Top 10 Open Source Alternatives to SEMrush in 2025

As SEMrush continues to be a popular tool for SEO and digital marketing professionals, 2025 has seen the rise of numerous open-source alternatives. Here, we explore the top 10 open-source options that offer various functionalities such as rank tracking, website analytics, and SEO auditing.

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1. Google Lighthouse

Performance: Measures metrics like page load speed and time to interactive.
Accessibility: Checks for issues that might hinder users with disabilities.
SEO: Analyzes for SEO best practices, such as meta descriptions and mobile friendliness.
Best Practices: Checks if the website follows industry best practices, like HTTPS usage.
Actionable Insights: Provides specific recommendations for improvements.
Learn more about Google Lighthouse

2. SerpBear

Unlimited Keywords: Allows tracking of unlimited keywords across unlimited domains.
Email Notifications: Sends alerts for changes in keyword positions.
SERP API: Offers an API for integration with other marketing tools and reporting.
Google Search Console Integration: Pulls visit counts and impressions for tracked keywords.
Mobile App: Provides a PWA (Progressive Web App) for better mobile accessibility.
Explore SerpBear

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3. Matomo (formerly Piwik)

Detailed Visitor Reports: Tracks search engines, keywords, and languages used by visitors.
Popular Pages: Identifies high-performing pages on your site.
100% Data Ownership: Ensures full control over your analytics data.
Real-time Analytics: Provides up-to-date information.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows for personalized data viewing.
Learn more about Matomo

4. Umami

Custom Event Tracking: Monitors specific user actions.
Trend Analysis: Identifies patterns in website traffic and user behavior.
Privacy-Focused: Does not use cookies for tracking.
Real-time Insights: Provides up-to-date information.
Free Usage (Limited): Free up to a certain number of events per month.
Explore Umami
Find it on GitHub

5. Open Web Analytics (OWA)

Self-Hosted: Offers full control over data.
Customizable: Highly adaptable and flexible.
Real-time Data: Provides up-to-date stats on visitors.
Privacy Compliant: Keeps user data secure and private.
Downloadable: Free to download and use.
Discover Open Web Analytics

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6. SEO Checker by Writesonic

Page Load Speed Analysis: Evaluates the loading time of web pages.
Title Tag Optimization: Checks for proper use of title tags.
Mobile Friendliness: Analyzes if the website is optimized for mobile devices.
URL Optimization: Checks if URLs are optimized for SEO.
Prioritized Suggestions: Provides recommendations based on the severity of the issue.
Learn more about Writesonic

7. Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Broken Link Detection: Identifies broken links on the website.
Redirect Analysis: Checks for faulty redirects.
Duplicate Content Check: Detects duplicate content issues.
Page Title and Meta Data Audit: Verifies correct usage of metadata.
Free for Small Sites: Free for sites with fewer than 500 pages.
Discover Screaming Frog

8. Google Search Console

Performance Monitoring: Tracks search traffic and rankings.
URL Inspection: Checks how Google crawls and indexes your pages.
Coverage Report: Identifies crawl errors and indexing issues.
Sitemap Submission: Allows you to submit sitemaps to Google.
Mobile Usability: Checks mobile friendliness of your site.
Learn more about Google Search Console

9. Google Keyword Planner

Keyword Discovery: Provides a list of related keywords to your seed keyword.
Search Volume Analysis: Shows the average monthly searches for keywords.
Competition Level: Displays competition levels for each keyword.
Keyword Ideas Based on Website URL: Analyzes competitors' keywords.
Bid Ranges: Provides potential bid ranges for PPC campaigns.
Explore Google Keyword Planner

10. Lighthouse Chrome Extension

Performance Audit: Checks for page load speeds.
Accessibility Audit: Tests for usability for disabled users.
SEO Audit: Checks for SEO best practices.
PageSpeed Insights Report: Provides specific suggestions for improvements.
In-Browser Tool: Run directly from the browser.
Learn more about Lighthouse Chrome Extension

Important Considerations:

Self-Hosting: Some of these open-source tools require you to host them on your own server, which may require technical expertise and costs.
Third-Party Services: Some tools rely on third-party APIs for data, which may have costs.
Feature Gaps: While these are excellent alternatives, they might not provide the same breadth of functionality as SEMrush. You may need to use a combination of tools to achieve similar results.
Data Accuracy: The data provided by free tools may not be as accurate as paid services.

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FAQ

1. What is Google Lighthouse used for?

Google Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages, focusing on performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices. Learn more about Google Lighthouse

2. How can SerpBear help with keyword tracking?

SerpBear is an open-source search engine position tracker designed for monitoring keyword rankings in Google, offering features like unlimited keyword tracking, email notifications, and API integration. Learn more about SerpBear

3. What makes Matomo different from other analytics tools?

Matomo is an open-source web analytics platform providing detailed reports on website visitors while ensuring 100% data ownership and real-time analytics, making it a privacy-focused alternative. Discover Matomo

4. What is the advantage of using Umami for web analytics?

Umami is a simple, privacy-focused, open-source analytics tool for websites, offering features like custom event tracking and trend analysis without using cookies. Explore Umami | Learn more about Umami on GitHub

5. How does Open Web Analytics (OWA) ensure data privacy?

OWA is a self-hosted web analytics framework, providing real-time data and customizable options while keeping user data secure and private. Learn more about OWA

6. What features does the SEO Checker by Writesonic offer?

The SEO Checker tool by Writesonic analyzes a website's SEO performance and provides recommendations for improvements, including page load speed analysis and title tag optimization. Discover Writesonic's SEO Checker

7. What SEO issues can Screaming Frog SEO Spider detect?

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a website crawler that identifies broken links, duplicate content, and faulty redirects and verifications for correct metadata usage. Learn more about Screaming Frog SEO Spider

8. How does Google Search Console assist website owners?

Google Search Console is a free tool that monitors and maintains a website's presence in Google Search results, offering features like performance monitoring and URL inspection. Explore Google Search Console

9. What data does Google Keyword Planner provide?

Google Keyword Planner offers keyword discovery, search volume analysis, competition levels, and bid ranges for PPC campaigns, making it a useful tool for keyword research. Learn more about Google Keyword Planner

10. What makes the Lighthouse Chrome Extension useful?

The Lighthouse Chrome Extension is a free, open-source tool that provides quick PageSpeed Insights reports directly from the browser, helping with performance, accessibility, and SEO audits. Explore the Lighthouse Chrome Extension

References

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.

Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).

She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond and launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks.

For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.

About the Publication

Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.

Mission and Purpose

Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.

Key Features

The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:

Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials

Impact and Growth

Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:

3,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
100+ startup tools built
5,000+ pieces of articles and news written

Partnerships

Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.

Recognition

Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.