Semrush Pricing in 2026: What Each Plan Actually Gets You

Semrush has gotten more complicated to price in 2026. The classic Pro/Guru/Business tiers still exist, but now there's "Semrush One" — a new bundle that pairs traditional SEO tools with AI visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. Add-ons like .Trends ($289/month per user) and the standalone AI Toolkit ($99/month per domain) can quietly double your bill if you're not paying attention.

This guide breaks down what each plan actually includes, where the real costs hide, and when cheaper alternatives give you 80% of the value at a fraction of the price. Because Semrush is genuinely excellent — but it's not the right tool for everyone at every price point.

Classic Plans: What Each Tier Actually Includes

Pro ($139.95/month) handles the basics for freelancers and solo operators. You get keyword research, site audits, competitive analysis, position tracking, and PPC research across Semrush's 25+ billion keyword database. The 5-project limit means you can manage up to 5 domains — sufficient for a small portfolio or a freelancer with a handful of clients. The 500 keyword tracking limit is the main constraint; active SEO campaigns burn through that quickly.

Guru ($249.95/month) is where Semrush becomes genuinely useful for agencies. The Content Marketing Toolkit adds topic research, SEO writing assistant, and content audit tools. Historical data access lets you analyze trends over time — critical for client reporting and strategy. 1,500 keyword tracking positions handle most mid-size accounts. This is the most popular plan for a reason: it hits the sweet spot between capability and cost for growing teams.

Business ($499.95/month) unlocks API access, white-label reporting, and extended limits across everything. If you're an agency producing branded reports for clients or building custom integrations, the Business tier is the only option. For everyone else, it's overkill. The jump from Guru is $250/month for features most teams never use.

Semrush One: The New AI Visibility Bundle

The biggest change in 2026 is "Semrush One" — a new pricing tier that bundles classic SEO tools with AI visibility tracking. With AI Overviews appearing in 30%+ of Google searches and ChatGPT handling millions of product and service queries daily, knowing whether AI platforms mention your brand is becoming a real competitive concern.

The AI Visibility Toolkit tracks your brand's presence across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity using a database of 239+ million global prompts. You can see which queries surface your brand, how AI platforms describe you versus competitors, and whether your site structure is optimized for AI citation.

Is Semrush One worth the premium over classic plans? For brands where AI-generated answers directly affect lead generation — SaaS, professional services, e-commerce with comparison-heavy purchase cycles — yes. The visibility data isn't available anywhere else at this scale. For local businesses or teams focused purely on traditional SEO, the classic plans still cover everything you need.

Add-Ons and Hidden Costs

Semrush's base pricing is straightforward. The add-ons are where bills inflate without warning.

.Trends (Traffic & Market toolkit): $289/month per user. Competitive traffic analysis, market share data, and audience insights. Useful for agencies pitching prospects or analyzing competitors at scale. But at nearly $300/month per seat, it's a significant add-on most small teams can't justify. SimilarWeb's free tier covers basic traffic estimates for most use cases.

Additional user seats: $40-$100/month. Pro adds seats at $40/month, Guru at $80/month, Business at $100/month. These costs dropped 30-43% from 2025 pricing, but they still add up for larger teams. A 5-person agency on Guru pays $249.95 + ($80 x 4) = $569.95/month before any other add-ons.

AI Visibility Toolkit (standalone): $99/month per domain. If you want AI tracking without switching to Semrush One, you can add this to any classic plan. Makes sense for testing the feature on a single domain before committing to the bundle.

Local Toolkit: From $30/month. Local listing management, review monitoring, and local ranking tracking. Worth it for businesses with physical locations; irrelevant for everyone else.

Is Semrush Worth It in 2026?

Yes, if: You need an all-in-one platform for SEO, content marketing, PPC research, and competitive intelligence. Semrush's 25+ billion keyword database, 43 trillion backlink index, and 140+ integrated tools genuinely save time versus juggling multiple specialized tools. The content marketing toolkit alone justifies the Guru upgrade for teams producing SEO content regularly. And the new AI visibility tracking is genuinely first-to-market at this scale — no competitor matches it yet.

No, if: You only need keyword research and basic site audits. At $139.95/month for the entry plan, Semrush is expensive for a single capability. The query limits on Pro can feel restrictive — heavy research days burn through daily limits fast. And if your primary need is PPC campaign management rather than research, Semrush's advertising tools provide data, not optimization. You still need separate tools for bid management, budget allocation, and performance monitoring.

The honest ROI calculation: If you're managing 3+ client accounts or running SEO for a business generating $10K+/month in organic traffic, Semrush pays for itself through time savings and competitive insights you can't get manually. If you're a solo blogger or early-stage startup, it's hard to justify until your organic traffic generates meaningful revenue.

Alternatives Worth Considering

Ahrefs is the closest direct competitor. Its backlink analysis is marginally stronger (500M referring domains vs. Semrush's 390M), and the interface is cleaner. But Ahrefs lacks PPC research tools, has no content marketing toolkit, and its AI visibility tracking (Brand Radar) is less comprehensive than Semrush One. For pure SEO, it's a toss-up. For broader digital marketing, Semrush wins on breadth.

Which Plan Fits Your Situation

Solo freelancer or small blog: Start with Ubersuggest ($12/month) or Moz Starter ($49/month). Only upgrade to Semrush Pro once organic traffic generates enough revenue to justify $140/month. The 7-day free trial lets you test first.

Growing agency (5-15 clients): Semrush Guru ($249.95/month) with annual billing ($208.33/month). The Content Marketing Toolkit and historical data access are essential for client work. Budget $80/month per additional team member.

Enterprise or large agency: Semrush Business ($499.95/month) if you need API access and white-label reports. Consider Semrush One Advanced ($549/month) if AI visibility matters to your clients — it bundles everything at a modest premium over Business.

PPC-focused teams: Semrush provides PPC research data — keyword costs, competitor ad copy, ad history. But it doesn't manage campaigns, optimize bids, or monitor live performance. For active PPC management, pair Semrush's research with Ryze AI for AI-powered campaign optimization across Google Ads and Meta.

Annual billing saves 17% across all plans — that's $270/year on Pro, $500/year on Guru. If you're committing to Semrush, annual is the obvious choice. Just make sure you've validated the plan fits your workflow during the free trial first.