Moz has been part of SEO for a long time. Domain Authority, Whiteboard Friday and the Beginner’s Guide to SEO shaped how a lot of people learned the trade. People search for a Moz alternative for practical reasons: the $99 plan covers three sites and one user, local SEO is a separate product, and the tools report problems rather than fix them. This guide covers alternatives to Moz Pro and to Moz Local, with prices from each official pricing page (checked October 2026), and an honest view of when Moz is still the better choice.
For a direct feature comparison, read RankThat vs Moz Pro.
Why people switch away from Moz
Here is what Moz Pro includes at each price, from its pricing page:
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | Sites | Tracked keywords | Users | Tracked AI prompts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $99 | $79/mo | 3 | 300 | 1 | 150 |
| Medium | $179 | $143/mo | 10 | 1,500 | 2 | 300 |
| Large | $299 | $239/mo | 25 | 3,000 | 3 | 600 |
A $49/mo plan covers one website. The pattern behind most switches:
- Small allowances at the entry price. Three sites and 300 keywords is about 100 keywords per client. An agency with six local clients needs Medium at $179.
- Users are tied to the plan. One user on Standard, two on Medium, three on Large.
- Branded reports start at Medium. Standard doesn’t include them.
- Local SEO costs extra. Moz Local is a separate subscription, from $16/mo ($199 billed yearly).
- Problems are listed, not fixed. Moz describes Site Crawl as error reports with clear instructions for fixes. Someone still has to make each change on the site.
- AI tracking is narrower than some clients expect. Moz tracks GPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode weekly. Clients asking about Perplexity or Claude need another tool.
A worked example: six clients, two people
Plan sizes matter more than headline prices. Take a fictional two-person agency with six clients, among them Brightside Dental and Coastline Plumbing in Austin, tracking about 150 keywords each (900 in total). Here is the cheapest plan on each tool that covers six sites, 900 keywords and two people, at monthly prices:
| Tool | Plan that fits | Monthly price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moz Pro | Medium (10 sites, 1,500 keywords, 2 users) | $179 | $143/mo billed yearly; Standard’s 3 sites is too few |
| RankThat | Enterprise (unlimited projects) | $199 | Professional covers 5 projects, so the sixth client tips it over |
| SE Ranking | Core (10 projects, 2,000 keywords) plus one extra seat | from $145 | Core includes 1 seat; extra seats from $16 |
| Semrush | Pro+ (15 websites, 1,500 keywords) | $299 | The SEO plan covers 5 websites; extra users from $45/mo |
Moz Medium is cheaper than RankThat Enterprise for this agency, and that is worth saying plainly. The difference is what comes with it. RankThat Enterprise includes the local map grid, AI visibility, fixes applied in WordPress, white-label reports and a client portal for every client, with no team limit. On Moz, local tracking means adding Moz Local, and the audit lists fixes for someone else to make. If this agency had five clients instead of six, RankThat Professional at $99/mo would cover them.
The useful question is not which tool is cheapest, but which tool means fewer other subscriptions and fewer hours each month.
Alternatives to Moz Pro
RankThat
Built for running client sites day to day.
- Who it suits: agencies and local businesses that want fixes applied, local and AI tracking in the same plan, and reports clients can read.
- Price: Starter $50/mo (1 project), Professional $99/mo (5 projects, 1,000 tracked keywords per project, 3 team members per project), Enterprise $199/mo (unlimited). Yearly is 10 months’ price. 14-day free trial; you add a card at sign-up and aren’t charged until the trial ends. See pricing.
- Strengths:
- At $99, five projects with 1,000 keywords each, against Moz Standard’s three sites and 300 keywords.
- The 100+ check site audit explains each issue in plain English, and the free Bridge plugin applies approved fixes in WordPress with one-click undo.
- AI visibility checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews, compared with competitors.
- Limitation: no authority score like Domain Authority, no browser extension and no public API.
Semrush
- Who it suits: teams that need much more research data, or PPC tools alongside SEO.
- Price: SEO $139/mo (5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily), SEO + AI Search Starter $199/mo, Pro+ $299/mo (15 websites, 1,500 keywords). Billed annually: $117.33, $165.17 and $248.17. 7-day free trial.
- Strengths: 28B+ keywords in 142 geographic databases; daily rank tracking down to ZIP level; advertising, market and social research in one account.
- Limitation: local (from $30/mo per location), the AI Visibility Toolkit ($99/mo per domain) and extra users (from $45/mo) are sold separately.
Ahrefs
- Who it suits: link builders and SEOs who want the deepest backlink data.
- Price: Lite $129/mo (750 tracked keywords), Standard $249/mo (2,000), Advanced $449/mo (5,000), Enterprise $1,499/mo with an annual commitment. One user per plan; extra users $40 to $80/mo.
- Strengths: 35T backlink records with an index updated every 15 minutes; 28.7B keywords across 217 locations; API and MCP access from Lite.
- Limitation: rank tracking updates weekly, and Report Builder ($99/mo) and Brand Radar AI (from $199/mo) cost extra.
SE Ranking
- Who it suits: agencies that want many projects and daily rankings at a moderate price.
- Price: Core $129/mo (10 projects, 2,000 keywords tracked daily, 1 seat), Growth $279/mo (30 projects, 5,000 keywords, 3 seats). Billed annually: $103.20 and $223.20. 14-day free trial without a card.
- Strengths: Google, Bing, Yahoo and YouTube tracking; a Local & Map Rank Tracker included in Core; extra seats from $16.
- Limitation: AI Search ($89/mo) and white label through the Agency Pack (+$69/mo, annual billing only) are add-ons.
Mangools
- Who it suits: freelancers and small sites that mainly need keyword research and some tracking.
- Price: Basic $30.50/mo, Premium $40.50/mo, Agency $70.50/mo; billed annually $18.85, $26.35 and $48.85 a month. 48-hour money-back guarantee.
- Strengths: KWFinder, SERP analysis, backlinks and site profiles at a lower price than Moz’s $49 plan; unlimited tracked domains; AI Search Watcher and API and MCP access included.
- Limitation: rankings update weekly on Basic and Premium, and there’s no client reporting listed.
Alternatives to Moz Local
If Moz Local is your main reason for using Moz, compare these on local features rather than research.
BrightLocal
- Who it suits: local agencies and multi-location businesses.
- Price: Track $41/mo for one location ($31/mo billed annually), Manage $54/mo, Grow $65/mo, rising with the number of locations. 14-day free trial, no card required.
- Strengths: local rank tracking for up to 100 keywords and four competitors on Track; a geo-grid for up to five keywords; citation accuracy monitoring, with business details synced across key sites on Manage and review collection and responses on Grow.
- Limitation: it is local-only, so you would still need a tool for keyword research and technical audits.
RankThat for local clients
RankThat Professional includes local SEO: a Local Rank Grid showing positions across a map of the service area, citations, and Google Business Profile reviews, with replies drafted for you to post in Google. It doesn’t distribute listings to directories. If you need listings pushed to 90+ directories, Moz Local is built for that.
Moz alternatives compared
| Moz Pro Standard | RankThat Professional | Semrush SEO | Ahrefs Lite | SE Ranking Core | Mangools Premium | BrightLocal Track | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $99 | $99 | $139 | $129 | $129 | $40.50 | $41 (1 location) |
| Sites or projects | 3 | 5 | 5 | Not stated | 10 | Unlimited domains | Per location |
| Tracked keywords | 300 | 1,000 per project | 500 | 750 | 2,000 | 700 | Up to 100 |
| Users | 1 | 3 per project | Extra from $45/mo | 1 | 1 seat | 3 extra seats available | Not stated |
| Local map grid | Moz Local, separate | Included | Local add-on | Not listed | Map tracker | Not listed | Up to 5 keywords |
| AI visibility | GPT, Gemini, AI Mode | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, AI Overviews | From $199 plan | From $199/mo | Add-on, $89/mo | Included | Not listed |
| Fixes applied on site | No | Yes, WordPress | No | Patches, $200/mo per project | No | Not listed | Not listed |
When Moz is still the right pick
Stick with Moz if:
- Domain Authority is part of how you sell or buy links. Many clients and link sellers already quote DA. RankThat has no equivalent score.
- You value the link index. Moz reports 45.5T links across 1B domains.
- You check pages as you browse. MozBar Premium, the Chrome extension, is included in Pro plans.
- You’re training a team. Moz Academy, Whiteboard Friday and the Beginner’s Guide to SEO are useful for onboarding.
- You pull data into your own tools. Moz offers an API with an MCP server. RankThat has no public API.
Some agencies keep a single Moz seat for link research and Domain Authority checks, and run audits, fixes, tracking and client reporting elsewhere. If you go that way, the $49/mo single-site plan or Standard is usually enough for one researcher, and you avoid paying for sites and keywords you track in another tool.
Switching from Moz to RankThat
There’s no Moz import. Ranking history in RankThat starts when you add keywords, so export what you’ll want later.
- Export from Moz Pro: tracked keywords per campaign with locations, a final rankings report, link tracking lists, and the latest Site Crawl issues so you can compare after the first audit.
- Record Domain Authority for each client and competitor if you’ve been reporting it, so the history is on file.
- Add each site as a project and connect Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4 and Google Business Profile.
- Paste keywords into a Keyword List and send them to the Rank Tracker, choosing location, device and daily or weekly checks.
- Install the free Bridge plugin on WordPress sites, run an audit and approve fixes.
- For Moz Local clients, set up the Local Rank Grid and drafted review replies first, and keep Moz Local only if you rely on its directory distribution.
Tell clients before the switch that RankThat doesn’t report Domain Authority. Show them clicks, calls and rankings instead.
Sources
Checked October 2026 on official pages:
- Moz: Moz Pro pricing, Moz Pro features, Moz Local pricing, Moz API
- Semrush: semrush.com/prices, Local pricing
- Ahrefs: ahrefs.com/pricing
- SE Ranking: seranking.com/subscription.html
- Mangools: mangools.com/plans-and-pricing
- BrightLocal: brightlocal.com/pricing