Free Ahrefs Alternatives: The Free SEO Tools That Replace Each Ahrefs Feature
Ahrefs is one of the best SEO tools you can buy, but its main plans start at $129 a month, and instead of a free trial its pricing FAQ points website owners to a free plan for their own sites. If you are a founder with a new website, you can cover most of what Ahrefs does for your own site with free tools: search data from Google and Bing, a free site audit, keyword ideas and a backlink overview. We checked the free plan or free limit of every tool below on its official website in October 2026, and dropped the ones that are no longer free.
Quick answer: start with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools for your real search data, add Ahrefs Free (the renamed Ahrefs Webmaster Tools) for backlinks and a site audit, and use Screaming Frog (500 URLs free) for technical crawls. For keyword ideas, use Keyword Tool and AnswerThePublic; for a quick look at competitors, the Semrush free account gives you 10 reports a day. What no free tool gives you is Ahrefs-level backlink and keyword data on any competitor; for that, see our comparison of paid Ahrefs alternatives.
Boost Your SEO by Getting Featured in Our Blogs and get a backlink.
We publish content about startups, education, tech, funding, etc. that ranks well not only in Google but also in Perplexity, ChatGPT, Grok and other AI tools.
👉 Get featured now!
Free Ahrefs Alternatives Compared
Sources: each tool's official website and pricing page, checked 26 October 2026. Free limits change often; check before you rely on them.
The 10 Best Free Ahrefs Alternatives in 2027
1. Google Search Console: your real Google search data
Google Search Console is free and shows what Ahrefs can only estimate: the actual queries that bring your site impressions and clicks on Google, with click-through rate and average position. It also lets you submit sitemaps, inspect how Google crawls and indexes a page, and get email alerts about indexing, Core Web Vitals and rich-result problems. The limit is that it covers only sites you verify, so you can't use it to research competitors.
2. Ahrefs Free (formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools): Ahrefs data for your own site
Ahrefs renamed its free plan: Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is now Ahrefs Free. It gives free access to three Ahrefs tools for any number of sites you verify: Site Explorer (the keywords you rank for and who links to you), Site Audit (170+ technical and on-page SEO checks) and Web Analytics.
- Limits: 5,000 crawl credits a month per verified project, up to 1,000 backlinks and 1,000 keywords visible at once, and Web Analytics up to 1 million events per project.
- The catch: it works only on websites you own. Researching a competitor's site needs a paid plan; Ahrefs' cheapest is Starter at $29 a month.
- Also free from Ahrefs: versions of tools such as the Backlink Checker, Keyword Generator and Website Authority Checker, which give a glimpse of Ahrefs' data for any website.
3. Bing Webmaster Tools: free keyword volumes, backlinks and a site scan
Bing Webmaster Tools is Microsoft's free counterpart to Search Console, and for SEO research it offers more than Google does. Besides your Bing search performance, it includes a Keyword Research tool with search volumes, a Backlinks report with referring domains and anchor texts, and Site Scan, an on-demand audit that crawls your site for technical SEO issues. You can also notify Bing of new and updated pages through its URL Submission API. Its site reports only cover sites you verify.
4. Semrush free account: 10 reports a day on any site
The Semrush free plan costs $0 and needs no credit card. It gives you 1 demo project and 10 reports a day across Semrush's main tools, such as Domain Overview, keyword research and backlink lookups, plus some AI visibility features. Ten reports go quickly, but it is the best free way to take a quick look at a competitor's traffic, keywords and links, which is exactly what Ahrefs Free can't do. Semrush's paid plans start at $139.95 a month, with a 7-day free trial.
5. Ubersuggest free: simple keyword ideas and a quick audit
Ubersuggest by Neil Patel's agency NP Digital lets you search for free and create a free account that adds more keyword suggestions, weekly rank tracking and personalised SEO suggestions. Free results are limited, and Ubersuggest does not publish exact free limits. Paid plans run from $29 to $99 a month with a 7-day free trial, and there are one-off lifetime plans. It is beginner-friendly, which makes it a good first keyword tool for founders who find Ahrefs overwhelming.
Validate your startup idea with the unique borrowed authority approach: we publish articles about your product in our blog and you get traffic and testers for your MVP
- Prove Market Demand: See real organic traffic and waitlist conversions
- Unlock High-Potential Keywords: Receive a curated list of top-performing keywords directly from Google Search Console data.
- Estimate Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Gain financial foresight with an estimated CAC based on real keyword performance data.
🔗 Start validating your startup now
6. Moz free tools: Domain Authority and limited keyword and link lookups
Moz offers a set of free SEO tools: a Domain Authority checker, Link Explorer, Keyword Explorer, competitive research, a Brand Authority checker, a local citation checker and the MozBar browser extension. Moz says a free Moz Community account gives limited access to MozBar, Keyword Explorer and Link Explorer. Domain Authority is Moz's equivalent of Ahrefs' Domain Rating, so it is handy for judging guest-post or partnership sites; there is no free site audit.
7. Screaming Frog SEO Spider: a free technical crawler for 500 URLs
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop crawler for Windows, macOS and Linux that audits a site for over 300 SEO issues: broken links, redirects, duplicate pages, page titles and meta descriptions, directives and more, and it can generate XML sitemaps. The free version needs no sign-up and crawls up to 500 URLs per crawl, which covers most startup websites. A licence costs £199 a year and removes the limit. It is the closest free replacement for Ahrefs' Site Audit, and it is still actively developed (version 24.0 is the latest).
8. SEOquake: free SEO metrics in your browser
SEOquake is a free browser extension from Semrush for Chrome, Firefox and Opera. It shows SEO parameters for every result on a search page and gives an SEO audit, keyword density report and internal and external link analysis for the page you are on. It replaces the Ahrefs SEO Toolbar for quick checks while you browse. Note that the old seoquake.com address now redirects to Backlinko's free SEO Checker (3 free checks a day), which is also run by Semrush.
9. AnswerThePublic: question-style keyword ideas
AnswerThePublic turns a keyword into the questions, comparisons and prepositions people search for, which makes it great for blog topics and FAQ sections. Registering for free gives you 3 searches a day; paid plans add more searches and data. It does not replace Ahrefs' search volumes or keyword difficulty, but it is faster for content ideas.
10. Keyword Tool: 750+ free keyword ideas without an account
Keyword Tool collects long-tail keywords from Google Autocomplete, and also from YouTube, Bing, Amazon, TikTok and other platforms. The free version generates up to 750+ keyword ideas per search without an account, but search volume, CPC and competition need Keyword Tool Pro. Our comparison of Keyword Tool vs Google Keyword Planner shows how to combine it with Google's free volume data.
What Changed Since the 2025 Version of This List
- Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is now called Ahrefs Free. It is still free for sites you verify.
- Exploding Topics is removed: it is a trend-research tool, and its trends database needs a Pro plan from $39 a month (with a 7-day free trial). The free part is a list of trending topics on its homepage and a few free tools.
- Google Analytics 4 is removed from the list: it is free web analytics, not an SEO research tool. Keep it to see what organic visitors do on your site, alongside Search Console.
- SEOquake's website now redirects to Backlinko's SEO Checker; the browser extension itself is still free.
- Semrush's free limits are now described as 10 reports a day and 1 demo project. We removed the older per-tool limits that Semrush no longer lists.
Which Free Ahrefs Alternative Should You Choose?
- You want to know which keywords you already rank for: Google Search Console, plus Bing Webmaster Tools.
- You want to see who links to you: Ahrefs Free for your own site; Bing Webmaster Tools as a second source.
- You want a technical audit: Screaming Frog for up to 500 URLs, Ahrefs Free or Bing's Site Scan for ongoing checks.
- You need keyword ideas for content: Keyword Tool for long-tail terms, AnswerThePublic for questions, Bing Webmaster Tools for volumes.
- You need to research competitors: the Semrush free account, Moz's free tools and Ahrefs' free single-search tools. If you do this weekly, a paid plan is worth it; see our paid Ahrefs alternatives for the cheapest options.
Want open-source tools instead? See our list of open-source Ahrefs alternatives, plus our guides to free Semrush alternatives and free Moz alternatives.
How Founders Use Free SEO Tools
For an early-stage startup, the job is not to match an agency's tool stack. It is to find a few keywords you can win, publish pages that answer them, and check that Google indexes and ranks them. A practical free setup is Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools from day one, Ahrefs Free for links and audits, and Screaming Frog before every big site change; our guide to free SEO audit tools goes deeper. For keyword research, read how to use Google Keyword Planner and our Ahrefs Keyword Generator guide. If you are weighing specific tools, compare Ahrefs vs Screaming Frog, Ahrefs vs Long Tail Pro, Ahrefs vs Wincher and SpyFu vs Keyword Insights.
Once you know your keywords, the F/MS AI SEO Tool can turn them into articles written to rank on Google and to be cited by AI assistants, with human editors checking the result.
FAQ About Free Ahrefs Alternatives
Is there a free version of Ahrefs?
Yes. Ahrefs Free, formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, gives free access to Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics for websites you verify, with 5,000 crawl credits a month per project and up to 1,000 backlinks and keywords visible at once.
Does Ahrefs have a free trial?
Ahrefs does not list a free trial. Its pricing FAQ says it never runs discounts and points website owners to Ahrefs Free instead. Its cheapest paid plan, Starter, costs $29 a month.
What is the best free alternative to Ahrefs?
For your own site, Google Search Console plus Ahrefs Free covers keywords, backlinks and audits. For quick competitor checks, the Semrush free account gives 10 reports a day.
Can I check a competitor's backlinks for free?
Only in a limited way. Ahrefs' free Backlink Checker, Moz's free Link Explorer and the Semrush free account show a sample. Full competitor backlink data needs a paid tool.
Is Google Search Console enough for SEO?
It is enough to track your own clicks, impressions, positions and indexing. It does not show competitors, search volumes for new keywords or other sites' backlinks.
How many URLs can Screaming Frog crawl for free?
Up to 500 URLs per crawl, without signing up. A £199-a-year licence removes the limit and unlocks advanced features.
Is Bing Webmaster Tools useful if most of my traffic comes from Google?
Yes. It is free and includes keyword research with search volumes, a backlinks report and an on-demand site audit, which Google Search Console doesn't offer.
How many free searches does AnswerThePublic give?
Registering for free gives you 3 searches a day.
Is Exploding Topics free?
Only partly. Its homepage shows a free list of trending topics, but the trends database needs Exploding Topics Pro, from $39 a month with a 7-day free trial.
Where can I get my startup featured to build backlinks?
You can publish a guest post in one of the Fe/male Switch startup blogs, which rank in Google and in AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Get a quality backlink.
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. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
