Welcome to the ultimate Spyfu vs Ahrefs review of 2024.
There are so many SEO tools out there, yet so few are worth your attention.
Today, I’ll cover the best features, pricing (is Ahrefs really worth the money?), Pros and Cons, and my personal experience with both products.
By the end, you’ll know EXACTLY which seo tools are right for you.
Spyfu vs Ahrefs: which one is the best?
Ask Yourself:
Do I need an SEO tool to manage small projects from time to time, or do I need a comprehensive tool to do in-depth SEO analysis for several projects?
If you just entered the SEO world and all you need is an SEO tool for keyword research, competitive analysis, and PPC research with affordable pricing plans, get Spyfu.
However, if you’re an SEO professional and you need advanced features to manage several projects for your SEO campaigns, get Ahrefs.
Get Spyfu if…
- You’re on a budget;
- You need a tool specialized in PPC research and campaign analysis;
- You need to focus on competitor keyword analysis;
- If you’re a beginner in the SEO world.
Get Ahrefs if…
- If you need to manage multiple projects or mid-size/big projects;
- If you need to access advanced tools and data;
- If you need a tool to do in-depth keyword research and backlink analysis;
- If you need to perform advanced site audits.
| Ahrefs | Spyfu | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Varies among users | Easy to use |
| Data Accuracy | Extremely Accurate | Average |
| Competitor Analysis | Excellent | Decent |
| Keyword Research | Excellent | Decent |
| PPC Analysis | Decent | Excellent |
| Price | Starts from $99 | Starts from $39 |
Spyfu Pros & Cons
Pro
- User Friendly interface
- Cheap
- Great features for PPC and competitor analysis
- Historical data that go back to 2006
Cons
- Basic features
- No free trial/freemium version
- Not always accurate
Ahrefs Pros & Cons
Pro
- Freemium version
- Accurate and up-to-date data
- Great features for backlink analysis
- In-depth keyword research
Cons
- All plans come with only 1 user included
- Expensive
- No Free Trial
What is Spyfu?
Spyfu is a comprehensive SEO tool that focuses on PPC research and campaign analysis.
SpyFu uses web scraping technology to gather data, helping marketers improve their online search performance.
The best features of this tool include competitor keyword analysis, PPC research, and campaign analysis. But you can also use it for backlink monitoring, competitive analysis, and keyword rankings.
Who is it made for?
It is specially made for first-time marketers who have a small customer base or have to manage small projects.
SpyFu Best Features
SEO Competitor Research
Spy on your competitors to learn every keyword they rank on and the exact content and backlinks they have so you can build the perfect SEO strategy to outrank them in no time.
The main features of PPC and Organic SEO include:
- Research Competitors SEO Keywords: Download your competitor SEO keywords and check what they rank on and how many clicks they get;
- Rank Tracking: Keep track of every website in your niche and spy on the changes in rankings and content over time. Track your keywords ranking progress;
- Content Gap Analysis: Get insight into the most important keywords you aren’t ranking for, but your competitors are;
- Get SEO Reports for Clients;
- Backlinks Analysis: Learn which backlinks your competitors have that you don’t for specific keywords or pages;
Keyword research
With the keywords research tool, you can either search for a seed keyword and generate targeted keyword ideas or search for a competitor and spy on their keyword strategy.
With the keyword research tool, you can:
- Find advanced insights on each keyword;
- Plan SEO & PPC campaigns;
- Discover Backlinks for Specific Keywords;
- Analyze the SERP to learn about the best-ranking articles;
- Organize keywords into groups and export them easily;
Spyfu Pricing
Spyfu is definitely cheaper than Ahrefs.
There are 2 plans to choose from:
- Basic: $39/m
- Professional: $79/m
- Special Offer: Basic plan for $9/m and Pro plan for $49/m
What is Ahrefs?
Ahrefs is hands down one of the best all-in-one SEO tools available.
Designed to cover every aspect of your on-page and off-page SEO, Ahrefs has extremely accurate data to run different types of tasks: keyword research, competitor analysis, site audits, and more.
It is, in fact, considered one of the most active Web crawlers in the SEO industry.
Who is it made for?
Ahrefs is made for SEO professionals and marketing agencies.
If you’re serius about SEO and you have several projects to run, Ahrefs it’s the one for you.
Ahrefs Best Features
Keyword Research
Ahrefs keyword explorer tool has a huge database with over 17 billion keywords.
Here, you can research new keywords over 10 different search engines, including Amazon, YouTube, and, of course, good old Google.
With Ahrefs, you can learn about different metrics to choose the best keyword for your marketing strategy:
- Keyword Data like Difficulty, Monthly Search Volume, Global Volume;
- SERP Overview and Position history to spy on your competitors and gather all the information you need to outrank them;
- Keyword ideas and Related terms;
Website Audits
With the Site Audit tool, you can perform weekly site audits to learn about your site’s health score.
The tool will give you an overview of issues and errors present on your site and tips on how to solve them.
For instance, you might come across errors related to broken links, internal links, and missing alt texts that can harm your SEO rankings.
What I like about this feature is that you can run as many site audits as you want and even schedule them and automatically receive a detailed report via email.
Competitor Analysis
One of the best features of Ahrefs is for sure its competitor analysis capabilities.
By inserting your competitor URLs, you can analyze several data such as:
- Organic Search: Organic Keywords, Top Pages, Organic Competitors, Content Gap;
- Backlink Profiles: All Backlinks, Broken Backlinks, and Referring Domains;
- PPC Traffic: Paid Keywords, Ads, and Paid Pages;
Afrefs Pricing
Ahrefs offers 4 different pricing plans that you can choose from.
- Lite Plan: $99/m (or $83 if billed annually), 500 credits. This plan is perfect for small businesses and hobby projects;
- Standard Plan: starting at $199 per month ($166 if billed annually), 600 credits. It’s a great fit for freelance SEO and marketing consultants;
- Advanced Plan: Starting at $399 per month ($333 if billed annually), 750 credits. It offers advanced features to take your SEO efforts to the next level;
- Enterprise Plan: starting at $999 per month ($933 if billed annually), with customizable credits. This plan is tailored for agencies and enterprises, providing comprehensive tools for optimal SEO performance.
What to choose between Ahrefs and Spyfu?
Now that we’ve seen the main features of each tool and their pros and cons, which of these 2 options is better for your needs?
To answer this question, we’ll see how they stack up in relation to 5 essential components of every seo tool: Interface, Data accuracy, Competitive Analysis, keyword research, and PPC Analysis
| Ahrefs | Spyfu | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Varies among users | Easy to use |
| Data Accuracy | Extremely Accurate | Average |
| Competitor Analysis | Excellent | Decent |
| Keyword Research | Excellent | Decent |
| PPC Analysis | Decent | Excellent |
| Price | Starts from $99 | Starts from $39 |
Ease of Use
Even for newbies, Spyfu is simple and easy to use. Data are presented in a clear and user-friendly way.
Whereas Ahrefs can be a bit overwhelming if you’re new to SEO.
This is not due to its interface but to the amount of data and features available since they are way more than what Spyfu can offer.
Best: Spyfu
Data Accuracy
Data are taken directly from a search engine result page, and the tool is known as pretty accurate overall.
But here, the winner is Ahrefs.
It is known as one of the most accurate SEO tools when it comes to keyword metrics and backlink analysis (they have the largest index of live backlinks that gets updated every 15 minutes.)
Best: Ahrefs
Competitor Analysis
When it comes to analyzing competitors’ backlink profiles and ranking, Ahrefs is the best SEO tool out there.
It has a bounce of features to analyze backlinks profiles, broken backlinks, and keyword ranking that Spyfu doesn’t have.
Best: Ahref
Keyword Research
Ahrefs keyword explorer tool is one of the most solid ones out there.
The data provided are super accurate and let you go deeper in the keyword analysis. Plus, unlike Spyfu, Ahrefs lets you analyze keywords for 10 different search engines.
Best: Ahrefs
PPC Analysis
Spyfu’s workhorse is, for sure, PPC campaigns.
It has advanced features to easily monitor your PPC Competitors and track every domain bidding on your Google Ads. Plus, you can track your ranking progress and impression share on your most important keyword groups.
With Ahrefs, you can also track PPC Campaigns, but Spyfu’s features let you go deeper into the analysis.
Best: Spyfu
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ahrefs or Semrush more accurate?
When it comes to the accuracy of SEO metrics, both Ahrefs and Semrush are pretty accurate.
Ahrefs has an extensive backlink database, and the accuracy of its keyword metrics is top-notch. It updates its live backlink database every 15 minutes, making it highly reliable for backlink analysis.
On the other hand, Semrush is known for its precise traffic estimations and comprehensive keyword data.
Plus, Semrush applies a unique method of click-through rate (CTR) estimation for its traffic analytics.
In fact, more users might find Semrush to be more accurate in this aspect.
Is SpyFu data accurate?
SpyFu’s data accuracy is generally high when it comes to paid search (PPC) analysis.
The tool is particularly adept at tracking the PPC campaigns of competitors, including the ranking progress and impression share on crucial keyword groups.
However, for other SEO metrics, such as backlink analysis and keyword metrics, Ahrefs is often considered to have higher accuracy.
Can I use Ahref for free?
Ahrefs does not offer a traditional free plan like some of its competitors.
But, it does provide some limited free access to some features like the backlink checker, website authority checker, and keyword generator, for a limited amount of searches without any cost.
