Ahrefs pricing starts at $29 a month for Starter, then $129 for Lite, $249 for Standard and $449 for Advanced, each with one user included (Ahrefs pricing page, checked 1 November 2026). Enterprise is $1,499 a month on an annual commitment.
Several guides still ranking for this query in the US quote Lite at $99, Standard at $199 and Advanced at $399. That is not what the page shows today. The bigger change is underneath the price: seats are capped per plan, Lite meters credits per user, and the rank tracker updates weekly on every plan.
This guide lists every plan and add-on, the four limits that decide which plan you need, and the monthly bill for a solo freelancer, a brand team and a three-person agency.
Key takeaways
- Five paid tiers. Starter $29, Lite $129, Standard $249, Advanced $449 and Enterprise $1,499 a month, the last on an annual commitment.
- One user per plan below Enterprise. Extra seats cost $40, $60 or $80 a month and are capped at 2, 5 and 10.
- Lite has a quiet ceiling. 1,000 credits per user a month and 5 non-verified projects. Standard and up have unlimited credits.
- Rankings update weekly on every plan in Ahrefs' own comparison table.
- No trial, no discounts. Ahrefs Free covers sites you can verify; Starter at $29 is the cheapest paid test.
Ahrefs pricing at a glance
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Users included | Extra seats | Non-verified projects | Tracked keywords | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Free | $0 | $0 | 1 | None | Verified sites only | Not listed | Auditing your own site |
| Starter | $29 | Monthly only | 1 | Not available | Not stated | Not stated | Occasional keyword checks |
| Lite | $129 | $1,290 a year | 1 | Up to 2 at $40 | 5 | 750 | Solo consultants |
| Standard | $249 | $2,490 a year | 1 | Up to 5 at $60 | 20 | 2,000 | Freelancers and small agencies |
| Advanced | $449 | $4,490 a year | 1 | Up to 10 at $80 | 50 | 5,000 | In-house teams, growing agencies |
| Enterprise | $1,499 | Annual commitment required | From 3 | Unlimited at $100 | 100 | From 10,000 | Large teams that live in the API |
The page says you "save up to 17%" by paying annually (Ahrefs pricing). The annual option prices each plan at ten times its monthly fee, so you pay for ten months and get twelve: about $108, $208 and $374 a month. If you start on monthly billing, the page's FAQ says switching to annual goes through support.
Usage limits differ more than prices do. These come from the comparison table on the same page:
| Limit | Lite | Standard | Advanced | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historical data | 6 months | 2 years | 5 years | Unlimited |
| Credits per user a month | 1,000 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Max rows per report | 2,500 | 30,000 | 75,000 | 150,000 |
| Export rows a month | 500,000 | 1.5M | 4M | From 10M |
| Site Audit crawl credits a month | 100,000 | 500,000 | 1.5M | From 5M |
| Max pages per Site Audit project | 25,000 | 50,000 | 250,000 | 5M |
| Tracked AI prompt checks a month | 150 | 300 | 600 | From 2,500 |
| Rank Tracker updates | Weekly | Weekly | Weekly | Weekly |
| Report Builder reports included | 5 | 5 | 15 | 25 |
What each Ahrefs plan includes
All prices below are from Ahrefs' pricing page in US dollars on 1 November 2026, unless a different source is named.
Ahrefs Free: verified sites only
Ahrefs Free is the account that used to be called Ahrefs Webmaster Tools; Ahrefs says they are the same plan, renamed. It is free with no card and no expiry. For sites you verify you get Site Explorer, Site Audit with 5K crawl credits a month per project, and Web Analytics. Without verification you still get Social Media Manager, the SEO Toolbar and one free AI Content Helper doc a month, according to the Ahrefs Free page.
- Best for: finding technical issues and lost links on your own site.
- Watch out for: Site Explorer only works on verified sites, so it is not a competitor research tool.
Starter: $29 a month
The pricing page describes Starter as a way to "see what people search and spy on competitors" and shows $29 a month without listing limits. Ahrefs' Starter announcement from September 2024 gives 200 credits a month and says extra users, credits and add-ons cannot be bought on it, that it renews monthly only, and that you cannot downgrade to it from Lite.
- Best for: checking a handful of keywords and competitor pages a month.
- Watch out for: 200 credits go fast, and there is no upgrade path inside the plan except moving to Lite.
Lite: $129 a month
Five non-verified projects and unlimited verified ones, 6 months of history, 750 tracked keywords, 150 AI prompt checks, 100,000 crawl credits, API and MCP access, and 1,000 credits per user. One user, plus up to 2 more at $40 each.
- Best for: a solo consultant or a business with one or two sites.
- Watch out for: the 1,000 credit cap. Standard is the first plan with unlimited credits, so heavy research on Lite either stalls or triggers pay-as-you-go charges.
Standard: $249 a month
Twenty non-verified projects, 2 years of history, 2,000 tracked keywords, 300 AI prompt checks, 500,000 crawl credits and unlimited credits per user. It adds Portfolios, Content Explorer, Batch Analysis, SERP comparison, broken backlink reports and keyword clusters. Up to 5 extra users at $60 each.
- Best for: freelancers and agencies with up to 20 client sites.
- Watch out for: only 5 Report Builder reports are included, which is fewer than most agencies have clients.
Advanced: $449 a month
Fifty non-verified projects, 5 years of history, 5,000 tracked keywords, 600 AI prompt checks, 1.5M crawl credits, Looker Studio integration and an agency directory listing. Up to 10 extra users at $80 each.
- Best for: in-house teams with several markets, or agencies past 20 clients.
- Watch out for: each extra seat costs more than on Standard, so a five-person team pays $320 a month in seats alone.
Enterprise: $1,499 a month
Annual commitment required. From 3 users included and unlimited extra users at $100 each, 100 non-verified projects, unlimited history, uncapped API access, SSO, audit logs and personalized higher limits.
- Best for: large teams that pull Ahrefs data into their own systems.
- Watch out for: the annual commitment means $17,988 a year before extra seats.
Ahrefs add-ons and what they cost
| Add-on | Price shown | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Radar AI | From $199 a month | AI search research across Ahrefs' prompt database, plus your own tracked prompts |
| Custom prompt packages | $50, $100 or $250 a month | 2,500, 7,000 or 25,000 extra checks; overage $0.020, $0.015 or $0.010 per check |
| Content Kit | From $99 a month, marked "Soon" | AI Content Helper, AI Content Grader, AI Content Inventory |
| Report Builder | $99 a month | 50 reports, 500 total widgets, scheduling |
| Project Boost Pro | $20 a month per project | IndexNow auto-submit, Ask AI in Site Audit, always-on audit at 10 pages per minute |
| Project Boost Max | $200 a month per project | Patches, batch AI in Site Audit, always-on audit at 30 pages per minute |
| Traffic reports | $99 a month | Estimated traffic for any domain with a 10+ channel breakdown |
| Traffic and Market reports | $299 a month, marked "Soon" | Market share by category, audience overlap, API access to traffic data |
Brand Radar AI covers "525 million+ organic prompts" from Ahrefs' database (Ahrefs pricing). One check is one prompt on one platform in one location, so Lite's 150 checks a month track about 5 prompts daily on a single platform.
What a small agency actually pays
The four limits that set the bill
- Non-verified projects. 5 on Lite, 20 on Standard, 50 on Advanced. A client site counts as non-verified unless you can verify ownership, so this is the limit agencies hit first.
- Seats. One login per plan, extras capped at 2, 5 or 10. The FAQ warns that extra users are charged automatically, pay-as-you-go, if you have not prepaid them.
- Credits. 1,000 per user on Lite, unlimited above it. If you enable pay-as-you-go credits, Ahrefs charges automatically when you pass your limit, and those purchases last three billing months.
- Reports. Five Report Builder reports on Lite and Standard. The $99 add-on raises it to 50.
The monthly bill, three ways
| Solo freelancer | Brand team | Small agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Situation | 1 person, 3 client sites | 2 people, 1 verified site, AI tracking | 3 people, 10 client sites, client reports |
| Plan | Lite, $129 | Lite, $129 | Standard, $249 |
| Extra seats | None | 1 at $40 | 2 at $60, so $120 |
| AI prompts | 150 checks included | Basic package, $50, for 2,500 more checks | 300 checks included |
| Reports | 5 included | 5 included | Report Builder, $99 |
| Total a month | $129 | $219 | $468 |
| Plan line on annual billing | $1,290 a year | $1,290 a year | $2,490 a year |
The brand team line shows how AI tracking changes the comparison. Lite's 150 checks are about 5 prompts a day on one platform. The $50 Basic package adds 2,500 checks, which Ahrefs' own example puts at 80 prompts a day on one platform.
Estimate your own Ahrefs bill
- Split your sites into verified and non-verified (10 minutes). Verified projects are unlimited on every paid plan; non-verified ones pick the plan.
- Count the logins you need (2 minutes). Lite stops at 3 people in total, Standard at 6, Advanced at 11.
- Estimate monthly report use on Lite (15 minutes). If you open reports all day, 1,000 credits per user will not last; Standard removes the cap.
- Decide whether weekly rankings are enough (5 minutes). If a client expects daily movement, Ahrefs' tracker is the wrong tool on any plan.
- Price the AI prompts you need (10 minutes). Prompts times platforms times 30 gives checks a month.
- Pay one month before committing to a year (30 days). There is no trial, and Ahrefs says it does not issue refunds in general.
Cheaper options if the total is too high
Semrush is the usual comparison, but it is not cheaper. Its SEO plan is $139.95 a month for 5 websites with daily rank tracking (Semrush pricing, checked 1 November 2026).
Our Semrush pricing breakdown covers its seats and toolkits.
For the two side by side at the same team size, with a decision table, read Semrush vs Ahrefs.
If you are leaving Ahrefs, our list of Ahrefs alternatives sorts replacements by the job you use it for: backlinks, keywords, audits or rank tracking.
For a budget closer to $100 a month for everything, see our guide to cheap SEO tools.
Pengu Insights is ours, so weigh the recommendation. Starter is $39 a month with 1,200 credits and covers keyword research, competitors and traffic plus Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and the Meta Ad Library. Pro at $69 adds keyword and backlink gap and AI visibility for Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT. Agency at $129 adds full white label and client reports. It does not replace Ahrefs' backlink index, its rank tracker or its site crawler; those jobs are not part of our plans. The plans are on the Pengu Insights pricing page.
How we checked the prices
On 1 November 2026 we loaded Ahrefs' pricing page in US dollars, read the plan cards, the full comparison table, the add-ons and the FAQ, and took the yearly figures from the page's annual option. Loaded from Spain the same page shows euros, with Lite at €119, Standard at €229 and Advanced at €419, so check which currency you are reading. Free-tier limits come from the Ahrefs Free page and Starter's credit allowance from Ahrefs' own announcement, because the pricing page does not restate it.
We did not buy a plan for this article, and we read the US Google results for "ahrefs pricing" the same day to see what other guides quote. We make Pengu Insights, which overlaps with part of Ahrefs, and we have said where it falls short.
Common mistakes when budgeting for Ahrefs
- Quoting old prices. $99, $199 and $399 still circulate. Budget from today's page.
- Treating client sites as verified. Unless you can verify ownership, every client site uses one of your 5, 20 or 50 non-verified projects.
- Buying Lite for a team. One user, two extra seats at most and 1,000 credits per user. Teams outgrow it in weeks.
- Expecting daily rankings. The comparison table lists weekly updates on every plan.
- Leaving pay-as-you-go open. Extra users and credits are charged automatically once enabled.
- Planning on a trial or refund. There is neither by default, so the first month is the test.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Ahrefs cost per month?
Starter $29, Lite $129, Standard $249, Advanced $449 and Enterprise $1,499 on an annual commitment. Extra users cost $40, $60 or $80. Checked 1 November 2026.
Is there a free version of Ahrefs?
Yes. Ahrefs Free, formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, covers Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics for sites you verify.
Does Ahrefs have a free trial?
No. Ahrefs Free stands in for a trial, Starter at $29 is the cheapest paid plan, and refunds are generally not issued.
Is Ahrefs Brand Radar free?
No. Paid plans include 150 to 600 tracked prompt checks a month, and Brand Radar AI starts at $199 a month. The free AI Visibility Checker gives a quick look.
Is Ahrefs or Semrush better?
Ahrefs for many verified sites, published seat prices and backlink research. Semrush for daily rank tracking and advertising, local or social toolkits.
What to do next
Write down three numbers before you pick a plan: non-verified sites, logins and reports a month. Those decide whether you pay $129 or $468.
Then check what you get without paying. Run your biggest competitor through the free website traffic checker and see how much of the job a free estimate covers.
If it covers most of it, the rest of our free SEO tools may push the Ahrefs decision back a quarter. If it does not, buy one month of the plan your three numbers picked and treat it as the trial Ahrefs does not offer.
Written by
Founder of Pengu Insights. Competitive intelligence practitioner for DTC brands and marketing agencies.
