Ahrefs pricing: plans, credits and what they cost
Ahrefs' plans run from $29 a month for Starter to $1,499 for Enterprise. Lite, at $129, is the entry plan for most work and limits you to 1,000 credits per user. This page lists each plan as it appears on Ahrefs' own pricing page.
Ahrefs prices checked on 3 November 2026 against its own pricing page. Plans change, so confirm before you buy.
- Ahrefs Starter is $29, Lite $129, Standard $249, Advanced $449 and Enterprise $1,499 a month.
- Lite includes 1,000 credits per user, 750 tracked keywords and 6 months of history. Standard and above have unlimited credits.
- API and MCP access are included from Lite. If you mainly need research for a few sites, a pay-per-lookup tool is cheaper to start.
Ahrefs and Auditmatic, side by side.
| Ahrefs | Auditmatic | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest full plan | $129 a month (Lite) | $5 a month |
| Agent (MCP) access | From Lite, $129 | Every paid plan |
| Usage limit | 1,000 credits per user on Lite | Lookups at published prices |
| Free audit, no signup | Free plan, signup needed | Yes, 200+ checks |
| One prompt to fix findings | Not listed | Yes, free with an account |
| AI visibility tracking | Brand Radar add-on from $199 | Included on every paid plan |
What Ahrefs costs.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $29 a month | Entry plan with a trial link on the page |
| Lite | $129 a month | 1,000 credits per user, 750 tracked keywords, 5 projects, 6 months of history, API and MCP |
| Standard | $249 a month | Unlimited credits per user, 2,000 keywords, 20 projects, 2 years of history |
| Advanced | $449 a month | Unlimited credits, 5,000 keywords, 50 projects, 5 years of history |
| Enterprise | $1,499 a month | Yearly commitment, uncapped API access |
Extra users on Lite are $40 each, up to 2. Brand Radar, Ahrefs's AI visibility add-on, starts at $199 a month. Ahrefs says paying yearly saves up to 17%. Lite alone comes to $1,548 a year when paid monthly, before any extra users or add-ons.
What Ahrefs costs over a year
Paid monthly, Lite is $1,548 a year, Standard $2,988, Advanced $5,388 and Enterprise $17,988. Ahrefs says paying yearly saves up to 17% but does not show yearly prices on its pricing page.
Ahrefs discounts, free trial and Black Friday
Ahrefs says on its help centre that it does not run one-off discounts or seasonal specials, and names Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It also says it does not offer promotional or discount codes, so codes on coupon sites are not from Ahrefs. We checked this on Ahrefs' own pages on 8 November 2026.
There is no free trial. Ahrefs says it does not provide free trials and points to its free plan instead. That plan, called Ahrefs Free (formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools), gives free access to Web Analytics, Site Audit and Site Explorer for sites you verify, with limits such as 5,000 crawl credits per project each month.
The one real saving is yearly billing. Ahrefs' help article on its yearly plan calls it 2 months free, about 20% off monthly billing, while its pricing page says up to 17%. The two pages disagree, so check the figure at checkout. Ahrefs also says it has no special pricing for non-profits.
Users and add-ons
Lite lets you add 2 more users at $40 a month each, Standard 5 more at $60 and Advanced 10 more at $80. Brand Radar, the AI visibility add-on, starts at $199 a month, and Report Builder is $99 a month.
Is Ahrefs worth it?
If backlink research is your main job, or you need years of history across many projects, Ahrefs is built for that. If you track a few sites and want an AI agent to act on the data, you may be paying for depth you will not use.
What the same work costs on Auditmatic.
A plan includes lookups worth its price or more, and each lookup is priced from the cost of the data it pulls. Here are three monthly workloads, priced with the real unit prices.
| Workload | Lookups used | Auditmatic plan |
|---|---|---|
| One site, light research40 keyword searches, 10 backlink checks, 0 AI answers (ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI), 25 keywords tracked weekly | $3.07 a month | Starter, $5 a monthincludes $5 of lookups |
| A growing site100 keyword searches, 30 backlink checks, 200 AI answers (ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI), 100 keywords tracked weekly | $8.89 a month | Pro, $9 a monthincludes $10 of lookups |
| Several sites400 keyword searches, 100 backlink checks, 500 AI answers (ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI), 200 keywords tracked weekly | $31.18 a month | Agency, $29 a monthincludes $35 of lookups |
Ahrefs's plans include limits these workloads do not use, so the comparison is on price for the same jobs, not on every feature. See the full pricing page to estimate your own month.
Where each one is stronger.
Ahrefs is stronger at
- History: 6 months on Lite, up to 5 years on Advanced.
- Far more tracked keywords and projects as you move up.
- Backlink and keyword data from Ahrefs's own crawler and database.
- Report Builder, extra users and a large add-on catalogue.
Auditmatic is stronger at
- The price: $5 to start against $129, with every lookup at a published price.
- AI visibility is included, not a $199 add-on.
- A free audit and a free fix prompt for your agent.
- Lookup prices are published, you can estimate a month before paying, and you top up from $5.
What Auditmatic does not have
- Auditmatic's backlink data is licensed, not from its own crawler.
- No multi-year history. Tracking starts when you set it up.
- No Report Builder or white-label reports yet.
Choose Ahrefs if backlink research is your core job, or you need years of history and many projects.
Questions, answered.
How much does Ahrefs cost per month?
Starter is $29, Lite $129, Standard $249, Advanced $449 and Enterprise $1,499 a month, per Ahrefs' pricing page on 3 November 2026.
Does Ahrefs have a free plan?
Yes. Ahrefs Free gives access to Web Analytics, Site Audit and Site Explorer for sites you verify, with limits such as 5,000 crawl credits per project each month.
Is there an Ahrefs Black Friday deal or promo code?
No. Ahrefs says on its help centre that it does not run seasonal specials such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday and does not offer promo codes. The only saving is yearly billing, listed as 2 months free.
Does Ahrefs have a free trial?
No. Ahrefs says it does not provide free trials. Its free plan is the way to try it.
What are Ahrefs credits?
Lite includes 1,000 credits per user. Standard and above list unlimited credits per user.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Ahrefs?
For a few sites, yes. Auditmatic starts at $5 a month with $5 of data lookups included.
See what your agent can fix.
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