SE Ranking vs Semrush (2026): Plan Against Plan, Seat by Seat

SE Ranking is cheaper than Semrush at every matching level and tracks far more keywords for the money: Core at $129 a month tracks 2,000 daily keywords against 500 on Semrush's $139 SEO plan. Semrush is the better pick when you need what SE Ranking's two self-serve plans don't sell — share of voice and API data on Semrush Advanced — or when you prefer a trial that starts on a card you already trust.

Prices below are the monthly and annual figures on each vendor's pricing page, read on 22 September 2026. We compare what the plans publish, not the accuracy of either tool's data, which we have not measured.

The plans, paired

The fairest comparison pairs each SE Ranking plan with the Semrush plan nearest in price. That gives two pairs: SE Ranking Core against Semrush SEO, and SE Ranking Growth against Semrush Pro+.

On every line that can be counted, the SE Ranking plan in each pair offers the same or more for less. The lines that can't be counted — data quality, depth of research reports, interface — are where Semrush's case rests, and they are the reason to trial both.

Core against SEO: the entry pair

At entry, SE Ranking Core costs $10 a month less than Semrush's SEO plan billed monthly, and $14.13 a month less billed annually ($103.20 against $117.33). Over a year of annual billing that is $1,238.40 against $1,407.96, a difference of $169.56.

For that lower price Core tracks four times as many daily keywords (2,000 against 500), covers twice as many projects (10 against 5) and includes 100 daily AI prompts, which Semrush only starts selling at its $199 Starter plan. If your Semrush SEO plan is mostly Position Tracking and Site Audit, Core replaces it with room to spare. Our full SE Ranking review covers what Core leaves thin.

Growth against Pro+: the team pair

The second pair is where seats change the answer. SE Ranking Growth includes three manager seats for $279 a month; Semrush Pro+ includes one login for $299, and two more people cost at least $90 on top.

For a three-person team billed monthly, that is $279 for Growth against at least $299 + 2 × $45 = $389 for Pro+. Growth also tracks 5,000 keywords daily to Pro+'s 1,500, and 250 AI prompts to Pro+'s 100. Semrush's Pro+ offers historical SEO data, content optimisation and multi-location tracking; Growth's card lists historical data across a project's lifetime and page-change monitoring, so on history the two are closer than the prices suggest.

Where Semrush still wins

Semrush's documented advantages are narrower than its price suggests, but they exist. Its ladder of four plans lets you buy AI tracking separately from bigger SEO limits, and its Advanced plan at $549 adds share of voice and API data integration for teams that pipe SEO data into their own dashboards.

Reporting is cheaper to brand on Semrush: Pro Report, with white-labelling, costs $20 a month, against $69 a month for SE Ranking's Agency Pack (annual billing only). For a freelancer who only needs a branded monthly report, Semrush's route costs less. And Semrush's free account, with 10 Analytics requests a day, is a small but permanent way to keep a foot in the door. The larger case for Semrush — the depth of its research reports and databases — is one we cannot price or measure, and it is what a trial of both should test.

What each costs as the team grows

Seats are where the gap widens fastest, because SE Ranking's extra seats start at $16 and Semrush's at $45. Billed monthly, at the lowest published seat prices:

• One person: Core $129; Semrush SEO $139.
• Three people: Core from $129 + 2 × $16 = $161; Semrush SEO from $139 + 2 × $45 = $229.
• Five people: Core from $129 + 4 × $16 = $193; Semrush SEO from $139 + 4 × $45 = $319.

The same five people on the larger plans cost from $279 + 2 × $16 = $311 on Growth, which already includes three seats, and from $299 + 4 × $45 = $479 on Semrush Pro+. Both vendors describe their seat prices as starting points, so treat these as floors and confirm in the checkout before committing.

Annual billing, side by side

Both vendors discount a year paid upfront, and SE Ranking's discount is the larger. SE Ranking takes exactly 20% off (Core $103.20, Growth $223.20 a month); Semrush's annual prices are about 16% lower on the SEO plan and 17% lower on Pro+.

That widens the gap on the paired plans: billed annually, Growth costs $24.97 a month less than Pro+ ($223.20 against $248.17), before counting seats. Annual plans on both are paid upfront, and neither vendor promises a refund if you change your mind.

Trials and refunds

SE Ranking's trial is longer and asks less: 14 days with no card, against Semrush's 7 days with a refunded card check. Both let you cancel any time.

After billing starts, SE Ranking's payments are non-refundable except where the service was not delivered as promised, and Semrush refers to a refund policy it does not summarise on its pricing page. The practical advice is the same for both: decide during the trial. If you are trialling Semrush, our guide to the Semrush free trial has a seven-day plan that works for SE Ranking too.

Switching from Semrush to SE Ranking

SE Ranking says annual subscribers get free assisted migration, and that monthly subscribers can import projects and keyword ranking history with built-in migration options. That lowers the cost of trying it with real data rather than a sample.

Before switching, export your Semrush Position Tracking history and any reports you send clients, and run the two tools side by side for one reporting cycle. If SE Ranking's rankings tell the same story as Semrush's for your own keywords, the savings above are yours to keep. If it doesn't, you have spent nothing but a fortnight, since the trial needs no card. The broader list of options, including tools that do something different from both, is on our Semrush alternatives comparison; for a third opinion on the big suites, see Moz vs Ahrefs vs Semrush.