Alternatives

SpyFu alternatives for working on your own site, not just watching rivals

By Joonas Rotko, ex-agency co-owner, 10+ years spending real marketing budgets

Prices verified 15 Oct 2026 · How I choose, and how I earn from this page

If SpyFu has shown you what your competitors rank and bid on, and the job now is your own site, I'd start with Semrush. Its SEO plan keeps competitor keyword research and adds daily rank tracking, a site audit and Google AI Overview flags, for $117.33/month billed annually. SpyFu Basic is $29/month billed annually. SE Ranking costs less than Semrush and tracks AI prompts too. Prices checked 15 Oct 2026.

Every price on this page is for

1 site
100 tracked keywords
1 user
AI search visibility

Who this is for. Small business owners who signed up for SpyFu to see what rivals do in Google, organic and paid, and now want their subscription to look after their own website. SpyFu Basic tracks 5,000 keywords, but updates them weekly, and its Basic card crosses out AI Brand Monitoring.

You research competitors for many clients and need white-label reports: Best SEO software for agencies
The rivals that worry you are the ones ChatGPT and Perplexity recommend: Best AI visibility and GEO tools
You want competitor and keyword data through an API for your own dashboards: Best SEO APIs

My picks for different needs

Find the line that sounds like you. Each pick links to the full reasoning below.

I still want competitor research, plus everything else
Rival keyword research kept, with daily rankings and a site audit on the SEO plan.
Why this one
Semrush
My default
$117.33/moannual
See Semrush plansAffiliate link
I want AI search tracking on the plan I buy
AI prompts, daily rankings and a large crawl, for less than Semrush.
Why this one
SE Ranking
$103.20/moannual
See SE Ranking plansAffiliate link
I want the smallest price jump from SpyFu
The lowest dollar price here, with AI prompts and backlinks. Rankings stay weekly.
Why this one
Mangools
$37.70/moannual
See Mangools plansAffiliate link
I want a long-standing SEO brand with AI tracking
Standard follows AI prompts and Google AI Overviews alongside your rankings.
Why this one
Moz
$79/moannual
See Moz plansAffiliate link
I suspect the site itself has technical problems
An audit-first suite, billed in euros, with a free plan.
Why this one
Seobility
€47.92/moannual
See Seobility plansAffiliate link
I want a to-do list, not research tables
Site problems turned into tasks, with Google and ChatGPT tracked daily.
Why this one
Morningscore
$57.50/moannual
See Morningscore plansAffiliate link

Trading SpyFu's rival research for a wider SEO toolkit

SpyFu is built around one question: what is working for the domain next to yours? It answers that cheaply, with the organic keywords and ad history of almost any rival. People move on once the question becomes what is happening to their own site, from one day to the next and inside AI answers.

What you gain

Daily rank checks: SE Ranking Core, Semrush's SEO plan and Morningscore Lite refresh positions every day, where SpyFu refreshes them weekly on every plan.
AI search tracking on the plan you buy first: SE Ranking Core watches 100 prompts across 5 engines and Mangools Basic 500. SpyFu saves full AI Brand Monitoring for Pro + AI.
A bigger crawl of your own pages: SE Ranking Core crawls up to 250,000 pages per audit, against 50,000 crawl pages a month on SpyFu Basic.

What you give up

Paid search research. SpyFu shows which keywords and ads a rival has bought on Google. If that feeds your ad budget, test the replacement's ad research before you cancel. Semrush is where I'd look first.
Tracking volume. SpyFu Basic follows 5,000 keywords, more than any entry plan here: SE Ranking Core stops at 2,000 and Semrush's SEO plan at 500.
A low price with a refund. SpyFu Basic is $39/month billed monthly with a 30-day money-back guarantee, while SE Ranking and Moz refund nothing.

When to stay. If you open SpyFu mainly before planning ads or content, and a weekly look at your own rankings is enough, it is still the cheapest way to keep tabs on rivals. Switch when you check your own site more often than theirs.

The tools side by side

Each row is the cheapest plan that tracks one site's rankings and its AI search visibility, worked out separately for monthly and annual billing.

one site: plan priced, monthly and annual cost, Sites, Keywords, AI search tracking, Free start
Tool and plan	Cost per month	Sites	Keywords	AI search tracking	Free start
SemrushSEO	$117.33annual $139.95 monthly	5	500	Google AI Overviews	Free plan and a 7-day trial
SE RankingCore	$103.20annual $129 monthly	10	2,000	Google AI Overviews plus 100 AI prompts	14-day trial
MangoolsBasic	$37.70annual $61 monthly	Unlimited domains	200	500 AI prompts	Free plan
MozStandard	$79annual $99 monthly	3	300	Google AI Overviews plus 150 AI prompts	Free tier and a 7-day trial on Medium only
SeobilityPremium	€47.92annual €59.90 monthly	3	300	Google AI Overviews, prompt tracking coming soon	Free plan and a 14-day trial
MorningscoreLite	$57.50annual $69 monthly	3	100	Google AI Overviews plus 10 AI prompts	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 one site, and what you give up.

Semrush

Rival research kept, the rest added

Hands-on

Choose it if

You still look at rivals every week but also need your own site watched every day.

Consider SE Ranking instead if

AI prompt tracking matters. Semrush's SEO plan flags AI Overviews but tracks no prompts.

Why it fits one site

The SEO plan covers competitor keyword and backlink research, then tracks 500 keywords daily, audits 20,000 pages per crawl and flags when an AI Overview appears for a keyword you follow. That is SpyFu's research plus the upkeep of your own site in one account.

The plan I priced

SEO plan: $139.95/month billed monthly, or $117.33/month billed annually.

Closest alternative

SE Ranking becomes the better choice when you want AI prompts and a lower bill.

One site: SEO

Billed annually

$117.33/mo

Billed monthly

$139.95/mo

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

The trade-off

It costs several times SpyFu Basic, tracks far fewer keywords (500 against 5,000), and only annual plans can be refunded.

What my review says

Best for: A SpyFu user who still studies rivals but now needs daily care of their own site.

Skip it if competitor research is still the only job you do.

Strengths

Competitor research in the same account as tracking and audits.
Daily rank checks instead of SpyFu's weekly ones.

Limits

Several times the price of SpyFu Basic.
A much shorter tracked keyword list.

See Semrush plans My Semrush review Semrush pricingAffiliate link

SE Ranking

AI search tracking, lower bill than Semrush

Hands-on

Choose it if

You want to know whether ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews mention your business, not only where rivals rank.

Consider Semrush instead if

Competitor research is still half your work and the budget stretches to it.

Why it fits one site

Core tracks 2,000 keywords daily and 100 AI prompts across 5 engines, audits up to 250,000 pages, and still includes competitor and backlink research. The 14-day trial needs no card.

The plan I priced

Core: $129/month billed monthly, or $103.20/month billed annually.

Closest alternative

Semrush becomes the better choice when you want deeper rival research and can pay more for it.

SE Ranking homepage, captured 2 Oct 2026

One site: Core

Billed annually

$103.20/mo

Billed monthly

$129/mo

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

The trade-off

SE Ranking has no money-back guarantee, where SpyFu gives 30 days, and Core tracks fewer keywords than SpyFu Basic.

What my review says

Best for: A SpyFu user who wants their own site tracked daily and inside AI answers.

Skip it if you want a refund window like the one SpyFu offers.

Strengths

AI prompts on the entry plan, where SpyFu Basic has no AI monitoring.
Daily rank updates and a far larger crawl than SpyFu Basic.

Limits

No money-back guarantee.
A smaller tracker than SpyFu Basic.

See SE Ranking plans My SE Ranking review SE Ranking pricingAffiliate link

Mangools

Smallest price jump, AI prompts added

Hands-on

Choose it if

You want the smallest step up from SpyFu's bill and weekly rankings are fine.

Consider SE Ranking instead if

Daily rank checks matter. Mangools Basic checks weekly, the same as SpyFu.

Why it fits one site

Basic adds 500 AI prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and more, plus 20 domain analyses a day for sizing up rivals, and backlink data. A free plan lets you try it before you cancel SpyFu.

The plan I priced

Basic: $61/month billed monthly, or $37.70/month billed annually.

Closest alternative

SE Ranking becomes the better choice when daily rankings and an audit are worth a bigger bill.

One site: Mangools Basic

Billed annually

$37.70/mo

Billed monthly

$61/mo

Above 200 tracked keywords: Mangools Premium (+$15/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

Rankings stay weekly, as on SpyFu, Basic tracks 200 keywords against SpyFu's 5,000, there is no site audit, and refunds close after 48 hours.

What my review says

Best for: A SpyFu user on a tight budget whose missing piece is AI search.

Skip it if daily movement in your rankings is what you need to see.

Strengths

The lowest dollar price on this page.
A large AI prompt allowance on the entry plan.

Limits

Weekly rank updates, no faster than SpyFu.
No site audit.

See Mangools plans My Mangools reviewAffiliate link

Moz

Established suite with AI prompts

Hands-on

Choose it if

You want a long-standing SEO suite with AI tracking and your keyword list is a few hundred at most.

Consider SE Ranking instead if

You want daily tracking of a longer list. Core holds 2,000 keywords.

Why it fits one site

Standard tracks 300 keywords, follows up to 150 AI prompts on 4 models, flags Google AI Overviews and crawls 100,000 pages a week. Domain Authority also gives you a quick read on the rivals SpyFu used to show you.

The plan I priced

Standard: $99/month billed monthly, or $79/month billed annually.

Closest alternative

Morningscore becomes the better choice when you'd rather work from a plain task list and try it with no card.

One site: Standard

Billed annually

$79/mo

Billed monthly

$99/mo

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

The trade-off

Moz gives no refunds, its trial covers Medium rather than Standard, and Standard tracks a small fraction of SpyFu Basic's keyword count.

What my review says

Best for: A SpyFu user who wants AI prompt tracking from a long-standing SEO brand.

Skip it if your tracked keyword list is long.

Strengths

AI prompt and AI Overview tracking on Standard.
Domain Authority for sizing up competitors quickly.

Limits

No refunds, unlike SpyFu.
A much shorter tracked list than SpyFu Basic.

See Moz plans My Moz reviewAffiliate link

Seobility

Audit first, billed in euros

Hands-on

Choose it if

SpyFu showed you what rivals do well, and now you suspect your own site has technical problems holding it back.

Consider SE Ranking instead if

You need AI prompt tracking now. Seobility still lists it as coming soon.

Why it fits one site

Premium audits 25,000 pages per crawl with JavaScript rendering, tracks 300 keywords with Google AI Overview flags and watches 20 competitors, so you keep an eye on rivals while you fix your own site.

The plan I priced

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

Closest alternative

SE Ranking becomes the better choice when you want AI prompts today and a longer keyword list.

One site: 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

Premium tracks far fewer keywords than SpyFu Basic, mobile positions refresh only every few days, and white label needs a higher plan.

What my review says

Best for: A SpyFu user who now needs to find and fix problems on their own site.

Skip it if AI answers are the gap you need closed right now.

Strengths

A site audit with JavaScript crawling on the plan priced here.
A free Basic plan to test the audit first.

Limits

AI prompt tracking not on sale yet.
A short tracked keyword list next to SpyFu's.

See Seobility plans My Seobility review Seobility pricingAffiliate link

Morningscore

Tasks instead of research tables

Desk research

Choose it if

SpyFu's tables gave you more data than you had time to act on.

Consider Seobility instead if

You want a deeper audit. Premium crawls far more pages per audit.

Why it fits one site

Lite tracks 100 keywords daily across 3 websites, follows 10 AI prompts on Google (AI Overviews) and ChatGPT, and gives you 2 logins, so a colleague can work through the tasks with you.

The plan I priced

Lite: $69/month billed monthly, or $57.50/month billed annually. The 14-day trial needs no card.

Closest alternative

Moz becomes the better choice when you want more AI prompts and a longer keyword list.

Morningscore homepage, captured 6 Oct 2026

One site: Lite

Billed annually

$57.50/mo

Billed monthly

$69/mo

Above 3 sites: Business (+$25/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

Lite allows only 25 keyword lookups a month and tracks a tiny list next to SpyFu Basic, so it doesn't replace rival research.

What my review says

Best for: A SpyFu user who would rather act on a few clear tasks than read reports.

Skip it if competitor research still fills most of your week.

Strengths

Daily rankings plus Google AI Overview and ChatGPT tracking.
Extra logins and a card-free trial.

Limits

A small monthly allowance of keyword lookups.
Not built for digging into rivals.

See Morningscore plans My Morningscore reviewAffiliate link

What one site really costs

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

Dollar prices, per month (billed annually where sold)

Mangools$37.70/mo
Morningscore$57.50/mo
Moz$79/mo
SE Ranking$103.20/mo
Semrush$117.33/mo

Other currencies, per month (billed annually where sold)

Seobility€47.92/mo

Other currencies are not converted to dollars and are not compared with the bars above.

Pay monthly or yearly?

What yearly billing saves on the same plan.

Semrush$139.95 monthly, $117.33 yearly: 16% less
SE Ranking$129 monthly, $103.20 yearly: 20% less
Mangools$61 monthly, $37.70 yearly: 38% less
Moz$99 monthly, $79 yearly: 20% less
Seobility€59.90 monthly, €47.92 yearly: 20% less
Morningscore$69 monthly, $57.50 yearly: 17% less

When you'll outgrow the plan

The first limit you hit, and the next plan up.

Semrush: above 5 sites, Pro+ (+$130.84/mo)
SE Ranking: above 10 sites, Growth (+$120/mo)
Mangools: above 200 tracked keywords, Mangools Premium (+$15/mo)
Moz: above 3 sites, Medium (+$64/mo)
Seobility: above 3 sites, Premium with Additional project (+€14.90/mo)
Morningscore: above 3 sites, Business (+$25/mo)

How I calculated this

Workload: 1 site, 100 tracked keywords, 1 user, AI search visibility.

A plan counts once it tracks Google AI Overviews or a short list of AI prompts for one site and its core keywords. The cheapest plan that does is the one priced.

Semrush qualifies through Google AI Overview tracking.
SE Ranking qualifies through Google AI Overview tracking and AI prompt tracking.
Mangools qualifies through AI prompt tracking.
Moz qualifies through Google AI Overview tracking and AI prompt tracking.
Seobility qualifies through Google AI Overview tracking.
Morningscore qualifies through Google AI Overview tracking and AI prompt tracking.

Other options, and why they missed the list

I kept to suites that look after your own site's rankings, health and AI visibility while keeping some competitor research. Pure competitor-intelligence tools only trade one spy tool for another.

Ahrefs
Strong competitor and backlink data, but it costs far more than SpyFu and I have no affiliate link with it.
Similarweb
Another rival-watching tool, centred on where a competitor's traffic comes from. Swapping SpyFu for it adds no tracking or audit for your own site.

How I chose, and how I earn from this page

Who is behind this guide

Joonas Rotko

I co-ran a marketing agency in Finland and spent more than ten years buying SEO and marketing software with real client budgets. I write these guides for the person who has to pay for the tool and use it.

Hands-on with 5 of these 6 tools
Prices checked 15 Oct 2026
How this page earns

More about me and how I review

Affiliate disclosure

Some links on this page are affiliate links, and I earn a commission if you buy through them, at no cost to you. That never moves a price or a verdict. All six picks have affiliate programs with me, so the order follows fit for someone moving from rival research to their own site. I have no affiliate deal with SpyFu or Ahrefs.

How this guide was prepared

What I did

The workload is one small business website: its core keywords tracked, plus either Google AI Overview flags or a handful of AI prompts. Prices come from each vendor's pricing page on the date shown beside its source link.
Each pick gets the cheapest plan whose published limits cover that site, worked out for monthly and yearly billing separately.
SpyFu Basic isn't ranked: its plan card crosses out AI Brand Monitoring, and it is the tool being left.
Seobility bills in euros and the rest in dollars, so I never rank a euro price against a dollar one.
Picks marked hands-on are tools I work in myself. Morningscore and SpyFu are judged from their published plans.

What to keep in mind

SpyFu's Pro + AI plan has a cheaper first month on monthly billing. I quote its regular price, $119/month billed monthly.
Moz's trial covers Medium on monthly billing, not the Standard plan priced here.
Vendors reprice without notice, so open the pricing page again before you switch.

Sources and verification dates

Semrush pricing and limits checked 15 Oct 2026
SE Ranking pricing and limits checked 15 Oct 2026
Mangools pricing and limits checked 15 Oct 2026
Moz pricing and limits checked 15 Oct 2026
Seobility pricing and limits checked 15 Oct 2026
Morningscore pricing and limits checked 15 Oct 2026

Prices and limits checked on 14 vendor pages. Oldest check: 15 Oct 2026.

15 Oct 2026: Alternatives V2 version for SpyFu users who need daily rankings, AI search tracking and audits for their own site, built from plan facts verified on 15 October 2026.

Spot something out of date?Vendors and readers, send me the correct fact.

Software sites change almost every week, and I want every claim on this page to be factually correct. If you are a vendor or a reader, send me the correct fact and a link to the official page. I will check it and update the page. The opinions and rankings stay mine.

Questions people ask

What is the best SpyFu alternative?

For a small business that now needs to work on its own site, Semrush. Its SEO plan keeps competitor research and adds daily rank tracking, a site audit and AI Overview flags for $117.33/month billed annually. SE Ranking is the cheaper choice if you also want AI prompt tracking.

Is there a cheaper alternative to SpyFu?

Not among full suites. SpyFu Basic is $29/month billed annually, and the cheapest dollar pick here, Mangools Basic, is $37.70/month billed annually. For that difference you get AI prompt tracking, though rankings stay weekly as on SpyFu.

Does SpyFu update rankings daily?

No. Tracked rankings update weekly on every SpyFu plan. SE Ranking, Semrush and Morningscore check them daily on the plans priced here, and Seobility checks desktop positions daily.

Does SpyFu track AI search visibility?

Only properly from Pro + AI, which includes AI Brand Monitoring at $89/month billed annually, or $119/month billed monthly after a cheaper first month. The Basic card crosses it out. SE Ranking Core, Moz Standard, Mangools Basic and Morningscore Lite all track AI prompts on their entry plans here.

Do any alternatives include white-label reporting?

Mangools includes white-label ranking reports. SE Ranking sells white label in its Agency Pack add-on, Semrush through a reporting add-on, and Seobility from its Professional plan. SpyFu includes it from Pro + AI.

What if I need both SEO and PPC competitor research?

SpyFu's record of rival Google Ads is the hardest part to replace. Of these picks, Semrush is the one I'd test for paid search research during its 7-day trial before cancelling SpyFu.

SpyFu alternatives for working on your own site, not just watching rivals

My picks for different needs

Trading SpyFu's rival research for a wider SEO toolkit

What you gain

What you give up

The tools side by side

Six picks, in the order I'd consider them

Semrush

SE Ranking

Mangools

Moz

Seobility

Morningscore

What one site really costs

Pay monthly or yearly?

When you'll outgrow the plan

Other options, and why they missed the list

How I chose, and how I earn from this page

Joonas Rotko

Affiliate disclosure

Questions people ask

The SEO and AI visibility software worth your money, and the ones that are not