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Rated 2 out of 5 stars

You cannot just print a page - somehow they prevent that so you use looker studio for thousands of dollars of use a screenshot - very primitive from a useful point of view - you will spend hours tryin... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

In my opinion, this is the best backlink analysis tool. I rarely use the semantic tools, although they are indispensable for finding low-competition keywords. But their backlink analyzers are my most... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

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... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

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 d... See more

Company replied

Company details

  1. SEO Service
  2. Internet Marketing Service

Written by the company

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.


Contact info

2.1

Poor

TrustScore 2 out of 5

317 reviews

5-star
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1-star

Replied to 18% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 2 weeks

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Have just unsubscribed

Have just unsubscribed. I could not see when signing up anything about credit based searches. 500, would last me days not weeks or even a month. Its so sad because the tools are good but just not financially viable for a small business trying to get a grip on their SEO. After reading the reviews below it is guaranteed Ahres will definitely lose business, sorry guys it's the truth. Whoever thought of this policy needs to think hard of users not just a bank balance, trust me it won't work in the long run.
If I could find out how to get a refund I would ask for one.
Such a shame :(

February 8, 2024
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Paul,

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We're truly sorry to hear about your experience and the frustration it has caused. We understand the importance of transparency and clarity when it comes to our pricing and service offerings.

We want to assure you that our team is continuously working to improve our platform and make it more accessible for businesses of all sizes. We appreciate your insights regarding the credit-based searches and will take them into careful consideration as we evaluate and refine our policies.

Regarding your concern about the limits associated with each plan, we do strive to clearly communicate these details on our pricing page to ensure that our customers are well-informed before making a decision. We're sorry if this information was not as visible as it should have been, and we'll certainly review our messaging to see where there are areas of improvement.

If you have any further questions or if there's anything we can do to assist you, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team at support@ahrefs.com. Your satisfaction is incredibly important to us, and we're here to help in any way we can.

We truly appreciate your time and feedback, and we hope to have the opportunity to serve you again in the future under more favorable circumstances. Thank you for giving Ahrefs a try, and we wish you all the best with your SEO endeavors.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Just Looting money and charging for the services not used

Ahrefs just focuses on money and not customer relationships. Even after using their 199 USD for more than a year, they bill you for something that you do not use. Unethical business practices.

February 7, 2024
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Maverick,

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We're truly sorry to hear about your recent experience and any frustration it has caused you.

At Ahrefs, we strive to prioritize customer satisfaction and maintain ethical business practices at all times. We understand the importance of building strong relationships with our customers and ensuring transparency in our pricing and billing processes.

We apologize if there was any confusion or misunderstanding regarding your billing, and we want to assure you that it's never our intention to charge for services or features that you're not using. We take your concerns seriously and will investigate the matter further to ensure that any discrepancies are addressed promptly and appropriately.

Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we appreciate the opportunity to learn and improve from your experience. If there are specific features or services that you feel were billed incorrectly or that you're not utilizing, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team at support@ahrefs.com. We're here to assist you and ensure that your account is managed in accordance with your needs and expectations.

Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience or frustration you've experienced, and we're committed to resolving this issue to your satisfaction. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, and we hope to have the opportunity to restore your trust in Ahrefs in the future.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Why I love ahrefs! 👍

I love Ahrefs because it offers a complete SEO toolkit with data for backlink analysis, keyword research, competitor analysis, and site audits. It has a great UX/UI and it makes it easy to use for both beginners and professionals, helping more than just improve website visibility and organic traffic. I have been using ahrefs for more than 8 years and it's one of my go-to tools for research.

December 1, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Sanjit,

Thank you so much for sharing your positive experience with Ahrefs! We're thrilled to hear that our platform has been such a valuable asset to you over the years.

It's wonderful to know that you appreciate the comprehensive SEO toolkit we offer, and that our features such as backlink analysis, keyword research, competitor analysis, and site audits have been instrumental in your work. We're passionate about providing high-quality data and tools to empower both beginners and professionals in their SEO efforts.

We're especially glad to hear that you find our UX/UI intuitive and user-friendly. Making our platform accessible and easy to navigate for all users is a top priority for us, so it's incredibly rewarding to hear that our efforts have been successful in helping you achieve your goals.

Thank you for your loyalty and for choosing Ahrefs as one of your go-to tools for research. We truly appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to serve you for many more years to come. If you ever have any questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We're here to help in any way we can.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Pricing

Power user, credit based usage, new plan, legacy plan etc. etc. and ultimate would be AHREFS will charge you higher. They will check you at back-end and cap your usage at 80% and ask you to cough extra money for usage. And they will claim many are happy using the new plans based on credit usage. I am definitely not as they increased my pricing by 35% post 2+ years of usage.

They will also keep dumping with useless features, which you will not use and you end up paying like this as they have to support useless features in back-end.

Keep up the good work AHREFS team.

January 25, 2024
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Vijay,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We sincerely apologize for any frustration or inconvenience caused by our pricing model and the recent changes to your plan.

We understand that unexpected price increases can be challenging, especially after being a loyal customer for over two years. Our intention is never to cause discomfort or dissatisfaction among our users, and we genuinely regret any disappointment you've experienced as a result.

Regarding our pricing structure and feature offerings, we're continuously evaluating and adjusting them to better meet the evolving needs of our users. Your feedback regarding the usefulness of certain features is valuable to us, and we'll take it into consideration as we prioritize enhancements and improvements moving forward.

We want to assure you that transparency and fairness are core principles of our business, and we strive to communicate any changes or updates as clearly as possible. If you have any specific concerns or questions about your account, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team. We're here to assist you and address any issues you may be facing.

Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience you've experienced, and we genuinely appreciate your continued support and feedback. Thank you for being a valued member of the Ahrefs community, and we hope to have the opportunity to regain your trust and confidence in the future.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Shame on you Tim Solo!

Your greed results in hard lack of crawling where your link indexes are absolutely not correct and yet, users are ripped of heavily in 2024 and your new credit system where average usage and payment plan of $179 changed to minimum $600-$800 (that's 400%+) for even less correct data you provide. Shame on you and good job Tim Solo! It's not a problem to pay you more, but to pay you more for trash data and trashing 50% referring domains/links for literally every checked domain if not more as LOST but in reality they are not, and to get correct data, user is forced to do manual check. It means that users are paying you to get incorrect data and to check your incorrect data to get it correct and for which you charge shamelessly more! Also, if someone pays for a plan with 2 years history, you set 30 days by default. To change history to 2 years, credit is burned! Shame on you and good job Tim Solo!

Btw, for those who will read this review, from experience, SEMrush active index for referring domains and backlinks is way more accurate combined with historical Majestic's index. Historical Majestic's requires more of manual checking, but that's not hard at all because it doesn't cost any credits.

January 21, 2024
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Chris,

We're sorry to hear you're not happy with the new plans. Please understand that Tim Soulo is our Chief Marketing Officer and did not make the decision to shift to usage-based plans.

If you could, would you mind reaching out to support@ahrefs.com with examples of referring domains that are marked lost but are still there? Many thanks.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They provide totally fake traffic

They provide totally fake traffic, and they are very expensive!! I am not recommend

January 20, 2024
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Melissa,

We're sorry to hear you're not happy with the traffic reported by Ahrefs. Rest assured we do not provide fake traffic numbers. All traffic reported in Ahrefs is organic only and does not account for direct or paid traffic. If you'd like to learn more, please visit: https://help.ahrefs.com/en/articles/1863206-what-is-organic-traffic-in-ahrefs-and-how-do-we-calculate-it

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

"We based the limits on the typical…

"We based the limits on the typical usage of 80% of our customers, and we check this every month to ensure we're still within those limits."

You realise that the people who influence the 80% to become customers are the top 1% of users.

I have no doubt 1000s of users have signed up because I told them to.

I guess I'll be bringing them all to 5emrush.

Burning bridges with the top SEOs is a mental thing to do.

January 18, 2024
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Damon,

We understand your frustration, and we understand that no one enjoys pricing increases. Our CMO, Tim Soulo, was recently on the Authority Hacker podcast and he addressed many of the common questions and concerns our customers have (and he was grilled by Gael Breton about certain choices). If you haven't seen it, it might help shed some light for you about how and why these decisions were made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGWR8JafuVI

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

New Credit System 2024 - Awful

I've been a professional French e-merchant since 2008, I place a lot of importance on SEO, I've trained with professionals here in France, and I've been using Ahref for many years, I was very happy with it until now, when it offered me to change my subscription with a new credit system, my subscription is renewed on the 1st of the month, today is 11/01/2024 and I only have a few credits left, while I have 600 credits per month and I paid cash 1790€ for a Standart annual plan, if I want more credits, I have to pay again 31€ per month! It's quite simple, every time you press a button, the credits go down at breakneck speed.

If this is the only way they can steal from their customers to make more money, it's really pathetic. The migration to the old, more advantageous subscription should have been done with a one-month trial period, and I would have gone straight back to the old subscription.

To tell the truth, I really feel like I've been ripped off on this one, so I'm going to have to look for another SEO tool that respects its customers and doesn't take them for fools.

As you can see, I absolutely do not recommend Ahref any more, because they take their customers for fools.

January 11, 2024
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Frederic,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. We're sorry you were affected by the Legacy plan transition, and we understand your frustration over the price increase that comes with the new plans.

Unfortunately, going back to an old plan isn't an option once the limits have been exceeded. The limits and pricing on Legacy plans no longer reflect the reality of what is sustainable for Ahrefs in the long term nor do they reflect the current value our customers get from the platform.

We've made quite a few changes to our usage-based pricing over the past two years, and we're always open to feedback about improving the system. If you'd like to learn more about the changes we've made, please visit https://ahrefs.com/blog/transparent-pricing/

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Credit system is an absolute joke

Credit system is an absolute joke

Been a long time Ahrefs user, was forcefully switched to their new credit system.

Time to switch to Semrush.

January 2, 2024
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Kevin,

We're sorry to hear you're not happy with the new credit system. Could you give us more information about what you're not happy about? Thanks!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Too much expensive for new startups

December 20, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Amaya,

Thanks for your feedback! We're sorry to hear our pricing isn't ideal for you. If you haven't had a chance to do so, you can check out our free AWT plan, which is designed for those who want to make improvements to their own sites. https://ahrefs.com/webmaster-tools

We also have a range of free tools that can help with limited competitive analysis. https://ahrefs.com/free-seo-tools

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Still love Ahrefs!

Well, back in 2018-2020 I also used Ahrefs for my websites. I came back late this year because I've started a new project.

I don't like the new usage system and since I am private person running on the lite plan, a 100 is still a hundred after tax. So, I also discovered the disadvantages by not being able to access some of the important tools and the ability NOT to update keywords etc.

Maybe you should allow private people a little more access to newer data. But I understand, that if you did so, everyone would sign up as private person or for a lite plan.

Why am I leaving 5 stars? Tried some of the other guys in this game, and that's not even a possibility.

Ahref is still the best (but please consider)!

December 29, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Nikolaj,

Thanks for your feedback! We completely understand where you're coming from. You got it exactly right with the rationale behind the decision. But we're hoping to release some really cool features across all plans this year that we hope you'll enjoy.

Thanks for coming back to us! We hope you'll continue to get great value from our tools. And please don't hesitate to pass on additional feedback either here or through support@ahrefs.com! :)

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

How they calculate the traffic i don't…

How they calculate the traffic i don't know, but i know that is incorrect and fake. my website never ever had a traffic from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan (also all this 3 countries are blocked and they can't enter my website)
In Ahrefs shows India as a top traffic. Stay away of scammers who needs money to change that

December 29, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Jow,

Traffic is calculated based on keyword rankings. If your website is ranking in Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani SERPs, it would stand to reason that traffic is coming from those countries.

If you feel this is an error, please do contact support@ahrefs.com to notify our developers. Thanks!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Really Disappointing…

Really disappointing how they have treated loyal customers. Prices have more than doubled from our legacy plan. I get how things change and price increases are inevitable, but to double this from one month to the next is unacceptable and a great way to lose clients.

December 19, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Sean,

We're sorry you were affected by the Legacy transition. We completely understand that no one enjoys pricing increases and we understand your frustration.

This is the first pricing increase for Legacy users in nearly a decade. The pricing and limits that were put in place years ago are unfortunately no longer sustainable.

But we do understand that this isn't a popular decision for our Legacy users, and we are genuinely sorry that it caused frustration and anger. Your feedback has been passed to the team.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Warning

Warning: you are not paying to use the tools you are paying for credits. I found this out the hard way. It's like paying for Spotify only to find out that you are being charged credits each time you skip to the next track or turn up the volume. They aren't very upfront about their business model either.

December 9, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Cole,

We're sorry to hear you're not happy with our usage-based pricing We have both feature-based and usage-based pricing, which is common for SaaS tools. Both features and credits are increased on higher plans.

Can you expand on how you feel we're not upfront about our business model? We have articles about credits and users linked to on our pricing page, three articles about credit consumption in our help section, and we offer onboarding webinars twice per month. Could you let us know how we could be more transparent and upfront?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Double billing - no replies from Support

I've been billed twice for nearly three months.
I've contacted Support three times and not had a reply.
Shocking (apparently non-existant) customer service.

December 10, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi there,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. As mentioned, it appears your emails weren't reaching our inbox.

Your refund was issued immediately, and we'll be looking into why certain emails are not reaching us. Thanks again!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Before

I used to use it 4-5 years ago.

December 1, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi there,

Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. We're happy to hear you enjoyed your previous experience with Ahrefs, and we hope to count you among our customers again in the future!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

A travesty of a pricing model - a broad daylight scam scheme

A travesty of a pricing model. The "monthly subscription" is a broad daylight scam scheme. What it really is is a credit pack of 500 units - and each unit goes whenever You click on any link on their website - so it goes away fast. While they provide an email address to request refund - they never give the refund. I'm sorry to have given Ahrefs a try - and I'm moving back to Semrush - which is more expensive but at least they don't lie in Your face.

December 3, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi there,

We requested additional information to try to assist with your refund request, but unfortunately there was no response.

We're sorry that you didn't enjoy your experience with Ahrefs. We try to make our pricing as transparent as possible on our pricing page, which offers links to several help articles and a video explaining how our usage based pricing works. If you have suggestions about how this can be improved, we would be happy to hear them.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

New pricing :(

I understand the need for changing pricing structure if costs increase, but making it a credit based system where a few searches can mean you've used 100 credits, and essentially trying to covertly raise business costs by 5-10x in doing so leaves a sour taste.

I would've happily paid a lot extra if needs called, but this mode of making people scared to use the product to save costs and extract more I don't like, just charge a flat rate for actual SEOs who use your product.

Here is hoping this is a wake up call for innovation in the market, as the fact is majority will still use if they are forced to until this takes place!

November 29, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts. We're sorry to hear that you're unhappy with the current pricing/credit system.

We based the limits on the typical usage of 80% of our customers, and we check this every month to ensure we're still within those limits.

Previously, we had customers who wanted to exceed their plan limits with no ability to purchase additional limits. The credit system was designed to address that and allow people to pay more for the platform if they needed to use it more in a given month.

We could have and should have improved our communication around both the new pricing plans and Legacy transfers, and we sincerely apologize for leaving you with a sour taste.

Please don't hesitate to reach out again, either here or through customer support if you have additional feedback or questions.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

As a loyal user for over 3 years

As a loyal user for over 3 years, I am disappointed by the forced closure of the legacy plan. I have renewed this for now, but I'm not of fan of checking my credit usage every day or so. The next plan up is a notable difference in pricing, as are the add-ons for credits.

The platform has always been very a solid, professional tool, but it might be time to look elsewhere.

November 24, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Andrew,

We're sorry you were affected by the Legacy account transfer, and we fully understand that pricing increases aren't fun for anyone.

This is the first time we have increased prices for Legacy accounts in nearly a decade. With increased operational and infrastructure costs, a pricing adjustment was necessary to keep Ahrefs sustainable for the long-term and allow us to keep evolving our product.

We appreciate you testing out our new plans, and we hope that you'll get a lot of value out of our new features. Please don't hesitate to reach out to support if you have further questions or need clarification about the new plans and credit system.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Scam

I have been a customer of Ahrefs since 2017 and have paid them almost £12,000 in fees since then I have just had an email saying they're closing my legacy plan down.

They have absolutely no regard for their customers, instead of reaching out months before they simply cancelled on me but not before taking another payment though, time to move to SEM RUSH which incidentally is cheaper

Note for Ahrefs: Your customers are the lifeblood of your business, these shady practices will get you no where.

Buyers beware !!!!

November 18, 2023
Unprompted review
Ahrefs logo

Reply from Ahrefs

Hi Wayne,

We're sorry that we had to discontinue your Legacy account. We don't want any of our customers to feel like we're pulling the rug out from under them, which is why we notify users 30 days in advance that their plans will be discontinued.

No one likes pricing increases, and this is understandable. Legacy users have enjoyed stable pricing for 9 years. In that time, technology costs have increased, and the internet has become much larger. Unfortunately, in order to remain sustainable, we can no longer support Legacy limits and pricing.

We have tried to ease this transition by offering additional credit packs for a reasonable $35, which covers the needs of the vast majority of users.

But again, we're sorry we had to end your current subscription, Wayne. We do appreciate your having chosen Ahrefs for the past 6 years, and we would be happy to count you among our users in the future.

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