Today there are 258 different DIY SEO tools. We spent 88 hours comparing the top 50 to find the seven best you can use to optimize your website’s search engine rankings.
What is the Best DIY SEO Tool?
1. Mangools
Our Verdict — Best Of The Best
Price: Starts at $37.70/month
Mangools is an affordable yet comprehensive toolset that makes other SEO software feel like they’re from the 80s. We think it’s the best because of its accurate keyword research capabilities, SERP analysis for specific locations, and competitor analysis features.
The Best Part:
Simple, yet powerful. With Mangools' easy-to-use interface and clear data presentation, even those who are 100% new to SEO can hit the ground running without missing a beat.
The Worst Part:
No full-site SEO audit. Mangools drops the ball when it comes to giving your site a complete health scan for things like broken links or suggesting ways to improve on-page SEO.
Get it if you want a full set of DIY SEO tools that provides everything from keyword research to competitor analysis, backed up by a support team with hands-on experience in SEO.
I recommend you get started with a free Mangools account, then get the Mangools Basic plan for $37.70/month, billed annually.
(free account)
Best For
Mangools is best suited for bloggers and online business owners who are looking for a complete DIY SEO toolset that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Top Features
It finds the shortest paths to success. Mangools takes the guesswork out of choosing keywords by providing precise difficulty scores that you can easily assess on your own — no more shooting in the dark!
Local SEO genius. With Mangools, you can view Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for any location or language, helping you tailor your strategy and attract more visitors from more specific markets.
Easy rank tracking. Mangools will keep an eagle eye on your search engine standings with their robust rank tracking feature, and they'll even give you a heads-up via email when there are shifts in your rankings.
Hunts down powerful backlinks. Use Mangools to unearth those valuable backlinks that can give your website's authority a significant boost. It pinpoints exactly where you should be fishing for backlinks.
Identifies traffic-driving content. Wondering what's clicking for your competitors? Mangools shows you their most successful posts and website pages, giving you new ideas for content or places to build links without manually digging through Google results.
Pricing
Mangools offers three pricing plans:
- Mangools Basic: $61/month, or $37.70/month on annual billing, for solopreneurs and freelance SEOs who need 100 keyword lookups a day, 200 tracked keywords across unlimited domains, 100,000 backlink rows a month, and AI Search Watcher PRO.
- Mangools Premium: $81/month, or $52.70/month on annual billing, for marketing teams that need 500 keyword and SERP lookups a day, 700 tracked keywords, 500,000 backlink rows a month, and up to 3 extra seats.
- Mangools Agency: $141/month, or $97.70/month on annual billing, for agencies and professional SEOs who need 1,200 keyword and SERP lookups a day, 1,500 tracked keywords with daily updates, 1.2 million backlink rows a month, and up to 5 extra seats.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 38% discount.
Try Mangools today with a free account.
2. Semrush
Our Verdict — Best For Advanced SEO
Price: Starts at $139.95/month
Semrush is an advanced SEO tool designed for those who want to go the extra mile when it comes to SEO. We think it’s the best for advanced SEO because of its comprehensive keyword research capabilities, in-depth competitor analysis features, and detailed backlink audits.
The Best Part:
It’s like a private detective for your SEO. You get to see where your competitors’ traffic is coming from, which websites are referring the most visitors to them, and even how long people stick around on their site.
The Worst Part:
Steep learning curve. Semrush is like a high-tech sports car — it's powerful and impressive, but it might take some time before you're comfortable behind the wheel.
Get it if you want a robust SEO tool to dominate your niche and stay ahead of the competition.
I recommend you get started with a 7-day trial, then get the Semrush One Starter plan at $199/month.
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Semrush is best for businesses that want to bring big results from SEO without having to hire an entire SEO team.
Top Features
Full website audits. Semrush’s Site Audit feature is like getting a health checkup for your website. With 60+ technical SEO checks available, these audits ensure that everything is running smoothly, under the hood.
Uncovers untapped keyword opportunities. Unearth hidden treasures with the Keyword Gap tool which identifies keywords targeted by competitors but not by you — talk about finding gold nuggets with barely any work.
Cleans up your backlink profile. Semrush allows you to review all details of your backlink profile and quickly locate any toxic ones — consider it as spring cleaning for your website’s links!
Craft SEO-friendly content. Semrush makes creating optimized content a walk in the park by providing ready-to-use content templates and tips to improve keywords and structure.
Master your keywords. Semrush makes it easy to understand how your keywords are performing, showing you all the important details in one place and even suggesting similar words that could boost your website's visibility.
Pricing
Semrush One offers four pricing plans:
- SEO: $139.95/month. For freelancers and small businesses that need 5 websites, 500 tracked keywords, keyword research, position tracking, and site audits, without AI search tracking.
- Starter: $199/month. For bloggers, in-house marketers, freelancers, small teams, and agencies. Full SEO toolkit plus AI Visibility Toolkit. Includes rank tracking, website audits, keyword research, competitor analysis, prompt tracking, and AI Share of Voice monitoring.
- Pro+: $299/month. For SEO consultancies, digital marketing agencies, and mid-sized businesses. Adds historical data, multi-location and device tracking, plus higher limits on keywords and projects.
- Advanced: Custom pricing. For organizations and agencies that need 40+ websites, 5,000+ tracked keywords, SEO share of voice, advanced API access, and unlimited AI prompts.
Annual billing saves 17%.
All paid plans come with a 7-day money-back guarantee.
Try Semrush One today with a 7-day free trial.
3. Serpstat
Our Verdict — Best For Beginners
Price: Starts at $69/month
Serpstat is designed to make SEO simple. We think it’s the best for beginners because of its user-friendly interface, easy-to-understand ranking tracking system, and comprehensive set of tools.
The Best Part:
It simplifies complex SEO tasks. Serpstat makes it easy for beginners to navigate the often complicated world of search engine optimization by breaking down complex tasks into simple steps.
The Worst Part:
Technical audit results. For those new to SEO, Serpstat's audit results might come across as too technical and could use a bit more explanation to make them easier to understand.
Get it if you're looking for a user-friendly DIY tool to understand and implement effective SEO strategies.
I recommend you get started with a 7-day free trial, then get the Individual plan for $69/month.
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Serpstat is best for SEO beginners who want to gain a competitive edge without getting tangled up in complex technicalities.
Top Features
Navigate through calm waters. Serpstat’s user-friendly interface makes it simple to find what you're looking for, even if you're new to SEO.
Comprehensive audit reports. Get a clear picture of your website's SEO health with Serpstat's detailed and easy-to-understand audit reports.
Create solid baselines. Understand where your website stands in the digital landscape and plan your next steps and SEO growth effectively, with Serpstat’s domain analysis tool.
Where you stand. Whether sending quick reports to your client or integrating them into your other tools, exporting data in various formats is a breeze with Serpstat.
All the tools you need. Serpstat provides everything you need for DIY SEO, including rank tracking, search volume crawling, domain and keyword batch analysis, and even AI content creation tools.
Pricing
Serpstat offers three main pricing plans:
- Individual: $69/month, or $50/month on annual billing, for solo SEO practitioners and freelancers who need to manage a handful of projects and want insights into their competitors' online strategies.
- Team: $129/month, or $100/month on annual billing, for small teams that require additional tools such as batch analysis, branded reports, and team management features.
- Agency: $499/month, or $410/month on annual billing, for marketing agencies and big teams who require extensive features, including more projects, credits, team members, and the ability to use Serpstat's platform under your own brand with white label capabilities.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 28% discount.
Try Serpstat today with a free 7-day trial.
4. Ahrefs
Our Verdict — Best For Backlink Tracking
Price: Starts at $29/month
Ahrefs is an SEO and AI marketing platform built on its own web index. We think it’s the best for backlink tracking because Site Explorer shows the links pointing to any site, and the Standard plan adds broken backlinks, linking authors, and 2 years of history.
The Best Part:
Its own web index. Ahrefs runs the world’s second-most active crawler, with 10+ years of web-scale data behind its reports.
The Worst Part:
The price climbs fast. Lite is $129/month for 1 user, and each extra user costs $40/month on Lite and up to $80/month on higher plans.
Get it if you want to see who links to you and your competitors, and track those links over time.
I recommend you start with Ahrefs Free on your own site, then get the Lite plan for $129/month.
(free plan)
Best For
Ahrefs is best for SEO professionals and marketing teams who live in backlink data and competitor research.
Top Features
Site Explorer. Study any competitor’s site, and dig into broken backlinks, linking authors, and outgoing links on Standard.
Keywords Explorer. Find keywords to target, with AI suggestions, keyword clusters, and search intents on Standard.
Brand Radar. Track your brand’s mentions, citations, and sentiment across AI chatbots.
Site Audit. Monitor your site’s health 24/7 and catch technical SEO issues early.
Rank Tracker. Track your keyword positions, from 750 tracked keywords on Lite.
Pricing
Ahrefs offers six pricing plans:
- Ahrefs Free: Free, for Ahrefs data on your own site and the fixes that matter most.
- Starter: $29/month, to see what people search and spy on competitors.
- Lite: $129/month, for 750 tracked keywords, 6 months of history, and 5 unverified projects.
- Standard: $249/month, for 2,000 tracked keywords, 2 years of history, Content Explorer, and broken backlink reports.
- Advanced: $449/month, for 5,000 tracked keywords, 5 years of history, and Looker Studio integration.
- Enterprise: $1,499/month, with an annual commitment, for unlimited history, uncapped API access, and SSO.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 17% discount.
Try Ahrefs today with the free plan.
5. Moz
Our Verdict — Best For Midsize And Large Businesses
Price: Starts at $49/month
Moz is one of the oldest names in SEO, and Moz Pro is its all-in-one suite for keyword research, link research, rank tracking, and site audits. We think it’s the best for midsize and large businesses because the Medium and Large plans scale to 10 and 25 tracked sites with more seats, and track your brand in AI search too.
The Best Part:
AI search visibility. Moz Pro tracks your brand in AI answers from GPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode, next to your regular rankings.
The Worst Part:
One plan to try. The 7-day free trial is for the Medium plan, so you can’t test Standard or Large first.
Get it if your team manages several websites and wants SEO and AI search data in one place.
I recommend you start with the 7-day free trial of Moz Pro Medium, then pay yearly at $143/month.
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Moz is best for growing in-house teams and agencies that track several sites and need more than one seat.
Top Features
Keyword research. Search an index of 1.25 billion+ keywords, with Keyword Difficulty scores and SERP analysis.
Link research. Check any site’s Domain Authority, linking domains, top pages, and anchor text.
Rank tracking. Track your keywords across 170+ search engines.
Site Crawl. Find the technical SEO issues that hurt your rankings and get recommendations to fix them.
AI Content Briefs. Build data-driven content briefs, from 2 a month on Standard to 50 on Large.
Pricing
Moz Pro offers four pricing plans:
- Starter: $49/month, for individuals managing a single website.
- Standard: $99/month, or $79/month billed yearly, for 1 user, 3 tracked sites, and 300 tracked keywords.
- Medium: $179/month, or $143/month billed yearly, for 2 users, 10 tracked sites, and 1,500 tracked keywords.
- Large: $299/month, or $239/month billed yearly, for 3 users, 25 tracked sites, and 3,000 tracked keywords.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 20% discount.
Try Moz today with a free 7-day trial.
6. SpyFu
Our Verdict — Best For Keyword Research
Price: Starts at $39/month
SpyFu is a competitor research tool for SEO and Google Ads that shows the keywords your competitors rank for and buy. We think it’s the best for keyword research because you can type in any domain and pull every keyword it ranks for or bids on, with 10+ years of history.
The Best Part:
Your competitors’ keywords. See every keyword a competitor has bought on Google Ads and every ad test they have run.
The Worst Part:
Row limits on Basic. The Basic plan caps search results and exports at 10k rows, so heavy research needs Pro + AI.
Get it if you want to find the keywords that already work for your competitors and go after them.
I recommend you get the Pro + AI plan, at $59 for the first month, then $119/month.
(30-day money-back guarantee)
Best For
SpyFu is best for marketers and PPC managers who build their keyword lists by studying competitors.
Top Features
Competitor keywords. Download the SEO and PPC keywords any domain ranks for or buys, with unlimited exports on Pro + AI.
Ad history. Browse a competitor’s Google Ads campaign history and the results of every ad split test.
Rank tracking. Track from 5k to 50k keyword rankings a week, depending on your plan.
AI site audit. Scan for 100+ technical and on-page issues and generate fixes you can review and publish.
SpyFu GPT. Get SpyFu data inside ChatGPT and turn your research into next steps.
Pricing
SpyFu offers three pricing plans:
- Basic: $39/month, or $29/month billed annually, for 10k-row search results and exports, 1 tracked site, and 5k weekly tracked keywords.
- Pro + AI: $119/month ($59 for the first month), or $89/month billed annually, for unlimited search results and exports, 10 tracked sites, and the AI tools.
- Team / Agency: $249/month, or $187/month billed annually, for 5 users, unlimited tracked sites, and 50k weekly tracked keywords.
All paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 26% discount.
Try SpyFu today with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
7. Raven Tools
Our Verdict — Best For SEO Audits
Price: Starts at $49/month
Raven Tools is an all-in-one SEO and marketing reporting platform with 45 tools for audits, backlinks, rank tracking, and client reports. We think it’s the best for SEO audits because its Site Auditor crawls your pages, scores your site’s health out of 100, and lists every issue by severity as a checklist.
The Best Part:
Audits you can work through. Site Auditor turns every on-page and technical problem into a checklist you can mark off as you fix it.
The Worst Part:
No refunds. Raven doesn’t refund partial months on monthly plans, and it doesn’t refund annual plans.
Get it if you run SEO for your own sites or for clients and want audits and reports in one place.
I recommend you start with the 7-day free trial, then get the Small Biz plan for $39/month, prepaid yearly.
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Raven Tools is best for agencies and freelancers who audit sites and send branded SEO reports to clients.
Top Features
Site Auditor. Crawl your site, get a health score out of 100, and see issues ranked by severity.
Backlink tools. Explore backlinks with Majestic data and compare link profiles with Link Spy.
SERP rank tracker. Track keywords daily, weekly, or monthly on Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yandex, and Baidu, down to the zip code.
White-label reports. Automate client reports with data from 25+ sources under your own brand.
Keyword research. Get Google search volume and discover your competitors’ keywords, with no limits.
Pricing
Raven Tools offers five pricing plans:
- Small Biz: $49/month, or $39/month prepaid yearly, for 2 domains, 2 users, and 1,500 position checks.
- Start: $109/month, or $79/month prepaid yearly, for 20 domains, 4 users, and 15,000 position checks.
- Grow: $199/month, or $139/month prepaid yearly, for 80 domains, 8 users, and 20,000 position checks.
- Thrive: $299/month, or $249/month prepaid yearly, for 160 domains, 20 users, and 25,000 position checks.
- Lead: $479/month, or $399/month prepaid yearly, for 320 domains, 40 users, and 30,000 position checks.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 30% discount.
Try Raven Tools today with a free 7-day trial.
Our Top Three Picks
Here’s a quick summary of our top three picks:
Here’s a quick comparison of our top seven picks:
Tool | Entry Offer | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
Mangools | Free account | Starts at $37.70/mo |
Semrush | 7-day free trial | Starts at $139.95/mo |
Serpstat | 7-day free trial | Starts at $69/mo |
Ahrefs | Free plan | Starts at $29/mo |
Moz | 7-day free trial | Starts at $49/mo |
SpyFu | 30-day money-back guarantee | Starts at $39/mo |
Raven Tools | 7-day free trial | Starts at $49/mo |
Here are the top 50 DIY SEO tools we considered in this review:
- Mangools
- Semrush
- Serpstat
- Ahrefs
- Moz
- SpyFu
- Raven Tools
- Buzzsumo
- Majestic SEO
- BrightLocal
- Keysearch
- Yoast SEO
- Ubersuggest
- Google Search Console
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider
- Google Analytics
- Google Keyword Planner
- Seobility
- SEOquake
- Google Trends
- Keywords Everywhere
- SEO PowerSuite
- WooRank
- Siteliner
- LinkResearchTools
- CognitiveSEO
- SEOmator
- SEOlium
- SE Ranking
- Lumar
- Nightwatch.io
- OnCrawl
- WebCEO
- Advanced Web Ranking
- Rank Ranger
- SEOProfiler
- CanIRank
- Ryte
- AccuRanker
- Keyword Tool
- Answer The Public
- Surfer SEO
- ClickFlow
- Clearscope
- Sitebulb
- PageSpeed Insights
- MobileMoxie
- Linkody
- SEO Site Checkup
- SEOptimer
Frequently Asked Questions About DIY SEO Software Tools
What is the best DIY SEO tool?
Mangools is our top pick because you get a complete DIY SEO toolset built for bloggers and online business owners. The one gap: it does not run a full-site SEO audit, so pair it with an auditor if that matters to you.
How do you choose a DIY SEO tool?
Match the tool to your job. Mangools is our best overall, Semrush is best for advanced SEO, Serpstat for beginners, Ahrefs for backlink tracking, Moz for midsize and large businesses, SpyFu for keyword research, and Raven Tools for SEO audits.
Which DIY SEO tool is best for beginners?
Serpstat is the one to reach for when you are just starting out. Mangools is another user-friendly option, and you can build your keyword research basics alongside it using free resources like Google Trends.
Are there free DIY SEO tools or free trials?
Yes. Ahrefs gives you a free plan for your own site and SpyFu a 30-day money-back guarantee. You get free trials on Semrush, Serpstat, Raven Tools, and Moz, and a free account on Mangools, so you can test before you pay.
Which DIY SEO tool is best for backlink tracking?
Ahrefs is the one to reach for when you want to track backlinks, and it gives you a free plan to start.
Is Semrush good for advanced SEO?
Yes, Semrush is our pick for advanced SEO because you get comprehensive keyword research, in-depth competitor analysis, and detailed backlink audits. Expect a steep learning curve, so plan a little ramp-up time.
Do any DIY SEO tools use AI?
Yes. Serpstat includes AI content creation tools, and it is also our pick for beginners, so you get AI help and an easy on-ramp in one place.
How do I start doing SEO myself?
Start with keyword research to find terms with high search volume and low keyword difficulty. From there, create high-quality unique content, monitor performance with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, fix your technical SEO issues, and build external links. SEO is a long game, so give it time to show results.
The Bottom Line
To recap, here are the best DIY SEO tools to try this year: