SEO
February 2, 2024
If you’re looking for an all-in-one SEO tool, you may be wrestling between Ahrefs vs Moz.
Although their prices are similar and they share some of the same features on paper, there are differences in how they calculate keyword metrics and analyze backlinks.
That’s why I decided to thoroughly test and compare these two SEO tools, feature by feature, to help you make an informed decision before spending your money because the starting price of both tools is almost $100.
Keep reading to see what I’ve found out and look into an alternative with the most important features while being more user-friendly.
I’ll now break down the key differences between these two tools in terms of features, pricing plans and user experience to help you figure out which one is a better fit for your needs.
Ahrefs is a decent rank tracker that allows you to track your rankings across different locations and devices. Its two strongest characteristics are:
SERP features: You can check how your website ranks in 15 different SERP features, including some not available on other rank trackers, such as tweets and stories.
Historical data: Ahrefs has historical data from up to five years ago, which is more than most other tools, but to access it, you’ll have to opt for one of its most expensive plans.
Source: G2.com
However, I still prefer Moz’s rank tracking interface as it’s clearer and easier to see any changes in your rankings. Apart from standard rank tracking features, here are the two options I found extremely useful:
Local rankings: You can track national with local rankings with pretty good accuracy and then combine this feature with Moz local SEO to optimize your website for local pack, and different SERP features like reviews and ratings.
Content suggestions: You’ve discovered a new keyword but don’t have inspiration for content? You can use keyword tracking to find new content. This feature will give you custom content suggestions based on existing pages that rank for that keyword. (Ahrefs also has its own Content Explorer, but it’s not as good as Moz’s, as its suggestions are sometimes off).
Source: Capterra.com
However, neither tool will send you real-time daily notifications about changes in your rankings, simply because they don’t get that data every day.
With Serpple, you don’t have to spend hours refreshing your rank tracker tool, as you can get daily updates about any changes in your rankings, together with actionable tips on how to increase your position on search engines.
Check out this article for more information on how to track search engine rankings.
Ahrefs has quite an impressive database, but the biggest downside is that it updates keyword rankings only once a week, which means you won’t get as fresh data as your competitors using other SEO tools.
I’ve also noted that Ahrefs’s search volume estimations are often very different than in other keyword research tools, which makes me question its accuracy.
Source: Capterra.com
Moz is known as a pretty accurate tool, but unfortunately, its keyword ranking data updates only once a week, just like Ahrefs. Also, its keyword database is much smaller than Ahrefs, which affects the quality of the search results you get.
Source: Capterra.com
If you value data accuracy just like me, I can safely say that you can’t go wrong with Serpple, as our tool has a 99.9% accuracy rate, apart from providing you with fresh rank-tracking and search data every day.
With its 8 billion keywords, Ahrefs is one of the tools with the most extensive keyword database. Many consider it the best SEO tool for Amazon and YouTube keyword research. You can also integrate it with your Google Search Console to get insights on your organic search traffic and keywords with the highest CTR.
Unfortunately, more doesn’t always mean better. Its Keyword Explorer tool claims to provide you with tons of keyword suggestions, but they’re not always relevant and won’t help you get the desired result.
Also, as I already mentioned, its search volume and keyword difficulty estimates can sometimes be off.
Source: G2.com
Moz has a simple yet solid keyword research tool. I like the way you can organize and prioritize organic keywords by different categories, it’s much easier to navigate than Ahrefs’ keyword lists.
You also get a lot of keyword suggestions as well as ideas for your content. Additionally, Moz is pretty good at predicting keyword performance and CTR you can expect from a particular keyword. On the con side, its keyword database is much smaller than Ahrefs.
Source: Capterra.com
However, if you’re looking for a long-tail keyword research tool that will give you actionable keyword suggestions tailor-made for your industry, Serpple may be the right tool for you. Go beyond popular keywords and discover those that your competitors haven’t covered yet in their content!
To learn more, check out this article on keyword research best practices.
Backlink analysis
With its extensive backlink database, Ahrefs can be an excellent site explorer and a good option for backlink analysis.
Here’s what you check with its competitor backlink profile analyzer:
On the con side, Ahref’s backlink tool is not beginner-friendly, and you need SEO knowledge to interpret and connect all that data.
Source: G2.com
On the other hand, Moz Link Explorer is more intuitive and easier to understand. You can explore competitive link opportunities by comparing your backlink profile with up to four competitors to see what you have to improve.
Thanks to its comprehensive tables and lists, you can use Moz for planning your whole link-building process, link management and tracking SEO metrics.
If link-building is your focus (as it should be), check out this article on proven link-building strategies that will help you reach your goals faster.
Source: G2.com
Serpple helps you protect your existing backlinks, providing you with more time and energy to focus on improving your SEO strategy. With our automated backlink monitoring tool, you’ll get instant notification whenever something changes so you can fix it before it can affect your SEO rankings.
While Moz and Ahrefs have similar pricing, I’ll now break down the differences in the number of seats and what’s included in each plan.
Ahrefs has four different pricing plans:
If you opt for the annual plan, you can get two months for free.
The biggest downside is that each plan has only one user seat, and if you want to add more users, you need to pay an extra $50 per user per month.
If you’ve used Ahrefs before, you may remember its legacy plan, which was more convenient, but unfortunately, that’s no longer the option. Now, you get only a limited number of credits, and for each click and each filter you apply, you lose one credit.
Of course, if you need more credits for extensive SEO research, you can purchase add-ons, but the price can quickly add up.
Unfortunately, there’s no free trial, but it includes some free tools, for example, a keyword generator, backlink checker or SERP checker.
Moz also has four pricing plans, but they come with different numbers of users:
*You can add more users to any plan for $49 per user per month.
If you opt for the annual plan, you can get a 20% discount.
Unlike Ahrefs, Moz offers a free 30-day trial for testing all the features before making a purchase.
Ahrefs has a more complex user interface and a steeper learning curve than Moz. It can be difficult to navigate if you don’t know all the options available, which can sometimes be time-consuming and frustrating.
If you want to compare it with a simpler tool, check out my Mangools vs Ahrefs review.
Source: G2.com
On the other hand, Moz is slightly easier to use, but it shows too much data on the same screen, so you sometimes have to zoom in. Just my two cents, but I think a more modern interface could elevate the whole user experience, as the current design doesn’t paint it in a fair light.
Source: G2.com
Ahrefs can be a good tool for experienced SEO professionals and large digital marketing agencies and companies that have big budgets and don’t mind paying for extra credits and add-ons. It’s also a comprehensive site audit tool that helps you with technical SEO.
However, I don’t think it’s very practical for smaller agencies due to unnecessary costs. Check out this article to discover the best Ahrefs alternatives.
G2: 4.5
Capterra: 4.8
Moz has a slightly easier learning curve, and its plans may be more suitable for freelancers and small agencies.
However, when I was reading reviews, I noted that multiple users expressed a desire for more innovations aligned with current SEO trends, and I couldn’t agree more.
G2: 4.4
Capterra: 4.5
If you’re looking for an SEO tool with features similar to Moz and Ahrefs but is more intuitive and has a more convenient price, Serpple might be the best keyword rank tracking software for you.
Let me explain why.
With Serpple, rank tracking becomes effortless as all you have to do is enter your keywords and you’ll get a visual representation of how many keywords dropped or increased their rankings. And that’s not all, as you can use the same dashboard to track your competitors and see any changes in their rankings.
Unlike Moz and Ahrefs, Serpple updates its rankings every day so you can get real-time data and fresh SEO insights, before your competitors who are using other SEO tools that update only once a week.
You’ll also get daily updates on your rankings and SERP changes – it’s the first tool ever that notifies you whenever there’s any change on the search engine results page. You no longer have to monitor and manually check your search rankings and SERP features, as you’ll get your daily report every day.
Apart from standard functions and supreme accuracy, Serpple keyword research tool is specialized in helping you find long-tail and semantic keywords, and keyword opportunities that your competitors haven’t discovered yet.
Finally, what does one have from all this data if you don’t know how to use it? With Serpple, you don’t have to be an SEO expert to develop an advanced strategy, as our tool does a big part of the job for you.
On-page optimization is one of its key features.
Our software will do a site audit to help you improve your domain and page authority by finding errors that can be fixed. We’ll then provide you with actionable insights and steps for on-page SEO that will help you improve your content and outrank your competitors.
Talking about competitors, you’ll love our Competitor AI tool that spies on your competitors 24/7, notifying you whenever they outrank you or add a new keyword to their website.
All that in a single dashboard where you can monitor all your direct competitors at once, making Serpple one of the best competitor keyword analysis tools.
Many SEO tools are created either for professionals or beginners, and beginner-friendly tools often have limited features.
I wanted to combine the best of both worlds, creating an SEO tool that’s advanced enough for professionals (and I can claim that as someone who has been in the SEO industry for over 20 years) and intuitive for beginners.
We have plenty of SEO resources and how-to guides for beginners, from the base of keyword research and rank tracking to less-known secrets like using long-term keywords to optimize images.
Now, let’s talk about the price:
Serpple has three plans, for businesses and agencies of all sizes:
Are you still thinking about Ahrefs and Moz or you’ve already decided to opt for a more user-friendly and convenient alternative?
If the latter is what you’re looking for, sign up for a free 14-day trial and see how Serpple can help you optimize your site’s ranking.
I guarantee you’ll never look back once you see how accurate and intuitive our tool is.
The biggest difference is that by default, every Ahrefs plan includes only one user, while Moz plans vary and have more users. Ahrefs is a more comprehensive tool with more features (for example, it includes some content marketing tools), but it’s also more complex to use.
Not really. Actually, Semrush is a more comprehensive SEO tool, as I’ve described in detail in my Moz vs Semrush review.
Moz might be one of the best SEO tools for benchmarking your backlink profile with those of your competitors and finding link-building opportunities. However, there are more accurate and modern tools, such as Serpple, which is also more user-friendly
Moz subscription is too expensive for many people, especially today when they can find more convenient and user-friendly alternatives with similar features.
