I apologize to the many friends we have on our Ahrefs SEO tool subscription.
We were on a legacy plan that was $30/month per user plus a base fee of $300 or so.
But now it’s $80/month each for the first 10 users and a whopping $1,000 per user per year if you want to go above 10 users.
The new pricing plan would cost us as much as buying a brand new Tesla each year.
So we need to look for alternatives or maybe even white-label someone else’s API for search data.
What we use instead
We’re now using a simpler, cheaper setup and it’s more than enough for 99% of people.
If you want SEO keyword, backlink, and domain data, you don’t need to spend thousands on Ahrefs or enterprise tools.
Just get your own personal plan; the $29 Starter Plan gives you all the SEO data you actually need.
For our clients
Our friends at Semrush say the browser plugin will be ready soon; it’s the main thing we use in auditing.
I think we are spending $5,000 a month on various tool subscriptions: Google Workplace, Vendasta, Infusionsoft, Xero, OpenAI, AWS, Descript, BuddyBoss, GoTolstoy, HeyGen, ClickFunnels, and a dozen more.
Increasingly, there are so many tools necessary for us to operate and even more “one tool to rule them all” packages that usually don’t do “everything”.
If you’re a client, you already know that we’ve bought the enterprise versions of many of these tools for you and your team members.
Since us paying $1,000 to be able to use a tool across 100 sites is better than each of you having to pay $300 each or whatever the single license price is.
If you’re not sure what tools you get access to, you can ask in Basecamp or ask your project leader.
The bottom line
Ahrefs is a great product, but their pricing makes no sense for teams like ours anymore.
The “$29 Starter Plan” gives you the same core data for a fraction of the price and lets you stay hands-on with your SEO.
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is the CEO of Local Service Spotlight, a platform that amplifies the reputations of contractors and local service businesses using the Content Factory process. He is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other brands.
Dennis has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs by partnering with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Through Local Service Spotlight, he teaches the Dollar a Day strategy and Content Factory training to help local service businesses enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring.
Dennis coaches young adult agency owners serving plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians, and believes there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers must be certified.