The Best SEO Tools in 2022

SEMrush is a comprehensive, all-in-one platform for SEO pros and marketing gurus.

What Is SEMrush?

SEMrush is a marketing toolkit with 40+ features and reports. It’s a comprehensive solution that covers SEO tracking software, as well as content marketing, market research, paid advertising, and social media management services.

SEO tool highlights include:

• Robust keyword research, including a database of over 20 billion keywords in the “Keyword Magic Tool”
• On-page SEO audits to help you optimize ranking
• Link building, since your backlink profile is essential for SEO
• Competitor analysis
• Rank tracking to stay on top of SEO performance
• Local SEO to help you attract customers to your physical location

Plus, there is the SEMrush SEO Writing Assistant, a WordPress SEO plugin for instant content optimization tips.

Pricing

SEMrush has three plans, billed monthly or annually. It offers a free trial but no forever free SEO tools.

Pro

The Pro plan costs $119.95 per month, which comes out to $99.95 monthly if you pay for the whole year. You get access to all the online SEO tools, but not the collaboration functionality. It’s great for freelancers and small agencies. It’s not ideal, however, if you’re running a larger SEO business.

You can create up to five projects with the Pro plan (one project is the overview for one site), get 3,000 reports per day, and up to 10,000 results per report.

Guru

The Guru plan will set you back $229.95 per month. If you pay annually, it drops to $191.62 per month. Along with the higher quotas for SEO monitoring, this software also offers historical data, the Google Data Studio integration, and a comprehensive marketing platform with a bird’s eye view of your website performance.

Business

The top-tier plan is $449.95 per month or $374.95 per month if you pay annually. You get the widest limits SEO analysis software can offer, plus comprehensive sharing functionality. The Business plan also comes with API access to develop your own custom solutions.

SEMrushBest Features 

The main perks of SEMrush include:

• All-in-one marketing platform
• Comprehensive SEO ranking tools
• Dashboard overview of website performance
• 40+ tools and reports
• Straightforward competitor analysis
• Valuable organic traffic insights
• Over 20 billion keyword ideas

What We Disliked

While SEMrush is one of the top SEO tools for desktop, using it on mobile is impractical. There is a free trial, but you have to enter your payment information.

This is also not the most affordable SEO tool since you have to pay for additional users, reporting features, and more projects.

SEMrush User Reviews

SEMrush is one of the best-loved SEO software tools, with plenty of marketing gurus swearing by it.

The biggest annoyance for most people is the single user profile. SEMrush is arguably an agency-friendly tool, but with a larger team comes the need for more profiles. Unfortunately, these are $200 a pop.

Other than that, most reviewers consider SEMrush to be an invaluable SEO ranking software and marketing tool in general. From content analysis to fixing technical SEO issues, SEMrush offers a comprehensive toolkit and agency owners love it.

We Recommend SEMrush For...

SEMrush is an excellent search engine optimization software for SEO professionals, freelancers, agencies, and marketing pros in general.

It is robust and functional, arguably one of the best in the game, but the price makes it unsuitable for small-time website owners.

Affordable SEO that doesn’t suck? You have it with KWFinder.

What Is KWFinder?

KWFinder by Mangools is SEO analyzer software that gives you solid keyword research functionality at a budget-friendly price point.

It’s also one of the most user-friendly search engine optimization tools we’ve reviewed. This, plus the affordable price, makes it one of the best options for bloggers, small businesses, and beginner SEOs.

Newbies might also want to learn more about the basics of SEO before choosing a solution.

Pricing

First things first, KWFinder gives you ten days of free SEO with a no-strings-attached trial. You get five lookups every 24 hours, with 25 related and ten competitor keywords for each lookup.

This can already give you plenty of valuable information, but the paid plans are where it really shines.

Mangools Basic

The first tier plan will set you back $49/month. The annual plan comes out to $358.80/year or $29.90/month—all of Mangools’ yearly search engine optimization platform subscriptions save you 40%.

The plan includes 100 lookups/24 hours with 200 keyword suggestions and 25 competitor keywords. You only get one login and no additional users.

Mangools Premium

With the premium SEO software services plan, your allowance goes up to 500 keyword lookups/24 hours, each containing 700 keyword suggestions.

You also get unlimited competitor keywords and three simultaneous logins for your team. The Premium plan costs $69/month or $478.80/year (coming out to $39.90/month).

Mangools Agency

The Agency plan is $129/month or $958.80 billed annually. It has the best SEO data allowance of them all:

• 1,200 lookups per 24 hours
• 700 keyword suggestions and unlimited competitor keywords
• 1,200 SERP updates per 24 hours 
• 1,500 daily tracked keywords 

Plus, it also gives you ten simultaneous logins, making it the best choice for larger teams.

KWFinder Best Features

• Detailed keyword analysis
• Incredibly easy navigation
• Local SEO features
• No strings attached free plan
• Beginner-friendly (yet robust)

What We Disliked

Our main issue with KWFinder is the tiny keyword research limit, especially on the cheapest plan. It’s also fairly basic, so SEO experts might want to look elsewhere.

KWFinder User Reviews

It’s not an overstatement to say users love KWFinder. No surprises here, though. It’s a straightforward, affordable, and robust online SEO platform.

The UI is hands-down the easiest and fastest to navigate (not to mention pretty). KWFinder is especially popular as a blog SEO software.

We Recommend KWFinder For...

KWFinder is the best SEO software for small business owners and content creators. The combination of affordable pricing, simple navigation, and useful insights makes it the perfect option for newbie SEOs too.

This service provides the best SEO optimization and PPC insight for pro marketers.

What Is SpyFu?

SpyFu is a search engine optimization platform, including SEO tools, as well as paid advertising tracking. The robust feature set makes it an excellent choice for advanced marketers, though it can be a bit complex for newbies.

Unlike other SEO marketing tools, SpyFu pricing isn’t based on search results or data export. Even the low-tier plans don’t put a limit on those and even include domain overview PDFs.

Pricing

SpyFu has three plans and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, it doesn’t offer a free SEO audit or even a free trial.

Basic

The Basic plan costs $39/month or $399/year (which comes out to $33/month). The SEO software lets you search monthly data for unlimited keywords, but you get a 500 keyword limit on weekly tracking. You also get 10k top lists results and up to five projects.

Professional

The Professional web SEO software plan is $69/month or $576/year ($48/month billed annually). You can track up to 1,500 words every week, get 50k top lists, up to 15 projects, and 15+ years of historical data.

Unlimited

The top-tier Unlimited plan will set you back $129/month or $816/year ($68/month charged yearly). It’s the only SEO platform plan that allows unlimited projects. You can track 20k keywords weekly, get unlimited top lists, as well as access to the API to automate results.

SpyFu Best Features

The main perks of SpyFu to its competitors include: 

• Comprehensive SEO metrics
• Paid advertising features
• Unlimited search data
• Affordable pricing 
• Easy-to-navigate UI

What We Disliked

One obvious issue with SpyFu is the lack of a free trial or version. Also, since the tool is focused on both PPC/CPC and SEO, it can take some getting used to.

Rather than starting with Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA), for instance, SpyFu reports break down Cost Per Click (CPC). If you’re switching from another SEO tracking tool, give yourself time to learn the ropes of SpyFu.

SpyFu User Reviews

SpyFu was actually ranked the best SEO tool online by PC Magazine. Reviews on consumer opinion websites are also overwhelmingly positive. It has an 8.6/10 on TrustRadius and a 4.6/5 on G2.

Users appreciate the cost-effective and robust tools, as well as the competitor-based insights that help their businesses stand out. Almost everyone mentions there is a learning curve, though, so keep that in mind if you’re considering SpyFu.

We Recommend SpyFu For...

SpyFu is great for SEO experts, agencies, and business owners. It’s affordable, comprehensive, and covers both SEO and paid advertising.

The only people that should probably look elsewhere are complete newbies since the tool does take some getting used to.

Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, this is the best free SEO software, hands-down.

What Is the Google Search Console?

The Google Search Console is a suite of SEO management tools that help you understand your website’s performance in Google search results.

After you set up and verify your domain, you can:

• Review your indexing and fix any errors
• Add a sitemap 
• Review mobile useability
• View the Search performance report 

The latter is a breakdown of all the traffic you get from Google, including information on queries, pages, and countries.

Pricing

All of the Google SEO tools on the console are free.

Google Search Console Best Features

Here is why every SEO and business owner should set up the Google Search Console for the sites they manage:

• 100% free
• Data right from the source
• Accurate reporting
• Multiple metrics (clicks, impressions, position, CTR, etc.)
• Group and filter data to turn into actionable insight

What We Disliked

Though the Google Search Console is an invaluable search engine optimizer tool, you’ll likely still need another SEO software to gain deeper insight and have an advantage over competitors.

Also, the console is relatively user-friendly, but beginners might still have a hard time getting started. I highly recommend reading through the Basic Search Console and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter guides.

Google Search Console User Reviews

The Google Search Console is almost universally recognized as providing the best free SEO analysis.

It’s fairly easy to navigate, provides a wealth of information, and, since it’s free, you can play around with it until you learn the ropes.

We Recommend Google Search Console For...

We recommend that anyone that manages a website, big or small, sign up for the Google Search Console. It’s a free SEO report straight from the source—need I say more?

Robust, user-friendly, and full-featured, Ahrefs is one of the most comprehensive SEO ranking tools out there.

What Is Ahrefs?

Ahrefs is an online SEO software with a comprehensive set of features, including keyword research, backlink profile, and technical SEO.

It’s one of the best SEO tools for in-depth information on keywords, as well as efficient backlink analysis.

The link analysis tool index is complete and frequently updated (it’s actually the second most active crawler after Google). And its filtering options help you get the information you need faster than virtually any other software.

Pricing

Ahrefs has four premium subscription plans and no free option. You can try it out with the $7 seven-day trial. Annual billing saves you 20% on the price.

Lite

The Lite plan costs $99/month and gets you one user seat, 500 tracked keywords (updates every seven days), 175 keyword reports per week, and 10,000 crawl credits per month for site analysis.

You can also create unlimited verified projects on the SEO platform and up to five unverified ones. These are websites with automatic tracking and analysis, which is a major time-saver if you manage multiple projects.

Standard

The Standard plan will set you back $179/month and up your limits to:

• Ten non-verified projects
• 500,000 crawl credits
• 700 keyword reports
• 1,500 tracked keywords

Advanced

For $399/month, the Advanced SEO monitoring software plan gets you three user seats to explore websites with 1.25 million crawl credits. You can build rankable content with 5,000 tracked keywords and 3,500 keyword reports per week.

Agency

Finally, the Agency plan costs $999/month for five user seats. You get a huge allowance for all of Ahrefs’ online SEO tools:

• 100 non-verified projects
• 2.5 million crawl credits
• 10,000 tracked keywords
• 7,000 keyword explorer reports per week

Ahrefs Best Features

Ahrefs is hands-down the best SEO software for pros. Here are its main perks:

• Fresh, well-organized data
• Second most active crawler in the world
• In-depth keyword information
• Excellent backlink analysis
• Detailed site audits
• Easy-to-navigate UI

What We Disliked

Though Ahrefs is great (probably one of the best-paid SEO tools), it’s not cheap and there is no free trial. It’s worth it for the quality of information you get, but newbies might want to look elsewhere.

Ahrefs User Reviews

Ahrefs is incredibly popular with SEO experts, the favorite of industry leaders like Brian Dean from Backlinko.

SEO tool reviews consistently place it as the most complete and comprehensive suite you’ll find out there. Most of the complaints are about the high subscription price and the data limits placed on lower-tier subscriptions.

We Recommend Ahrefs For... 

Ahrefs is one of our favorite keyword research and backlink analysis software because of its high-quality information, easy navigation, and comprehensive features.

We highly recommend it as a top SEO tool for serious research, whether you’re a solo consultant or the SEO expert of a big-name agency.

What Is Moz?

Moz (formerly SEOMoz) is a suite of SEO software that covers virtually all of your ranking needs.

Its all-in-one tool kit includes:

• Keyword Explorer, where you can view, build, track, and update keyword lists
• Rank tracking to measure your SEO impact (we really love the Search Visibility score for a quick overview of performance)
• Crawl diagnostics to spot issues and fix them before they hurt your rankings
• Page optimization insight SEO platform with actionable tips

Pricing

SEO Moz Pro comes with four plans and a 30-day free trial to test it all out. There is also a Moz Local tool for better local visibility (US pricing starts at $129/month).

Standard 

The Standard plan costs $99/month ($79/month billed yearly) for access to the entire Moz SEO tools list. Your research limits are set at three tracked campaigns (weekly reports on one website and three competitors), 150 keyword queries per month, and 5,000 monthly backlink queries.

Medium

The Medium plan will set you back $149/month ($119/month billed annually) and includes ten campaigns, 5,000 monthly keyword queries, and 20,000 backlink queries. You can also brand all the reports you get, which is handy if you’re running an agency.

Large

The Large plan is priced at $249/month ($199/month billed yearly) and gives you 25 tracked campaigns, 15,000 keyword queries, and 70,000 backlink queries per month. 

Premium

Finally, the Premium plan is $599/month ($479/month billed annually) and it gives you complete access to the SEO Moz tool kit.

With 50 tracked campaigns and a monthly allowance of 30,000 keywords and 100,000 backlink queries, you can easily manage multiple websites without ever running out of resources.

Moz Best Features

Why did we rank Moz as one of the best SEO tools of 2022? Here are the main reasons: 

• Comprehensive toolset
• Keyword research powerhouse
• Efficient site crawling and audits
• Smart backlink tracking
• Huge SEO community
• Free trial available

What We Disliked

While we love Moz, we don’t love the tight research and audit limits on lower-tier plans. We also wish it could be cheaper, as the current pricing isn’t exactly small-business-friendly.

Moz User Reviews

Moz is all about its community. In fact, it’s equally well-known for MozCon, the SEO Learning Center, and its thought-leading blog as it is for its toolset.

There are some die-hard Moz fans out there, and for a good reason. Practically every SEO reviewer mentions excellent keyword research, robust (yet action-oriented) insights, and general utility in helping you win over the Google algorithm.

There are some downsides, sure, though the price of a subscription is the most frequently mentioned one. Moz also seems to lag behind in the backlink database, especially when compared to Ahrefs, so we’d love to see an improvement on that.

We Recommend Moz For...

When it comes to SEO, the Moz tool is an all-in-one tool kit, backed by a large community. It’s a great, comprehensive solution for ambitious SEO enthusiasts, whether you’re a seasoned expert or a newbie looking to learn from the best in the game.