The Semrush pricing on display isn't what you actually pay: four limits move the bill, namely projects, tracked keywords, users and reports. Rates change often, so you won't find a list of figures here that goes out of date fast. You'll find the questions to settle on the official pricing page before you enter your card.
Semrush is a paid platform for SEO analysis: keyword research, site audits, competitor analysis and rank tracking. It's sold in plans (Pro, Guru, Business) with different usage limits.
Key takeaways
- Open the official pricing page and note four numbers: domains to follow, keywords to track, people who need access, reports to produce. The cheapest plan that covers all four is the right one.
- Pay for the annual plan only after you've used the monthly one (or the trial) long enough to know the tool fits your workflow. The annual discount should be checked on the official page, and it locks in 12 months of spending.
- Count every person who needs to log in, and check on the official page how many seats the plan includes and what each extra user costs.
- Put the trial's end date and the renewal date in your calendar the day you sign up.
What changes between Semrush Pro, Guru and Business?
Between Pro, Guru and Business, what mostly changes are the usage limits, such as projects, tracked keywords, pages crawled, historical data and included toolkits: compare them on the official table. The jump in price is only justified if you exceed a limit of the plan below. The rest is convenience.
The pricing page may also show newer plans or plans with other names.
- The name and order of the plans currently shown. If the list has changed, an old article sends you to choose a plan that no longer exists.
- The pages the technical audit can crawl per month. An online shop with many product pages uses them up faster than a brochure site.
- The historical data included. It matters if you want to compare seasons or years, not if you only need today's snapshot.
Monthly or annual: what to check before paying?
As a rule, the annual subscription costs less per month but is paid upfront: check on the official page whether that applies to the plan you're interested in.
An example with made-up numbers, just for the calculation: if the plan cost $100 a month, twelve monthly payments come to $1,200. With a 17% discount the year costs $996. You save $204, but if you quit after three months you've spent $996 instead of $300.
What to check:
- The monthly and annual price on the same screen. Make sure both refer to the same plan and the same currency.
- How much you pay right away. The annual plan is a single outlay: if your budget is monthly, it's a cash-flow problem.
- The refund terms after the first payment. Look for the period and the exceptions in the official terms, not in reviews.
- Taxes and currency at checkout. The figure on display may not match the one at payment.
- The first year versus the renewal. Check whether the renewal price is the same one you saw when you bought.
How many projects and tracked keywords do you really need?
A Semrush project usually corresponds to one site (one domain) you want to follow. Tracked keywords are the ones whose position you record over time. Start from a real count: domains x markets x searches that make you money. Not from how much you feel "safe" buying.
Take a company that sells online in two languages, with one site per market. That's two projects. If for each market it has 40 searches that bring orders and 20 that bring leads, it tracks 120 keywords. Not thousands. The base plan covers that case only if the official limits are above these numbers.
| What you count | How you work it out | Where you compare it |
|---|---|---|
| Projects | One domain (or subdomain) per market | "Projects" row in the plans table |
| Tracked keywords | Searches that bring orders or leads, per market | "Keywords" row |
| Pages to analyze | Indexable pages of the site | The audit's page limit |
One mistake to avoid: tracking everything you find in keyword research. If a search doesn't lead to a page you can improve, there's no point following its position. To work out which pages deserve attention, start with how to analyze Google's SERP before filling up the tracking.
How many users and how many reports do you need?
Check on the official page how many seats the plan includes and what each extra license costs. If three people need to log in to the tool, the real cost is the plan plus two extra licenses.
What to check:
- How many people really need to log in. Someone who only reads a report doesn't need a login: a PDF or a shared link is enough.
- The yearly cost of extra users. Multiply by the months: over a year it can weigh more than the jump to the next plan.
- Simultaneous logins. Sharing credentials between colleagues may violate the terms of use: read them first.
- Scheduled and white-label reports. These matter to an agency that sends reports to clients, less to someone working on their own site.
- Report format and frequency. Decide whether a monthly PDF export is enough or whether you need scheduled sending.
Which Semrush features cost extra?
The plan price doesn't always include everything you see in the demo. Some toolkits are added at a separate cost and can push the bill up. Before paying, open the list of toolkits and note what's inside the plan and what isn't.
What to check:
- Every feature you saw in the video or demo. Look for it in the plans table: if it isn't there, it's probably an add-on.
- Additional toolkits. Ask for the monthly price, not just the "from" price.
- The feature you'll actually use. If you only need one keyword search a month, a content toolkit is wasted spending.
- The time it costs you. A feature-rich tool takes hours to learn.
An honest warning: an analysis tool tells you what is happening; it doesn't write or publish anything. If you also need someone to produce the content, that's a separate budget line.
How do you use the free trial without wasting it?
If the official page offers a trial, treat it as a test with a deadline. Check the length, the plans included and whether it asks for a payment card.
- Enter your main domain and run the technical audit: it tells you whether your number of pages fits within the limit.
- Upload the keywords that matter (orders and leads) and check that the tracking covers them all.
- Analyze a real competitor and see whether the data you get leads you to a decision, not just a chart.
- Export a report and see whether you'd send it to your boss or your client as it is.
If at the end of the trial you haven't made a single decision thanks to the data, the problem isn't the plan: it's that you don't need the tool right now.
How do you cancel or change plan without surprises?
Before paying, find three things in the official terms: how to cancel, by when, and what happens at renewal. Automatic renewal can catch you out, especially on the annual plan. Don't look for this information afterwards, when the charge has already hit.
What to check:
- Where you cancel. It should be a button in your account, not an email you have to send.
- The notice period before renewal. Mark it in your calendar with at least a week's margin.
- What happens to your data after cancellation. Export the reports and the history you need before closing.
- Moving to a higher or lower plan. Check whether it takes effect immediately, whether it starts at renewal and how the difference is calculated.
- The receipt. Save the invoice and billing details: you need them for a business's bookkeeping.
Frequently asked questions
Is Semrush worth it for a small site with a single domain?
It depends on what you need to decide. If you need a technical audit once and a few keyword searches, one or two months is enough. If instead you work on the site every week, recalculate after three months: you'll see whether the base plan's limits are enough.
What if I also care about being cited by AI answer engines?
Check on the official page which AI answer visibility features are included in the plan and which are an extra. A classic SEO analysis measures positions on Google, not citations in ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity. The first step is knowing whether your site appears in those answers today.
What is the first step to take today?
If you want to know first what needs fixing on your site, UPGeoSEO offers you a free SEO + GEO audit, so you choose the tool after seeing the real problems.
