Compare · Choose · Rank
SEOShortlist.
Find the SEO tool that earns its monthly fee.
Independent comparisons of the best SEO tools, from $24 keyword trackers to full marketing suites. Honest about what small sites actually need, and what only agencies do.
Priced by what you need
A $29 tool beats a $139 suite you use ten percent of. We match tools to site size, not to feature lists.
The free baseline included
Google Search Console does more than most beginners think. It is in our lineup, unpaid, and we tell you when it is enough.
AI search covered
Ranking in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews is the new game. We track which tools actually measure it.
No sponsored rankings
Affiliate links fund the site, but they never decide the order. Free tools that pay us nothing rank where they deserve.
Where do you want to start?
Pick a category and jump straight to the best options.
Semrush
Semrush Inc.
Semrush long ago outgrew "SEO tool": keyword research, rank tracking, backlink analysis, site audits, PPC research, content tools, and social scheduling live in one (dense) interface.
How to choose an SEO tool
Run through these steps and you will know which tool fits you within five minutes.
Our verdicts
Editorial reviews, dated and sourced.
Semrush Inc.
“The most complete marketing suite in the business, and with Semrush One it moved first on the AI era: tracking how often ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini mention your brand. Expensive, occasionally overwhelming, and still the safest professional default.”Editorial team, via SEOShortlist
Ahrefs Pte. Ltd.
“The tool SEO professionals trust most for the data itself: the largest live backlink index in the industry and a keyword explorer that rarely misleads. Less broad than Semrush, more loved by specialists, and the Brand Radar add-on answers the AI question for $199 a month extra.”Editorial team, via SEOShortlist
“The free baseline every site owner should master before spending a cent: your real queries, clicks, indexing status, and Core Web Vitals, straight from Google. It cannot see competitors, which is exactly the gap paid tools fill. We list it unpaid, on principle.”Editorial team, via SEOShortlist
Screaming Frog Ltd
“The technical SEO standard for over a decade: point the desktop crawler at any site and it finds what is broken, duplicated, redirected, and unindexable. The free 500-URL tier handles small sites; the paid license is the best £199 in technical SEO.”Editorial team, via SEOShortlist
Latest news
More newsSE Ranking tests the best AI SEO tools of 2026
A vendor roundup, read it as such, but a useful map of how fast AI features spread through every tier of the SEO tool market this year.
Semrush One launches: brand visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini
The 2026 platform update makes Semrush the first big suite to treat AI answers as a first-class channel, bundling AI-visibility tracking where Ahrefs sells Brand Radar as a $199/mo add-on.
Generative engine optimization grows into a tool category of its own
A wave of dedicated trackers (Profound, Peec AI, Scrunch, AthenaHQ) now measures brand mentions and citations across AI engines. The market consolidated fast in early 2026.
Google updates its guidance on AI features and your website
Google’s official documentation on how AI Overviews and AI Mode use web content, and what site owners can (and cannot) control. Required reading before buying any GEO tool.
Guides & sources
Our practical guides plus the sources we trust ourselves.
Is Google Search Console enough? The honest answer
The free tool does more than beginners think. When paying starts making sense, and the cheapest sensible upgrade path.
Read the guideGEO: getting cited by ChatGPT and AI Overviews
The new game of 2026: AI answers instead of blue links. What it rewards and which tools measure it.
Read the guideWhat SEO tools really cost, tier by tier
From $24 keyword trackers to $250 suites plus add-ons. The two buying rules that keep budgets honest.
Read the guideAll-in-one suites: Semrush, Ahrefs, and the value challengers
The complete platforms compared on data depth, AI features, and what you actually use per dollar.
Read the guideBudget tools: most of the value at a fraction of the price
KeySearch, Mangools, and Keywords Everywhere: what small sites give up by not paying suite prices (less than you think).
Read the guideThe DIY technical audit: an afternoon, zero dollars
Free Screaming Frog plus GSC covers a small site completely. The five issues almost every audit finds.
Read the guideGoogle Search Central: the official SEO documentation
The source of truth on how Google crawls, indexes, and ranks, including the AI features guidance.
Read moreGoogle Search Status Dashboard: live incidents and updates
Before blaming your rankings on a penalty, check whether Google itself is having a day.
Read moreGet the shortlist in your inbox
New SEO tools, price changes, and honest verdicts. Only when there is something worth knowing.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you sign up through one of them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects which SEO tools we recommend.