SE Ranking vs Semrush: Which Fits Your Agency?

Last updated: 7 July 2026

Changelog: 6 February 2026: first published, with pricing checked against seranking.com and semrush.com the same week. 7 July 2026: Semrush plan lineup updated to the new SEO, Starter, Pro+ and Advanced plans.

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Choosing between SE Ranking and Semrush is really a question about what kind of SEO business you run. We are Luckywebs, a UK SEO and web agency based in London, and we compare these two platforms the same way we evaluate tools for our own client stack: verified list prices, published limits, and the features an agency actually bills against. Every price below was checked against seranking.com and semrush.com in July 2026. SE Ranking displays GBP to UK visitors and Semrush lists USD, so we quote each in its own currency and never convert.

SE Ranking vs Semrush: what is the short answer?

SE Ranking is the stronger value pick for small and mid-sized agencies: lower entry price, more projects and tracked keywords per pound, three seats on its Growth plan, and white label reporting through a fixed-price Agency Pack. Semrush wins on sheer breadth: a far larger claimed backlink index, more modules, and the deepest advertising research data of any mainstream SEO platform.

If you mostly sell SEO retainers to smaller businesses and send branded monthly reports, SE Ranking fits. If you run integrated search campaigns where PPC intelligence, PR and content tooling sit alongside SEO, Semrush justifies its premium. The rest of this page shows the working.

What do SE Ranking and Semrush cost in July 2026?

SE Ranking’s self-serve plans cost £95.00 per month (Core) and £209.00 per month (Growth) on monthly billing, dropping to £76.00 and £167.20 per month on annual billing, as of July 2026. Semrush has restructured its plans: as of July 2026 the lineup is SEO at $139.00 (about £102) per month, Starter at $199.00 (about £146), Pro+ at $299.00 (about £220) and Advanced at $549.00 (about £403), or $117.33 (about £86), $165.17 (about £121), $248.17 (about £182) and $455.67 (about £335) per month on annual billing.

Both figures come from the vendors’ own pricing pages. Note the currencies differ: SE Ranking quotes GBP on its UK site and Semrush quotes USD. Semrush is mid-transition, so many third-party roundups still show its older Pro ($139.95), Guru ($249.95) and Business ($499.95) plans, which no longer appear on Semrush’s own pricing page. For the plan-by-plan detail, see our guide to current Semrush pricing.

Plan	Monthly billing	Annual billing (per month)
SE Ranking Core	£95.00	£76.00
SE Ranking Growth	£209.00	£167.20
Semrush SEO	$139.00 (about £102)	$117.33 (about £86)
Semrush Starter	$199.00 (about £146)	$165.17 (about £121)
Semrush Pro+	$299.00 (about £220)	$248.17 (about £182)
Semrush Advanced	$549.00 (about £403)	$455.67 (about £335)

The Starter, Pro+ and Advanced tiers carry Semrush’s AI visibility tracking (Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and other engines) at 50, 100 and 200 tracked prompts daily respectively, while the entry SEO plan sticks to the classic toolkit with more basic AI visibility reporting. Keep that in mind when we get to AI features below.

Where does Semrush genuinely win?

Semrush wins on database scale, module breadth and advertising data. As of July 2026, Semrush states its index holds 43 trillion backlinks, 27.9 billion keywords and 808 million domains across 142 geographic databases. SE Ranking’s published backlink figures are 2.7 trillion backlinks and 420 million domains indexed, with 6 billion pages crawled daily.

Those are vendor claims rather than independently audited counts, but the gap in claimed backlink index size is an order of magnitude. For link-led work (digital PR, competitive link gap analysis in aggressive niches, forensic link audits) the bigger index means more of your competitors’ footprint is visible.

The second genuine win is PPC and advertising research. Semrush documents a database of over 1 billion Google Ads with historical data going back to January 2012. If your agency pitches integrated search (SEO plus paid), that competitive ad intelligence has no real equivalent on SE Ranking’s published spec sheet, and we could not verify a comparable headline figure on SE Ranking’s site.

Third: breadth. On the July 2026 lineup, Pro+ adds historical SEO data, content optimisation and keyword cannibalisation analysis, and Advanced adds SEO share of voice and API data integration. Semrush is closer to a marketing suite than a pure SEO platform.

Where does SE Ranking win for agencies?

SE Ranking wins on price-to-feature for agency work: more projects, more tracked keywords and more seats at each price point, plus white label reporting as a fixed-cost add-on. The £209 Growth plan includes 30 projects, 5,000 daily tracked keywords and 3 manager seats. Semrush’s $299.00 (about £220) Pro+ plan includes 15 projects, 1,500 daily tracked keywords and a single user.

Extra seats show the gap clearly. Semrush charges from $45 (about £33) per additional user per month (as of July 2026). SE Ranking’s Growth plan simply includes three.

White label is the other structural win. SE Ranking’s Agency Pack costs £49.00 per month on annual billing and includes white label for the platform and reporting, unlimited scheduled reports with AI summaries, a Lead Generator, placement in SE Ranking’s Agency Catalog and 30 client seats. Semrush retired its Agency Growth Kit bundle; white label now comes via My Reports Pro reports at $20 (about £15) per report (Base reports are $10, about £7), and the Agency Partners directory listing is a separate $90 (about £66) monthly fee. For an agency sending branded reports to a full client roster every month, a flat £49 is a much easier line on the budget than per-report pricing.

Finally, AI visibility. SE Ranking includes AI features on its ordinary self-serve plans: Core comes with 100 daily AI prompts and 5 domains for AI search research, Growth with 250 prompts and 15 domains, and a deeper AI Search add-on (AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity and ChatGPT tracking with unlimited competitor research) costs £69.00 per month, or £55.20 on annual billing. On Semrush, daily AI prompt tracking starts with the $199.00 (about £146) Starter plan (50 prompts), rising to 100 on Pro+ and 200 on Advanced; the entry SEO plan offers more basic AI visibility reporting without daily tracked prompts. Both tools also expose API access differently: SE Ranking includes API credits with MCP access on Core (25,000 per month) and Growth (100,000), while Semrush reserves API data integration for its $549.00 (about £403) Advanced tier, and its developer docs still route Standard API access through the legacy Business plan during the transition.

How do the two compare feature by feature?

The table below puts the verified July 2026 numbers side by side. SE Ranking figures are GBP from seranking.com; Semrush figures are USD from semrush.com. We have not converted currencies.

Feature	SE Ranking Core	SE Ranking Growth	Semrush SEO	Semrush Pro+	Semrush Advanced
Monthly price	£95.00	£209.00	$139.00 (about £102)	$299.00 (about £220)	$549.00 (about £403)
Annual price (per month)	£76.00	£167.20	$117.33 (about £86)	$248.17 (about £182)	$455.67 (about £335)
Projects	10	30	5	15	40
Keywords tracked	2,000 daily	5,000 daily	500 daily	1,500 daily	5,000 daily
Seats included	1	3	1	1	1
Extra seat	Paid add-on	Paid add-on	From $45 (about £33)/user	From $45 (about £33)/user	From $45 (about £33)/user
Site audit pages per month	250,000	2,000,000	Not published	Not published	Not published
White label reporting	Agency Pack +£49.00/mo	Agency Pack +£49.00/mo	$20 (about £15) per Pro report	$20 (about £15) per Pro report	$20 (about £15) per Pro report
AI visibility tracking	Included prompts; AI Search +£69.00/mo	Included prompts; AI Search +£69.00/mo	Basic AI visibility reports	100 prompts daily	200 prompts daily
API access	25,000 credits/mo + MCP	100,000 credits/mo + MCP	No	No	Yes (API data integration)
Backlink index (vendor claim)	2.7 trillion backlinks, 420M domains	Same index	43 trillion backlinks, 808M domains	Same index	Same index
Ads research database	No comparable published figure	No comparable published figure	1B+ Google Ads, history to Jan 2012	Same database	Same database
Historical data	Growth plan	Growth plan	No	Yes	Yes
Free trial	14 days	14 days	7 days	7 days	7 days

Two notes on the Semrush columns. Semrush’s Starter plan ($199.00, about £146, monthly, $165.17, about £121, annual) is not shown above: it shares the SEO plan’s 5 projects and 500 daily keywords but adds 50 tracked AI prompts daily and MCP access. And Semrush no longer publishes per-plan site audit crawl limits on its July 2026 pricing page, so we have not carried the old Pro, Guru and Business figures over.

What would a small agency actually pay?

A worked illustration, not a case study: picture a five-person agency with 20 client sites, three staff who need logins, and branded monthly reports for every client. All arithmetic below uses only the verified July 2026 list prices, each in its source currency.

On SE Ranking, Growth covers the whole brief: 30 projects, 5,000 tracked keywords and 3 seats. On annual billing that is £167.20 per month, plus the Agency Pack at £49.00 (annual billing only) for white label reporting across all clients. Total: £216.20 per month.

On Semrush, 20 projects exceeds Pro+‘s 15-project limit, so the fit is Advanced at $455.67 (about £335) per month on annual billing. Two extra users from $45 (about £33) each add at least $90.00 (about £66), giving at least $545.67 (about £401) per month before reporting. White label Pro reports are then $20 (about £15) per report on top; check with Semrush how per-report billing applies across a 20-client roster before committing.

We stress the illustration label: your keyword volumes, client count and module needs will move these numbers, and the two totals are in different currencies. But the shape of the result is why so many smaller agencies land on SE Ranking: the agency essentials are included or flat-priced rather than metered.

Which tool fits which type of buyer?

The right choice follows from what you sell. Here are the verdicts we would give five common buyers, based on the verified pricing and limits above.

Freelancer or solo consultant. SE Ranking Core at £95.00 monthly (£76.00 annual). Ten projects and 2,000 daily tracked keywords cover a solo roster; Semrush’s entry SEO plan at $139.00 (about £102) costs more and includes five projects and 500 keywords.

Small SEO agency on retainers. SE Ranking Growth plus Agency Pack. Three seats, 30 projects and flat-fee white label reporting map directly onto how retainer agencies operate.

Integrated search team (SEO plus PPC). Semrush. The advertising database (1B+ Google Ads with history to January 2012) is the deciding asset, and nothing on SE Ranking’s published spec matches it.

Content and digital PR led team. Semrush Pro+. The bigger claimed link index plus content optimisation and historical SEO data serve link-led and content-led campaigns.

AI visibility focused team. SE Ranking on cost: AI prompts are included on self-serve plans and the full AI Search add-on is £69.00 monthly, against Semrush’s Starter plan at $199.00 (about £146) per month, its cheapest tier with daily tracked prompts. Trial both against the engines your clients care about.

How hard is it to migrate from Semrush to SE Ranking?

Migration is mostly rebuild work rather than a data transfer, and SE Ranking softens it: the pricing page states migration is free with an annual subscription (as of July 2026). Beyond that, plan for an overlap period, export what your current plan allows, and accept that some history will not move.

Practical notes from how we approach tool changes at Luckywebs:

1. Run the SE Ranking 14-day trial alongside your live Semrush account before cancelling anything, and rebuild two or three representative client projects first.
2. Export your keyword lists, position history and audit findings from Semrush while your subscription is active; confirm what your specific plan lets you export before you cancel.
3. Expect proprietary metrics not to carry over. Each platform calculates its own authority scores and traffic estimates, so baseline your client reports again from the switch date rather than splicing the two datasets.
4. If you take an annual SE Ranking plan, ask their team to handle the project setup under the free migration offer before you pay for a second month of overlap.

For a deeper look at each platform on its own terms, read our SE Ranking review and our full Semrush review. If you are weighing up more than these two, our guide to Semrush alternatives covers the wider field.

Ready to test it yourself?

Both vendors let you trial before you commit: SE Ranking gives 14 days free and Semrush gives 7. Our suggestion is boring but reliable: load the same client project into both, run the same audit, and compare the reports you would actually send.

Start Your Free SE Ranking Trial

Frequently asked questions

Is SE Ranking cheaper than Semrush?

At July 2026 list prices, yes at every comparable tier. SE Ranking Core is £95.00 monthly against Semrush’s entry SEO plan at $139.00 (about £102), and SE Ranking Growth is £209.00 against Semrush Pro+ at $299.00 (about £220), with SE Ranking including more projects, more tracked keywords and (on Growth) more seats. The currencies differ, so compare in your own billing currency.

Does SE Ranking include white label reporting?

White label is not in the base plans; it comes via the Agency Pack add-on at £49.00 per month (annual billing only, as of July 2026). The pack covers white label for the platform and reporting, unlimited scheduled reports with AI summaries, a Lead Generator, 30 client seats and an Agency Catalog listing.

Does Semrush still sell the Agency Growth Kit?

No. Semrush has sunset the Agency Growth Kit, along with its Client Portal and CRM. As of July 2026, the replacements are My Reports (Base reports at $10, about £7, per report, Pro reports with white labelling and AI summaries at $20, about £15, per report) and the Agency Partners platform at a $90 (about £66) monthly fee.

Which tool has the bigger backlink database?

Semrush, by claimed size. Semrush states 43 trillion backlinks across 808 million domains as of July 2026, while SE Ranking states 2.7 trillion backlinks across 420 million domains indexed. Both are vendor claims rather than audited figures, but the stated gap is large and consistent with Semrush’s positioning as the bigger index.

Can both tools track AI search visibility?

Yes, priced differently. SE Ranking includes daily AI prompts and AI search research domains on its Core and Growth plans, with a fuller AI Search add-on (AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, ChatGPT) at £69.00 monthly or £55.20 on annual billing. Semrush includes daily AI prompt tracking from its Starter plan at $199.00 (about £146) per month (as of July 2026), with more basic AI visibility reporting on the entry SEO plan.

How long are the free trials?

SE Ranking offers a 14-day free trial on its self-serve plans, and Semrush offers a 7-day free trial, both as of July 2026. Two weeks is enough to rebuild a couple of client projects and run a full audit cycle, which is the test we would suggest before either subscription.

Can I move my Semrush data into SE Ranking?

Partly. Export keyword lists and reports from Semrush while your plan is active, then rebuild projects in SE Ranking; the platform advertises free migration help with an annual subscription. Historical positions and proprietary metrics will not splice cleanly between tools, so treat the switch date as a fresh baseline for client reporting.

Who are Luckywebs and why trust this comparison?

Luckywebs is a London-based UK SEO and web agency founded by Mo Rafi, with Katy Mironenko as Head of SEO and Robert Malnieks as Client Strategy Director. We build client sites on Astro as fast static HTML and run SEO for clients in the home improvement trades, law and e-commerce, and we hold a 4.7-star Google rating from 60 reviews. Every price on this page was verified against the vendors’ own sites in July 2026.

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