Moz and Ahrefs are two of the biggest names in digital marketing.
Both companies offer a variety of tools for webmasters, marketers, and SEO, as well as coming packed with a massive library of educational tools that help you improve your SEO and digital marketing techniques.
But which is best, and which should you choose to help scale your blog and website traffic?
Below, we’ll go in-depth comparing Moz vs Ahrefs. Let’s discuss their similarities and differences. Finally, we’ll decide which is better in 2022.
Moz vs Ahrefs Overview
Moz and Ahrefs are both tools that improve search rankings and SEO of a website.
But before we dive deep into the granular aspects of each company’s offerings, let’s first take a brief high-level look at what each of the tools are.
What Is Moz?
Moz is a suite of tools and products that help website owners improve their traffic and search rankings.
The company offers a variety of free SEO tools that are great for beginners looking to start improving the SEO of their site.
While standard Moz packages are marketed toward beginners, Moz Pro offers a monthly subscription-based service designed for more advanced SEO and digital marketing goals.
The tools provide detailed keyword ranking data and more. It’s also great for finding link-building opportunities that will help you outpace your competitor.
What Is Ahrefs?
Ahrefs is another software suite that provides a variety of popular SEO tools.
The tools provide detailed information regarding links, keywords, competitor analysis, and more.
While Ahrefs has everything you need to greatly improve the rankings and health of your website, this platform largely excel at link-building strategies, keyword research, and content marketing.
Moz vs Ahrefs Features
Most SEO tools offer similar features and tools.
You’ll find that this is the case here as well.
Both Moz and Ahrefs let you do keyword research, analyze competition, track rankings, view backlinks, and more.
These tools help you get more traffic to your websites, so the tools have massive amounts of data for you to review.
They also have easy-to-use and understand interfaces.
Overall, Ahrefs has more features, but those features come at a price.
What makes these tools different? Here we’ll cover the features of Moz and Ahrefs.
Moz Features
The Moz Pro toolkit is ideal for digital marketing and SEO professionals.
Here are some of the main features included in the tool suite:
- Moz has an easy-to-use keyword research tool.
- You can perform a site audit that shows errors, crawl problems, and repairs.
- The on-page SEO tool helps optimize your pages and improve your content.
- The link tracker lets you monitor backlinks and gives you detailed backlink research data.
- Moz makes reporting simple and offers many report templates.
- Moz Local SEO tool improves local SEO and online reputation.
- The keyword difficulty tool lets you list keywords and get PA/DA scores for the words.
- You have access to an extensive library of educational guides and videos.
Ahrefs Features
Ahrefs is a full-features suite of digital marketing tools.
Boasting over 4 billion search queries, Ahrefs data is extensive and helps you make smart choices concerning your site’s SEO.
Let’s cover the basic features included with Ahrefs.
- The site audit tool helps you optimize your website.
- Ahrefs Site Explorer lets you your competitors’ keywords, links, and content.
- The keyword explorer helps you with keyword ideas and tracks their performance.
- You can find content marketing opportunities in your niche with the content explorer tool.
- The clicks data tool lets you understand search volume for keywords.
- Track keywords and SERPs by location, operating system, and more.
- Ahrefs features a learning academy with hundreds of videos and guides.
Ahrefs boasts several features that Moz is missing.
- Ahrefs gives you insights into a topic’s future traffic potential.
- Use your competitors’ backlinks on high-traffic pages to find link-building opportunities.
- Research future content ideas with the Ahrefs content explorer.
- Position explorer lets you check a URL for how it ranks in Google.
- Ahrefs has the largest database of live backlinks.
Takeaway: Moz leans more heavily towards tracking and analytics, while Ahrefs leans more towards keyword research and link data.
Moz vs Ahrefs On-Page SEO
Optimizing the on-page SEO of your site can improve your chances of ranking for important keywords.
But, how do you know if you’ve optimized each page correctly?
Moz On-Page SEO
Moz Pro has an on-page grading tool.
You simply provide the URL of the page and analyze the page.
The tool will check the page for the keyword and display how many times it’s on the page.
It analyzes titles, URL, headings, meta description, body, and image alt attributes.
It also provides alternative keyword ideas for the page.
This is a great tool that ensures you are using the correct number of keywords and in the right place on your page.
Ahrefs On-Page SEO
Unfortunately, Ahrefs does not provide a tool that has the same information.
Ahrefs does offer free webmaster tools that can aid you while performing on-page SEO.
These tools can find missing title tags, meta descriptions, alt text, and more.
On their site, they also offer an in-depth On-Page SEO guide that can be a huge help to anyone trying to understand on-page SEO.
Here, Ahrefs covers basics, optimization, other on-page SEO tools, and more.
Takeaway: Moz offers an On-page analysis tool to help you improve the quality of the pages on your website, while Ahrefs does not.
Moz vs Ahrefs Page Ranking
One of the main goals of SEO is to get your pages to rank higher in search results and have page authority. Without the right data, ranking is much harder.
Luckily, both Moz and Ahrefs provide detailed data that helps you improve your page rankings.
Moz Page Ranking
Moz Pro offers excellent page ranking and tracking data.
The graphs and data provided are easy to understand, and you’ll find ample opportunities for improvement while analyzing the data.
The rankings tool lets you track your competitors and will let you fill in any gaps in your digital marketing plan.
You’ll also get an understanding of the visibility of your pages in search engines.
You can also localize your data between 200 countries and local levels in the United States.
The Moz link explorer tool is a free tool that lets users check page rank and domain authority.
This tool provides a detailed analysis that helps you improve your page rankings.
Ahrefs Page Ranking
You can use the Ahrefs rank tracker to check the ranking of your pages.
This tool lets you monitor your rankings and chart its performance against other websites.
You’ll find page ranking and domain authority information inside the rank tracker.
The data from this tool is easy to understand as well, by providing a graph showing visibility, average traffic, and rank distribution.
The tool also gives data on the featured snippet, top stores, images, videos, and more.
The page ranker tool from Ahrefs gives you all the data you need to quickly move your page to the top of the SERPs.
Moz vs Ahrefs Local SEO
The yellow pages aren’t the best place to find a local company anymore. Local businesses need an online presence if they want new customers.
Tools like Google My Business and Facebook business are marketing essentials for local businesses.
Whether you own a local service or shop, you’ll want your website to show up in relevant local searches.
Which of these tools excels at ranking websites locally?
Let’s compare local SEO tools for Moz and Ahrefs.
Moz Local SEO
Moz offers a separate product for local SEO.
Called Moz Local, this feature helps you manage local Google, Facebook, and other site information.
Some of its key features also include listing sync, profile optimization, and duplicate deletion.
Local SEO also helps you improve your online reputation. You can quickly respond to reviews and negative feedback from inside the app.
The app helps you engage with your customers through social media posts, rich content, and Facebook integration.
The Moz Local packages come in 3 plan levels of $14. $20, and $33/month.
Ahrefs Local SEO
While Ahrefs does not have a dedicated local SEO app, you still have plenty of information and data in the software that helps improve your local SEO.
Ahrefs local SEO concentrates on using keyword research to find relevant local keywords that fit your business or website.
The suite does not include specialized tools that help you with local search engine results or online reputation.
If you need more control of your local SEO, Moz Local is the better option for your business.
Moz vs Ahrefs Keyword Research
Keyword research helps you understand how many people are searching for a keyword and how difficult it is to rank for a keyword.
A good keyword research tool can also show who is already ranking and suggest other keywords.
Moz Keyword Research
Moz Pro provides detailed keyword research from Google.
You should have no problem finding keyword data and keyword suggestions with the Moz keyword tools.
Simply type in the keyword you’re looking for and you’ll get a detailed report for the keyword.
The data is clear and concise and you have instant access to keyword suggestions, SERP analysis, organic traffic, and monthly volume.
The report also gives the keyword a difficulty score between 1 and 100 to show how hard it will be to rank for the keyword.
Keyword suggestions are available on a drop-down menu that helps you find alternative keywords.
The Moz Keyword difficulty tool is a tool that can help you find new keywords to use for future content.
This tool lets you add 20 keywords to a list and returns page authority and domain authority for each.
This is a quick and easy way to narrow down your list of potential keywords.
Ahrefs Keyword Research
Ahrefs offers you data from 10 different search engines during keyword research.
You’ll find info from Google, YouTube, Amazon, and more. You can pick and choose which data Ahrefs shows.
This makes Ahrefs the superior tool for content creators and streamers, especially for people who rely on YouTube monetization as an income stream.
Understanding YouTube’s keyword data can help you decide what to record for your next video.
Like Moz, Ahrefs gives the user plenty of keyword data once a keyword is entered.
You’ll find the keyword difficulty, volume, traffic potential, and a list of keyword ideas on the main page.
Ahrefs also gives you an approximation of how many links you need to rank in the top 10 for the keyword.
While researching keyword alternatives, Ahrefs gives you the option to autocomplete common Google search suggestions.
This can make searching for new keywords quite easy.
The keyword explorer tool can also suggest related terms and synonyms.
Ahrefs also features a free keyword rank checker for you to test out.
This tool lets you see how your page ranks for any keyword in over 240 countries.
Moz vs Ahrefs Content Improvements
You may have heard the phrase “content is king’.
A website is only as good as the content it provides.
Moz Content Improvements
You can use the Moz On-Page Optimization tool to improve the content on your website.
This tool helps you find problems with your page and quickly repair them.
It gives you a score based on keyword usage and other factors.
The tool then provides step-by-step instructions to optimize the content on the page.
Ahrefs Content Improvements
Ahrefs provinces a content explorer that helps you improve the content on your website.
This tool analyzes top-performing content in your niche.
The report shows organic traffic, referring domains, traffic value, social shares, and more.
You can use this data to create similar content for your website.
The tool offers detailed customization options that help you take control of the data you receive.
Moz vs Ahrefs Integrations
Both products offer a variety of integration options and tools that make day-to-day use user-friendly.
Moz Integrations
Moz offers access to Mozcape API.
This API allows access to link data, intelligent metrics, and more.
You can find integrations for Hubspot, WordPress, Excel, and more ready to run in the Mozcape Gallery.
If you’re a more advanced user, Moz offers packages that can help you create your tools.
Moz also has an SEO toolbar tool.
This free toolbar is compatible with Chrome and provides instant access to important SEO info while you navigate the web.
Don’t forget to connect your Google Analytics account to your Moz Pro account to take advantage of both tools.
Ahrefs Integrations
Ahrefs offers API services for beginners and advanced users.
On the Ahrefs API page, you’ll find options for free API functions, subscriptions, developer integrations, and more.
If you are using WordPress, Ahrefs offers a plugin that makes auditing your site and backlink analysis easy.
This plug-in also connects to Google Analytics and Search Console.
They also offer an SEO toolbar for Chrome and Firefox.
This toolbar is a great tool for On-page SEO, SERP positions, and link reports.
Moz vs Ahrefs Ease of Use
Both Moz and Ahrefs can look intimidating for new users.
They can also bombard you with massive amounts of data and information, but with some practice, you can master both of these programs.
Moz Ease of Use
Moz is a fantastic tool that can help beginners learn how to improve their SEO skills.
It has an intuitive GUI and everything is labeled clearly.
The software is easy to navigate and helps you plan your website’s SEO and compare it to your competitors.
Some of the most useful functions like rankings, link research, and keyword research are easy to get to and simple to use.
If you want to improve your skills quickly, Moz features a massive library of learning tools. You can start with their “Beginner’s Guide to SEO” if you’re brand new to SEO or digital marketing.
They also feature the Moz Academy, which can advance your skills and you can get certified in advanced topics.
Ahrefs Ease of Use
Ahrefs has an intuitive frontend that helps beginners learn SEO and how to use the software quickly.
Everything is clearly labeled and the GUI makes navigation easy even for beginners.
Ahrefs also offers a library of video tutorials and a YouTube channel.
These videos are great for anyone interested in learning SEO.
You can find playlists here that can greatly improve your SEO skills and your website’s performance.
While it can take years to master the sheer number of tools in Ahrefs, you should have no problem quickly finding keywords, performing competitor analysis, or analyzing your website’s organic traffic.
Due to the overabundance of advanced features, Ahrefs can take longer to master than Moz.
Moz vs Ahrefs Pricing
To get the most out of both these products, you’ll need to subscribe to their premium services.
Both Moz and Ahrefs offer a variety of monthly plans designed for 1 user or large corporations with hundreds of employees.
Moz Pricing
You can try Moz premium for free, as they offer a 30-day free trial for all new users.
This is a great option for anyone looking to get started with SEO.
You have 30 days to get a feel of the software and decide if Moz is right for you, so there is little excuse not to at least try it out.
Moz Pricing starts at $99/month and goes up to $599/month.
The larger packages increase the number of keyword rankings, pages crawled, keyword queries, and more.
The medium package is the most popular tool and lets you run 10 campaigns and up to 5,000 keyword queries per month.
If you pay yearly for your subscription, you can receive a 20% discount on the cost.
- Standard Plan: $99.00
- Medium Plan: $179.00
- Large Plan: $299.00
- Premium Plan: $599.00
Ahrefs Pricing
Ahrefs has a similar price structure. Afrefs subscriptions range from $99.00 to $999.00 for an enterprise-level package.
The larger packages add varying features including batch analysis, content explorer, dashboard folders, and unlimited history.
To take advantage of most of Ahrefs’ features, you need to sign up for the standard package.
This adds SERP updates, content explorer, domain comparison, batch analysis, and more.
Ahrefs also offers 2 months free if you subscribe for the year.
Unfortunately, Ahrefs does not offer a free trial period but does have several free tools you can test out before signing up for a monthly plan.
- Lite Plan: $99.00
- Standard Plan: $199.00
- Advanced Plan: $399.00
- Agency Plan: $999.00
Conclusion: Is Moz or Ahrefs Better?
Both of these tools do a great job at improving a website’s SERPs and SEO.
Depending on which package you buy, they both work great for 1 person or large businesses.
Ahrefs does offer more functionality and tools, but these features come at a price.
To take advantage of all of Ahrefs’ tools, you’ll need one of the more expensive plans.
Still, even with the added costs, Ahrefes has more functionality and data than Moz.
On the other hand, Moz is full-featured at its lowest price point.
It has all the basics you need to manage a website and improve its SEO.
It’s also easy to use.
They also offer an inexpensive local SEO tool that excels at improving local SEO SERPs.
If this is important to you, Moz comes out ahead.
As you can see, both tools have their pros and cons.
Moz gives you a full 30-day trial for free to test out all the features of their Pro SEO tool.
Unfortunately, Ahrefs does not have a free demo but they do have several free tools you can try before signing up for one of their monthly plans.
Trying out the products is a great way to test them and see if they meet your needs.
Like this comparison?
Then make sure to also check out our Ahrefs vs SEMrush vs Ubersuggest article, where these popular keyword research tools go side by side.
