Compared

Ahrefs vs Moz

Ahrefs is a SEO research platform; Moz is a SEO suite. This guide lines the two up dimension by dimension using only facts read from their live pages, then shows where Rank.ai covers what both leave out.

Facts verified August 2026Every claim rendered in a real browserSources on every table

01

The short answer

Ahrefs is the research index: backlinks, keywords and Brand Radar's 475M-prompt AI visibility database across seven AI platforms, powered by the web's second-most active crawler. Moz, a Ziff Davis company, is the veteran SEO suite: Domain Authority, a 40-trillion-link index, keyword research, site crawls, and an AI module tracking two to three models weekly. They compete only where the categories overlap; the ledger below lines them up dimension by dimension so the differences carry the decision.

Choose Ahrefs when

  • The 475M-prompt AI research database, search-backed
  • Backlink index and site audit at web scale
  • API and MCP server on every tier
  • A $29 entry plan and a free tier

Choose Moz when

  • Domain Authority and Brand Authority metrics
  • A 40T-link index and 1.25B-keyword research base
  • Moz Local handles listings distribution
  • Moz Academy and a deep learning ecosystem

02

What each product is

Ahrefs. Ahrefs is the research index: backlinks, keywords and Brand Radar's 475M-prompt AI visibility database across seven AI platforms, powered by the web's second-most active crawler. Pricing: Lite $129, Standard $249 and Advanced $449 a month with 5 to 20 tracked AI prompts; full Brand Radar runs $398 (selected platforms) to $699 (all platforms), and prompt packs start at $50 for 2,500 checks.

Moz. Moz, a Ziff Davis company, is the veteran SEO suite: Domain Authority, a 40-trillion-link index, keyword research, site crawls, and an AI module tracking two to three models weekly. Pricing: Standard $99, Medium $179 and Large $299 a month (about 20% less annually) with a $49 single-site starter; extra AI prompts cost $50 per 100 and extra dashboards $20 each.

ahrefs.com/pricing
Ahrefs' pricing page showing Lite, Standard and Advanced plans with tracked AI prompt allowances
Ahrefs. Rendered from the live page, August 2026.
moz.com/products/pro/pricing
Moz Pro pricing page showing Standard, Medium and Large plans with weekly AI tracking
Moz. Rendered from the live page, August 2026.

03

Dimension by dimension

Every cell below was read from the vendor’s own rendered pages (ahrefs.com/pricing and /brand-radar; moz.com/products/pro/pricing and /products/local), as of August 2026. Where a vendor’s public pages neither confirm nor deny a capability, the cell says so.

DimensionAhrefsMoz
AI enginesIndex across AIO, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok2 (GPT, Gemini) on $99; 3 (+ AI Mode) from $179
Claude coverageNot listed anywhereNot listed
Tracking cadenceAI prompts daily; Google Rank Tracker weekly on every tierWeekly for both AI prompts and rankings
Google rank trackingYes, weekly updatesYes, weekly, across Google, Mobile, Yahoo, Bing
Local / map trackingGBP Monitor in beta; no geo-gridMoz Local (separate listings product)
Content outputContent Helper + Grader add-on from $99/moAI Content Briefs, 2 to 50/mo
CMS publishingNoNo
API / MCPAPI and MCP on all tiers, row-meteredMoz API (separate product); no MCP listed
Entry price$29/mo Starter; free tier for site owners$49/mo single-site plan

Sources: ahrefs.com/pricing and /brand-radar; moz.com/products/pro/pricing and /products/local. Rendered in a browser, August 2026. Deeper one-on-one guides: Rank.ai vs Ahrefs and Rank.ai vs Moz.

04

What both leave out

Open questions on each side, from the same rendered pages. Ahrefs: claude and DeepSeek absent from the AI lineup; google rank updates are weekly on every tier; aI prompt tracking metered small on core plans. Moz: claude and Perplexity absent from the tracked models; weekly cadence on both AI and rank tracking; content output stops at briefs.

Rank.ai is built for the loop that usually falls between these two products. It puts your market’s buying questions to seven AI engines every day, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Google AI Overviews and DeepSeek, three samples per engine, and records every answer with the brands named and the sources cited. It checks your Google rankings daily on every plan and scans a geo-grid of your Google Maps rank across your service area. And it finishes the job: the article pipeline researches, writes and publishes the missing pages into WordPress, Webflow, Shopify or WordPress.com with your approval, 10 a month included on the $0 plan.

rank.ai/rankings/brands/ai-brand-visibility
Rank.ai's public AI brand visibility board ranking companies by mention coverage across AI engines
The public record. Daily recorded AI answers, rechecked daily, no account needed.

05

Frequently asked

What is the core difference between Ahrefs and Moz?
Ahrefs is the research index: backlinks, keywords and Brand Radar's 475M-prompt AI visibility database across seven AI platforms, powered by the web's second-most active crawler. Moz, a Ziff Davis company, is the veteran SEO suite: Domain Authority, a 40-trillion-link index, keyword research, site crawls, and an AI module tracking two to three models weekly. The categories differ: one is a SEO research platform, the other a SEO suite, so the right pick depends on which job is open on your team. The ledger above lines the two up dimension by dimension, from their live pages.
How does Ahrefs's pricing compare to Moz's?
Ahrefs: Lite $129, Standard $249 and Advanced $449 a month with 5 to 20 tracked AI prompts; full Brand Radar runs $398 (selected platforms) to $699 (all platforms), and prompt packs start at $50 for 2,500 checks. Moz: Standard $99, Medium $179 and Large $299 a month (about 20% less annually) with a $49 single-site starter; extra AI prompts cost $50 per 100 and extra dashboards $20 each. Both summaries come from each vendor's rendered pricing page as of August 2026.
Which AI engines does each cover?
Ahrefs: Index across AIO, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok. Claude: Not listed anywhere. Moz: 2 (GPT, Gemini) on $99; 3 (+ AI Mode) from $179. Claude: Not listed. For comparison, Rank.ai tracks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Google AI Overviews and DeepSeek on every paid plan, with no per-model fees.
Who should pick Ahrefs?
Teams that need what it verifiably does best: the 475M-prompt AI research database, search-backed; backlink index and site audit at web scale; aPI and MCP server on every tier. Its open questions are the gaps column: claude and DeepSeek absent from the AI lineup; google rank updates are weekly on every tier; aI prompt tracking metered small on core plans.
Who should pick Moz?
Teams that need what it verifiably does best: domain Authority and Brand Authority metrics; a 40T-link index and 1.25B-keyword research base; moz Local handles listings distribution. Its open questions are the gaps column: claude and Perplexity absent from the tracked models; weekly cadence on both AI and rank tracking; content output stops at briefs.
Is there a third option?
Rank.ai covers the loop these two split between them or leave out: seven AI engines including Claude recorded daily with every answer's cited sources kept, Google rankings checked daily on every plan, geo-grid local tracking, and an article pipeline that publishes into WordPress, Webflow, Shopify or WordPress.com with your approval. Plans are $0, $50 and $250 flat, and the measurement runs in public on daily boards at rank.ai/rankings that anyone can audit without an account.

The third option starts at $0

Rank.ai’s free plan publishes 10 articles a month to your site, tracks 3 Google keywords daily and needs no card. Run it while you evaluate Ahrefs and Moz, and compare the recorded output.

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