The short version: Moz Pro and Semrush solve the same problem from opposite ends. Moz is the focused, affordable SEO tool built around one famous metric, Domain Authority. Semrush is the sprawling all-in-one marketing suite with much larger data and a price to match. Want core SEO without the overwhelm? Moz. Run SEO plus paid plus content and want the deepest data? Semrush. And if your real job is staying informed rather than running research sessions, there is a third answer worth knowing about. More on that below.
The 30-second verdict
| If you are… | Pick |
|---|---|
| A solo founder or small team who wants core SEO, cheaply, with no learning curve | Moz Pro |
| An agency or in-house team doing SEO + PPC + content + competitive research | Semrush |
| Someone who mostly needs to know what changed across their marketing, not dig through dashboards | Neither (see the third option) |
Pricing, side by side (2026)
Both bill cheaper annually. Here are the monthly prices:
| Tier | Moz Pro | Semrush |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Starter, $49/mo, 50 keywords | Pro, $139.95/mo, 500 keywords |
| Mid | Standard, $99/mo, 300 keywords, 3 sites | Guru, $249.95/mo, 1,500 keywords |
| High | Medium, $179/mo, 1,500 keywords, 10 sites | Business, $499.95/mo, 5,000 keywords |
The gap is the whole story. Moz starts at $49. Semrush starts at $139.95, nearly 3x, and that price reflects how much more it does (and how much of it you may never touch). Semrush also now sells a bundle called Semrush One, starting around $199/mo, that adds AI visibility tracking across ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. Hold that thought.
Prices as of 2026. Always confirm current rates on the Semrush and Moz pricing pages before you buy.
Where Moz wins
Domain Authority. Moz invented DA and PA, the 1-to-100 scores almost every SEO uses as shorthand for “how strong is this site.” You can find DA in other tools now, but Moz is the source and its whole workflow is built around it.
It does not overwhelm you. Moz is SEO and only SEO: keyword research, rank tracking, link analysis, site crawl. The interface is calm. A non-specialist can open it and be productive in an afternoon.
Price. Starting at $49 is the lowest serious entry point among the major SEO tools. For a single site, that is often all you need.
Where Semrush wins
Data size. Semrush runs one of the largest keyword and backlink databases in the industry. In a competitive market, more data means fewer blind spots.
Breadth. Semrush is not just SEO. It covers paid search, content, social, market and traffic research, and PR. If your marketing is broad, one login covers most of it.
Competitive and PPC intelligence. Semrush’s advertising research and traffic analytics are genuinely strong, and Moz does not really play here.
The catch: most teams use a fraction of Semrush and pay for all of it.
Feature comparison
| Moz Pro | Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Core focus | SEO only | All-in-one marketing |
| Signature metric | Domain Authority | Authority Score |
| Keyword database | Smaller | Among the largest |
| Backlink index | Smaller | Among the largest |
| Paid ads / PPC research | Limited | Strong |
| Learning curve | Gentle | Steep |
| AI search visibility | Not native | Add-on via Semrush One ($199+/mo) |
| Entry price | $49/mo | $139.95/mo |
What both of them quietly assume
Here is the part these comparisons skip. Both Moz and Semrush are dashboards. They are excellent at answering a question the moment you log in and ask it. Which keywords am I ranking for? Who links to my competitor? What is my site health score?
But marketing does not break on a schedule. A competitor cuts their price on a Tuesday. A money page falls out of Google’s index overnight. Your brand stops getting cited in ChatGPT answers. A tool you check every other week will surface all of that eventually, the next time you remember to look. By then it has usually already cost you something.
That is the real limit of the dashboard model. It waits for you. The work of noticing stays on your plate.
The third option
If your honest need is “tell me what changed and what to do about it,” that is a different category from Moz or Semrush, and it helps to know the category exists.
RunAgents is built for exactly that job. Instead of a dashboard you log into, it watches your SEO, AI search visibility, competitors, email deliverability, and brand mentions around the clock, then ships a daily brief of what actually moved with the recommended fix. It also runs as an MCP server, so your AI tools can pull the same intelligence inline while you work. One flat price, $99/mo.
To be fair about what it is not: RunAgents will not replace a deep keyword-research session in Semrush or a Link Explorer dig in Moz. If today’s job is ad-hoc research, keep one of those. But if you are paying $140 to $250 a month for Semrush mostly to check on things, and you would rather be told, that is the trade RunAgents makes. The AI search visibility that Semrush charges $199+/mo for through Semrush One is included.
So which should you choose?
- Choose Moz for focused, affordable SEO and the DA workflow, when you do not need paid-ads or deep competitive data.
- Choose Semrush when your marketing is broad, you want the biggest data, and you will actually use the breadth.
- Choose a monitoring tool like RunAgents when the job you keep failing to do is staying informed, and you would rather have the changes brought to you.
Most teams end up wanting one research tool and one monitoring tool, not two dashboards that do the same thing.
FAQ
Is Moz cheaper than Semrush? Yes. Moz Pro starts at $49/mo versus Semrush’s $139.95/mo, and Moz stays cheaper at every comparable tier.
Is Semrush better than Moz? For depth and breadth, yes. Semrush has far more data and covers paid, content, and competitive research that Moz does not. For simplicity and budget, Moz is the better fit. “Better” really depends on whether you will use what you pay for.
Do I need both Moz and Semrush? Almost never. They overlap heavily, so pick one. If anything, pair a single research tool with a monitoring tool that watches things for you.
Does Moz or Semrush track AI search visibility? Moz does not natively. Semrush added it through Semrush One, starting around $199/mo. Dedicated tools track it as a core feature, often for less.
Is there a free version? Both offer free trials and limited free tools, like Moz’s MozBar and Semrush’s capped free account. For ongoing work you will need a paid plan.
Bottom line
Semrush versus Moz is really depth-and-breadth versus simplicity-and-price. Pick based on which problem is actually yours. But before you renew a $250/mo plan you mostly log in to check on, ask whether your real job is research or staying informed. They are not the same tool, and you may be paying research prices for a monitoring need.