TL;DR / Key Takeaways
- SE Ranking Core is $129/mo ($103.20 annual) for 10 projects and 2,000 keywords tracked daily; Growth is $279/mo ($223.20) for 30 projects and 5,000.
- That is about $0.065 per tracked keyword on Core, vs $0.278 on Semrush's SEO plan and $0.172 on Ahrefs Lite.
- Content editor, local marketing, 25 AI prompts a day and API credits are included; the Agency Pack ($69+/mo, annual) and more AI prompts ($71.20+/mo) cost extra.
- Worth it for multi-site rank tracking and client reporting; Semrush and Ahrefs report much larger keyword and backlink databases.
- 14-day trial without a card; payments are non-refundable.
Short answer: SE Ranking costs $129 a month for the Core plan (10 projects, 2,000 keywords tracked daily) or $279 for Growth (30 projects, 5,000 keywords), with 20% off on annual billing. That works out to about 6.5 cents per tracked keyword, several times cheaper than Semrush, Ahrefs or Moz Pro at entry level. It is worth it if rank tracking across many sites and client reporting are most of your work; pick Semrush or Ahrefs if you need the biggest keyword and backlink databases.
How we checked: we read SE Ranking's live pricing page, its API pricing, rank tracker and data pages, then each alternative's own pricing page, and divided each plan's price by the keywords it tracks. User opinions come from Capterra and are linked. Prices checked on each vendor's own pricing page on November 1, 2026. Some links are affiliate links: if you sign up, the vendor may pay us a commission at no cost to you. It never changes our picks.
What is SE Ranking?
SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO platform. Its core is a rank tracker that checks your positions every day on Google, Bing and YouTube, through the full Top 100, on desktop and mobile, down to city or ZIP code level, and also watches 35+ SERP features including AI Overviews. Around it sit keyword, competitor and backlink research, a website and on-page audit, a content editor with an AI writer, local marketing tools (listings in 100+ directories, local and map rank tracking, Google Business Profile posts) and tracking of brand mentions in AI answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews, AI Mode and others.
You work in projects: one project per site, with its keywords, competitors and connected Google Analytics 4 and Search Console data. Reports can be scheduled from the Report Builder, shared with guest links on Growth, or white-labelled with the Agency Pack. An MCP server and API credits are included on both plans, which is unusual at this price.
SE Ranking pricing in 2026
SE Ranking now sells two self-serve plans, Core and Growth, plus a custom Enterprise tier. If you have read older reviews that mention Essential, Pro and Business plans, those are the previous lineup.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Projects / seats | Keywords tracked daily | Other limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $129/mo | $103.20/mo | 10 projects, 1 manager seat | 2,000 | 250K audit pages/mo, 25 articles, 3 local locations, 25 AI prompts daily, 25K API credits, 6 months history |
| Growth | $279/mo | $223.20/mo | 30 projects, 3 manager seats | 5,000 | 2M audit pages/mo, 50 articles, 25 AI prompts daily, 100K API credits, all-time history, guest links, page change monitoring |
| Enterprise | Pricing not published; contact sales | Custom | Custom | Full API, advanced integrations |
Both plans include unlimited keyword, competitor and backlink research, the website audit, the content editor, local marketing for 3 locations and Data Studio, Matomo, GA4 and Search Console integrations. Daily keywords are counted as targets: keyword x search engine. Tracking 1,000 keywords in both Google and Bing uses all 2,000 Core targets.
Add-ons and extra capacity
| Add-on | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Agency Pack | $69/mo (30 projects), $99 (50), $129 (100); annual billing only | White label platform and reports, client seats, unlimited scheduled reports with AI summaries, Agency Catalog listing, Lead Generator |
| AI visibility (SE Visible) | $71.20/mo for 75 prompts, $151 for 200, $319 for 1,000 | Daily AI prompt tracking on AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot and more, unlimited users |
| API add-on | $29/mo for 150K credits (monthly); $45/mo for 3M credits (annual) | Backlinks, domain, keyword, AI search and audit data via API |
| Extra manager seat | from $16 | A full-access user |
| Extra tracked keywords | from $22.40 (Core), from $32 (Growth) | More daily keywords without changing plan |
| Extra content articles | from $39.20 | More Content Editor articles |
| Extra local locations | from $18.40 | More business locations |
Annual billing saves 20%, includes free assisted migration and is paid upfront. Payments are non-refundable except where the service was not delivered as promised, and only one session per login is allowed, so a shared login is not a workaround for seats.
Cost per tracked keyword: SE Ranking vs the alternatives
Rank tracking is the limit most people outgrow first, so it is the fairest single number. Here is each tool's cheapest plan that includes rank tracking, divided by its tracked keywords (monthly billing unless noted).
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Cheapest paid with tracking | Cost per tracked keyword |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SE Ranking | Tracking many sites and keywords on a budget | No (14-day trial, no card) | Core $129/mo, 2,000 daily | $129 / 2,000 = $0.065 ($0.052 annual) |
| Semrush | Largest keyword database, PPC and market data | Yes, 10 reports/day, 1 demo project | SEO $139/mo, 500 daily | $139 / 500 = $0.278 ($0.235 annual) |
| Ahrefs | Backlink research | Ahrefs Free (own-site data) | Lite $129/mo, 750 keywords | $129 / 750 = $0.172 |
| Moz Pro | Domain Authority metrics | Free trial | Standard $99/mo, 300 keywords | $99 / 300 = $0.33 ($0.263 at $79 yearly) |
| Mangools | Beginners, small sites | Free account | Basic $61/mo, 200 keywords, weekly updates | $61 / 200 = $0.305 ($0.189 at $37.70 annual) |
At Growth the gap widens: $279 / 5,000 = $0.056 per keyword. Semrush's Pro+ plan is $299 for 1,500 keywords ($0.199 each), and Ahrefs Advanced is $449 for 5,000 ($0.090 each).
Is SE Ranking worth it?
Pick SE Ranking if
- You track rankings for several sites or clients and want daily updates without paying per handful of keywords.
- You want audits, a content editor, local listings and API access in the same bill rather than as separate toolkits.
- You run an agency and need white-label reports: Growth plus the Agency Pack is $279 + $69 a month (annual) for 30 projects and client seats.
- You want to test with real data first: the 14-day trial needs no card and includes 750 tracked keywords a day.
Skip SE Ranking if
- Your work is research-heavy (huge keyword lists, deep backlink audits). By each vendor's own figures, Semrush reports 28.8 billion keywords and 43 trillion backlinks, SE Ranking 5.5 billion keywords and 2.7 trillion backlinks.
- You need PPC, traffic and market intelligence: Semrush sells those as dedicated toolkits.
- AI visibility is your main job. Both SE Ranking plans include only 25 AI prompts a day in one project; serious tracking means the SE Visible add-on.
- You need long history on a budget: Core keeps 6 months, all-time history needs Growth.
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Limits to know before you buy
- No free plan for the platform, only the 14-day trial and some free single-purpose tools.
- Core has 1 manager seat. Extra seats start at $16, and logins cannot be shared at the same time.
- Add-on prices on the pricing page are mostly annual-billing figures; monthly billing costs more.
- SE Ranking's own pages disagree in places: the rank tracker page FAQ quotes $119 a month, while the live pricing page says $129 monthly or $103.20 annual. Trust the pricing page.
- Payments are non-refundable, so use the trial before committing to a year.
What users say
On Capterra's SE Ranking vs Semrush comparison, updated October 21, 2026, SE Ranking scores 4.7 out of 5 from 298 reviews, including 4.7 for value for money, while Semrush scores 4.6 from 2,330 reviews and 4.2 for value. Reviewers on SE Ranking's Capterra page mainly praise rank tracking, audits and client reporting, and several say it is cheaper than Ahrefs and Semrush for similar daily work. The complaints: some limits in keyword research, rising prices with AI features gated behind extra payments, interface changes, and one user who could not get a refund on a cancelled service.
SE Ranking alternatives
Semrush is the choice when data depth and PPC research matter more than cost; see our SE Ranking vs Semrush comparison for same-usage prices. Ahrefs leads on backlinks and starts with a $29 Starter plan for research only. Moz Pro is $99 a month ($79 yearly) for 3 sites and 300 keywords. Mangools is the cheapest here but updates rankings weekly unless you buy its Agency plan. For content writing and optimisation rather than tracking, Surfer starts at $99 a month billed yearly. Traffic-intelligence tools such as Similarweb (price not published on its pricing page) and lightweight tools like Ubersuggest solve different problems.
How to choose
- Count your keywords x search engines and your sites. Under 10 sites and 2,000 targets: SE Ranking Core. Up to 30 sites and 5,000: Growth.
- List the research you do weekly. If you live in keyword and backlink databases, trial Semrush or Ahrefs side by side with SE Ranking on the same domains.
- Add seats and add-ons before comparing: a 3-person team on Semrush Pro+ pays $299 + 2 x $80 = $459 a month; SE Ranking Growth includes 3 seats for $279.
- Start the 14-day SE Ranking trial (no card) and the 7-day Semrush trial in the same week so you compare live data, not marketing pages.
Frequently asked questions
How much does SE Ranking cost per month?
Core is $129 a month on monthly billing or $103.20 a month billed annually. Growth is $279 a month or $223.20 billed annually. Enterprise is custom. Prices checked on SE Ranking's pricing page on November 1, 2026.
What is SE Ranking used for?
Mainly daily rank tracking for your sites and competitors, plus keyword and backlink research, website audits, content optimisation, local listings and tracking of brand mentions in AI answers such as ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews.
Is SE Ranking worth it?
For tracking many keywords across several sites, yes: Core tracks 2,000 keywords daily for $129, about 6.5 cents each. If your work depends on the largest keyword and backlink databases or on PPC research, Semrush or Ahrefs fit better.
Does SE Ranking have a free trial?
Yes, 14 days with no credit card, including 10 projects, 750 tracked keywords per day and 20 AI prompts per day. There is no permanent free plan for the platform.
How often does SE Ranking update rankings?
Daily. Plan limits are stated as keywords tracked daily, and each keyword counts once per search engine you track it in.
How much is the SE Ranking Agency Pack?
$69 a month for 30 projects, $99 for 50 and $129 for 100, billed annually only, on top of a Core or Growth plan. It adds white label, client seats, scheduled reports with AI summaries and a Lead Generator widget.
Is SE Ranking better than Semrush?
It is cheaper per tracked keyword and includes more in the base plan. Semrush reports larger databases and has PPC and market toolkits. Pick SE Ranking for tracking and reporting, Semrush for research depth.