Semrush Pricing 2026: Free Account, Plans and AI Visibility

The Bottom Line#

Semrush is the most comprehensive SEO platform available, and the 2026 addition of AI Visibility tracking makes it essential for anyone serious about search marketing in the age of AI Overviews and LLM-powered search. Based on its market position, G2 ratings, and extensive user feedback, Semrush remains the industry standard for keyword research, competitive analysis, site auditing, and backlink intelligence. The database of 25+ billion keywords across 130+ countries is unmatched. The Site Audit tool identifies over 140 technical issues with actionable prioritization. The Backlink Analytics provides the most complete link profile data available in the category. What makes the 2026 version transformative is the AI search side: the traditional SEO Toolkit now sits next to AI Visibility tracking that follows your brand's presence across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode, included in the Starter and Pro+ plans. With paid plans starting at €134 per month in the EU view, Semrush is expensive, but it replaces three or four separate tools and provides data depth that cheaper alternatives cannot match.

Rating: 4.6/5 | Price: from €134/month (EU view) | Last verified: November 2026

Key Facts#

• Pricing: Free (€0), SEO (€134/mo), Starter SEO + AI Search (€190/mo), Pro+ SEO + AI Search (€286/mo), Advanced (custom quote); euro prices from the EU view, annual billing lowers them to €112.52, €158.40 and €238 per month
• Free tier: Free account without credit card: 1 demo project and 10 reports per day
• Platforms: Web application, API, browser extension
• Key update: The Starter and Pro+ plans combine the SEO Toolkit (55+ tools) with AI visibility tracking for brand mentions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews; #1 in 6 G2 Spring 2026 categories including SEO and Answer Engine Optimization
• AI Visibility Toolkit: Also listed as a standalone product in the Help Center at $99/month with 25 prompts
• Database: 25+ billion keywords, 130+ countries, 43 trillion backlinks
• Trial: 7-day free trial offered on the pricing page

What Is Semrush and Who Is It For?#

Semrush is an all-in-one digital marketing platform centered on search engine optimization, with over 55 tools covering keyword research, competitive analysis, site auditing, backlink intelligence, content optimization, rank tracking, advertising research, and social media management. It is the platform most SEO professionals use daily to make data-driven decisions about search strategy.

Semrush serves SEO professionals, digital marketing agencies, content marketers, PPC managers, and business owners who depend on organic search traffic. Its strength is depth: every tool provides granular data with historical context, competitive benchmarking, and actionable recommendations. Semrush does not simplify SEO into a beginner-friendly dashboard -- it provides the raw data and analysis tools that experienced practitioners need.

The 2026 introduction of the AI Visibility Toolkit marks a strategic evolution. As search fragments across traditional results, AI Overviews, and standalone AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, Semrush now tracks brand visibility across all these surfaces. Prompt Research lets you discover what questions users ask AI tools about your industry. Brand Monitoring tracks when and how AI mentions your brand. This positions Semrush as the command center for visibility across both traditional and AI-powered search.

How We Built This Guide#

This guide is based on official Semrush documentation, verified pricing, G2 Spring 2026 category rankings, independent SEO tool comparisons, and real user feedback from G2, Reddit, and professional SEO communities. We analyzed feature capabilities across the SEO and AI Search plans, reviewed the AI Visibility Toolkit based on official documentation and early adopter reports, and compared Semrush's data depth against documented specifications from Ahrefs, Moz, and SE Ranking. Plans and prices were verified on November 9, 2026; other facts were last checked in March 2026.

Features in Depth#

Keyword Magic Tool#

Semrush's keyword research starts with a database of over 25 billion keywords across 130+ countries. The Keyword Magic Tool takes a seed keyword and returns thousands of related terms organized by topic clusters, with search volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, SERP features, and competitive density for each. The AI-enhanced version now suggests semantic variations and question-based keywords optimized for AI search responses. According to user reports, Keyword Magic consistently surfaces long-tail opportunities that Ahrefs and Moz miss, particularly for non-English markets. The topic clustering feature accelerates content planning by grouping related keywords into content themes.

Site Audit#

Semrush's Site Audit crawls your website and identifies over 140 technical SEO issues, categorized by severity (Errors, Warnings, Notices) and prioritized by potential impact. Issues covered include Core Web Vitals problems, crawlability and indexation errors, broken links, HTTPS mixed content, keyword cannibalization, hreflang issues, and structured data problems. The 2026 update includes checks for AI crawler accessibility -- whether your site is properly accessible to AI systems that might cite or reference your content. According to user reviews, Site Audit consistently catches issues that manual review misses, particularly internal linking problems and orphan pages. The remediation guidance is specific and actionable.

Backlink Analytics and Link Building#

Backlink Analytics provides a comprehensive view of any website's link profile: referring domains, anchor text distribution, follow/nofollow ratios, domain authority trends, and new/lost backlink tracking over time. The database covers 43 trillion backlinks. Backlink Gap compares your link profile against up to 5 competitors simultaneously, identifying high-authority domains linking to competitors but not to you -- these become your link building targets. The Link Building Tool automates prospecting by generating outreach lists based on your keywords and competitors. Independent comparisons confirm the backlink database is among the most comprehensive available, surfacing referring domains that smaller databases do not report.

AI Visibility Toolkit#

The most significant 2026 addition. The AI Visibility Toolkit tracks your brand's presence across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode. Prompt Research lets you explore a database of prompts across major AI platforms, discovering what questions users ask about topics in your industry and how AI responds. Brand Monitoring tracks when AI tools mention your brand, products, or competitors. AI Traffic Analysis estimates how much traffic comes from AI-powered search features versus traditional organic results. For businesses where a growing share of discovery happens through AI tools rather than Google's traditional results, this data is becoming as important as traditional rank tracking.

Position Tracking and SERP Analysis#

Position Tracking monitors your keyword rankings daily across desktop and mobile, with local tracking down to the zip code level. SERP feature tracking shows when your pages appear in featured snippets, People Also Ask, image packs, video carousels, and AI Overviews. The sensor tool monitors Google algorithm volatility, alerting you to potential updates before they are officially confirmed. Users report that Position Tracking data is accurate within 1-2 positions compared to manual spot checks, and the daily update frequency catches ranking shifts faster than weekly-updating competitors.

Content Marketing Toolkit#

The SEO Content Template generates optimization guidelines for target keywords: recommended word count, semantically related terms to include, readability targets, and backlink suggestions. The SEO Writing Assistant scores content in real-time against these guidelines as you write. Topic Research surfaces content ideas with trending subtopics, questions, and related searches. For content teams optimizing at scale, these tools systematize the process of creating search-optimized content without relying on gut instinct.

Pricing Breakdown#

Semrush lists a free account and four paid options as of November 9, 2026. The amounts below are euro prices from the EU view; annual billing lowers the monthly price.

Free (€0) with no credit card: 1 demo project and 10 reports per day. Enough to explore the interface, not for ongoing SEO work.

SEO (€134/month, €112.52/month billed annually): the SEO plan without AI visibility tracking.

Starter, SEO + AI Search (€190/month, €158.40/month billed annually): 5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily, MCP access, 50 prompts daily, 1 domain for AI Brand Performance, and 300 AI Visibility reports per day. The entry point if you want SEO and AI search data in one plan.

Pro+, SEO + AI Search (€286/month, €238/month billed annually): everything in Starter plus 15 websites, 1,500 keywords tracked daily, historical SEO data, content optimization, cannibalization analysis, multi-location and multi-device tracking, and 100 prompts daily. The tier for growing agencies and businesses managing several domains.

Advanced (custom price, demo on request): 40+ websites, 5,000+ keywords, Share of Voice, API data integration, team users, reporting, and unlimited prompts.

AI Visibility Toolkit standalone: The Help Center lists it at $99/month with 25 prompts (source). The pricing page itself shows plans with AI search built in.

A seven-day free trial is offered on the pricing page.

Similar Tools Worth Considering#

• Ahrefs: The closest competitor with a comparable keyword database, backlink index, and site audit. Slightly better backlink explorer interface. Slightly weaker keyword database for non-English markets. Pricing starts at $129/month (US dollars, not converted to Semrush's euro prices). Does not yet offer AI Visibility tracking at Semrush's depth. Explore Semrush alternatives for a broader comparison.
• Moz Pro: More beginner-friendly with a simpler interface and strong Domain Authority metric. Smaller keyword and backlink database. Lower pricing starting at $49/month. Better for SEO beginners, worse for data-intensive professional work.
• SE Ranking: Budget-friendly SEO platform with solid core features at a lower price than Semrush. SE Ranking retired its old Essential/Pro/Business lineup in 2026 for a Core/Growth/Enterprise structure; Core starts at about $103/month (annual billing). Good for small businesses and freelancers who need the essentials without the full enterprise toolkit.
• Ubersuggest: Neil Patel's SEO tool with a lifetime purchase option. Most affordable entry point for basic keyword research and site auditing. Limited competitive intelligence and backlink data compared to Semrush. Best for beginners and budget-conscious users.

For content optimization specifically, see our Frase guide and the Surfer SEO vs Frase comparison. For a broader overview, check our Best AI Tools 2026 guide.

Who Should Use Semrush?#

Best for SEO agencies: Manage multiple client projects with competitive intelligence, automated reporting, and comprehensive auditing from a single platform. The Pro+ and Advanced plans provide the project limits and reporting depth that agency workflows demand. White-label reporting streamlines client communication.

Best for content marketers focused on organic growth: Keyword research, topic clustering, content templates, and the SEO Writing Assistant create a systematic workflow from ideation to optimization. The content tools bridge the gap between SEO data and content creation.

Best for competitive intelligence: Analyze any competitor's organic keywords, paid keywords, backlink profile, top pages, and traffic estimates. Traffic Analytics provides estimated visit data for competitor domains. Advertising Research reveals competitor PPC strategies. No other platform provides this breadth of competitive data.

Best for businesses adapting to AI search: The AI Visibility Toolkit tracks how AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity reference your brand, helping you understand and optimize for the growing share of discovery happening outside traditional search results.

NOT for you if you are a small business owner who needs basic SEO guidance without deep data (Ubersuggest or SE Ranking offer simpler, cheaper alternatives), you only need rank tracking without the full toolkit (dedicated rank trackers are available for under $50/month), or your budget cannot sustain €134+/month for an SEO tool (free tools like Google Search Console cover essentials).

Semrush is the right platform for SEO professionals, agencies, and businesses that depend on organic search visibility and need the deepest available data to make strategic decisions. Its biggest strength is the unmatched combination of 55+ integrated tools with the industry's largest keyword and backlink databases, now extended with AI Visibility tracking that no competitor matches. Its biggest weakness is the price: paid plans start at €134/month in the EU view, AI search tracking starts with the €190/month Starter plan, and features agencies rely on, such as historical data and cannibalization analysis, require the €286/month Pro+ plan.

Start with the 7-day free trial to test your specific workflows. If you manage more than one website's SEO or work with clients, Semrush will likely save you time and deliver insights that cheaper tools miss. If you are managing a single small website, the paid plans' capabilities may exceed your needs -- consider SE Ranking or Moz Pro as more proportionate alternatives.

FAQ#

Is Semrush free to use?#

Semrush offers a free account without a credit card, with 1 demo project and 10 reports per day. This is sufficient for occasional keyword lookups and quick competitive checks but not for sustained SEO work. The pricing page also offers a seven-day free trial.

How does Semrush compare to Ahrefs?#

Both are top-tier SEO platforms with comprehensive capabilities. Semrush offers a larger keyword database (25+ billion vs. Ahrefs' database), more integrated tools (55+ including advertising and social), and AI Visibility tracking. Ahrefs offers a slightly more intuitive interface for backlink analysis and a respected Site Explorer. Compare current prices directly on both vendors' pricing pages. Choose Semrush for breadth and AI search tracking. Choose Ahrefs if backlink analysis is your primary focus.

What is the difference between the SEO plan and the AI Search plans?#

The SEO plan (€134/month in the EU view) covers the SEO toolkit without AI visibility tracking. Starter (€190/month) and Pro+ (€286/month) are SEO + AI Search plans that add AI visibility tracking, with 50 and 100 prompts per day. Advanced is priced individually and includes unlimited prompts. It is Semrush's answer to the fragmentation of search across traditional and AI-powered platforms.

How many keywords can I track with Semrush?#

Starter allows 500 keywords tracked daily, Pro+ 1,500, and Advanced 5,000+. Limits of the SEO plan were not checked. For context, 500 keywords is sufficient for a single business tracking core terms, while agencies typically need Pro+ or Advanced for multi-client keyword monitoring.

Is Semrush worth the price?#

For SEO professionals and agencies generating revenue from organic search, Semrush's data depth and tool breadth typically deliver positive ROI. The platform replaces 3-4 separate tool subscriptions (keyword research, rank tracking, site audit, backlink analysis) that would collectively cost as much or more. For small businesses or beginners who need basic SEO guidance, the price is difficult to justify -- more affordable alternatives like SE Ranking, Moz, or Ubersuggest provide sufficient functionality at lower cost.