Everyone loves Moz.

The company has done so much for the SEO community since its inception in 2004 as SEOmoz.

They’re a staple in the marketing community and well-known as a thought leader thanks to a website full of helpful resources, MozCon and the popular Domain Authority (DA) metric.

And of course, Moz is also known for their all-in-one SEO software. The tool is great for keyword research, link analysis, rank tracking, local listing management and much more—starting at $99/month.

I love Moz too.

In fact, I’m a long-time user and active community member. And if you were to ask me what the best SEO tool was three years ago, I would’ve said Moz hands down.

If you were to ask me today, I’d still say they’re in the top tier of SEO toolsets. But other players have definitely worked themselves into the spotlight and overtaken Moz in certain arenas, and others have come in at more affordable prices.

This post is meant in no way to downplay Moz’s suite of tools, but only to introduce some alternatives to Moz and make their case.

You have specific SEO needs, and every tool has different strengths and weaknesses.

Find the perfect tool for you.

5 Viable Alternatives to Moz for SEO Success (Tried and Tested)

Disclaimer before we dive in: I have personally either used or am currently using each of these tools (the full version, not a freemium). Rest assured this isn’t one of those reviews that’s just pasted copy from each site’s features page.

Monitor Backlinks

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Price: Starts at $25/month

Free Trial? Yes (sign up here)

Monitor Backlinks prides itself on link tracking, link building and competitor analysis. As you might’ve guessed, it’s an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to monitoring links and keeping eyes on competitors’ link profiles.

Notable Features

In-Depth Link Analysis

Monitor Backlinks’ biggest strength lies in link analysis.

Most SEO tools will show you a list of referring domains along with a few link metrics. Monitor Backlinks shows a number of different link-evaluating metrics including Trust Flow (Majestic), Citation Flow (Majestic), Spam Score (Moz), Domain Authority (Moz) and Page Authority (Moz).

In addition, something other tools usually leave out is total number of external links from the linking page. All of this is featured in an easy-to-consume table design.

 

 

Disavow Tool

Another feature that sets Monitor Backlinks apart is its disavow tool. While analyzing your links, it’s really easy to select spammy or irrelevant links and add them to an easily exportable spreadsheet that you can then import to Google Search Console.

Only a handful of other SEO tools have a disavow tool so easy to use.

Email Notifications

Monitor Backlinks will send almost-instant email notifications when you gain or lose backlinks. And not only can you receive notifications for your own site, but also for competitors.

For some businesses and industries, instant data is critical, and hard to come by.

Ahrefs

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Price: Starts at $99/month

Free Trial: 7 day trial for $7

Ahrefs has a really impressive link index, meaning their biggest strengths lie in link analysis, link building and competitor analysis—similar to Monitor Backlinks, but at a much higher price point.

Having said that, they’ve updated some of their other tools recently including their Keyword Explorer, positioning themselves as more of an all-in-one SEO suite of tools.

Notable Features

Large Link Index

Ahrefs boasts one of the largest link indexes in the game. They claim to crawl 5 billion pages daily and recognize a database of 16 trillion links—which would make their crawler the second most active after only Google.

Not even Majestic claims such a large index. This gives users peace of mind that none of their links have been missed.

Keyword Explorer

Though they’re primarily known for link tools, Ahrefs has developed a very useful keyword research tool, with a beautiful and useful dashboard—unlike many of their other reports.

My favorite part of their newly revamped Keyword Explorer is the keyword difficulty metric which includes an estimated number of links needed to compete.

 

 

SEMrush

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Price: Starts at $99/month

Free Trial: Yes

SEMrush is probably the market leader as far as all-in-one SEO toolsets go—and their pricing reflects that. They feature everything from rank tracking to link outreach and listing management to topic research.

If you want absolutely everything in one place —even things you didn’t realize you needed—SEMrush is a great alternative to Moz.

Notable Features

Everything You Need for SEO

As mentioned, SEMrush has a tool for everything:

Site audits, keyword research, topic research, link outreach, link prospecting, listing management, content suggestions, a writing assistant, brand monitoring, competitive research and even a log file analyzer.

 

 

It should be noted that some have questioned SEMrush’s data over time. For instance, a few of their tools estimate organic traffic that many find to be inaccurate—but that’s why they’re only estimates.

Content Template + Writing Assistant

One unique feature I love is the content template coupled with the writing assistant. You can simply insert a few keywords you’d like to rank for and receive on-page suggestions such as word count, semantically related keywords to include, and where to use your keyword.

The writing assistant can be added as a Google Docs extension or a WordPress plugin. It helps you keep track of word count, readability, tone and more.

SpyFu

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Pricing: Starts at $33/month

Free Trial: No, but do allow free queries

SpyFu prides itself on competitive intelligence and analysis—both in regard to organic and paid search. SpyFu also offers keyword research and rank tracking, but not as much in the way of link building or backlink analysis.

Notable Features

Competitive Intelligence + Ranking History

SpyFu can help you learn a ton about your competition. It helps you analyze their keywords, links and ad spend.

One great feature of their competitive intelligence is ranking history for specific keywords and pages. They also have an awesome 3-way keyword research tool that shows all profitable keywords your competitors rank for that you don’t.

 

 

Similar to SEMrush, many doubt the validity of some of their estimations like traffic and ad spend. Again, they don’t claim to be exact, but it’s worth noting.

PPC Competitor Research

Even as an SEO, knowing PPC data can be very helpful. SpyFu can reveal what keywords your competitors are focusing on, how much they’re paying for clicks, and which search terms are most valuable for them.

Serpstat

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Pricing: Starts at $19/month

Free trial? Yes

Serpstat is another all-in-one tool that comes in at a lower price point than much of the competition. Serpstat’s strength lies in its keyword research toolset.

Notable Features

Keyword Clustering

Keyword clustering has recently become a very popular phrase in the world of SEO. Serpstat will analyze the SERP for a keyword you want to rank for and analyze the intersection of different keywords throughout the results.

 

 

The tool will also offer text and keyword analytics for pages on your site as well as your website as a whole.

 

 

City-Based Rank Tracking

Believe it or not, not every tool offers city-based rank tracking. For smaller businesses and local SEO, this kind of keyword tracking is crucial.

Serpstat allows you to track rankings in any city, country or language you specify.

Which Alternative to Moz Is Best for You?

Moz is an industry leader, but there are plenty of other options out there.

And depending on your SEO needs, some may be a better fit for you. Many are certainly more affordable.

At the end of the day, know that you have options.

There’s no reason to settle for a tool that doesn’t work for you.