SEMrush is one of the most powerful SEO and digital marketing platforms, offering tools for keyword research, backlink audits, competitor analysis, content optimization, and site audits. However, its feature-rich platform comes with a steep cost, making many individuals and small teams look for free SEMrush alternatives that still deliver valuable SEO insights.
Whether you’re building a new blog, managing multiple client websites, or running a lean startup, these tools offer free keyword data, website audits, backlink analysis, and SERP insights to help you optimize your site—without the enterprise-level price tag.
1. Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest, developed by Neil Patel, offers keyword research, domain overview, traffic analysis, and content suggestions for free. The interface is beginner-friendly, and the free tier gives you limited daily searches along with keyword ideas, SEO difficulty scores, and competitor content data.
You can also run site audits and track your SEO performance over time. While it’s not as deep as SEMrush, it’s a great starting point for personal sites and growing blogs.
Best for: Beginners and solo marketers needing a solid, all-around free SEO toolkit.
2. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a go-to tool for keyword research, especially if you’re running Google Ads. It’s free to use with a Google account and provides accurate search volume ranges, keyword suggestions, and competition level.
While it lacks organic SEO insights like backlinks and SERP data, it remains a trusted source for keyword planning based on actual Google search data.
Best for: Keyword discovery based on Google’s real-time data.
3. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT)
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools offers a free suite that includes site audit and backlink monitoring features for verified websites. It doesn’t provide keyword research for arbitrary domains like SEMrush, but it’s one of the best free tools for analyzing your own website’s technical SEO health and backlinks.
It’s especially useful for identifying crawl errors, broken links, and missing tags, with a user-friendly dashboard and detailed reports.
Best for: Site owners who want deep backlink and audit data without paying.
4. SEO PowerSuite Free Version
SEO PowerSuite is a downloadable SEO software that includes tools for keyword tracking, backlink checking, technical audits, and content optimization. The free version gives access to all core features with some usage and export limitations.
It’s highly customizable and ideal for marketers who want more control over how their data is collected and used.
Best for: Desktop users who want to manage SEO without cloud restrictions.
5. Moz Keyword Explorer (Free Plan)
Moz offers a free version of its keyword explorer that includes 10 keyword queries per month with access to search volume, keyword difficulty, and SERP analysis. While limited in usage, it’s a great way to get quick SEO insights from a reliable brand.
Moz also provides a browser extension, MozBar, which adds keyword and page authority metrics directly to your search results for real-time SERP analysis.
Best for: Marketers who need quick, occasional keyword analysis from a trusted source.
6. Keyword Surfer (Chrome Extension)
Keyword Surfer is a lightweight browser extension that adds keyword metrics (search volume, CPC, keyword ideas) directly into Google search results. It’s free to use and allows you to perform keyword research while browsing, without logging into a separate dashboard.
It’s not as comprehensive as SEMrush but useful for quick research and SERP context while brainstorming content topics.
Best for: On-the-fly keyword research during everyday browsing.
7. Seobility
Seobility is a free SEO audit tool that offers detailed on-page and technical SEO analysis. You can scan your site for broken links, slow pages, metadata issues, and keyword usage.
The free plan allows one project (website) and up to 1,000 crawled pages. It also includes backlink analysis and keyword monitoring, making it a practical SEMrush alternative for small websites.
Best for: Site owners needing a reliable, free SEO audit tool.
8. SERanking (Free Trial)
SERanking offers a limited-time free trial that includes keyword rank tracking, backlink checking, and website audit tools. While the free trial eventually requires a subscription, it provides a comprehensive overview of SEMrush-like features to test before committing.
The interface is intuitive, and it supports multi-user collaboration—ideal for SEO teams evaluating new platforms.
Best for: SEO agencies or consultants evaluating full-suite tools on a trial basis.
9. Screaming Frog SEO Spider (Free Version)
Screaming Frog is a desktop-based crawler that allows you to audit up to 500 URLs for free. It’s one of the most advanced technical SEO tools available and provides in-depth insights into broken links, redirect chains, duplicate content, and more.
While it doesn’t include keyword research, it’s unmatched for technical audits—especially for medium to large websites.
Best for: SEO pros needing robust technical audit tools with no cloud dependency.
10. AnswerThePublic (Free Version)
AnswerThePublic helps you discover search queries and content ideas based on what people are actually asking in search engines. The free version provides a few searches per day and is particularly helpful for content marketers trying to optimize around user intent and long-tail keywords.
Its visual keyword maps are unique and help you explore search questions and prepositions effectively.
Best for: Content creators looking to plan blog topics or FAQs around real user queries.
Choosing the Best Free SEMrush Alternative
If you’re looking for an all-in-one SEO suite, Ubersuggest, Seobility, and SEO PowerSuite offer broad coverage. For keyword research, tools like Google Keyword Planner, Moz, and Keyword Surfer give precise, free data. When it comes to technical audits, Ahrefs Webmaster Tools and Screaming Frog are unbeatable.
While no free tool matches SEMrush’s full feature set, combining 2–3 of these platforms can give you a highly functional, cost-free SEO stack that covers most essential tasks.
Let me know if you’d like a workflow plan using only free tools to replace your current SEMrush setup.
