Best SEO Tools 2026: Keyword Research, Rank Tracking, Audits
We rank SEO and keyword research platforms using only facts from their own sites: the monthly price of the cheapest paid plan with monthly billing, whether there is a permanent free plan or a free trial, whether the platform offers keyword research, rank tracking, a site audit, backlink analysis and a public API, whether accounts can use two-factor authentication and single sign-on (SSO), and the year the product started. Every fact links to an official page with a check date. We do not test the accuracy of search volumes or backlink counts, which we cannot repeat, and paid placements never change the Score.
| # | Company | Who it serves | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semrush | 86 | $139.00 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free plan Free trial Rank tracking Site audit Backlinks Public API |
| 2 | SISTRIX | 80 | $133.47 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free trial Rank tracking Site audit Backlinks Public API |
| 3 | Ahrefs | 79 | $129.00 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free plan Rank tracking Site audit Backlinks Public API |
| 4 | SE Ranking | 70 | $122.25 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free trial Rank tracking Site audit Backlinks Public API |
| 5 | Raven Tools | 66 | $49.00 | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Free trial Rank tracking Site audit Backlinks |
| 6 | Morningscore | 64 | $69.00 | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Free trial Rank tracking Site audit Backlinks Public API |
-
- Cheapest paid plan per month
- $139.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rank tracking
- Yes
- Backlink analysis
- Yes
- Two-factor authentication
- Yes
Pros
- Keyword research tool
- Tracks your positions in search
- Technical site audit
- Backlink analysis
Details Visit site ↗ 100% backed by facts
-
- Cheapest paid plan per month
- $133.47
- Free plan
- No
- Rank tracking
- Yes
- Backlink analysis
- Yes
- Two-factor authentication
- Yes
Pros
- Keyword research tool
- Tracks your positions in search
- Technical site audit
- Backlink analysis
Cons
- No permanent free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 100% backed by facts
-
- Cheapest paid plan per month
- $129.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rank tracking
- Yes
- Backlink analysis
- Yes
- Two-factor authentication
- Yes
Pros
- Keyword research tool
- Tracks your positions in search
- Technical site audit
- Backlink analysis
Cons
- No free trial
Details Visit site ↗ 100% backed by facts
-
- Cheapest paid plan per month
- $122.25
- Free plan
- No
- Rank tracking
- Yes
- Backlink analysis
- Yes
- Two-factor authentication
- Yes
Pros
- Keyword research tool
- Tracks your positions in search
- Technical site audit
- Backlink analysis
Cons
- No SAML single sign-on
- No permanent free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 100% backed by facts
-
- Cheapest paid plan per month
- $49.00
- Free plan
- Not verified
- Rank tracking
- Yes
- Backlink analysis
- Yes
- Two-factor authentication
- Not verified
Pros
- Keyword research tool
- Tracks your positions in search
- Technical site audit
- Backlink analysis
Details Visit site ↗ 71% backed by facts
-
- Cheapest paid plan per month
- $69.00
- Free plan
- Not verified
- Rank tracking
- Yes
- Backlink analysis
- Yes
- Two-factor authentication
- Not verified
Pros
- Keyword research tool
- Tracks your positions in search
- Technical site audit
- Backlink analysis
Details Visit site ↗ 79% backed by facts
Not ranked yet: not enough verified data
These services are known to us, but we haven't verified enough facts to rank them fairly.
- AccuRanker (39% backed by facts)
- Mangools (53% backed by facts)
- Nightwatch (61% backed by facts)
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider (29% backed by facts)
- Serpstat (61% backed by facts)
- SpyFu (site closed to automated checks, )
- Ubersuggest (site closed to automated checks, )
Sites marked as closed refuse automated reading (403 error, captcha or a robots.txt ban). We don't bypass such protection, so we can't verify their facts and they are not ranked. This says nothing about their quality. A company can send links to its official pages to [email protected].
How we calculate the Score
30%
Price
Monthly list price in USD of the cheapest paid plan with monthly billing: $0 scores 100, $200 or more scores 0 (weight 3). Annual-billing discounts and annual-only licences are not used; prices shown in euros are converted at the ECB rate on the check date. If the page shows the monthly price only after a script runs, the fact stays empty. Also a permanent free plan (weight 1) and a free trial of the paid product (weight 1).
40%
Features
Whether the platform offers keyword research, rank tracking, a site audit (crawl of your own site for technical errors), backlink analysis and a documented API, one point each. The fact shows that the tool exists on some plan, not that the cheapest plan includes it: check the note under each fact.
15%
Account security
Whether user accounts can be protected with two-factor authentication (weight 1) and whether the vendor offers single sign-on through SAML or a similar standard on any plan, usually Enterprise (weight 1). SEO platforms hold access to Google Search Console, analytics and client data, so account protection matters.
15%
Track record
How long the product has been on the market, from the year stated on the official site: 20 years or more scores 100.
How to choose an SEO tool
Start from your tasks
A blogger needs keyword ideas, a shop needs a site audit and rank tracking, an agency needs many projects, users and reports. Pay for the tools you will use every week, not for the longest feature list.
Check the limits, not just the price
Plans differ in tracked keywords, projects, pages crawled per month and the number of users. Extra seats and API credits are often charged separately, so price the plan for your real volume.
Use the trial with real work
Run an audit of your own site and track your main keywords during the trial. Compare the numbers with Google Search Console: estimates differ between tools, and consistency matters more than any single figure.
Protect the account
An SEO tool is often connected to Search Console, analytics and client sites. Turn on two-factor authentication, give colleagues their own seats instead of sharing a password and remove access when people leave.
Frequently asked questions
Which SEO tool is best?
The tool in first place has the highest Score under our open method, but the Score does not measure data accuracy or how well a tool fits your work. Compare the price of the plan you will actually need and the limits on projects, tracked keywords and users.
Why is the cheapest plan sometimes very limited?
We compare the lowest monthly price a vendor publishes, and some entry plans cover only keyword research or one website. The note on each company's page says which plan the price belongs to and what the next plan costs.
Do you test how accurate the keyword volumes and backlink counts are?
No. Each vendor estimates search volumes and crawls links differently, and independent tests are hard to repeat. We use only facts that anyone can check on the vendor's own pages.
Why are some well-known tools not ranked?
Some sites refused our automated reading, show prices only after a script runs or sell only annual licences. We record only what is readable on the official page, so missing facts lower data completeness, and a tool with too little data is listed outside the ranking with the reason.
What does an empty fact mean?
We could not confirm it on an official page. An empty fact scores zero and lowers data completeness. It does not mean the feature is missing; it means we did not find a statement we could link to.