Ahrefs review
Ahrefs has the strongest backlink index in the category, and Brand Radar brings AI visibility into the suite from the Lite plan. The catch is the shape of that allowance: 5 tracked AI prompts on Lite, 10 on Standard, 20 on Advanced, with custom prompts sold as separate add-ons from €46.7/mo and a standalone Brand Radar AI product from €179/mo. SERP Checker tracks AI answers across six engines with no per-prompt or per-engine add-on, alongside daily Google rankings.
At a glance
| Ahrefs | SERP Checker | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | €119/mo Lite (€27/mo Starter); free tier available | From $19/mo — 7-day trial + free one-off audit at /audit |
| Classic Google rank tracking | Yes — 750 tracked keywords on Lite, 2,000 on Standard, 5,000 on Advanced | Yes — every plan |
| AI-visibility (AEO) in the same workspace | Yes — Brand Radar, from the Lite plan | Yes — same workspace, every paid plan from $19/mo |
| AI engines tracked | Brand Radar AI surfaces; tracked AI prompts capped at 5 (Lite), 10 (Standard), 20 (Advanced), custom prompts are paid add-ons from €46.7/mo | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews — all 6 in the AEO module, no per-engine add-on |
| Multi-client agency workspace | 5 projects on Lite, 20 on Standard, 50 on Advanced; extra seats €37.4–€74.8/mo each | Yes — 1 client on the $19 Monitor or $39 AI Visibility tier, 3 on Starter, 15 on Pro, 50 on Business |
| MCP server (AI-agent native) | Yes — official remote server (100+ tools), Lite plan and up | Yes — queried with a REST API key, so Business tier |
Where it fits
Good fit when…
- Backlinks are the job: Ahrefs’ index is the reason to buy it and nothing here replaces that.
- You want site audit, keyword research and rank tracking from one of the two biggest names in SEO.
- Five to twenty tracked AI prompts is enough, or the custom-prompt add-ons fit your budget.
- You want to start on the no-cost Ahrefs Free tier before committing to a plan.
Look elsewhere when…
- AI prompts are not metered separately — Ahrefs caps them at 5–20 and sells more as add-ons from €46.7/mo.
- Six engines including Claude and Copilot, tracked in the same plan as your Google rankings.
- You need a Russian, Ukrainian or Polish interface — Ahrefs is English-only.
- Extra seats: Ahrefs charges €37.4–€74.8/mo per additional user.
Pricing
Ahrefs publishes Starter at €27/mo, Lite at €119/mo, Standard at €229/mo, Advanced at €419/mo and Enterprise at €1,394/mo on an annual commitment, with up to 17% off annual billing. Brand Radar is included from Lite but tracks only 5–20 AI prompts; more are add-ons from €46.7/mo, and Brand Radar AI is a separate product from €179/mo. SERP Checker starts at $39/mo with AI visibility included. See /pricing.
Full capability table
| Feature | Ahrefs | SERP Checker |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Google rank tracking | Yes — 750 tracked keywords on Lite, 2,000 on Standard, 5,000 on Advanced | Yes — every plan |
| AI-visibility (AEO) in the same workspace | Yes — Brand Radar, from the Lite plan | Yes — same workspace, every paid plan from $19/mo |
| AI engines tracked | Brand Radar AI surfaces; tracked AI prompts capped at 5 (Lite), 10 (Standard), 20 (Advanced), custom prompts are paid add-ons from €46.7/mo | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews — all 6 in the AEO module, no per-engine add-on |
| Technical SEO audit | Yes (Site Audit) | Yes — every plan |
| AI-crawler log analytics | Not documented on the pricing page | Yes — access-log ingest via the REST API, so Business tier; per-bot hits, crawled paths and refusals |
| Competitor gap analysis | Yes | Yes — every plan |
| GA4 + Search Console analytics | Yes (Search Console and GA integrations) | Yes — verified first-party GA4/GSC data from the Pro tier ($158/mo); CSV/JSON export plus a Looker Studio connector (source in integrations/, one-time deploy to your own Google account) |
| White-label client reports | Not documented on the pricing page | Yes (Business tier) |
| Interface languages | English-only interface | EN / RU / UK / PL / SK / CS / DE (tracks any region) |
| REST API | Standard and Advanced plans; uncapped on Enterprise | Yes (Business tier) |
| MCP server (AI-agent native) | Yes — official remote server (100+ tools), Lite plan and up | Yes — queried with a REST API key, so Business tier |
| Multi-client agency workspace | 5 projects on Lite, 20 on Standard, 50 on Advanced; extra seats €37.4–€74.8/mo each | Yes — 1 client on the $19 Monitor or $39 AI Visibility tier, 3 on Starter, 15 on Pro, 50 on Business |
| Entry price | €119/mo Lite (€27/mo Starter); free tier available | From $19/mo — 7-day trial + free one-off audit at /audit |
FAQ
Is there a cheaper alternative to Ahrefs for AI visibility?
Yes. Ahrefs includes Brand Radar from €119/mo Lite but caps it at 5 tracked AI prompts, with more sold as add-ons from €46.7/mo. SERP Checker starts at $39/mo and does not meter prompts per engine.
How many AI prompts does Ahrefs Brand Radar track?
5 on Lite, 10 on Standard and 20 on Advanced, per the published pricing page. Custom prompt packs start at €46.7/mo and a standalone Brand Radar AI product starts at €179/mo.
Does Ahrefs have an MCP server?
Yes — an official remote server exposing 100+ tools, available from the Lite plan. SERP Checker’s MCP server covers AI-answer visibility and Google rank data together.
Should I replace Ahrefs with SERP Checker?
Not for backlinks — Ahrefs’ index is the best in the category. Replace it for AI-search visibility and daily rank tracking if the Brand Radar prompt caps and the English-only interface do not fit.
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Track Google and AI search in one tool
Daily rank tracking, AI-answer visibility across six engines, technical audits, AI-crawler analytics and white-label reports — from $39/mo, published pricing.
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Competitor pricing and features are taken from their public pages as of July 2026 and may change — verify on their site before deciding. Where a vendor's docs were unclear we say so rather than guess. Every value in the tables above is a figure recorded from Ahrefs's own public pages, not an estimate. Product and company names are the trademarks of their respective owners.