Last updated: 2026-10-19
Founded in 2008, Semrush is an SEO and AI search visibility platform that combines keyword research, rank tracking, site audits and backlink analysis with prompt tracking across ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity. Adobe completed its acquisition of the company on 28 April 2026.
About Semrush
Semrush was founded in 2008 by Oleg Shchegolev and Dmitri Melnikov and is headquartered in Boston. It listed on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2021 under the ticker SEMR. Adobe announced a deal to buy the company in November 2025 and, according to Adobe's newsroom, completed the acquisition of Semrush Holdings on 28 April 2026, so Semrush now describes itself as an Adobe company. Adobe's release cites more than 28 million users, a number supplied by the vendor that could not be checked independently.
Today the product spans keyword research, rank tracking, site audits, backlink analysis, content optimization, local SEO and digital PR, with an AI Visibility product added for the answer engines that now sit beside Google.
Pricing is the part buyers misread. The pricing page is split into tabs: SEO plus AI search, a standalone AI Visibility plan, and separately priced products for traffic and market data, local, content, social, advertising and AI PR. On the main tab the plans are SEO, Starter, Pro+ and Advanced, and the AI prompt allowance rises from plan to plan (see the plans table below). The headline SEO price therefore covers only part of the suite.
Independent ratings split sharply between G2 and Trustpilot, by nearly three points on a five-point scale, and the two sites are measuring different things: one is software review, the other is customer service and billing. Both are public, so read the renewal terms before committing to annual billing.
Semrush MCP sends its data into assistants without code. Claude is one supported client and ChatGPT another, while the MCP page also lists Perplexity, Gemini and Cursor. MCP access is listed on the Starter plan and above.
Close neighbours on this site: Peec AI is a narrower tracker for AI answers, Surfer SEO and Frase work at page level, and Writesonic pairs GEO tracking with an article writer. For content-brief work specifically, Clearscope is the closest option here, with MarketMuse another, and NEURONwriter and Outranking add semantic and SERP-based optimization. For the wider category, the best AI search visibility tools guide is the place to start, and CiteLens vs Palmata compares two AEO tools head to head. In the directory, Semrush is listed under the free-tier pricing, GDPR and function-calling facets.
Pricing
com/pricing on 2026-10-19, in USD. 17. Advanced is custom and quoted through a demo.
Annual billing saves up to 17%. The AI Visibility Base plan is $99 a month per domain on annual billing. The Free plan asks for no card, and paid plans have a 7-day trial.
Extra users start at $45 a month, and report add-ons are $10 and $20. See AI search and discovery for other visibility trackers.
| Tier | Monthly price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 1 demo project, 10 reports per day across vital tools, AI Visibility features, Help Center and basic onboarding |
| SEO | $139/mo | 5 websites to monitor, 500 keywords tracked daily, Position Tracking and Site Audit, Basic keyword research, AI search tracking and custom prompt monitoring |
| Starter (SEO + AI Search) | $199/mo | MCP access, 50 AI prompts tracked daily, 1 domain for AI brand performance, 300 AI visibility reports per day, AI-ready Site Audit |
| Pro+ (SEO + AI Search) | $299/mo | 15 websites to monitor, 1,500 keywords, 100 AI prompts tracked daily, Historical SEO data, Content optimization, Multi-location and device tracking |
| Advanced (SEO + AI Search) | Custom, via demo | 40+ websites to monitor, 5,000+ keywords, Unlimited AI prompts tracked daily, SEO share of voice, Advanced API data integration, Team users and reporting |
| AI Visibility Base | $99/mo per domain, billed annually | 25 custom prompts with daily AI rankings, 1 domain for Brand Performance analysis, Mentions from ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity, AI competitor analysis and prompt research, Site audit for AI readiness |
Key Features
- Keyword and competitor research: Searches a keyword database Semrush puts at 28.4 billion keywords across 142 geo databases (vendor figures), with competitor and market analysis built on it.
- Rank tracking and site audit: Tracks keyword positions daily, from 500 keywords on entry plans to 5,000+ on Advanced, and audits site health including an AI-readiness check.
- AI Visibility tracking: Monitors brand mentions and sentiment in ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity, with prompt research and AI competitor analysis.
- Backlink analysis and digital PR: Backlink Analysis and Digital PR tools share the same login as keyword and AI data, so link work sits beside ranking work.
- Content optimization: Pro+ and above add content optimization, keyword cannibalization analysis and historical SEO data.
- Semrush MCP: Connects live Semrush data to ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Cursor, VS Code and Claude Code, and is included on Starter and higher plans.
- API and report add-ons: Advanced adds API data integration, while paid report add-ons bring scheduling, white-label branding and AI-written summaries.
Pros
- Classic search data (keywords, backlinks, rank tracking, audits) and AI visibility tracking share one subscription, so teams do not stitch two tools together.
- A Free plan with no card on file lets a team test the interface before paying.
- G2 shows 4.4 out of 5 from 4,276 reviews, a large independent sample on the product itself.
- A no-code MCP connection puts Semrush data into the assistants a team already uses.
Cons
- Trustpilot shows 1.6 out of 5 from 1,422 reviews, and its summary of recent reviews centres on unexpected renewals, cancellation steps and refunds, so check renewal terms first.
- AI prompt tracking is capped: Starter covers one domain with a daily allowance, and unlimited prompts need the custom-priced Advanced plan.
- The pricing page splits traffic, local, content, social, advertising and AI PR into separate products, so the headline SEO price covers only part of the suite.
- Ownership changed when Adobe completed its acquisition in April 2026, and Adobe says it will combine Semrush with its own products, so bundling and roadmap may shift.
- Semrush states that service data sits in United States data centers, and its security page lists GDPR adherence, yearly penetration tests and PCI DSS Level 1 but no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report.
Data Handling
- Compliance
- GDPR adherence with customer DPAs; PCI DSS Level 1 (both self-reported on Semrush's security page)
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Semrush actually cost?
On the SEO and AI Search tab, monthly billing runs $139, $199 and $299 for the SEO, Starter and Pro+ plans, and annual billing brings those down to $117.33, $165.17 and $248.17 a month. Advanced is quoted through a demo. The standalone AI Visibility plan is $99 a month per domain, and extra users cost from $45 a month.
Is Semrush free to use?
A Free plan exists and asks for no card: one demo project and 10 reports a day across its main tools, plus AI Visibility features. Paid plans add a 7-day trial. Treat the Free plan as a sampler, since daily rank tracking at volume needs a paid tier.
What should you use instead of Semrush?
Peec AI fits if the only job is tracking brand mentions in AI answers. Surfer SEO suits page-level content scoring, and Frase lists plans from $14.99 a month for briefs and drafts. None of them replaces Semrush's keyword and backlink databases, so keep it if link and ranking data drive your decisions.
How does Semrush compare to Peec AI in 2026?
Semrush's Starter plan costs roughly double Peec's entry plan, and both track 50 prompts a day at that level. Semrush adds 500 daily keyword rankings, site audits and backlink data, while Peec includes unlimited users and lets you choose three models. Choose Peec if AI visibility reporting is the whole brief, and Semrush if search and AI data must live together.
What does it take to start using Semrush?
Sign up for the Free plan, which asks for no card, or begin the 7-day trial of a paid plan. The Starter plan monitors 5 websites and one domain for AI brand performance, so decide which domain matters most before choosing a tier. MCP access, if you want it, is listed from Starter upward.
Top Alternatives
- Peec AI: Pick Peec AI when AI answer tracking is the whole job and unlimited seats matter; pick Semrush when keyword, backlink and site-audit data must sit beside it.
- Surfer SEO: Pick Surfer SEO when the work is scoring and rewriting individual pages; pick Semrush when rank tracking and link data are needed too.
- Writesonic: Pick Writesonic when AI article writing and GEO tracking share one subscription; pick Semrush for its keyword and backlink databases.
- Frase: Pick Frase for AI-assisted briefs and drafts at a lower sticker price; pick Semrush when site audits, rank tracking and competitor data are required.