Summarize this article with AI
Most lists you'll find when you search for a free Semrush alternative lump three different deals under one word. Some tools stay free, some are trials that start charging after a week or two, and some are freemium tools capped at a few searches a day. Build a workflow on the wrong one and it locks you out right when you need it.
On October 1, 2026, we went through every free plan, trial and limit here against the vendors' own pricing pages and help docs. One thing we found flips the question around. Semrush now has a permanent Free plan of its own, so an alternative has to beat Semrush Free at some specific job to earn a spot.
Below you'll get the short answer up front, a look at what Semrush Free actually covers, and then a stack of no-card tools for the jobs it can't handle.
Quick answer: which free Semrush alternative for which job
Nothing free replaces Semrush wholesale. What you get instead is tools that each do a single job well, so pick by the job:
| What you need | Best free option | The free limit |
|---|---|---|
| Your own website's clicks, queries and positions | Google Search Console + SEO Heatmap | Sites you have access to; SEO Heatmap is free for one property |
| Backlinks and a site audit for your own site | Ahrefs Free or Bing Webmaster Tools | Only sites you verify |
| A quick look at a competitor's keywords and ads | SpyFu's free plan or Semrush Free | SpyFu: 10 results per search; Semrush: 10 reports a day |
| Keyword ideas with search volume | Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Keyword Planner, Mangools' free plan | Planner needs a Google Ads account; Mangools allows a few lookups a day |
| A technical crawl | Screaming Frog or SEO PowerSuite's free version | 500 URLs per crawl |
| Questions people ask around a topic | AnswerThePublic | 3 searches a day |
In practice you'll likely run a few of these side by side. For each tool, the sections below go through what you get for $0, where its limit starts to hurt, and at what point paying makes more sense.
Is there a free Semrush plan?
Yes. Semrush has a permanent Free plan: one demo project and 10 reports a day across its core tools, with no credit card required.1 Many "free Semrush alternative" articles still say the only free option is a trial. That's out of date.
The Free plan, the trial and a paid plan are three different deals:
| Semrush Free | 7-day trial | SEO plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $0 for 7 days, then the plan's price | $139/mo, or $117.33/mo billed yearly |
| Credit card | Not required | Required (a small verification charge, refunded) | Required |
| What you get | 1 demo project, 10 reports a day | The paid plan's tools, with exports disabled | 5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily |
| When it ends | Never | Converts to the paid plan unless you cancel | Renews monthly or yearly |
Above the SEO plan sit Starter ($199/mo, which despite its name adds fuller AI visibility tracking), Pro+ ($299/mo) and Advanced ($549/mo, the first with API data integration), and extra users start at $45 a month.1 Content, Local, Social, Advertising and Traffic & Market are separate toolkits priced on top of these plans, not included in them.2
So when is Semrush Free enough? For a lot of people it is, as long as the work is a weekly look at a domain or a few keyword lookups here and there. If you research daily, though, those 10 reports are usually gone in one sitting. That's the gap the alternatives below fill: each handles one specific job, and several (Search Console, Keyword Surfer, SpyFu's unlimited searches) don't stop you after 10 reports.
Free plan, free trial or freemium cap: the "free" trap
The word "free" covers three deals, and each one runs out its own way.
Free plan (free forever). It never expires. Where it pinches is scope, since you're limited to one site, one project, or just your own data. Google Search Console, Ahrefs Free and SEO Heatmap's free plan work this way.
Free trial. Full or near-full access for a fixed window, then you pay or lose access. Semrush (7 days, card required), Moz Pro (card required) and SE Ranking (14 days, no card) all offer trials. A trial is for evaluating a paid tool, not for running your SEO.
Freemium with a cap. It's free forever but metered, whether by a few searches a day, a few results per search, or a crawl limit. That's where Semrush Free, SpyFu, Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic and Screaming Frog land. Fine for the odd task. A full-time research habit will hit the wall.
So before a tool from some "free" list joins your workflow, figure out which of the three it is and what exact number sits behind its limit.
How we picked and checked these alternatives
Our bar was simple. A tool had to cost $0 forever and handle a real piece of Semrush's job, be it keyword research, competitor analysis, backlinks, site audits or rank tracking. And its free terms had to be spelled out clearly enough that we could verify them.
Free limits, prices and trial terms come from each vendor's pricing page and help center, checked on October 1, 2026. Prices are in US dollars. Where a vendor doesn't publish an exact limit, we say so instead of repeating a number from another roundup. This is an editorial comparison, not a hands-on data-accuracy benchmark. SEO Heatmap is our own product, and it's held to the same criteria as everything else.
Free forever: search engine data for your own site
Start with the search engines' own tools. They're free, the data about your own site is first-party, and everything else in a free stack sits better on top of them.
Google Search Console, which Google describes as a free service, reports four core metrics for your site in Google Search (clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position). Because it comes from Google itself, it's first-party data rather than an estimate, and Bing Webmaster Tools gives you the equivalent for Bing. It does have limits, though. You can only look at properties you have access to, Google hides some rare queries for privacy reasons, and tools such as URL Inspection cap how often you can use them each day. And it won't tell you anything about competitors, or about keywords you aren't ranking for yet. Google's Search Console documentation defines average position using the topmost result from your site.3
Bing Webmaster Tools is the most underrated option on this list. Besides Bing performance data, it includes a backlink report with referring domains and anchor text, a keyword research tool with search volumes, and a site scan for SEO errors, all free once you verify your site.
Google Keyword Planner gives keyword ideas and monthly search estimates straight from Google Ads data.4 Using it is free, though getting in requires a Google Ads account with billing details.
For relative search interest over time and by region, there's Google Trends. No volumes, sadly, but nothing checks seasonality faster before you commit to a topic.
The Core Web Vitals part of Semrush's Site Audit? PageSpeed Insights handles that. It lab-tests any URL on mobile and desktop and suggests fixes; when Chrome has collected enough samples, you also see real-user field data.
SEO Heatmap
Point SEO Heatmap at your Google Search Console data and it draws a heatmap, with a row for every page and color standing in for clicks over time. Rising and slipping pages and queries stand out, and you never have to dig through Search Console's line charts. An AI insights panel summarizes what changed.
It's a companion to Search Console, not a substitute for Semrush's research tools. It doesn't do competitor keyword research or backlink analysis, and it doesn't pretend to:
| Feature | SEO Heatmap | Semrush Free |
|---|---|---|
| Your own Search Console data, page by page | Yes, as a heatmap | No |
| Competitor keyword research | No | Yes, within 10 reports a day |
| Backlink analysis | No | Yes, within 10 reports a day |
| Projects | 1 Search Console property on the free plan | 1 demo project |
| Credit card to start | No | No |
If your complaint is "I can't see how my own pages are trending in Search Console," this solves that exact problem at no cost. Paid plans add more properties.
Free backlink and site audit tools for your own site
Semrush handles backlinks with Backlink Analytics and technical health with Site Audit. For your own site, you can replace both without paying.
Ahrefs Free (formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools) gives limited Site Explorer and Site Audit access for sites you verify, plus Ahrefs' web analytics.5 Ahrefs runs no free trials, which makes Ahrefs Free the main way to use its data without paying. The limit is the important part: it covers your own verified sites, not competitors'. We cover the rest of Ahrefs' free options in our free Ahrefs alternatives guide.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider crawls up to 500 URLs per crawl without a license, enough for a technical SEO audit of a small site: broken links, redirects, titles, metadata, duplicate pages.6 A paid license removes the limit and unlocks advanced features, including crawl configuration. It's a desktop install.
SEO PowerSuite's free version bundles four desktop tools. Without paying, you can audit 500 URLs, analyze up to 1,100 backlinks and check rankings for one project, but you can't save your work, so it suits one-off checks rather than ongoing tracking.7
Link building outreach is one of the Semrush jobs with almost no $0 equivalent, since outreach tools charge for sending volume. The exception is digital PR: Featured has a free-forever plan with a small daily allowance for answering journalist requests, which can earn links from media coverage.
For a fuller look at crawlers, free and paid, see our Screaming Frog alternatives guide.
Freemium keyword and competitor tools
This is where Semrush is hardest to replace at $0: data on keywords you don't rank for yet, and on websites you don't own. Most options here are capped (Keyword Surfer is the exception), so pick the cap that fits how you work.
SpyFu's plans page lists a "Free for life" tier: unlimited searches, 10 results per search, no credit card.8 For a free peek at a competitor's organic keywords and Google Ads history, nothing here beats it. Need more? Basic is $39 a month billed monthly (less on yearly billing) and lifts the cap to 10,000 result rows.
Mangools has a permanent free plan with no credit card, covering a few keyword and SERP lookups a day across KWFinder and its other tools. Beginners will find it the easiest interface of the bunch. The exact free limits aren't on Mangools' pricing page, though. Trust your account's resource counter over whatever number a roundup quotes.
Ubersuggest gives three searches a day with a free account, no card needed.9 That's enough for occasional keyword ideas and domain overviews, not a research session.
Keyword Surfer, a Chrome extension from Surfer, is 100% free and shows search volume and keyword ideas right on Google's results page.10 It's built for quick checks while you browse the SERP rather than for deep research.
AnswerThePublic allows three searches a day on a free account. Each search returns the full question and phrase report, but search volume and CPC appear for only two branches of each report, and exports stop at 30 keywords.11
Moz's free Community account gives you limited monthly access to Keyword Explorer and Link Explorer. It's useful as a second opinion on a keyword's difficulty, not for bulk lookups. If you're weighing Moz's paid plans instead, our Moz alternatives guide shows how they compare at real usage levels.
Free plan limits side by side
The numbers behind each "free" label, in one place:
| Tool | What's free | The limit |
|---|---|---|
| Semrush Free | Core SEO tools, 1 demo project | 10 reports a day |
| SpyFu | Competitor organic and PPC data | 10 results per search, unlimited searches |
| Mangools | KWFinder, SERPChecker and other tools | A few lookups (exact limit not published) |
| Ubersuggest | Keyword ideas, domain overviews | 3 searches a day with a free account |
| AnswerThePublic | Question and phrase reports | 3 searches a day; volume on 2 branches per report |
| Moz Community account | Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer, MozBar | A small monthly query allowance |
| Screaming Frog | Desktop crawler | 500 URLs per crawl |
| SEO PowerSuite | Rank checks, site audit, backlinks | 500 URLs, 1,100 backlinks, no saving |
| Ahrefs Free | Site Explorer, Site Audit | Your verified sites only |
| Google Search Console | Your clicks, queries, positions, indexing | Your properties only; URL Inspection daily limit |
| SEO Heatmap | Your Search Console data as a heatmap | 1 Search Console property |
What free tools can't replace in Semrush
Semrush is a whole marketing platform. A free stack only gets you part of it, mostly the core SEO jobs. So be honest with yourself about which of these you actually use before you cancel Semrush or skip it:
- PPC and ad research. You get a glimpse of a competitor's Google Ads history on SpyFu's free plan. Full ad histories and paid keyword lists at volume mean paying.
- Competitor traffic analytics. Semrush's Traffic & Market toolkit estimates any website's total traffic and audience. Similarweb's browser extension gets you close for free, with estimated monthly visits and traffic sources for any site. Ubersuggest and Semrush Free also show an organic traffic estimate in their domain overviews. Deeper data and longer date ranges stay behind Similarweb's paywall.
- Rank tracking at scale. Without paying, you track a handful of keywords, or nothing at all. Search Console gives an average position for each query it reports, minus the anonymized rare ones, but it isn't a fixed daily check.
- AI search visibility. Semrush Free includes only a limited set of its AI Visibility features, and most no-cost tools don't track AI answers at all.
- Team reporting. This is where agencies and in-house teams feel it, because shared projects, scheduled client reports and white-label exports usually sit on paid plans.
Count how many of those you touch every week. At two or more, put the hours a free stack costs you next to the price of a paid plan.
Build a free stack instead of hunting for one tool
You won't find one free dashboard that does what Semrush does. That's the hunt that leaves so many "free alternative" searches disappointed. What works better is a handful of tools, each doing only the job it's free for:
- Google Search Console for your own site's clicks, queries and positions.3
- SEO Heatmap, if you want that same data laid out as page-by-page trends.
- Ahrefs Free or Bing Webmaster Tools for your own backlinks, plus a site audit you can repeat.
- Semrush Free, SpyFu or Mangools' free plan when a competitor or keyword question comes up. Search Console won't help with those, because its data stops at queries you already appear for.
- Screaming Frog when a site needs a proper technical crawl.
A solo SEO or a small site can get a lot of daily work done this way without putting a card on file anywhere. The downside is mostly convenience. Four or five logins replace one, and nothing ties the data together.
The cheapest paid upgrades, for when free runs out
The stack above breaks down once you need competitor backlink depth, rank tracking for hundreds of keywords, or one dashboard for a team. When that happens, the most affordable paid options cost less than Semrush's $139 SEO plan (listed last for comparison):
| Upgrade | Price | What it adds | Try before paying |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Starter | $29/mo | Ahrefs keyword and competitor research, limited | No trial |
| SpyFu Basic | $39/mo billed monthly | 10,000-row results, 5,000 tracked keywords a week | Free plan |
| Mangools Basic | Under $50/mo billed yearly | 100 keyword lookups a day, 200 tracked keywords | Free plan |
| Serpstat Individual | $50/mo billed yearly | 100 searches a day, rank tracking, site audit | 7-day trial |
| SE Ranking Core | $129/mo ($103.20 billed yearly) | 2,000 keywords tracked daily, 10 projects | 14-day trial, no card |
| Semrush SEO | $139/mo ($117.33 billed yearly) | 5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily | Free plan + 7-day trial |
Pick by the gap, not the brand. If you only need competitor keyword history, SpyFu covers it for a fraction of Semrush's price. For daily rank tracking at volume, SE Ranking Core tracks 2,000 keywords a day (four times Semrush's 500) and costs $10 less. The catch is that SE Ranking counts a keyword once per search engine or location you track it in. Also keep in mind that Semrush's SEO plan doesn't include its Content, Local, Social, Advertising or Traffic & Market toolkits.2 You'd pay for each of those separately.
Check these before you commit to a free stack
Building a free stack takes very little effort, but it's just as easy to get wrong if you don't look at the limits. Copy this checklist before you build a daily workflow around any "free" tool:
FREE TOOL CHECKLIST
[ ] Type: free plan / free trial / freemium cap? ______________
[ ] Exact limit (searches/day, results, URLs/crawl): __________
[ ] Card needed to start? Auto-converts to paid? ______________
[ ] Covers competitors, or only sites I verify? _______________
[ ] Search Console access granted (who's the owner?): _________
[ ] Can I export my data on the free plan? ___________________
[ ] The one gap that would justify paying: ___________________
Which free Semrush alternative is right for you?
| What you need | Pick |
|---|---|
| Your own site's data, free forever | Google Search Console + SEO Heatmap |
| Your own backlinks and site audit | Ahrefs Free or Bing Webmaster Tools |
| Occasional competitor checks | Semrush Free or SpyFu's free plan |
| Keyword ideas | Bing Webmaster Tools, Keyword Planner or Mangools' free plan |
| A technical crawl | Screaming Frog or SEO PowerSuite's free version |
| Ready to pay a little for breadth | SpyFu, Mangools or SE Ranking |
Most setups end up with three to five tools rather than one all-in-one pick. That's how SEO on a $0 budget works, not a failure to find the right single tool.
Care most about your own Search Console data? SEO Heatmap turns it into a heatmap of every page's trend, and it's free for one property.
Frequently asked questions
Is Semrush free to use?
Yes, within limits. Its permanent Free plan gives you one demo project and 10 reports a day across the core tools, no credit card asked. Paying starts at $139 a month (the SEO plan), and every paid plan has a 7-day trial that does want a card.
What's the difference between Semrush Free and the Semrush free trial?
Semrush Free never expires but caps you at 10 reports a day and one demo project. The 7-day trial is different: you get a paid plan's tools, but it needs a credit card, blocks data exports, and turns into a paid subscription if you don't cancel in time. Spot checks belong on Free. Save the trial for when you're seriously weighing a paid plan.
Is Ahrefs free?
Partly. There's no free trial, but Ahrefs Free (the old Ahrefs Webmaster Tools) opens limited Site Explorer and Site Audit access on sites you verify. That makes it good for watching your own backlinks and technical issues, and no help at all with competitors.
Can Google Search Console replace Semrush?
On your own site's clicks, queries and average positions, it can, and the numbers come straight from Google rather than a third-party model. Competitor research is out, though, and so are keyword ideas you don't appear for yet and fixed daily rank tracking. Build the free stack on it and bolt on SpyFu's free plan or Semrush Free for the competitor side.
Why do free SEO tools disagree with Search Console?
Mostly because they aren't measuring the same thing. Search Console reports what Google actually logged for your property. Third-party tools, on the other hand, estimate volume and traffic using their own crawlers, clickstream panels and licensed data. On top of that, a rank tracker checks from one location on its own schedule, whereas Search Console's position is an average across every impression. So the numbers won't match, and for your own site, Search Console wins.
What's the cheapest paid alternative to Semrush?
Ahrefs Starter is the cheapest at $29 a month, but it's a limited research plan. For broader coverage, SpyFu Basic costs $39 a month on monthly billing and Mangools Basic comes in under $50 a month billed yearly. If you need daily rank tracking at volume, SE Ranking Core allows 2,000 tracked keywords a day for $129 a month (each search engine or location you track counts separately), four times the 500 in Semrush's $139 SEO plan.
Can SEO Heatmap replace Semrush?
No. That was never the goal. SEO Heatmap makes a page-by-page heatmap out of your own Google Search Console data (free for one property). Competitor research, backlinks and keyword discovery are Semrush's job. It sits next to a research tool rather than replacing it.
When should I stop using free tools and pay for one?
When one particular gap keeps costing you time every week, like tracking hundreds of keywords, digging into competitor backlinks, or sharing reports with a team or clients. Even then, price the cheapest tool for that one gap first. An all-in-one suite isn't really all-in-one: Semrush sells its Content, Local, Social and Advertising toolkits separately.
If you're building a free SEO stack, SEO Heatmap makes your own Search Console data the easiest part of it to read. Give it a try. It's free for one site.
Sources (11)
SEO Heatmap Knowledge relies on primary sources: Google's documentation, web standards, peer-reviewed research, and vendors' own pages for their pricing and features. Our editorial standards
- Semrush. “SEO & AI Search Plans and Pricing.”
- Semrush. “Semrush Subscription plans & Toolkits.”
- Google Search Console. “Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setup.”
- Google Ads. “Use Keyword Planner.”
- Ahrefs. “Ahrefs Free.”
- Screaming Frog. “Screaming Frog SEO Spider Website Crawler.”
- SEO PowerSuite. “Choose your SEO PowerSuite license.”
- SpyFu. “SpyFu Pricing -- Starting at $29 a Month.”
- Ubersuggest. “Free Account: Key Features and Limits.”
- Surfer. “Keyword Surfer - SEO Chrome Extension.”
- AnswerThePublic. “Is There a Free Version of AnswerThePublic?”
