Moz vs. Semrush vs. Ahrefs: What’s Best in 2022

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Modern business owners are always looking for creative ways to outperform their competition. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can give you the advantage you are looking for. But which is the best SEO tool? Moz vs Semrush vs Ahrefs?

SEO has become an integral part of both web design and modern marketing. Thankfully, many online tools can help you monitor and improve your website performance.

However, it might be hard to find the best solution for your needs – what with multiple options on the market.

To help you decide which you should be using, we will compare the top contenders. Ready to find out Moz vs Semrush vs Ahrefs – what’s best in 2022?

Let’s dive in.

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The Importance of SEO

Unfortunately, most people who aren’t web developers or digital marketers have a hard time appreciating the intricacies of SEO.

Making your website friendlier to search engines will result in a better rank, so it should be a priority. Luckily, there is an effortless way to explain how vital your rank and SEO are:

For instance, think about the last time you ventured past the first page of search results. Probably a while ago, right?

If businesses aren’t in control of their SEO and don’t rank on page one of Google for their chosen keywords, they may as well not exist. Without optimized SEO, nobody is going to find them – no how strong their brand identity, or well-designed their logo.

SEO tools can help you find relevant keywords, keep tabs on your competitors, and be used for rank tracking.

Now let’s take a look at the best tools for the job…

Moz vs Semrush vs Ahrefs: What’s Best?

1. Pricing

Moz vs. Semrush vs. Ahrefs - they can provide you with multiple options to manage your site.

We are starting this comparison by tackling the elephant in the room: pricing. We recommend taking this factor with a grain of salt, as prices can be subject to change.

That being said, Moz is the only one you can try out for free for a limited time. Ahrefs does have a free version, but it is only available to site owners. Semrush will let you try a version only if you make a subscription.

All three have paid versions and can also be adapted or upgraded to be used for large projects. Additionally, all three have add-ons that you can use to expand the functionality of the version you are using.

The prices are as follows:

  • Moz has a basic starter package for $14 a month. It is Moz Local, which is intended for small businesses that require a basic internet presence. If you want to get into SEO, you’ll need to pay $99 a month for the Pro version.
  • Semrush starts with a $119.95 package, and even that version of the software tools can be used for multiple projects. Don’t get tricked by the price since the number of tools you get in the basic package is impressive.
  • Ahrefs offers a package for $99 that will give you all of the basic SEO features, and you can upgrade or downgrade your plan as needed. Ahrefs also has one of the most expensive plans at $999, intended for large enterprises and multi-person teams.

2. Additional functionality

Moz vs. Semrush vs. Ahrefs SEO report on site performance

Most tools can offer you additional features besides just the standard SEO kit. Keep in mind that there is often data that SEO tools don’t show, and if you want to have all the information, you might need to hire a third-party service.

However, when we look at what our chosen tools can do, Semrush takes the lead. Effectively, it provides a comprehensive marketing solution to run your business. 

While Moz lacks this kind of functionality, it is intended for website optimization. This means that it includes all of the basic SEO tools you would expect, such as a keyword explorer, ranking tracker, and content optimizer. However, the feedback and insights you can get from its toolset can be applied to your marketing, so it’s pretty much up to you to make the most of what’s available. 

On the other hand, Ahrefs isn’t as focused on marketing, but it’s an undeniable SEO powerhouse. The list of features and how to use them could be a topic in itself, but we feel compelled to mention Ahrefs’s competitive analysis functionality. Ahrefs is unparalleled in monitoring your competition, and it has the most detailed and accurate third-party information of the three.

3. Ease of use

Moz vs Semrush vs Ahrefs which has best ease of use

We realize that not everyone who uses an SEO tool is going to be an expert with years of experience.

Thankfully all three options are very popular, and you should be able to find plenty of guides and explanations online. Due to their popularity, you can also find plenty of skilled freelancers who already know how to use these tools. Although, that doesn’t directly speak to their built-in user-friendliness.

  • Moz will probably be the most confusing for beginners, and you might need a bit of time to get used to all of the features. Thankfully, the interface is color-coded, making navigating the data somewhat easier. 
  • Ahrefs has a cluttered design but is very intuitive to use. Information can be displayed as a graph, color-coded results, and data. We believe that this is the easiest tool for beginners to understand and use efficiently.
  • Semrush comes with a reputation of having a steep learning curve. However, that is probably due to the large amounts of displayed data. Once you learn where everything is, navigation should be much easier.

Moz vs Semrush vs Ahrefs: The Conclusion

We’ve tried to be as objective as possible here.

Looking at the three main areas which would be of general interest to most users: the price, the features, and how easy they are to handle – we hope you’re able to choose what’s best for you.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a clear winner between Moz vs. Semrush vs. Ahrefs. So, what’s best in 2022 will depend on you mostly.

You’ll have to consider whether having a free trial is important and how you plan to use these tools. However, all of them have been mainstays in the SEO field for years, and you won’t make a mistake by choosing any of the three options we’ve discussed.


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