LinkResearchTools alternatives that put links and client SEO on one bill

When link audits are one job among many

LinkResearchTools pulls link data from 25+ sources, recrawls it and scores the risk of each link. That depth pays off during a penalty recovery. Most weeks, though, a consultant with a few clients spends more time on rankings, audits and reports than on disavow files, and LinkResearchTools lists no rank tracker or keyword research at all.

When to stay. If you clean up penalised link profiles for a living, LinkResearchTools is still the specialist. Move when a disavow job comes up a few times a year rather than every week, and rent the specialist again for those months.

The tools side by side

Each row is the cheapest plan that runs three client sites with rank tracking and client reports, priced for monthly and for yearly billing.

Majestic: I priced Pro for three client sites. Majestic Pro is a link tool only, with no rank tracker, so it falls short of the client reports above.

three client sites: plan priced, monthly and annual cost, Client sites, Tracked keywords, Logins, Free start

Tool and plan	Cost per month	Client sites	Tracked keywords	Logins	Free start
SemrushSEO	$117.33annual $139.95 monthly	5	500	1	Free plan and a 7-day trial
SE RankingCore	$103.20annual $129 monthly	10	2,000	1	14-day trial
MajesticPro	$83.33annual $99.99 monthly	Not published	Not published	1	Trial not published
AhrefsLite	$108annual $129 monthly	5	750	1	Free account, no trial
MozStandard	$79annual $99 monthly	3	300	1	Free tier and a 7-day trial on Medium only
SeobilityPremium	€47.92annual €59.90 monthly	3	300	1	Free plan and a 14-day trial

Prices are in each vendor's own currency. Seobility charges in euros. Those rows are never ranked against, or subtracted from, the dollar prices.

Six picks, in the order I'd consider them

Each one says who it is for, what it costs for three client sites, and what you give up.

1

Semrush

Best single bill for link-heavy consultants

Hands-on

Choose it if

Links still drive much of your client work, but you also owe each client rankings and an audit.

Consider SE Ranking instead if

You expect more than 3 report clients, or want a smaller bill.

Why it fits three client sites

The SEO plan covers 5 projects, tracks 500 keywords daily, audits 20,000 pages per crawl and includes backlink data and 3 reports. That is the whole consultant toolkit for less than LinkResearchTools charges for links alone.

The plan I priced

SEO plan: $139.95/month billed monthly, or $117.33/month billed annually. The 7-day trial asks for a card.

Closest alternative

Ahrefs becomes the better choice when backlink depth matters more to you than reports.

See Semrush plans

Three client sites: SEO

Billed annually

$117.33/mo

Billed monthly

$139.95/mo

Above 5 sites: Pro+ (+$130.84/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

Its backlink scoring is lighter than Link Detox, three clients use every included report, and white label is an add-on.

What my review says

Best for: A LinkResearchTools user who wants link research and full client SEO in one subscription.

Skip it if penalty recovery is most of your weekly work.

Strengths

• Backlink data, rank tracking, audits and reports on one plan.
• A refund window and a trial before you commit.

Limits

• No link risk scoring as detailed as LRT Risk.
• Report count matches three clients exactly.

See Semrush plansMy Semrush reviewSemrush pricingAffiliate link

LinkResearchTools alternatives that put links and client SEO on one bill

2

SE Ranking

Most client room per dollar

Hands-on

Choose it if

Your client list is growing and you want one plan that won't need upgrading for a while.

Consider Semrush instead if

You'd use deep competitor and backlink research daily.

Why it fits three client sites

Core holds 10 projects, 2,000 tracked keywords and 10 reports, with backlink data, a crawl of up to 250,000 pages and API access. White label comes through the Agency Pack add-on.

The plan I priced

Core: $129/month billed monthly, or $103.20/month billed annually. The 14-day trial needs no card.

Closest alternative

Semrush becomes the better choice when link and competitor research outweigh client capacity.

See SE Ranking plans

Three client sites: Core

Billed annually

$103.20/mo

Billed monthly

$129/mo

Above 10 sites: Growth (+$120/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

No refunds, a lighter backlink database than Ahrefs, and no link risk score to replace LRT Risk.

What my review says

Best for: A LinkResearchTools user with a growing client list and a firm budget.

Skip it if link audits still fill most of your billable hours.

Strengths

• Projects and reports well beyond three clients.
• A no-card trial of the plan you'd buy.

Limits

• No refunds.
• No per-link risk scoring.

See SE Ranking plansMy SE Ranking reviewSE Ranking pricingAffiliate link

LinkResearchTools alternatives that put links and client SEO on one bill

3

Majestic

A link specialist at a fraction of the price

Desk research

Choose it if

You want to keep a specialist link tool for audits and add a cheaper suite for the rest.

Consider Ahrefs instead if

You want link depth and rank tracking in the same login.

Why it fits three client sites

Pro returns up to 30,000 Site Explorer rows per search and includes the Historic Index, so you can still check old and lost links during a cleanup. Paired with a suite, the two bills together stay well under Superhero Small.

The plan I priced

Pro: $99.99/month billed monthly, or $83.33/month billed annually, before VAT. New customers get 7 days to ask for a refund.

Closest alternative

Ahrefs becomes the better choice when you want one login for links and rankings.

See Majestic plans

Three client sites: Pro

Billed annually

$83.33/mo

Billed monthly

$99.99/mo

The trade-off

It breaks the one-bill goal: Majestic has no keyword tracking, no audit and no client reports, so you still need a second tool, and Pro includes 1 login.

What my review says

Best for: A LinkResearchTools user who still runs link audits but at a much lower monthly cost.

Skip it if you want a single subscription for all client work.

Strengths

• Trust Flow and Citation Flow for judging link quality.
• The Historic Index for lost and old links on Pro.

Limits

• No rank tracking, audits or client reports.
• No disavow workflow like Link Detox.

See Majestic plansMy Majestic reviewNo affiliate link: plain link

LinkResearchTools alternatives that put links and client SEO on one bill

4

Ahrefs

Deepest link data inside a suite

Hands-on

Choose it if

Link quality is still the core of your service and you want the strongest index outside a link specialist.

Consider Semrush instead if

You want a free trial and a refund window.

Why it fits three client sites

Lite covers 5 projects, tracks 750 keywords, crawls 100,000 pages a month and includes 5 reports, with API and MCP access. Its link index is the main reason to pick it over the other suites.

The plan I priced

Lite: $129/month billed monthly, or $108/month billed annually. A free Ahrefs account with limited data is open to anyone.

Closest alternative

Semrush becomes the better choice when client reports and a trial matter more than index depth.

See Ahrefs plans

Three client sites: Lite

Billed annually

$108/mo

Billed monthly

$129/mo

Above 5 sites: Standard (+$100/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

No trial and no refunds, credits limit how much you can research on Lite, and there is no affiliate link from me.

What my review says

Best for: A LinkResearchTools user who wants the deepest link index inside a full suite.

Skip it if you want to test the plan before paying.

Strengths

• Large backlink index plus tracking and audits.
• API and MCP access on Lite.

Limits

• No trial or refund policy.
• Monthly research credits on Lite.

See Ahrefs plansMy Ahrefs reviewNo affiliate link: plain link

LinkResearchTools alternatives that put links and client SEO on one bill

5

Moz

Authority scores clients already know

Hands-on

Choose it if

Your clients judge links by Domain Authority and you want to report on it alongside rankings.

Consider SE Ranking instead if

A fourth client is likely soon. Standard holds three.

Why it fits three client sites

Standard covers 3 projects, 300 tracked keywords and client reports, crawls 100,000 pages a week and adds up to 150 AI prompts. Spam Score gives a quick first pass on risky links before you decide on a deeper audit.

The plan I priced

Standard: $99/month billed monthly, or $79/month billed annually. The trial is on Medium, not Standard.

Closest alternative

Ahrefs becomes the better choice when you want deeper backlink data than Moz's index.

See Moz plans

Three client sites: Standard

Billed annually

$79/mo

Billed monthly

$99/mo

Above 3 sites: Medium (+$64/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

No refunds, branded reports only from Medium, and Spam Score is a rough filter next to Link Detox.

What my review says

Best for: A LinkResearchTools user whose clients talk in Domain Authority.

Skip it if you need detailed per-link risk scoring.

Strengths

• Domain Authority and Spam Score for quick link checks.
• AI prompt tracking included on Standard.

Limits

• Room for exactly three clients.
• No refunds, and the trial is on Medium.

See Moz plansMy Moz reviewAffiliate link

LinkResearchTools alternatives that put links and client SEO on one bill

6

Seobility

Lowest bill, audit first

Hands-on

Choose it if

Client problems turn out to be on their own pages more often than in their backlinks.

Consider Moz instead if

You want AI prompt tracking and Spam Score.

Why it fits three client sites

Premium covers 3 projects, 300 tracked keywords and reports, audits 25,000 pages per project with JavaScript crawling and includes backlink data for each site.

The plan I priced

Premium: €59.90/month billed monthly, or €47.92/month billed annually, in euros. A free Basic plan stays open if you scale back.

Closest alternative

SE Ranking becomes the better choice when you want more clients, AI prompts and dollar billing.

See Seobility plans

Three client sites: Premium

Billed annually

€47.92/mo

Billed monthly

€59.90/mo

Above 3 sites: Premium with Additional project (+€14.90/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

Backlink data is basic next to a link specialist, there is no white label on Premium, and only one login.

What my review says

Best for: A LinkResearchTools user who wants the lowest bill and a strong on-page audit.

Skip it if link quality analysis is what clients pay you for.

Strengths

• The cheapest plan here that covers three clients with reports.
• A large audit with JavaScript crawling.

Limits

• Basic backlink data.
• No white label on Premium.

See Seobility plansMy Seobility reviewSeobility pricingAffiliate link

LinkResearchTools alternatives that put links and client SEO on one bill

What three client sites really costs

The same workload on every plan, so the prices are comparable. The bar is the annual-billing price per month.

One exception: Majestic is priced on Pro. Majestic Pro is a link tool only, with no rank tracker, so it falls short of the client reports the others meet.

Other options, and why they missed the list

I kept to tools that cover three client sites with rank tracking and reports, plus Majestic for consultants who still want a link specialist. Pure disavow tools would leave you with the same split bill.

• 

  Mangools

  Cheap backlink and keyword data across unlimited domains, but rankings update weekly and the plan that covers three clients' keywords is Premium, which still lists no site audit.

• 

  Screaming Frog

  A strong crawler for client site audits, but it has no backlink index and no rank tracking, so it can't take over the link side of LinkResearchTools.

How I chose, and how I earn from this page

Questions people ask

Compare two of them head to head

• Ahrefs vs Semrush
• Ahrefs vs SE Ranking
• Moz vs Semrush