SEO tools
Competitor Research tools
Competitor research tools show what other sites in your market rank for, what they publish and what they pay for — so you can plan against demand somebody else has already validated.
What Competitor Research tools do
The single most useful output in this category is a gap report: the keywords a rival ranks for and you do not. It converts a competitor’s years of testing into your roadmap. The second most useful, and the one fewer tools have, is paid data — a competitor’s bid keywords, ad copy and landing pages are them telling you which promises convert, which is faster than testing your own. Traffic estimates are the least reliable part of every tool here; they answer "is A bigger than B" and should never be quoted as an absolute.
The sub-types inside this category
- Organic gap platforms Compare rankings across several domains and list what they hold and you do not.
- Paid intelligence tools Report bid keywords, ad copy and spend estimates. The differentiator between the major suites.
- Content and share-of-voice tools Track what competitors publish and how visibility moves between you, including inside AI answers.
The Competitor Research tools in this directory
Matches product names, former names, categories, use cases and the company behind the tool.
Filter 29 of 29
Entry price is the lowest published figure on a plan you could buy on its own — add-ons and extra seats are excluded, and a tool whose vendor publishes no figure sits under “price not published” rather than being guessed at.
| Tool | What it is for | From | Evidence | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpyFu Competitor Research | See every keyword a competitor has bid on, and their ad copy, going back years | From $29/month billed annually; $39/month monthly | 19 August 2026 | |
| Ahrefs All-in-One SEO Platforms | Analyse a competitor's backlink profile and referring-domain growth over time | Free plan for verified sites; paid from $29/month | Used in real workFree plan | 18 August 2026 |
| BuzzStream Link Building | Run link building and digital PR outreach with a full relationship history | From $49/month (Starter); ListIQ priced separately from $24/month | Free trial | 20 August 2026 |
| Google Keyword Planner Keyword Research | Cross-check a paid tool's volume estimate against Google's own figure | Free with a Google Ads account | Free | 19 August 2026 |
| Google Trends Keyword Research | Find whether interest in a term is rising or declining before committing to a content plan | Free | Free | 19 August 2026 |
| Keywords Everywhere SEO Browser Extensions | See search volume and CPC directly in Google, YouTube, Amazon and 15-plus other sites | Free extension; paid credits from $84/year ($7/month equivalent) | Free plan | 20 August 2026 |
| KWFinder Keyword Research | Find long-tail keywords with a difficulty score you can see the reasoning behind | Included with Mangools, from $37.70/month billed annually | 19 August 2026 | |
| Link Research Tools Backlink Analysis | Audit a backlink profile for risk before or after a penalty | From $599/month, or $5,799/year; $17 for a 7-day trial | Free trial | 20 August 2026 |
| LinkMiner Backlink Analysis | Find a competitor's strongest backlinks to target the same sources | Included in Mangools from $37.70/month; backlink volume rises with the plan | Free trial | 20 August 2026 |
| Linkody Backlink Monitoring | Get alerted when a backlink is lost, broken or turned nofollow | From $14.90/month, or $11.20/month billed annually | Free trial | 20 August 2026 |
| Local Falcon Local SEO | See how local rankings change across a geographic area rather than at one point | From $24.99/month for 7,500 credits; 100 free credits on signup | Free trial | 20 August 2026 |
| Majestic Backlink Analysis | Query a link index that is independent of Ahrefs, Semrush and Moz for a second opinion | From $41.67/month billed annually ($499.99/year); $49.99 monthly | 19 August 2026 | |
| MarketMuse Content Optimization | Model which topics a site already has authority on, and where the gaps are | Free tier available; paid plan prices are not published | Free plan | 19 August 2026 |
| MozBar SEO Browser Extensions | See Domain and Page Authority for every result on a search page | Free with a Moz account; MozBar Premium is included with Moz Pro from $49/month | Free plan | 19 August 2026 |
| Peec AI AI Search / GEO / LLM Visibility | Track a prompt set daily across ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI surfaces | From $80/month billed yearly (Starter); Pro $205/month billed yearly | AI searchFree trial | 18 August 2026 |
| PlePer Local SEO | Get alerted when a Google Business Profile is changed without your knowledge | From $18/year (single business); Local pros $10/month | Free plan | 20 August 2026 |
| ProductRank.ai AI Search / GEO / LLM Visibility | Find out which products AI models recommend in a given category | Free | AI searchFree | 20 August 2026 |
| Rankability Content Optimization | Give a whole agency and all its clients access without per-seat or per-client fees | From $99/month for 10,000 credits | Free trial | 19 August 2026 |
| SE Ranking All-in-One SEO Platforms | Run daily rank tracking and AI-prompt tracking from one allowance | From $103.20/month billed annually; $129/month monthly | Free trial | 19 August 2026 |
| Semdash All-in-One SEO Platforms | Do keyword and competitor research without a suite-level subscription | From $30/month billed yearly, during a published 40% discount | Alston testedAlston video | 19 August 2026 |
| Semrush All-in-One SEO Platforms | Find the keywords a competitor already ranks for, and the gap between their coverage and yours | Free plan available; paid from $139/month | Alston testedAlston videoFree plan | 18 August 2026 |
| Topvisor Rank Tracking | Pay for rank tracking by consumption rather than by a monthly keyword cap | From $0/month; plans at $29, $89, $299 and $599 credited to your balance | Free plan | 20 August 2026 |
| TubeBuddy YouTube SEO | Run a real A/B test on a thumbnail rather than choosing by opinion | From $12/month, or a one-time payment of $144 | 19 August 2026 | |
| Ubersuggest Keyword Research | Get search volume and CPC data on a small budget, or on a one-time payment | Free tier with a capped daily allowance; lifetime licences from $290 | Alston testedFree plan | 19 August 2026 |
| URL Profiler Site Auditing | Enrich a list of URLs with metrics, content and link data in bulk | From $19.95/month billed yearly (Solo); Pro $25.95 raises the import cap to 1,000,000 URLs | Free trial | 20 August 2026 |
| vidIQ YouTube SEO | Find video topics with demand and beatable competition inside YouTube search | Free tier; Boost from $16.58/month billed yearly | Free plan | 19 August 2026 |
| Whitespark Local SEO | Manage Google Business Profiles across many locations for $1 each | Sold per product — Local Platform $1/location/month; Local Ranking Grids from $10/month | 20 August 2026 | |
| WooRank Site Auditing | Produce unlimited website reviews without watching a crawl allowance | From $89.99/month (Pro), or $53.25/month billed yearly | Free trial | 20 August 2026 |
| Wope Keyword Research | Find keyword opportunities and see monthly seasonality rather than a flat annual average | From $27/month (Basic); 14-day trial, no credit card | Alston testedAlston videoFree trial | 19 August 2026 |
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