Ahrefs and Moz Pro both cover the core SEO workflow of keyword research, rank tracking, site audits, and backlink analysis, but they are built around…
| Ahrefs | Moz Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | SEO | SEO |
| Rating | Not documented | Not documented |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Subscription |
| Starting price | Free (paid plans from ~€27/month) | $39/month (billed annually) or $49/month billed monthly |
| Free plan | Yes | Not documented |
| Free trial | Not documented | Yes |
| Platforms | Web | Web |
| Team collaboration | Not documented | Not documented |
| AI features | Yes | Not documented |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
Entry pricing
Ahrefs: No free tier, with entry pricing starting in the hundreds of dollars per month
Moz Pro: Starts from $49 per month on the Standard plan, billed annually, with a free trial available
Budget-constrained teams and solo practitioners face a much lower barrier to entry with one tool than the other
Core differentiator
Ahrefs: Built around one of the industry's largest and most frequently updated backlink indexes
Moz Pro: Built around Moz's proprietary Domain Authority metric, alongside Page Authority and Spam Score
The two tools lead with different signals of site or link quality, which shapes how each is used day to day
Documented feature breadth
Ahrefs: Documented feature set centers on backlink index, site audit, and rank tracking, with keyword research and competitor research named in its overview
Moz Pro: Nine documented features spanning keyword research, rank tracking, site audit, link analysis, a browser extension, on-page grading, reporting, competitive research, and an API
A broader documented feature list suggests more workflows are covered natively in one login without needing separate tools
Free companion tools
Ahrefs: No free companion tool documented
Moz Pro: Free MozBar browser extension surfaces Domain Authority, Page Authority, and on-page elements while browsing
A free browser tool lets people evaluate pages and competitors without a paid subscription
API access
Ahrefs: Not documented
Moz Pro: Moz Links API provides programmatic access to link and authority data for custom tools or dashboards
Teams building internal reporting or custom integrations need a documented, accessible API
Reporting and dashboards
Ahrefs: Not documented
Moz Pro: Custom, branded, campaign-based reports summarizing rankings, site health, and link growth for stakeholders or clients
Agencies and in-house teams regularly need to present SEO progress to clients or executives in a polished format
Learning curve and educational support
Ahrefs: Not documented
Moz Pro: Strong educational content, including the Moz blog and Whiteboard Friday, plus Site Crawl issues paired with clear prioritized fixes
Teams without dedicated SEO specialists need guidance built into or around the product to use it effectively
Pricing tier structure
Ahrefs: Only a single starting price point is documented, with no published tier breakdown
Moz Pro: Four published tiers, Standard, Medium, Large, and Premium, with increasing tracked-keyword, campaign, and crawl allowances
A transparent multi-tier structure helps buyers predict costs as their needs grow
Perceived link index size
Ahrefs: Backlink index accuracy and update frequency are particularly well-regarded versus competitors
Moz Pro: Link index is sometimes viewed as smaller than competitors like Ahrefs or Semrush
Link index size and freshness directly affect the completeness of backlink audits and outreach research
Team collaboration features
Ahrefs: Not documented
Moz Pro: Team collaboration features included on higher plan tiers, alongside multiple user seats
Multi-person teams need shared campaigns and role-based access rather than a single-user login
Free tier availability
Ahrefs: No free tier at all, cited as a direct con
Moz Pro: No permanent free plan for the full Pro suite either, but a limited-time free trial is offered
The ability to test a tool before committing budget affects how low-risk the initial evaluation is
| Feature | Ahrefs | Moz Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword research tool | Available | Available |
| Rank tracking | Available | Available |
| SERP feature and related-question data | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | Ahrefs | Moz Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Site-wide technical audit | Available | Available |
| Issue prioritization by impact | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | Ahrefs | Moz Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Backlink index and link analysis | Available | Available |
| Proprietary domain authority score | Not documented | Available |
| Anchor text analysis | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | Ahrefs | Moz Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Free browser extension | Not documented | Available |
| On-page optimization grading | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | Ahrefs | Moz Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Competitor research | Available | Available |
| Feature | Ahrefs | Moz Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Custom branded reporting or dashboards | Not documented | Available |
| Team collaboration features | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | Ahrefs | Moz Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Public data API | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | Ahrefs | Moz Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent free tier | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Published multi-tier pricing | Not documented | Available |
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Pros
Cons
Pros
Cons
Moz Pro is the cheaper entry point, starting from $49 per month on its Standard plan with a free trial available, while Ahrefs has no free tier and entry pricing starts in the hundreds of dollars per month.
Yes, Moz Pro is generally considered more beginner-friendly, supported by extensive educational content like the Moz blog and Whiteboard Friday, plus Site Crawl reports that pair issues with clear, prioritized fixes.
Ahrefs' backlink index is widely regarded as one of the largest and most frequently updated in the industry, and Moz Pro's own documented cons note its link index is sometimes viewed as smaller than competitors like Ahrefs.
Moz Pro documents the Moz Links API for programmatic access to link and authority data, while Ahrefs' API availability is not documented in the facts available here.
Domain Authority is Moz's proprietary metric scoring a website's likelihood of ranking well relative to other sites, and the documented Ahrefs facts do not describe an equivalent proprietary authority score.
Yes, some teams use Ahrefs for its deeper, more frequently updated backlink index alongside Moz Pro for Domain Authority benchmarking and its all-in-one reporting suite, since the two tools emphasize different strengths.