CompareSemrush
Semrush alternative for site owners who mostly check rankings
Semrush does almost everything in SEO, and it prices that way: the cheapest SEO plan is $139 a month. For a blogger who uses it to track rankings and to find the keywords competitors rank for, most of that plan goes unused.
Semrush and GapDigest compared
| Semrush | GapDigest | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | SEO, $139/mo ($117.33/mo billed yearly) | Starter, $19/mo ($190/yr) |
| Keywords on that plan | 500 tracked keywords | 200 tracked keywords |
| Rank checks | Daily | Daily |
| Keywords competitors rank for and you don't | Yes, in the suite | Yes, on every plan: up to 10 per competitor |
| Scheduled competitor email | Not listed | Yes, the weekly report, plus a same-day alert when a competitor passes you or a keyword drops |
| Tells you what to write | ContentShake AI, a $60 a month add-on; on demand | Yes, on every plan: a post plan or refresh plan for each gap worth writing, 4 to 60 a month |
| Backlink index and full site audit | Yes | No backlink index; a weekly health check of up to 200 of your own site's pages |
| Free plan or trial | Free account with 10 reports a day; 7-day trial of paid plans | Free plan: 10 keywords, 1 competitor, no time limit |
Semrush figures from www.semrush.com and www.semrush.com, checked September 2026. "Not listed" means their pages don't say. Check their site for current prices.
Why site owners switch
For rank tracking and competitor keywords on one site, $139 a month is a lot to pay. GapDigest does those two jobs for $19, adds a post plan for each gap worth writing, and emails the findings every week, so there's no project to set up or report to remember.
When Semrush is the better choice
Semrush is the better pick if you also run ads, audit sites, research backlinks, or track more than 500 keywords. GapDigest covers daily positions and alerts, your Search Console, the competitor digest, and the post plans, plus a weekly health check of your own site's top pages, but has no backlink index and no full technical audit.
Run the check on your own site
It's the same lookup behind the weekly report, but with a higher cap: your domain against one competitor, up to 20 keywords with searches, difficulty, and intent, five checks a day (the report itself lists up to 10 per competitor).
Ready to track your own keywords? Start free with 10 keywords.