AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot and more.
  • Free migration with an annual subscription.

All from SE Ranking's pricing page.

Semrush

  • Additional users: starting at $45/mo.
  • Base Report: $10/mo for scheduled reports with data from 20+ Semrush tools, GA and GSC integrations and PDF export.
  • Pro Report: $20/mo, adding 20+ external integrations, branding and white-labeling, AI-generated summaries and link sharing.
  • Lead Generation: $90/mo for a branded profile on the Semrush Agency Partners platform.
  • Specialist toolkits: Traffic & Market, Local, Content, Social, Advertising and AI PR, priced separately.

All from Semrush's pricing page and subscriptions KB.

For agencies: SE Ranking bundles white-label reporting and 30 client seats into one $69/mo annual add-on. On Semrush, white-label reporting is the $20/mo Pro Report, and teammates are added per user from $45/mo. Which works out cheaper depends on how many internal users you need versus client-facing seats.

Billing, refunds and account rules

  • SE Ranking: cancel anytime; payments are non-refundable except where the service was not delivered as promised. Annual plans are billed upfront. Only one active session per login is allowed, so shared logins will kick each other out; it recommends adding seats or using guest links (SE Ranking FAQ).
  • Semrush: you can cancel, downgrade or upgrade at any time unless you have custom contract terms (Semrush pricing FAQ). Check Semrush's refund-policy FAQ on the pricing page for current terms before buying.

Cost scenarios

Using list prices, monthly billing, before tax:

  • Freelancer, 8 client sites, ~1,500 keywords: SE Ranking Core ($129) covers it (10 projects, 2,000 keywords). On Semrush you would need Pro+ ($299) to get beyond 5 websites and 500 keywords.
  • In-house marketer, one brand, SEO plus PPC and local: Semrush's toolkit model fits better, starting from the SEO plan ($139) and adding only the toolkits you use.
  • Small agency, 3 strategists, white-label reports: SE Ranking Growth ($279, 3 seats) plus the Agency Pack ($69, annual only) vs Semrush Pro+ ($299) plus 2 extra users (from $45 each) and the Pro Report ($20), which comes to at least $409.

Which should you choose?

Choose SE Ranking if…

  • Your costs are driven by number of sites and tracked keywords.
  • You want a longer, card-free trial.
  • You run an agency and want white-label reporting and client seats bundled together.

Choose Semrush if…

  • You want one platform for SEO and adjacent channels (PPC research, content, local, social, market intelligence).
  • You want stronger AI-search prompt tracking on mid-tier plans or historical SEO data (Pro+).
  • You value a free plan for occasional lookups after your paid period ends.

See Semrush plans and start a trial

FAQ

Is SE Ranking cheaper than Semrush? At the entry level the list prices are similar ($129 vs $139 a month), but SE Ranking includes more projects and tracked keywords at each price point, so it is cheaper per site and per keyword tracked.

Is SE Ranking as good as Semrush? That depends on the job. On published limits, SE Ranking wins on rank-tracking volume per dollar. Semrush offers more toolkits and describes a larger database. Run both trials on your own sites to judge data quality in your market.

Does Semrush have a coupon or discount? We do not publish coupons. Semrush's official offers are a 7-day free trial, a free plan with daily limits, and savings of up to 17% on annual billing.

Can I migrate from Semrush to SE Ranking? SE Ranking says it offers free assisted migration with annual subscriptions and self-serve import tools for projects and ranking history.

Sources

All checked November 13, 2026: