AI SEO pricing compared
What 5 ai seo tools actually cost — free tiers, the cheapest paid plan, and where each free plan runs out. Each figure is taken from the vendor’s own pricing page and dated, so you can see when we last checked.
| Tool | Free tier | Cheapest paid plan | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frase | No | $39/mo · Starter | 14 Jul 2026 |
| Ahrefs | Yes | $129//mo · $129/mo tier | 14 Jul 2026 |
| Clearscope | No | $129//month · Essentials | 14 Jul 2026 |
| Semrush | Yes | $139/mo · Paid tier 1 | 14 Jul 2026 |
| Alli AI | No | $299//month · $299/mo tier | 14 Jul 2026 |
Prices are as published by each vendor and may be region-specific — many vendors price by country. Confirm on the vendor’s page before buying.
Sorted cheapest paid plan first. A “free tier” means there is a genuinely free plan — tap through to any tool to see the full tier breakdown and exactly where the free plan stops. We list no fabricated prices: where a vendor only quotes “contact sales” we say so.
What drives ai seo pricing
These platforms bill on three stacked meters: plan tier, usage credits, and extra users. Ahrefs shows the pattern most clearly, running $129 to $1,499 a month where each tier grants 1,000 credits per user and charges $40-$80 for each additional seat; Semrush climbs $139 to $549 by lifting limits on projects, keywords, and reports rather than by seat. Clearscope meters content report credits from its $129 Essentials up, with add-on seats and credits at $15-$25. Frase mixes seat count with site count, bundling three seats and five sites at $103 and charging $29 per extra seat. The common driver is throughput: how many keywords you track, reports you pull, or credits you consume, multiplied by how many people need logins. Enterprise tiers such as Ahrefs' $1,499 and Clearscope's custom exist because agencies burn credits and seats at a scale the published plans cannot hold.
How to choose on price
Work out which meter binds you first, because paying to lift the wrong one wastes money. If you research keywords and backlinks, Ahrefs and Semrush tiers turn on limits and credits, so estimate monthly usage: a solo SEO rarely needs beyond Ahrefs' entry $129 or Semrush's $139, and jumping tiers for one extra project is a false economy. If your work is content optimisation, Clearscope's report credits or Frase's seat-and-site bundle matter more than crawl limits. Count logins carefully, since seat add-ons of $40-$80 on Ahrefs and $29 on Frase quietly inflate the bill, and sharing one seat across a team usually breaches terms and triggers lockouts. Free and trial access such as Ahrefs Free, Semrush's 7-day trial, and Frase Starter is enough to test the interface, not to run campaigns. Buy the tier whose credits and seats match your real monthly volume, then add users only as they onboard.
AI SEO pricing FAQ
Why do these SEO suites cost so much more at the top tiers?
Because limits and credits scale steeply. Ahrefs jumps from $129 to $1,499 as it lifts credit allowances and enterprise controls, and Semrush climbs $139 to $549 by raising project, keyword, and report caps. Agencies consuming heavy volume across many clients are what those top tiers are priced for.
How do per-user add-ons change the real cost?
Significantly. Ahrefs bundles 1,000 credits per user and charges $40-$80 for each extra seat depending on tier; Frase adds seats at $29/mo. A five-person team can double the headline price through seat add-ons alone, so budget for logins, not just the base plan.
Can I share one seat to save money?
It is a false economy. These platforms tie credits and access to individual seats and detect concurrent logins, which triggers lockouts or forced upgrades. Buy the seats you need; the add-on rate is cheaper than the disruption of shared-account throttling.
Is the free tier or trial enough to do real SEO work?
No. Ahrefs Free, Semrush's 7-day trial, and Frase's Starter let you evaluate the interface and run a few queries, but keyword tracking, backlink analysis, and content optimisation at any volume need a paid tier with real credit allowances.
See the full breakdown
Open any tool for its complete pricing tiers, free-tier limits, screenshot and honest review.