Ahrefs vs Moz: features, pricing and which SEO tool to choose

Pick Ahrefs if SEO is a core part of your job and you want the broadest toolset, with deep backlink and keyword data, Content Explorer and long data history, and can pay from $129 per month. Pick Moz Pro if you want an easier, cheaper SEO suite with Domain Authority, rank tracking and AI visibility tracking from $99 per month, or $49 for a single website, with a free trial to start.

Ahrefs vs Moz at a glance

Prices checked on 1 November 2026, in US dollars.

How do Ahrefs and Moz compare for keyword research?

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer shows search volume, Keyword Difficulty (KD), and Traffic Potential, an estimate of the traffic you would get if you ranked first for a topic. It shows SERP history so you can see how rankings change over time, and Standard and higher plans add keyword clusters, AI suggestions and search intent labels. Filters let you narrow large keyword lists to the terms you can realistically rank for.

Moz Keyword Explorer gives search volume, difficulty and keyword suggestions grouped by topic, plus AI Overviews data by keyword. Moz says its keyword index holds more than 1.25 billion keywords. Query limits depend on the plan: 150 keyword queries per month on the cheapest main plan, 5,000 on the middle plan and 15,000 on the largest.

If keyword research is your main use, Ahrefs gives more ways to slice the data. If you research a modest number of keywords each month, Moz covers the essentials for less.

How do they compare for backlink analysis?

Both tools show who links to any website, and both have a Link Intersect tool that finds sites linking to your competitors but not to you.

• Ahrefs Site Explorer shows the backlink profile, top pages, organic and AI search traffic and paid traffic of any site. Standard and higher plans add reports on broken backlinks and broken links, which help you win back lost link value. Domain Rating (DR) scores the strength of a site's backlink profile from 0 to 100, relative to other sites in Ahrefs' database. Ahrefs says its index holds 35 trillion live backlinks.
• Moz Link Explorer shows linking domains, anchor text and recently discovered and lost linking domains, with link tracking lists to monitor links over time. It adds Domain Authority (DA), Page Authority and Brand Authority. Moz says its link index covers over 40 trillion links.

Moz also offers Spam Score, the percentage of sites with similar features that Moz has found to be penalized or banned by Google. Moz itself says a high Spam Score does not mean a site is spammy, and that it should start an investigation, not trigger a disavow. Google adds that most sites never need its disavow tool, and that it is meant for a large volume of spammy links that have caused, or are likely to cause, a manual action.

Neither DR nor DA is a Google ranking factor. They use different data, so compare sites within one tool rather than a DR against a DA.

How do the site audits compare?

Both crawl your site and report technical issues such as broken links, redirects, missing tags and slow pages.

• Ahrefs Site Audit is included on every plan, with crawl credits from 100,000 on Lite to 1,500,000 on Advanced, and an always-on audit option.
• Moz Site Crawl is included too, with crawl limits from 100,000 pages a week on the cheapest main plan to 1,250,000 on the largest, plus on-demand crawls and an On-Page Grader for single pages.

See our guide on how to perform a technical SEO audit.

How do rank tracking and AI visibility compare?

Rank tracking: Ahrefs tracks 750, 2,000 or 5,000 keywords on Lite, Standard and Advanced. Moz tracks 300, 1,500 or 3,000 keywords on its three main plans, including mobile rankings.

AI visibility: both now track how your brand appears in AI answers. Ahrefs includes 150 to 600 AI prompt checks per plan, and sells Brand Radar AI from $199 per month for research across its prompt database. Moz includes 3 to 12 AI Visibility Dashboards and 150 to 600 tracked prompts across GPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode on its main plans.

What else does each tool offer?

Ahrefs: Content Explorer for finding popular content and link prospects (from Standard), Web Analytics, a report builder, Looker Studio integration (Advanced), and API and MCP access on every main plan.

Moz Pro: MozBar Premium, a browser extension that shows SEO metrics as you browse, branded and scheduled reports, AI content briefs, and 24/7 support.

How do Ahrefs and Moz compare on price?

Ahrefs

Ahrefs says it never runs discounts or free trials. There are no contracts, and when you cancel you keep access until the end of the billing period.

Moz Pro

Moz offers a free trial and lets you cancel or change plans at any time.

When should you choose Ahrefs?

• SEO is a core part of your job or your agency's service
• You do heavy keyword research or link building
• You need long data history or Content Explorer
• You want API or MCP access to pull data into your own tools

When should you choose Moz Pro?

• You want a lower monthly cost or a free trial first
• Your team is newer to SEO and wants an easier tool
• You track a modest number of keywords across a few sites
• You want AI visibility dashboards included in the base plan

For more options, see our list of Ahrefs alternatives and our guide to the best tools for keyword research.