Launched 2008 · Verified Oct 15, 2026

Semrush

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SEO Tools1Write a reviewUnited StatesEffect71/ 100

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Search and AI-visibility suite for keywords, backlinks, audits and competitor traffic, owned by Adobe since April 2026

keyword research rank trackingbacklink analysissite auditFreemium · from $139/mo

Listed on EffectHub · Aug 16, 2026

Web · API · Chrome extension

Screenshot of the Semrush website — semrush.com as we captured it — our own screenshot, not the vendor’s press image.

Pricing

Pricing model: Freemium
Paid options from: $139/mo
Billing: Monthly

A free account covers one demo project and ten reports a day. Paid plans are SEO at $139 per month ($117.33 billed annually), Starter $199 ($165.17 annually) adding AI-visibility prompt tracking and MCP access, Pro+ $299 ($248.17 annually), and Advanced on quote; extra users start at $45 per month and a seven-day trial applies to paid plans.

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Overview

About Semrush

Semrush is a subscription marketing-data platform built on its own keyword, backlink and clickstream databases: it estimates competitors' traffic, finds keyword gaps, tracks positions daily, crawls sites for technical issues and audits backlink profiles. In 2026 the same projects also record how often a brand is cited in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, with prompt tracking, sentiment and an AI-readiness audit sold as Semrush One. Adobe completed its purchase of the company on 28 April 2026 and the product now runs as an Adobe company, with a Claude connector and an API for pulling the data into other tools. Plans are metered by projects, tracked keywords and AI prompts, with extra users billed separately.

Platforms: Web · API · Chrome extension
API: Yes
Last verified: Oct 15, 2026

Verified sources

Pricing page: Free $0 with 1 demo project and 10 reports a day; SEO $139 per month or $117.33 billed annually with 5 websites and 500 keywords; Starter $199 ($165.17 annually) with 50 AI prompts a day and MCP access; Pro+ $299 ($248.17 annually) with 15 websites and 1,500 keywords; Advanced on request; additional users from $45 per month; seven-day free trial (15 October 2026)semrush.com ↗
Newsroom: 'Adobe Completes Semrush Acquisition' dated 28 April 2026; later releases include an official Claude connector (26 August 2026) and the 2026 AI Visibility Index (13 October 2026) (15 October 2026)semrush.com ↗
Terms of service, last updated 25 August 2026, name Semrush Inc., a Delaware corporation at 800 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02199, as the contracting entity (15 October 2026)semrush.com ↗
Founded 2008 by Oleg Shchegolev and Dmitri Melnikov, headquartered in Boston; NYSE listing March 2021; Adobe agreed to acquire it for $1.9 billion in November 2025 and closed on 28 April 2026 (15 October 2026)en.wikipedia.org ↗

Fact check

Is Semrush legit?

We don’t label tools safe or unsafe. Below are the records we checked ourselves, each with the date we read it.

Domain registered: Oct 3, 2008 (18 years ago)Registry record (RDAP), registrar MarkMonitor Inc., looked up Sep 6, 2026
TLS certificate: Issued by Google Trust Services, valid until Dec 14, 2026Seen in our own connection to the site on Oct 15, 2026
Last checked: Oct 15, 2026The site answered
On the market since: 2008The vendor's own material, read by us
Operated by: Semrush Inc., United StatesOur research, card verified Oct 15, 2026

How we collect these records

Editorial verdict

Pros & cons of Semrush

high confidence

Semrush is still the broadest single subscription for anyone who needs competitor traffic estimates, keyword gaps, rank tracking and a site crawler in one login, and its 2026 plans fold AI-answer tracking into the same projects. It is priced for marketing teams and agencies: at $139 a month before extra users and add-ons, a solo site owner pays for a great deal they will never open, and the Adobe acquisition makes the roadmap and pricing a question for a much larger company.

Pros

Keyword, traffic-estimate and backlink databases are Semrush's own, with historical data back to 2012 on higher tiers
AI-visibility tracking (ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode) is in the same project as keyword rankings from the $199 Starter plan
An API, a Chrome extension and an official Claude connector let the data leave the dashboard
A $0 plan and a seven-day trial on paid tiers mean the interface can be judged before paying
Terms name a single Delaware entity at a Boston address and were updated in August 2026 after the Adobe deal

Cons

Every plan is single-user; each extra seat starts at $45 per month on top
Keyword and prompt caps (500 keywords on the $139 and $199 plans) run out quickly across several sites
Traffic figures are estimates from clickstream models, and the gap from real analytics can be wide on small sites
Now part of Adobe, so pricing, packaging and data-sharing terms may change with the parent's enterprise strategy

Best for

In-house SEO and content teams that need keyword, competitor and backlink research in one tool
Agencies that report on rankings, site health and now AI-search visibility for many client domains
Marketers who want brand-mention tracking across ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews next to organic data

Not for

Solo bloggers or small sites that only need a monthly rank check and a free crawler
Link-building specialists who choose a tool on backlink index depth alone, where Ahrefs is the usual comparison

Watch out: The $139 SEO plan does not include the AI-visibility prompt tracking and MCP access shown on the pricing page; those start at the $199 Starter plan, and the annual prices are per month billed up front for a year.

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