SE Ranking vs Semrush

by Gralio Feb 19, 2025

SE Ranking and Semrush are both SEO software suites, but they target different user groups. SE Ranking focuses on core SEO features with a user-friendly interface and affordable pricing, making it a good starting point for smaller businesses or those new to SEO. Semrush, while more expensive, offers a more extensive suite of tools and deeper analytics, catering to larger enterprises, agencies, and experienced marketers seeking advanced features and broader marketing functionalities.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 5885 reviews and 60 websites, saving 1 day, 9 hours, 11 minutes of reading.

Logo of SE Ranking
Logo of Semrush

About

SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO software suite designed to help businesses improve their search engine rankings. It offers a wide range of tools, including keyword research, competitor analysis, website audits, backlink monitoring, and rank tracking. SE Ranking is known for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive set of features, making it suitable for both SEO beginners and experienced professionals. It aims to provide actionable insights and data-driven recommendations to optimize website content, improve visibility, and attract more organic traffic.
Semrush is an online visibility and marketing platform that helps businesses improve their online presence. It offers a wide range of tools for SEO, content marketing, competitor analysis, social media management, and paid advertising. With a massive database, Semrush provides insights into keywords, backlinks, website traffic, and competitor strategies, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions to enhance their online visibility and achieve marketing goals. Many Fortune 500 companies utilize Semrush's comprehensive suite of digital marketing tools.

Summary

Main difference
SE Ranking is a more affordable and user-friendly option ideal for small to medium-sized businesses and individual SEO professionals starting with SEO. Semrush offers a broader range of marketing tools and deeper analytical capabilities, making it better suited for larger businesses, agencies, and experienced marketers with advanced needs and larger budgets.

Relative strengths of SE Ranking (compared to Semrush)

  • More affordable pricing plans, especially for smaller businesses or individual users.

  • User-friendly interface praised for its ease of navigation and simplicity.

  • Comprehensive SEO toolset covering essential SEO needs, including rank tracking, competitor analysis, and website auditing.

Relative weaknesses of SE Ranking (compared to Semrush)

  • Less extensive marketing tools compared to Semrush, which offers broader functionalities like social media management and paid advertising tools.

  • Limited social media integrations compared to Semrush.

  • Lacks the depth of data and advanced analytical capabilities offered by Semrush, such as competitor traffic analysis.

Who is using SE Ranking and Semrush?

Mersudin Forbes
Founder @ Multiply > E-commerce SEO / Sometimes other SEO
Kai Cromwell
eCommerce SEO
Nathan Gotch
Co-Founder & CEO at Rankability
Kevin Indig
SEO Authority | Growth Advisor | Hypergrowth Partner
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio
Brendan Hufford
SaaS Marketing - Growth through Content, Community & SEO
Show all 12 stacks

Who should use SE Ranking VS. Semrush

SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO tool perfect for businesses looking to boost their online visibility. It's praised for its user-friendly design and comprehensive features, from keyword research and competitor analysis to website audits and backlink monitoring. Users love its affordability and excellent customer support. While some find the backlink tool lacking and the mobile app underwhelming, its ease of use and robust features make it a strong choice for those new to SEO or seeking a cost-effective solution.

Semrush is a powerful online visibility and marketing platform ideal for businesses seeking to improve their online presence and achieve marketing goals. It offers a wide range of tools for SEO, content marketing, competitor analysis, and more. Users love Semrush's comprehensive insights and actionable recommendations, but some find the pricing steep. The platform is best suited for businesses focused on data-driven digital marketing strategies.

  • Best for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and agencies.

  • Ideal for marketing & advertising, software/IT, and e-commerce.

  • Best fit for small, medium, and enterprise businesses.

  • Ideal for E-commerce, Media, Marketing, and Software companies.

SE Ranking and Semrush features

Supported
Partially supported
Not supported
Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

  • Rank Tracker
    Supported

    SE Ranking supports rank tracking across Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

    Supported

    Semrush supports Rank Tracker for Google, Bing, and Yahoo, with daily updates and performance insights.

  • AI Overviews Tracker
    Supported

    SE Ranking provides AI Overviews Tracker for analyzing website ranking performance and identifying improvement areas.

    Supported

    Semrush tracks website performance in AI Overviews, offering insights into trends and areas for improvement.

  • Keyword Research
    Supported

    SE Ranking supports keyword research with comprehensive metrics and a large database.

    Supported

    Semrush supports keyword research with tools and a large database.

  • Competitor Traffic Analysis
    Supported

    SE Ranking supports competitor traffic analysis, including traffic trends and dynamics.

    Supported

    Semrush supports competitor strategy analysis using traffic data and trend analysis over time.

  • Enterprise SEO Solutions
    Supported

    SE Ranking offers enterprise-grade SEO features like scalability, custom solutions, and API integration.

    Supported

    Semrush offers an Enterprise SEO platform with advanced features for large organizations.

  • SERP Analysis
    Supported

    SE Ranking supports analyzing search engine results pages with competitor analysis.

    Supported

    Semrush provides tools for SERP analysis, including competitor analysis features such as identifying competing websites, analyzing keyword gaps, and comparing backlink profiles.

Qualities

  • Value and Pricing Transparency
    +0.63
    Rather positive sentiment
    -0.63
    Rather negative sentiment
  • Customer Service
    +0.6
    Rather positive sentiment
    +0.32
    Rather positive sentiment
  • Ease of Use
    +0.88
    Strongly positive sentiment
    +0.65
    Rather positive sentiment
  • Reliability and Performance
    +0.73
    Strongly positive sentiment
    +0.58
    Rather positive sentiment
  • Ease of Implementation
    +1
    Strongly positive sentiment
    +0.21
    Neutral sentiment
  • Scalability
    +0.56
    Rather positive sentiment
    -0.5
    Rather negative sentiment

SE Ranking and Semrush Pricing

SE Ranking offers a tiered subscription model with annual discounts. All plans include core SEO tools like Rank Tracker, Competitive & Keyword Research, Backlink Checker & Monitor, Content & Local Marketing toolkits, Historical data, Data Insights, AI Results Tracker, and On-page and SERP analysis. Additional manager seats can be added for $20/mo per seat.
Plans

User sentiment

Rather positive
+0.67

See full Pricing page

Semrush offers a free trial for all plans. Users can cancel, downgrade, or upgrade their plan at any time.
Plans

User sentiment

Rather negative
-0.63

See full Pricing page

SE Ranking and Semrush review insights

5825 reviews analysed from and

Users love

  • User-friendly interface
  • Comprehensive SEO tools
  • Affordable pricing
  • Excellent customer support
  • SEMrush is great in that it provides not only insights and metrics but clear actions to improve a given page or an entire site!
  • Semrush takes 70% of the time off designing campaigns that rely on keywords, competitor behavior, or site insights.
  • I love the way how it shows the analytics of authority score as well as the detailed traffic report of the site.
  • Domain Overview, Technical SEO auditing, Keyword Research

Users dislike

  • Backlink tool is lacking
  • False "free" claims: Many users feel the "free" service is a misleading bait-and-switch
  • Mobile app is underwhelming with limited functionality
  • Limited social media platform integrations
  • The pricing for SEMrush can be steep, especially since the social media calendar posting feature, now costs an additional $29 per month.
  • SEMrush has a robust monetization system that adds up very quickly.
  • Price was a little high for the smallest package.
  • The cost - we used to be able to share accounts, but now have to register separate accounts for all users.

SE Ranking and Semrush Ratings

  • G2
    4.8/5
    (1324)
  • Capterra
    4.7/5
    (284)
  • Glassdoor
    5.0/5
    (10)
  • G2
    4.5/5
    (2095)
  • Capterra
    4.7/5
    (2131)
  • Glassdoor
    4.0/5
    (272)

Company health

Employee growth

25% increase in the last year
13% increase in the last year

Web traffic

1% increase in the last quarter
5% decrease in the last quarter

Financing

June 2021 - $0
January 2018 - $40M

How do SE Ranking's backlink analysis features compare to Semrush's?

Semrush's backlink analysis is generally considered more robust and comprehensive than SE Ranking's. While SE Ranking offers backlink monitoring, users have reported it as a weaker area. Semrush provides a larger backlink database, more in-depth metrics, and stronger analytical tools for exploring backlink profiles, making it better for competitive analysis and link building strategies.

Which platform provides more intuitive reporting for competitor rank tracking?

SE Ranking provides a more intuitive reporting interface for competitor rank tracking. While Semrush offers extensive competitor analysis features, its reporting can be overwhelming due to the sheer volume of data. SE Ranking focuses on presenting rank tracking data in a clear and concise manner, making it easier to quickly grasp competitor performance and identify trends.

What are the advantages of SE Ranking?

SE Ranking offers a more user-friendly interface and more affordable pricing than Semrush, making it a better choice for beginners or budget-conscious users. While Semrush has a broader range of features, SE Ranking focuses specifically on SEO tools, providing a comprehensive suite for keyword research, competitor analysis, website audits, and rank tracking. SE Ranking also receives consistently higher user ratings for customer service.

What are the disadvantages of SE Ranking?

SE Ranking's backlink tool is considered lacking by some users. The free trial has been criticized as misleading. The mobile app has limited functionality and there are fewer integrations with social media platforms compared to competitors. Some users also mention reliability and performance issues.

Alternatives to SE Ranking and Semrush

Logo of Ahrefs
se-ranking vs Ahrefs
SEO toolset for competitive analysis, keyword research, and rank tracking.
Read more
Logo of SISTRIX
se-ranking vs SISTRIX
SEO insights to boost rankings and understand competitors.
Read more
Logo of Serpstat
se-ranking vs Serpstat
SEO toolkit for better rankings, competitor analysis, and website audits.
Read more
Logo of Ranktracker
se-ranking vs Ranktracker
Track rankings, analyze competitors, and optimize your SEO.
Read more
Logo of Keywords Everywhere
Keywords Everywhere
Uncover keyword search volume and related terms across websites.
Read more
Logo of Similarweb
se-ranking vs Similarweb
Uncovers website traffic, audience insights, and competitor strategies.
Read more
Page co-authored by
MK
Michal Kaczor
CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

TT
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

How are we doing?

Is this information helpful to you? Is there anything we are missing?
Did this help you select your product?
Other issues? Vote & Let us know
NEW: Introducing Gralio Screen Buddy

An AI tool that observes your work, finds inefficiencies, and suggests smarter ways to do things. Maybe you can use your tools better, automate tasks, or switch software.

For Individuals
Streamline your daily tasks, get helpful AI tips, and find the right tools for your workflow.
For Businesses
See how your team really works, uncover automation opportunities, and get software recommendations tailored to your processes.