Ahrefs is a software company that develops online SEO tools and free educational materials for marketing professionals.Ahrefs all-in-one SEO toolset can help you with competitor, keyword, and content research, link building, website audit, rank tracking and mentions monitoring.Ahrefs provides maximum data and accuracy thanks to its database of 8 billion keywords and 421 billion indexed pages.
The credit system sucks, they charge $0.5 per SQL query, it's completely crazy and unacceptable, you can't really use it, it makes no sense to charge a monthly subscription and then put in a credit system that under normal use would last less than 2 hours, it's absurd.
Ahrefs 回复2025-02-24
Hi Noah,
Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts. There might be some confusion, because none of our credit-based plans charge $0.5 per SQL query. The Starter plan comes with 100 credits for $30 (and an additional 500 for verified projects), working out to $0.3 per query. The Lite plan comes with 500 credits (and an additional per verified project), working out to $.26 per query.
These plans are designed for very light usage, not usage that would be exceeded within two hours. Please do reach out to customer support via live chat or [email protected] so we can assist you with the platform and figure out how the credits are being consumed so quickly. Thank you!
I am using ahrefs for some months now. Not the best, but also not the worst.
What i would improve is the toxic backlinks filter, so you can find them faster.
The recent update is buggy, and does not always show me the seo details of the page, even though it has everything.
I hope they fix it with the upcoming updates.
Great backlink analyzer, very simple to use. I also like website authority checker, it helps me to find reliable donors for my linkbuilding strategy.
The price could be cheaper though :(
Its a good tool for SEO but very expensive. However, I like the free tools. Just maximise tools available out there if its not a big project.
Ahrefs 回复2024-12-02
Hi Ellen,
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with us! :-) Yes, if it's your own project and you're just running a simple analysis, we have a ton of useful free tools. We're glad to hear you're getting some good insights with them!
Ahrefs is pretending thet have added an unlimited plan, but I just got restricted for "unfair usage", I work alone, no agency, no api, if you have any of those, forget about ahrefs.
Customer support claimed "the process is fully automated so they do not have any control over it ", but magically, when I told them I am about to issue a chargeback, she find a way to make "adjustments" and unblock it right away.
Customer service lied the exact same way, Ahrefs is lying on their pricing page, they have just replace the 500 credits + 50$ for additionnal 500 with a so called unlimited plan, but if you reach 1000 credits (more or less) you get blocked for "unfair usage".
This is no surprise they have the worst ratings on all seo tools, this is because they are the most dishonest of all and the most greedy, I am canceling my account and not coming back this time.
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hi Fredy,
We're sorry to hear you've had a negative experience. You are correct that the unlimited plans do come with a fair usage clause. The thresholds are not more or less 1,000 credits. We do, however, have a number of automatic safeguards in place to prevent unfair usage, including (but not limited to) account sharing and the use of proxies, scripts, and unauthorized software. As explained customer service, these safeguards are temporary.
If you need more information, please don't hesitate to reach back out to customer support.
1-Star Review for Ahrefs BAD organic traffic guesswork
1-Star Review for Ahrefs: Unreliable Organic Traffic Data and Unhelpful Support
Our traffic is not indisn and Ahrefs Organic Traffic Data is a Joke
Let's be blunt: Ahrefs' organic traffic data is garbage. My clients website pulls in over 300,000 organic pageviews a month, yet Ahrefs shows a measly 800+. That's a massive discrepancy, and it renders their data useless for anyone serious about tracking organic traffic. They cannot continue to present their data as FACT when is IS NOT.
I know how the methodologdy works and the stats below do not include social media, newsletter. emails clicks etc. It's pure organic.
This is an issue for millions of users so not point asking what domain!!! or trying to ask for extra info to get honest 1 star reviews removed IE I could not find your name on our BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Limited Keywords? More Like Limited Usefulness
Their whole system seems flawed. Ahrefs seems to only track a tiny fraction of keywords, which completely misses the boat for websites with a diverse traffic source. It's like they're trying to measure the ocean with a teaspoon.
Support Makes Excuses, Not Fixes
Don't even get me started on their support. I tried to get some help with the inaccurate data, but all I got were excuses and requests for extra info. It feels like they're more interested in burying bad reviews than fixing their product.
Free Tier or Not, This is Unacceptable
Look, I understand there might be limitations with the free tier. But even then, the data should be somewhat close to reality. This is just straight-up bad, and frankly, a waste of time.
Final Verdict: Stay Away (Unless You Like Wild Guesses)
Unless you enjoy basing your SEO strategy on wild guesses, avoid Ahrefs for organic traffic data. Their system is deeply flawed, and their support is unhelpful at best. Look elsewhere for tools that actually provide reliable information.
NOTE: I am not seeking assistance, but sharing my experience.
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hello,
Thank you for your feedback. We will pass it on to the rest of the team.
Horrible company who provide false data about businesses based on estimations from keywords rather than fact. They can't be bothered integrating a google analytics link to sites to gain real traffic data. Instead they just use a completely inaccurate method of estimating it from keywords. Our sites traffic is by far USA but Ahrefs shows it as 70% Indian. It's simply miss-information and they are looking at a decent lawsuit due to their defamation of businesses like ours. Stay away from their false data!!!
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hi there,
We're sorry to hear you've had a negative experience with our traffic estimations. We do strive for transparency about all of our metrics, and our data scientists are continually refining and improving our metrics.
You are welcome to reach out to [email protected] with specific examples if you would like our team to look into your case.
I've been using Ahrefs for over three years, and I'm surprised by the number of negative reviews here. While there are occasional issues.. likely due to the enormous amount of data they manage and keep up to date. I believe the quality of the insights they provide is outstanding and well worth the premium cost.
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Thanks, Team Ribbo! We appreciate the kind words. We're so glad you're happy with the insights you're getting, and we hope to count you among our customers well into the future!
Working with ahrefs consist of errors and slow loading
My working days with ahrefs consist of errors and long waiting times. Iam using ahrefs on and off since years and it has become worse and worse.
"22 Oct - We are experiencing some technical difficulties. The team is working hard to resolve the issue the soonest.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused."
Yeah we sincerely apologize bro, but keep paying 250 bucks every month for our slow and unstable services.
I will not extend my profile this time, and I will not come back for a longer period checking out the other available solutions on the market..
Its sad because ahrefs used to be good, but I can only advise against it at this point.
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hi Egon,
We do sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. We understand that it's very frustrating to deal with platform instability, and we are working hard to ensure maximum uptime going foward.
While we are sad to see you go, we do hope that you will give us another chance in the future.
Good service at first, but became expensive, limited and a lot of issues on Ahrefs's side.
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hi Vianney,
We sincerely apologize for the downtime we experienced in October due to the migration of Rank Tracker. We are working hard to provide continued stability for all of our customers, and we hope that you'll find the service and features much improved going forward.
This company operates with a complete lack of integrity. The product, simply put, is deceptive. They claim a free trial, yet users are hit with unexpected charges—$29 after registration. It's not just the misleading fees; they seem more interested in selling your data than delivering value. Great products are built on transparency and trust. This company has neither. If you're serious about innovation and value, steer clear. They fail on both fronts. Copied straight from website "Ahrefs Free -Learn more ↗" still their in 2026 so please read your website copy before you come claim something untrue.
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hi there,
We apologize for any confusion. We don't offer a free trial. We only have our forever-free plan, Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, which provides limited access to Site Explorer and Site Audit for verified projects only. We also have our $29 Starter plan, but this does not come with a free trial.
If you have any questions or concerns or feel you were billed in error, please contact [email protected]. Thank you!
I have been happy with them for the last 7 years or so. However, the price goes up and I find there are problematic issues a lot.
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hi Jake,
We do apologize for the recent downtime, which was related to the migration of our Rank Tracker tool. We're so happy to hear that you're a longtime customer, and our team is working hard to ensure future stability for all of our customers.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact customer support. Thanks again!
ahrefs used to be good but thats not the case anymore
ahrefs used to be good and had a great price, today you have to pay more than twice the amount and the service is getting slower and slower.
Iam using ahrefs for years now, had the 99$ subscription a long time. now the price for almost the same setup is around 250$, and I was willing to pay that too but now Iam experiencing a very slow service day by day since I've subscribed last week.
When you complain, they tell you they can't afford Service Level Aggreements so they are not able to give me a discount or anything for slow services.
My result is, I will use SEMRush in the future. It has all the same functions but seems to be way faster as I had the chance to take a deep look into this software a friend of mine is using.
so bye Ahrefs. Its sad but the truth. I loved the tool but its of no use if you have to wait 10+ seconds for every click you make.
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hi Florian,
We do apologize for the downtime in October, which was related to the migration of Rank Tracker to updated tech.
We'll pass your feedback to the rest of the team. We're sad to see you go, but we hope that you'll give us another try in the future!
We use Ahrefs for all our domains, and it's pretty helpful. especially for keyword research and competitive analysis. however, it doesn't show how many credits we have left, and there are some occasional bugs too. but overall, it's a pretty decent tool
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hi Ray,
Thanks for your feedback! Please reach out to customer support if you have any questions about how to access the credit counter.
But we're thrilled to hear that you're getting great insights from the tool!
stopped using it after the quota system was introduced! the service has become flawed and not customer-oriented.
Ahrefs 回复2024-11-19
Hi there,
Thank you for your feedback. We recently lifted the credit system for Standard plans and above based on valuable feedback like this. While we're sorry you're no longer among our customers, we hope you'll give us another try in the future.
They don't notify you when you spent all of your included credits.
They just SILENTLY start charging your credit card when you use up more credits than it's included in the plan.
It's not an honest way of doing business.
Of course their representative can tell us, "You read the T&S so close your mouth," but practicing this approach, don't be surprised to get 1-star reviews and people spreading the word about your way of doing business.
It puts a shadow on everything you do.
Like, what else you might do behind the scenes? Maybe hide some valuable keywords from Lite/Standard-plan users in favor of Enterprise users?
Ahrefs 回复2024-09-02
Hello,
We're sorry to hear about your negative experience with our platform. Could you please provide more information about your situation? I'm not able to find the reference to your conversation with our support team, and we're concerned about the potential language used in communcations with you.
Please be aware that PAYG charges are turned off by default. They must be enabled by the user, who also has control over the number consumed. If this wasn't the case with you, we encourage you to contact support again to rectify the situation.
Overpriced and Overhyped. Ahrefs has to be one the most overpriced SEO softwares out there.
Ahrefs 回复2024-09-02
Hi Kimberly,
We're sorry to hear you believe our service is overpriced. We have a range of plans, from free (for verified projects) to Enterprise and have tried to tailor our product to fit a variety of users and use cases.
If you'd like to expand more on your thoughts, we'd be happy to pass the feedback onto our whole team.
Scammers , They charged me for 80 credits 29 dollars outrageous thats like 0.4 $ per credit. Thats really stupid. Please use semrush or moz. This company is doomed !
Ahrefs 回复2024-09-02
Hi Fadiha,
We're sorry to hear you weren't happy with your experience with the Starter plan. There seems to be a bit of confusion, though. The Starter plan comes with 100 credits. If you were only able to use 80, please contact customer support so we can rectify the situation. Thank you.
@ahrefs. SCAM ALERT I researched this company for about 1 month before becoming someone who clicks for commission to try and make some extra money. The first thing I did was to read the reviews and most looked good. I did 5 days and got $1000 for doing it for 5 days. Then the bottom fell out. It has cost me over $50k and rules change and customer service gives bad advice along with your trainer known as a Referrer. Now I have been told to do more now it's gonna cost me about another $65k to get any money back. The customer service Mgr is no help and has yet to apologize for his teams misinformation costing me over $150k. This is a scam and if anyone else has had this happen please reach out. Class action lawsuit
Ahrefs 回复2024-09-02
Hi Rocky,
We're sorry to hear you were caught up in a scam. Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with our business. We don't hire workers to click for commissions, we don't have referrers, and we ask for money from employees. Our jobs are listed only on our official website, and we don't accept applications any other way.
If you have been scammed, we strongly encourage you to contact your local authorities and report the people involved.
Hi Arsh,
Yes, credits apply to filtering. Credits should be looked at more as database queries. The initial query will get you a limited set of data, much like search engines have hundreds of thousands or even millions of results and only initially show you a limited number of those. Applying filters queries the database again and refines the results that would have been outside the scope of the initial query.
Semrush
SE Ranking
Positive Surfer
Soro
Moz
Similarweb
Ubersuggest
Mangools