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The best free Semrush alternative isn't one tool, it's three: Google Search Console for your own rankings, a free keyword tool (Keyword Planner, or Mangools' 5 free lookups a day), and Ahrefs Free to audit your site and see its backlinks. That setup costs nothing and covers most of what a small site uses Semrush for. What free tools can't replace is competitor research, which every free plan limits hardest.
I'm Benahi, and I built Climber, one of the tools below. Climber is our product. It's not free, so I've labeled it clearly and kept every other tool's facts to what its own website says.
How I evaluated these tools
I checked every price and free limit on each vendor's own website on October 16, 2026, and linked it. I didn't test the other tools in depth, so you won't find made-up scores here. The only tool I've used day to day on a real site is Climber, on climberseo.com.
These are the criteria I compared:
- Reads your own Search Console data. Your real Google clicks and positions beat any estimate.
- Plain-English answers. Can a beginner act on it without learning SEO jargon?
- AI visibility. Does it check whether ChatGPT or Google's AI Overviews mention you?
- Writes briefs and articles. Does it help you make the page, or only find the keyword?
- Price and free limits. What you really get for $0, and what the first paid step costs.
Why look for a free Semrush alternative?
Semrush has a free plan. Its pricing page lists a $0 tier "for trying out the platform" with 1 demo project and 10 reports per day, no card needed. Paid plans start at $139 a month for SEO ($117.33 a month billed yearly), then $199 for Starter and $299 for Pro+. Ten reports a day is enough to look around, not to run your SEO, and $139 a month is a lot for a small site.
Which free Semrush alternatives compare best?
| Tool | What's free | Paid from | Reads your Search Console data | AI visibility check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Free | Audit, backlinks, keywords (your sites) | $29/month | No | Separate free checker |
| Climber (ours) | Free site scan, then 7-day trial | $29/month | Yes | Yes |
| Google Search Console | Everything | Free | Yes | No |
| Google Keyword Planner | Everything (Ads account) | Free | No | No |
| Google Trends | Everything | Free | No | No |
| Bing Webmaster Tools | Everything | Free | No | Bing and Copilot (preview) |
| Mangools | 5 lookups a day | $18.85/month yearly | No | Paid plans |
| Ubersuggest | Free searches | $29/month | Yes | Paid plans |
| Semrush (for reference) | 10 reports a day | $139/month | Yes | Paid plans |
Sources for the last two columns: Semrush and Ahrefs help pages (Ahrefs' Search Console view is part of its paid dashboard, so I haven't marked it for Ahrefs Free), Ubersuggest's guide and pricing, Mangools pricing (AI Search Watcher), Bing's announcement of its AI Performance report, and Ahrefs' free AI visibility checker listed among its free tools.
The 8 best free Semrush alternatives
1. Ahrefs Free: audit your site and see its backlinks
Ahrefs' free offer used to be called Ahrefs Webmaster Tools; its page now says "Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is now Ahrefs Free". For sites you've verified, it includes a site audit, a Site Explorer that shows your keywords and backlinks, and web analytics (Ahrefs).
Free limits, from Ahrefs' page: unlimited verified websites, 5,000 site audit crawl credits a month per project, and up to 1,000 backlinks and 1,000 keywords visible at once. Ahrefs' FAQ says analyzing competing (unverified) sites needs a paid plan, from $29 a month for Starter.
Pros
- A full technical site audit for free
- See which sites link to you
- No limit on the number of sites you verify
Cons
- Your own sites only, no competitor research
- Site verification required
- 1,000 backlinks visible at once
Who it's for: site owners who want a free technical check-up and a view of their own links.
2. Climber: plain-English SEO from your own data (not free)
Climber is our product, and it isn't free: there's a free site scan with no card, then a 7-day trial with 30 credits (card required), then plans from $29 a month. I've put it here because it answers from your own Search Console data in plain English, so you don't have to learn a dashboard. If you need $0 forever, skip to number 3.
How it works, in plain English. You add your site and ask questions in a chat, like "what can my site realistically rank for?". Climber pulls Google Ads keyword data, live Google results and, once you connect it, your own Search Console, then answers in plain words and shows each step it ran. It can find keywords, explain your Search Console data, write content briefs and articles, run a site audit, compare you with competitors and check whether ChatGPT or AI Overviews mention you.
What I saw when I ran it on climberseo.com. On October 15, 2026, I ran Climber's full audit on this site. It scored it 79/100 on Climber's own scale (not a Google metric): technical SEO 90, on-page 90, content 55. Search Console showed about 7 impressions in 28 days, there was no blog, and it listed five "alternative" keywords we could win. This article is one of them, and its brief came from Climber too. It also flagged 1,428 referring domains that all appeared the same day with high spam scores, and told me to check Search Console's manual actions before doing anything, rather than to disavow.
Price. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial with 30 credits, and a card is required. Most messages use 1 credit; full audits and AI visibility checks use 3. Unused credits roll over for one month (pricing).
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | Credits a month | Sites | Members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $29 | $23.20/month | 100 | 1 | 1 |
| Pro | $49 | $39.20/month | 200 | 3 | 3 |
| Agency | $79 | $63.20/month | 400 | 10 | 5 |
Pros
- Uses your own Search Console data
- Answers in plain English and shows its sources
- Keywords, audit, briefs, articles and AI visibility in one chat
Cons
- Not free after the scan and trial
- A card is needed for the trial
- Not a backlink database you browse like Ahrefs
3. Google Search Console: see what you already rank for
Search Console is Google's free tool for site owners. Its Performance report shows the queries people searched before they saw your site, with clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position, for the last three months by default (Google's help). It also shows which pages are indexed.
Pros
- Real Google data, not estimates
- Shows keywords you rank for that you never targeted
- Tells you when pages drop out of the index
Cons
- Only works for sites you own
- No search volume for new keyword ideas
- The interface takes some learning
Who it's for: everyone with a website. Set it up before any other tool.
4. Google Keyword Planner: search volumes for free
Keyword Planner lives inside Google Ads and suggests keywords with monthly search estimates. It's free, but Google asks you to "complete your account setup by entering your billing information" first (Google Ads help), and the volumes are rounded (Google Ads help).
Pros
- Data straight from Google
- Upload a whole keyword list to get volumes
- Shows how searches change month to month
Cons
- Needs a Google Ads account with billing info
- Says nothing about who ranks
- Volumes are rounded
Who it's for: anyone who needs volumes for a list of keyword ideas.
5. Google Trends: is this topic growing?
Google Trends shows how interest in a search changes over time. It doesn't give volumes: each data point is scaled from 0 to 100 (Google Trends help), so 100 means "the peak for this term", not "100 searches".
Pros
- Free with no sign-up
- Shows seasons and spikes clearly
- Compare several terms side by side
Cons
- Relative numbers only
- Small keywords often show no data
- Not a keyword tool on its own
Who it's for: checking whether a topic is worth writing about now.
6. Bing Webmaster Tools: a second free toolbox
Bing Webmaster Tools lists backlink analysis, keyword research with search volumes, an SEO report and Site Scan, an on-demand site audit. Since February 2026 it also has an AI Performance report, in public preview, that shows how often your pages are cited in Copilot and Bing's AI summaries (Bing).
Pros
- Keyword research with volumes, for free
- Backlinks and a site audit in one place
- Free AI citation data for Bing and Copilot
Cons
- The data is Bing's, not Google's
- Small keywords show less
- You verify your site first
Who it's for: anyone who wants a second free source of data next to Google's tools.
7. Mangools KWFinder: 5 free keyword lookups a day
Its KWFinder page says the free version gives you "5 lookups per 24 hours, 15 related and 5 competitor keywords per lookup". Paid plans start at $18.85 a month billed yearly ($226.20 a year) for Basic, with 100 lookups per 24 hours (Mangools pricing).
Pros
- A clear keyword difficulty score
- Easy for beginners
- A cheap paid plan if you outgrow it
Cons
- 5 lookups a day goes fast
- Only 15 related keywords per lookup
- Competitor data is a small preview
Who it's for: checking how hard a handful of keywords are before you write.
8. Ubersuggest: free searches, then a paid plan
Ubersuggest covers keyword research, site audits, rank tracking and backlinks. Its homepage has a "Search free" box and a 7-day trial; it doesn't publish its daily free search limit. Its pricing page lists three monthly plans from US$29 to US$99 (checked October 23, 2026; they were $12 to $40 when this article first came out on October 16). You can connect Search Console to load your organic keywords (Ubersuggest guide).
Pros
- Keywords, audits and backlinks in one place
- AI search visibility on its paid plans
- Quick lookups without an account
Cons
- The free daily limit isn't published
- The pricing page leads with trial and lifetime offers
- Free use is limited compared with the trial
Who it's for: quick one-off lookups, and a mid-priced all-in-one after that.
What do you give up compared with Semrush?
Free tools are generous with data about your own site and stingy with data about everyone else's.
| Job | Semrush (paid) | Free option | What you lose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track your own rankings | Position Tracking, 500 keywords daily | Google Search Console | Little. Search Console is Google's own data. |
| Find keywords | Keyword research | Keyword Planner, Mangools, Bing | Speed. You switch tools and hit daily caps. |
| Spy on competitors | Competitor analysis | Mangools' 5 competitor keywords, Ubersuggest | Most of it. This is what you pay for. |
| Check backlinks | Backlink Analytics | Ahrefs Free, Bing Webmaster Tools | Competitors' backlinks. |
| Audit your site | Site Audit | Ahrefs Free, Bing Site Scan | Little for a small site. |
Which one should you choose?
- New blogger: Search Console plus Mangools' 5 free lookups a day.
- Small business site: Search Console plus Ahrefs Free. Fix what the audit finds first.
- Local business: Search Console plus Keyword Planner set to your city.
- Founder who wants answers, not dashboards: Climber, from $29 a month, if you're fine paying once free tools run out.
- Founder watching competitors: expect to need a paid tool; Mangools at $18.85 billed yearly or Ubersuggest from $29 are the cheapest starts.
More SEO tool comparisons
- Best SEO tools for small business: sorted by budget and by job
Free Semrush alternatives: common questions
Is there a free alternative to Semrush?
Yes, but not a single one. Google Search Console, Keyword Planner or Mangools' free plan, and Ahrefs Free together cover rank checks, keyword research and site audits. Competitor research is the part no free tool really covers.
Can Climber replace Semrush?
For daily SEO on your own sites, yes: keywords, your Search Console data, audits, briefs, articles and AI visibility checks. Not if you need a huge backlink database to browse or white-label agency reports; Semrush is built for that. And Climber isn't free after the scan and trial.
Are there free tools similar to Semrush and Ahrefs?
Ahrefs Free and Bing Webmaster Tools are the closest: both give you backlinks and a site audit for your own site, but not a full view of competitors' sites.
Is Ahrefs a good alternative to Semrush?
Ahrefs' paid plans cover competitor research, keywords and backlinks, like Semrush. Its free version only works for sites you've verified. Ahrefs' pricing page starts at $29 a month for Starter.
What about Moz?
Moz Pro starts at $49 a month for a single site, and Moz has free SEO tools and the free MozBar extension.
What do SEO agencies use instead of Semrush?
Agencies need data on many sites, which free tools don't give. Cheaper paid options include Mangools Agency at $48.85 a month billed yearly, Ubersuggest Enterprise at $99 a month and Climber Agency at $79 a month for 10 sites.
Conclusion
Start free: Search Console, Ahrefs Free and a keyword tool will take a small site a long way. Pay only when free tools start costing you time, and pay for the part you actually use. If that part is "tell me what to do next, from my own data", that's what I built Climber for.
Written by
Benahi · Founder of Climber
Benahi is the solo founder of Climber, an AI SEO agent for founders who never learned SEO. On this blog: what actually moves a small site in Google and AI search, learned from running Climber on climberseo.com.