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.
In this guide
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.


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.
| Dimension | Ahrefs | Moz |
|---|---|---|
| AI engines | Index across AIO, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok | 2 (GPT, Gemini) on $99; 3 (+ AI Mode) from $179 |
| Claude coverage | Not listed anywhere | Not listed |
| Tracking cadence | AI prompts daily; Google Rank Tracker weekly on every tier | Weekly for both AI prompts and rankings |
| Google rank tracking | Yes, weekly updates | Yes, weekly, across Google, Mobile, Yahoo, Bing |
| Local / map tracking | GBP Monitor in beta; no geo-grid | Moz Local (separate listings product) |
| Content output | Content Helper + Grader add-on from $99/mo | AI Content Briefs, 2 to 50/mo |
| CMS publishing | No | No |
| API / MCP | API and MCP on all tiers, row-metered | Moz 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.

05
Frequently asked
What is the core difference between Ahrefs and Moz?
How does Ahrefs's pricing compare to Moz's?
Which AI engines does each cover?
Who should pick Ahrefs?
Who should pick Moz?
Is there a third option?
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.
