Ahrefs Free Alternative: The Best Ways to Use Ahrefs Without Paying Full Price
Looking for a Ahrefs free alternative? Here are the most practical ways to use Ahrefs without paying full price.
Ahrefs free alternative
A Ahrefs free alternative can work for light usage, but free options often break at scale. This page helps you choose based on outcomes.
The goal here is to scale without shortcuts and without hurting data quality or credibility. This page shows the best ways to use Ahrefswithout paying full price, starting with the most efficient option.
- Tool: Ahrefs
- What it does: SEO toolkit for backlinks, keywords, and competitor research.
- Tool page: Ahrefs overview
Method 1: Use Ahrefs via Ecom Efficiency ($29.99/month)
Ecom Efficiency is not free, but it’s often the closest thing to a free alternative to Ahrefs for most users. For $29.99/month, you get access to Ahrefs plus 50+ AI, SEO, and spy tools in one unified environment.
- You pay far less than Ahrefs’s standalone price
- You still access real workflows (not just demos)
- You avoid paying hundreds per month for a single tool
What you actually lose with a 100% free alternative
Before choosing a fully free alternative to Ahrefs, it’s important to understand trade-offs. Free tools are good for learning and light usage, but rarely for execution at scale.
- Heavy usage caps
- Delayed or sampled data
- Missing exports
- No historical depth
- No scalability
Best free alternatives to Ahrefs
1. Google Search Console
- Type: Free
- Best for: real SEO performance data for your site
- Limitations: no competitor data
2. Google Keyword Planner
- Type: Free
- Best for: keyword ideas and planning baselines
- Limitations: not a full SEO suite
3. Google Trends
- Type: Free
- Best for: trend direction and seasonality checks
- Limitations: no SERP depth or backlink data
How to choose the right Ahrefs free alternative
- If you want zero cost → choose a free tool and accept limits.
- If you want real execution → use Ecom Efficiency.
- If you want enterprise depth → pay for Ahrefs directly.
Most teams don’t need enterprise depth — they need usable insights.
Common mistakes when choosing a Ahrefs free alternative
- Assuming “free” means “usable at scale”
- Stacking multiple weak free tools
- Ignoring time cost
- Over-optimizing for price instead of outcomes
FAQ
Is there a truly free alternative to Ahrefs?
Yes, but most free tools come with strong limitations (caps, delayed/sampled data, missing exports).
Is Ecom Efficiency really cheaper than Ahrefs?
In most cases, yes — $29.99/month versus paying a full standalone plan for Ahrefs, while also getting access to many related tools.
Why not just use a free tool?
Free tools are often fine for learning and basic checks, but not always for execution and repeatable workflows.
When should I pay for Ahrefs?
When you need advanced features at scale and you already validated ROI from your workflow.
Conclusion
A Ahrefs free alternative can mean different things: completely free (but limited) or dramatically cheaper (but still effective). For most users, Ecom Efficiency at $29.99/month is the smartest middle ground — far cheaper than Ahrefs, while still enabling real workflows across multiple tools.
Free tools have their place, but execution-friendly access wins long-term.