Ahrefs
Why I do not recommend using Ahrefs: After working with this service for more than 7 years, I decided to quit. I fully agree that it’s the most widely-used and platform for SEO specialists, but the company’s strategy to control the market completely and set high subscription rates really make me disappointed.
Ahrefs is now seen as establishing a monopoly in the SEO market. In various industries, healthy competition fosters innovation and pricing adjustments for companies. However, in the world of modern SEO, Ahrefs has essentially become the only choice for specialists.
*Ahrefs Problems Reviews on Twitter
In my Ahrefs review, I will share my thoughts on the recent changes introduced by the platform and how I used it for the Fixthephoto website analytics.
On the 15h of October, 2023, Dmytro Gerasymenko, the CEO of Ahrefs, announced on Twitter that the company would not renew 15% of legacy subscriptions as they consume the most data. The company decided to take this step to serve other clients better. However, many long-term clients were not thrilled with the announcement and accused the company of breaking their trust.
Undoubtedly, Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO solution and research tool for bulk URL analysis that comes with an extensive choice of options, however, how one should react to the recent steps taken by the company? Are they poorly thought-out business solutions or a typical example of monopolist behavior?
These days, it’s one of the most widely recognized SEO software that crawls the web and collects information on websites, analyzes their backlinks, and organic search rankings. This wealth of information enables users to understand how they can improve the positions of their platforms on search engines.
Keep in mind that it is an online-based service, so you don’t need to install it on your device. However, you will be asked to create an account, which will allow you to access the platform online. Follow the steps described below to get started without any further delays:
STEP 1. Sign Up.
Go to the official website and create an account. You need to select the most suitable subscription option for your budget and needs.
STEP 2. Do Account Setup.
After creating an account, you need to sign in using your login and password.
STEP 3. Create a Project.
The first thing you need to do is explore the Dashboard. It allows you to access a variety of features using it as a centralized hub. You can see your growth, stagnation, and decline stats, as well as other metrics that are worth paying attention to when working on your project.
These metrics are taken from Site Explorer, Rank Tracker, and Site Audit sections. However, while Site Explorer metrics get updated every 12 hours, other metrics are updated after crawls or updates.
80% of the time I had been using the Site Explorer feature. I would like to share my experience with you and tell you about the advantages and disadvantages of this tool. Besides, I will tell you about the options that I used more often than others.
✔ "Overview" section. Here, you can get the main information about your website and learn about the positions of your competitors on search engines in any country. Using a convenient dashboard, you can get information about all types of data that can help you improve the ranking of your website by making swift decisions based on the available data.
In addition, you can customize the dashboard to decide which metrics and data you want to access immediately from your dashboard. It will make it easier for you to keep the most relevant SEO information at hand.
However, Overview 2.0 is still in development and requires much improvement.
❌ Overwhelming interface. When I had just started to use this service, it was difficult for me to navigate through its interface as it’s cluttered with many features that beginners may not even need to use. Due to this, it might be impossible to use the available insights without mastering the complex features first.
✔ Accurately displays organic traffic. This metric will be useful for analyzing the number of people who visit your site from search engines. You will get high-accuracy results.
✔ Backlink profile. This tool helped Ahrefs stand out among the other services. However, it caused some misunderstandings as well, because people mostly used it as a link checker. Like many third-party website backlink checkers, it enables you to see all the links leading to a site.
❌ No warning when your website’s link is broken. Besides, you can use the in-built tools for disavowing links, which makes it suitable for those who get a lot of broken links. However, to effectively find and remove broken links in time, you need to regularly monitor your site, they do not offer informing via email or even notifications in the app.
✔ Toxic link detection. Ahrefs helps in detecting toxic or spammy backlinks, helping me maintain a clean and penalty-free link profile.
✔ Link quality assessment. The tool helps in assessing the quality of backlinks, distinguishing between high-quality and potentially harmful links, contributing to effective link-building strategies. You may check all referring domains and even see their anchors that lead to your website to make them seo-friendly for your website.
❌ Limited historical data: The tool's historical data may be limited for newer websites, restricting the depth of analysis for recent backlink changes. Relying solely on Ahrefs for backlink analysis may limit a broader perspective, as using multiple tools can offer a more comprehensive view of a site's link profile. That’s why now we use its alternatives to solve this issue.
✔ Organic search tool. When working with the Fixthephoto blog, I always use this handy tool to get detailed insights into the performance of the site. Using these tools, you can see the number of keywords, discover their search engine ranking, and predict monthly search volume. In addition, you can find out which pages on your site get the highest level of organic search traffic.
✔ Specific URL/Path examination: The tool allows for a detailed examination of organic performance for specific URLs or paths on a website, aiding in targeted optimization efforts.
I've used the Organic Search Tool in Ahrefs broadly for the Fixthephoto website, handling about 70% of my daily SEO tasks until the pricing became less feasible for our budget.
❌ Sometimes doesn’t reflect the exact Google positions. The dynamic nature of search engine algorithms and personalized search results means that Ahrefs data should be considered as indicative rather than absolute.
I interpret Ahrefs' position data as a valuable info rather than a precise measurement. Factors such as user location, search history, and algorithm changes can influence the accuracy of reported positions. For comprehensive analysis, cross-referencing with Google Search Console is a must-have.
✔ Paid search analysis. This section includes such options as Paid keywords, Ads, and Paid pages tools. Using these features, you can get information on how people see ads with specific keywords. If you don’t see a specific URL or keyword in the report, it means that Google didn’t display any ads for this keyword at the moment when the report was created.
Paid search results often provide unreliable outcomes, which makes such tools less suitable for promotion than organic methods. However, even if an ad is invisible when a report is created, it may still get displayed later because of the unpredictability of the bidding system.
✔ Top pages study. This section includes 2 tools that I need for strategizing content optimization, understanding competitors, and identifying top-performing pages across various metrics.
Best by links. You will get a report showing which pages on a specific platform or page have the highest number of backlinks leading to them, both external and internal. The tool allows me to delve into the backlink profile of each top page. This is crucial for identifying high-authority pages on my website and understanding the link-building strategies that contribute to a page's success.
Top Content. Some pages might get displayed in the "Top Content" section if they have specific tags and title or have been shared on social networks frequently. Here, you will see pages that can be crawled and were found by the Ahrefs bot.
You can segment data based on parameters like organic traffic, referring domains, and social shares.
I also used this feature quite often to prepare articles and finding relevant keywords. You use this tool to discover how many people are interested in the keyword, find out how challenging it might be to rank for that keyword, learn which platforms already use this keyword and receive helpful suggestions for other keywords.
To get accurate search results, make sure to select a suitable search engine you want to get the information from. Ahrefs allows you to research the positions of keywords on the main search engines, including Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Amazon, and others.
❌ Not always detailed keyword data. This platform allows users to access all the information they might need for a specific keyword. You will learn about their search volume, ranking difficulty, the number of clicks, and clicks per search for a keyword.
I used Ahrefs for comparing the different keywords to improve my strategy and select the best keywords for promoting the site.
✔ Parent topic and related keywords: Keywords Explorer goes beyond individual keywords by providing information on parent topics and related keywords. This feature assists in creating comprehensive content strategies and capturing a broader audience.
✔ Competitor analysis. I analyze the keywords that competitors are targeting, allowing for strategic insights and the identification of content gaps. This competitive intelligence aids in refining content strategies and staying ahead in the digital landscape.
✔ SERP analysis available. The service allows you to get a comprehensive SERP report for every keyword you are interested in. You will discover which sites use a keyword, why people search for it, and what types of content have higher visibility on search engines.
✔ Shows perfect keyword for beginner websites. Keywords Explorer streamlines the process of selecting effective keywords by providing in-depth data on search volume, competition, and user behavior. This ensures that chosen keywords align with overall SEO goals.
This is a perfect solution for driving organic traffic and enhancing online visibility for new domains.
After creating an account on the platform and adding your site to it, you can audit it to see how search engines see it. This tool will help you detect possible SEO issues hindering the performance of your platform. By removing them, you can improve the position of your site on search engines.
❌ Limited crawling depth. Using this tool, it’s impossible to scan large platforms with many sections and pages. You might get less detailed reports, which will prevent you from assessing the issues hindering the performance of your website.
✔ Tools for analyzing your entire content at a glance. This tool lets me remove duplicate titles, add missing meta descriptions, or notice which pages contain several H1 tags.
I consider this feature quite useful as I often use it when working on my projects. I track a specific number of keywords; it shows me the average position of each tracked keyword. Besides, I see how my site’s position on search engines changes and it shows how many clicks the site gets when users visit it after searching for a specific keyword on search engines.
In addition, you can analyze traffic stats for every keyword, including clicks and impressions.
✔ Integration with other Ahrefs tools. You can use the data provided by the Rank Tracker when using other features. It will make it easier for you to build viable SEO strategies and create reports without using third-party services.
✔ Keyword grouping. To track similar keywords, you can organize them by groups. It will enable you to see information about keywords united by the same theme.
❌ Rank fluctuations. Keyword rankings change depending on a range of factors, such as search engine algorithm updates and the steps taken by your competitors. Due to this, you might be surprised by a high level of data volatility.
❌ Data updates. To make the best decision for increasing the visibility of a website, a company has to rely on up-to-date data. If you receive information with a delay, you might take the wrong steps.
Content Explorer is a handy tool for analyzing competitors and seeing which content performs better. You can quickly find the pages that drive a lot of traffic and discover the backlinks that lead to them.
✔ Provides clear information. It allows users to discover the articles that generate the most interest and learn which trendy topics are popular among users. Using this tool, you can make your content more engaging and implement a variety of ideas to keep the attention of site visitors.
❌ Speed problems. Many people, myself included, are disappointed with slow load times and performance issues. Due to this, it might be difficult to analyze content with high accuracy. These issues affect productivity and leave a negative impression.
❌ Limited improvements. While this tool has a huge database, you might still notice some issues with broken links discovery. Besides, you might get displeased with poor data accuracy, so it’s advisable to also use other tools before making important decisions.
✔ Allows viewing extra metrics. Users can analyze the number of shares on social media, referring domains, and organic search traffic data for every article. Using the Ahrefs website, you can discover which types of content your audience likes the most and adjust your strategy to drive more traffic.
As I am a marketing professional, I used this tool to get access to in-depth information about the strategies chosen by competitors and learn more about the advantages and shortcomings of their approaches.
✔ Allows analyzing the backlink profiles of your competitors. This tool enables you to see which high-authority platforms have links leading to the sites of your competitors. Using this knowledge, you can develop an efficient backlink strategy and contact reliable domains to improve the search engine ranking of your website and build the authority of your platform.
✔ Identification of competitor positions and strategies. Using this tool, I analyzed the link-building efforts of my competitors and their approach to content creation and targeting specific keywords.
❌ Competitor changes. Competitors often adjust their approaches, so you may get data that is no longer relevant unless you regularly analyze other sites.
This feature was released in the summer of 2023. Using it, you can utilize the Yep search engine and specific search operators to browse through a large database of URLs and pages. The developers claim that it is better than Content Explorer as it allows users to access a higher number of pages (500B instead of 13B) and use anchor texts to search for pages.
If you visit the Web Explorer landing page, you will see a variety of cases when you can benefit from using such reports.
Ahrefs Rank analyzes the authority of a domain using information about its backlink profile. This tool allows you to check the site's authority and decide whether it can help you with your marketing efforts.
Batch Analysis is a useful option for analyzing multiple domains or URLs at the same time. You can spend less time gathering information about multiple websites. Besides, this feature allows you to get detailed reports based on the analysis.
Link Intersect is a good option to consider if you need to find out which websites link to your competitors but don’t mention your site. This feature is especially useful for those who need to improve their backlink profiles by contacting trusted platforms that link to other similar services.
Ahrefs Alerts is a useful option for those who want to get automated notifications by email. Using it, you can monitor relevant keywords with ease as it enables you to:
For instance, I utilized this tool to search for articles that promoted my competitors but didn’t mention my site. Users also add extra filters like Domain Rating or site traffic to spend less time on building a link profile.
SEO Toolbar is a Chrome and Firefox extension that allows users to get instant access to useful SEO metrics when they browse the web. It enables you to see domain and URL ratings, backlink information, and keyword metrics without using third-party tools.
WordPress Plugin is suitable for those who have a WordPress-based website. With it, you can view Ahrefs metrics and data without leaving the WordPress dashboard. It allows you to see information about your keywords and backlinks as well as other data that you might need to use.
Ahrefs API (Application Programming Interface) facilitates the task of accessing Ahrefs' data, which enables developers to use it for the creation of their apps, tools, or sites. Using it, you can create custom projects and automate SEO-related tasks but its price is sooooo huge.
Apps - in this section, developers can demonstrate how they use Ahrefs data when working on their apps. You can connect to the third-party apps listed on this page.
We have been using Ahrefs for more than 7 years. Since January 2022, we have been active subscribers of the Legacy Standard Plan. The transition from Overview to Overview2 was the first to signalize the issues that long-term clients of the company will face.
The Legacy Standard Plan has limits for every report created with the help of this service. The main tool that we used daily was Site Explorer. The limit “Rows per month” was 6M/per month. Before the release of Overview2, this limit was sufficient for those who wanted to work on large-volume projects.
When the developers released Overview2 in December 2022, they hadn’t fully tested it out. It resulted in situations when clients had to pay too many credits for their search requests.
As we had been using our account as an SEO tool for professional work, such changes affected our work. We started to communicate with the support team. They helped us several times and offered extra credits, as we exceeded the whole credit limit in less than two weeks. We view 150-250 sites per day on average. The 6,000,000 “Rows per month” limit doesn’t answer our needs.
For us, it became a point of no return. Whenever we contacted the support team about it, we got the same answer, “You have to switch to a new subscription plan.”
This year, at the beginning of November, we received a notification informing us that the previous Legacy Standard plan would no longer be supported. The only option we have is to upgrade to one of the three existing plans.
“Action required by 11 December 2024: Your legacy plan support is ending.”
After contacting the support team, we received a shocking answer. We were informed that the previous limits were canceled. The company informed us that it cancels weekly limits and rows per month limits.
If you take a look at the new Standard subscription plan, you will see that it allows you to use 600 credits per month.
To open any report, you have to spend 1 Site Explorer credit. You are charged one credit when you open a report in the sections Backlink profile, Organic search, Pages, Outgoing links, Paid search, or Legacy report.
For instance, to analyze 1 website using Site Explorer, you have to pay 2 credits to get Backlinks and Organic keywords reports.
Besides, you will have to pay one extra credit whenever you:
If you need to use more than 600 credits, you can turn on the pay-as-you-go option and get an extra 500 credits for $35.
The new rules set by Ahrefs mean that an owner of the site that uses up to 3000 credits per month on average will have to pay for:
As you can see, the company increased the subscription price by two times without providing any unique new tools. It justifies this step by claiming that it will be able to work on the improvement of the existing functionality, including new reports and tools that might become available for users of the most popular subscription plans.
I would like to point out that we belong to the category of users who use the highest number of credits per month (3000 credits per month). However, the company believes that we do not bring any value to it. Our inquiries were met with an ultimatum, “Either switch to a new subscription plan or cancel your subscription.”
As it seems, Ahrefs is ready for the situation when most long-term clients cancel their subscriptions, and the company will have to serve the needs of the beginners who use 500-600 credits per month. One might wonder whether the current situation in the company is stable enough. The changes might signal that Ahrefs cannot handle the current amount of requests or faces financial issues.
After receiving a message from Ahrefs, our team started looking for possible replacements.
Semrush. This service is an all-in-one solution with a variety of data visualization tools for researching keywords, analyzing competitors, performing site audits, and other tasks.
After testing this service, I can conclude that while Ahrefs has great backlink analysis tools, Semrush is better when it comes to keyword research and content marketing. Using this service, you can access a variety of tools for optimizing your sites and improving their positions on search engines.
OUR CHOICE
Semrush has an extensive set of features, which makes it invaluable for seo-experts who want to improve the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. Its free plan includes 10 requests per day and covers a limited number of tools, but the premium version is a comprehensive suite with SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing tools.
Moz Pro. It has a set of useful SEO tools for researching keywords, auditing websites, and monitoring search engine rankings. The service stands out for its intuitive UI and comprehensive data. However, it has a less extensive backlink index than Ahrefs or Semrush.
SpyFu. The company develops useful solutions that enable users to analyze ad campaigns and develop efficient SEO strategies. This service has powerful PPC and SEO tools. Its only shortcoming in comparison with Ahrefs lies in the fact that it doesn’t provide access to extensive keyword data.
Serpstat. This service has a variety of SEO and PPC tools, including search engine rank tracking, keyword research, backlink analysis, and website audit. Many professionals utilize this budget-friendly service as it has an extensive choice of tools. However, I don’t advise you to use this service for the USA and Germany, as you will see that it provides poor-accuracy results if you compare it to Semrush.
SE Ranking. This useful SEO platform has everything you might need for tracking keywords analyzing competitors, monitoring backlinks, and performing site audits. It is suitable for budget-conscious users and has a well-thought-out interface, which makes it a perfect choice for companies of all sizes.
However, I noticed that it has fewer users, a small number of tutorials, and limited historical data, which makes it a less attractive option than other solutions.
After 7 years of using the service, I can conclude that while Ahrefs is a useful suite with all the tools a professional may need, its pricing policy is hardly suitable for those who are on a budget or work on specific projects.
Whether you are a small business owner, freelancer, or a professional who needs to use a limited number of tools, you might find the pricing the main factor stopping you from using this service. In this case, you can benefit from using a more affordable alternative that has better value for the money.
To make the right choice, think about how much money you are willing to spend on the features you need and whether you use all the tools available on the platform. As Ahrefs uses third-party resources, you should be ready for delays or poor-accuracy results. If you need to get up-to-date information as soon as possible, you might need to look for another solution.
Besides, the recent statement of Dmytro Gerasymenko, the CEO of Ahrefs, who announced that they won’t renew about 15% of legacy subscriptions, provoked a lot of questions, some of which were asked by well-known brands that used to be their clients.
After the policy changes announced by the CEO of Ahrefs, many companies started to think about stopping to support the monopolist and starting to use alternative services that value their clients. FixThePhoto is among those who decided to switch to another service.
There are plenty of affordable solutions on the SEO tools market that allow users to access their tools without any issues. After analyzing the available alternatives to see which of them offer extensive sets of tools, provide up-to-date information, have affordable pricing, helpful support, intuitive UI, and regular updates, our team decided to switch to Semrush.
Ahrefs crawls and indexes websites, collecting information about their keywords, backlinks, and other parameters. Users can access these insights from a centralized dashboard and make data-driven decisions to improve their strategies.
On October 15, 2024, Dmytro Gerasymenko, CEO of Ahrefs, announced on Twitter that the company would stop supporting 15% of data-consuming legacy subscriptions. Most long-term clients who used such subscription plans were unhappy with this step and considered it as a betrayal of their trust.
I believe that Ahrefs intentionally drives its clients to cancel their subscriptions. It demonstrates that the company prioritizes working with beginners who don’t need to use more than 500-600 credits per month. These recent developments seem to indicate that the company cannot handle the current load and is going through financial hurdles.
No, it doesn’t have a free version. Their subscription plans cost from $99 per month. In addition, you will have to pay an extra $35 for every 500-credit package.
No, the company hasn’t released an Ahrefs demo version. Unfortunately, the developers don’t offer any lifetime deals to long-term clients either.
Ahrefs is a web-based service. If you have a stable Internet connection, you can access the platform from any location.
Yes, the platform has handy tools that enable clients to check their backlink profiles, including the quality of their backlinks. Using them, you can find broken backlinks and see what backlinks are used by competitors. This information will help you develop a more efficient link-building strategy and improve the authority of your site.
Yes. It allows users to get invaluable insights about the websites of their competitors, see their backlink profiles, keyword rankings, and the content that generates the most traffic. Using this information, you can adjust your strategies and get a cutting edge over your competitors.
As I work for a company that has been using Ahrefs for years, I believe that after the discontinuation of its legacy plans, it does not offer good value for the money. The company keeps increasing its prices without releasing new upgrades or tools. The keyword research tools and other features require improvement. However, the backlink analysis tool is quite useful.
The service uses data from third-party data sources, which may result in poor accuracy and delays. If you need access to real-time data, it’s better to opt for another solution instead.
It has an extensive choice of tools and a convoluted interface, which makes it hardly suitable for beginners. Small companies and people who are on a limited budget might find its high prices the key factor preventing them from using this service.
It excels when it comes to backlink analysis and keyword research. However, if you are looking for a solution with a more extensive toolset to analyze social media and manage your PPC campaigns, Ahrefs might not be what you are looking for.
It doesn’t offer an effective solution to large companies that have specific needs when it comes to SEO analysis tools. If you need to scale up and use custom solutions, you can benefit from using other services with advanced tools.
To select an industry-specific solution, a company should pay attention to the tools available on the alternative platforms, some of which provide a more personalized experience than Ahrefs. For instance, you may use Semrush, Serpstat, SE Ranking, Ubersuggest, Moz Pro, SpyFu, Majestic SEO, etc.
While the company allows users to access plenty of resources, including detailed documentation, some users might discover that the customer support team fails to provide them with the help they need.
