We are not one of the alternatives. Here is the honest list anyway.
Semrush alternatives — what to use depending on why you are leaving
There is no single replacement, because people leave for four quite different reasons and each one points at a different tool. Work out which of the four you are, and the shortlist gets very short.
On this page
- Which of the four you are
- What each category of alternative gives you
- Where we actually fit
First, work out which of the four you are
People leave a suite for four reasons, and they point in different directions.
- 01
“It costs more than we get out of it”
The most common one. Usually true, and usually a sign that two or three people log in occasionally rather than anyone using it daily. The answer is rarely a cheaper suite — it is Search Console plus one focused tool for the specific job you keep coming back for.
- 02
“I only need one part of it”
If ninety per cent of your usage is keyword research, or rank tracking, or site auditing, a single-purpose tool does that job for a fraction of a full suite. The breadth you are paying for is only worth it if several different jobs are running through the same licence.
- 03
“The link data is not deep enough”
This is the one case with a genuine like-for-like answer. Ahrefs grew out of link analysis and is still organised around it. If competitor authority is your central question, that is the switch to consider.
- 04
“Nobody is actually using it”
Then software is not your problem and no alternative will fix it. A suite with nobody driving it produces exactly as much as no suite at all, only more expensively. This is a capacity question.
Side by side
What the categories of alternative actually give you
Categories rather than a ranked list — the right answer differs by reader.
| Topic | What you gain | What you give up |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console + Analytics only | Real impression, click and position data for your own site, free, straight from the source. | No view of competitors, and no data for queries you do not already appear for. |
| A link-first suite (e.g. Ahrefs) | Depth on backlinks and competitor authority, with a smaller interface to learn. | Paid-search and local-listings coverage that a broad suite includes. |
| A single-purpose research tool | One job done well at a fraction of suite pricing. | Everything else. Expect to end up with two or three subscriptions if your needs widen. |
| A rank tracker on its own | The weekly number most teams actually open the suite for, cheaply. | All research and audit capability. This is a monitoring tool, not a working one. |
| An agency or contractor | Capability and the tooling included — someone who uses these platforms daily rather than a licence nobody opens. | Direct hands-on access, and it is a materially different budget line. Not a software substitute. |
Where we actually fit, stated plainly
TechDevs is not an alternative to Semrush. We are an agency that uses tooling of this kind daily as part of doing the work, and a licence and a team are not substitutes for one another — they answer different questions and sit in different budget lines.
The reason this page exists is that a meaningful share of people searching for a Semrush alternative are not really shopping for software. They bought a suite hoping it would produce a result, found that it produces data instead, and are now looking for a cheaper version of the same disappointment.
If that is you, the useful next step is not another subscription. It is deciding whether this work is something you resource properly — internally or externally — or something you stop paying for. Both are reasonable answers. Paying for a tool nobody opens is not.
If the tool was not the problem
Tell us what you were hoping the subscription would fix. Thirty minutes and you will know whether it is a tooling gap, a capacity gap, or a strategy one — and you keep the answer either way.
FAQ
Questions buyers ask us first.
Is there a free Semrush alternative?
For your own site, largely yes: Google Search Console and Analytics give you real query, click and position data that no paid tool can see, at no cost. What free tools cannot give you is the competitor view — other people’s rankings, links and traffic estimates — which is the part you are genuinely paying a suite for.
Can I just use Google Search Console?
If your questions are about your own site, mostly yes, and you should be using it regardless of what else you buy. The gap opens when you need to know what you are not ranking for, or why a competitor sits above you. Those questions require data about other people’s sites.
Is Ahrefs a direct replacement?
It is the closest like-for-like, with a different centre of gravity — stronger on links and organic depth, lighter on paid and local. If those last two matter to your team, you would be trading one gap for another rather than upgrading. We compare them properly on our Ahrefs vs Semrush page.
Should I keep a suite if I have an agency?
Often not, and that is worth asking during scoping. A good agency brings its own tooling. Keeping a duplicate licence makes sense if someone internal genuinely uses it — for verification, or for work you keep in-house — and not otherwise.
What happens next
- Answer a few quick questions about your business. About two minutes.
- Pick a time that suits you for a free 30-minute call with a founder.
- We study your site before the call, so you leave with a plan, not a pitch.
Free, no obligation. Your answers save as you go, so you can stop and pick up where you left off.