Free Alternative to Ahrefs

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that gives you direct insight into how your website performs in Google Search. It is the only tool that provides data directly from Google's index, making it essential for any website owner.

Direct Data from Google

Unlike third-party SEO tools that estimate traffic and rankings, Search Console shows you the actual data: which queries bring users to your site, how often your pages appear in search results, and what your click-through rates look like.

What You Get

• Search performance - See clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position for every query and page
• Index coverage - Find out which pages are indexed, which have errors, and why
• URL inspection - Check how Google sees any specific page on your site
• Sitemap submission - Submit and monitor your XML sitemaps
• Core Web Vitals - Monitor loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability
• Mobile usability - Identify pages with mobile-specific issues
• Security alerts - Get notified about malware, hacking, or other security issues

The Starting Point for SEO

Search Console is not a replacement for tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush. It does not do keyword research, competitor analysis, or backlink auditing. But it is the foundation that every other SEO effort should build on, and it is completely free.

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is free access to three of Ahrefs' tools for websites you can prove you own.

Renamed to "Ahrefs Free"

Ahrefs has rebranded this product. In their words: "Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is now Ahrefs Free — we moved beyond 'Webmaster Tools' to reflect modern teams and give broader free access to Ahrefs' tools." The product and the free access are the same; only the name changed, and the old URL still resolves.

What the free plan gives you

Free for websites with verified ownership, covering three tools. Web Analytics reports traffic, sources and top pages, with no cookies by default and historical graphs that include traffic from LLMs. Site Audit crawls for 170+ technical and on-page issues and tracks a Health Score over time. Site Explorer shows which keywords and pages bring organic traffic, and who links to you.

Ahrefs positions it as filling the gaps in Google Search Console: 170+ monitored issues against GSC's handful, and all known backlinks rather than a sample.

When you would pay

The hard boundary is ownership, not usage. You can audit your own sites as much as you like, but competitor research — the thing most people actually buy Ahrefs for — needs a paid plan. If you only ever look at your own site, you may never need to upgrade.

The other free Ahrefs tools

Ahrefs Free covers your own verified sites. Separately, Ahrefs publishes a set of standalone tools that need no account at all — useful when you want one number rather than a whole audit.

Tool	What it does
Free Keyword Generator	Keyword ideas with volume
Keyword Difficulty Checker	How hard a term is to rank for
Backlink Checker	Top backlinks for any domain
Broken Link Checker	Finds dead outbound links
Website Authority Checker	Domain Rating for any site
Website Traffic Checker	Estimated organic traffic
SERP Checker	Live results for a keyword
Keyword Rank Checker	Where a site ranks for a term
XML Sitemap Generator	Builds a sitemap from a crawl
Website Change Monitor	Alerts on page changes
AI Visibility Checker	Brand mentions across AI engines
AI Mode Tracker	Mentions in Google AI Mode
AI Overviews Tracker	Visibility in AI Overviews
YouTube Keyword Tool	YouTube search ideas
Amazon Keyword Tool	Amazon search ideas
Bing Keyword Tool	Bing search ideas
SEO Toolbar	Chrome/Firefox extension

Ahrefs describes these as "limited compared to a paid Ahrefs account", and that is fair: they return a capped slice of the data. For a single check they are genuinely free, with no card and, for most of them, no signup.

We list Ahrefs Webmaster Tools because the free access was checked against Ahrefs' own page, not because a vendor asked. If it has changed, tell us and we will re-check it.

Seobility is an SEO auditing and monitoring tool that crawls your site daily and reports on technical issues, on-page optimization, and link building opportunities. The free plan is surprisingly capable for a single project.

What You Get on the Free Plan

• 1 project - Monitor a single website
• 1,000 pages crawled - Daily crawling of up to 1,000 pages
• Daily crawling - Automated daily checks for new issues
• 10 keyword monitoring - Track rankings for up to 10 keywords
• 5 backlink checks per day - Analyze your backlink profile

What to Know

Seobility's free plan covers the essentials for monitoring a single website. The daily automated crawls mean you will catch issues quickly without having to remember to run manual audits. For sites under 1,000 pages (which covers most startups), the free plan is genuinely useful.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop application that crawls websites to identify technical SEO issues. It is the industry standard for technical SEO audits, used by agencies and in-house teams worldwide.

What You Get on the Free Version

• 500 URL crawl limit - Crawl up to 500 pages per website
• Broken link detection - Find 404 errors and redirect chains
• Meta data analysis - Audit title tags, meta descriptions, and headings
• Duplicate content - Identify pages with duplicate or thin content
• Redirect audit - Map and analyze redirect chains and loops
• XML sitemap generation - Generate sitemaps from crawl data

What to Know

The 500 URL limit covers most small to medium websites. Screaming Frog runs on your desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), so it is fast and can handle large crawls without relying on cloud infrastructure. The paid version ($259/year) removes the URL limit and adds scheduled crawls, JavaScript rendering, and Google Analytics integration.

Ubersuggest is an SEO tool created by Neil Patel that provides keyword research, site audits, and competitor analysis. The free tier gives you 3 searches per day, enough to explore keyword opportunities and audit your site.

Getting Started with SEO

Ubersuggest is designed for beginners and small businesses who need SEO data but are not ready to pay $99+/month for Ahrefs or SEMrush. The interface is straightforward, and results are presented without jargon.

What You Get on the Free Plan

• 3 searches per day - Run keyword lookups, domain overviews, or content ideas
• Keyword suggestions - Find related keywords with search volume and difficulty scores
• Domain overview - See estimated traffic, top pages, and keyword rankings for any domain
• Top pages report - Discover which pages drive the most traffic to any website
• Basic site audit - Scan your site for SEO issues and get recommendations

What to Know

The free plan is limited to 3 searches per day, which is tight for serious research. The data is less comprehensive than premium tools. But for a founder doing basic keyword research or checking their site health, it covers the essentials at no cost.

Semrush is one of the most comprehensive SEO platforms available. The free plan gives you a taste of its capabilities with 10 searches per day and limited access to its tools.

What You Get on the Free Plan

• 10 analytics queries per day - Run keyword searches, domain overviews, or competitor lookups
• Track 10 keywords - Monitor rankings for up to 10 keywords
• Audit 100 pages - Run a site audit on up to 100 pages
• Domain overview - See estimated traffic and top keywords for any domain
• 1 project - Set up monitoring for one website

What to Know

The free plan is very limited compared to what Semrush offers on paid plans ($139.95+/month). Ten queries per day is enough for occasional research but not for daily SEO work. The free plan is best used to evaluate whether Semrush's data quality justifies the investment before committing to a paid plan.