How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Ahrefs and Semrush are the deepest replacements, with huge keyword databases plus difficulty, SERP, and competitor data.
- SE Ranking is the value suite pick, with keyword research, rank tracking, and AI visibility in one fairly priced platform.
- Mangools KWFinder is the easiest tool for beginners, with a clean interface and affordable pricing.
- Ubersuggest suits solo marketers and small teams, with a free plan, a lifetime option, and AI search visibility.
- Keyword Tool is the best free starting point, generating long-tail ideas from autocomplete data across 17 platforms.
- Serpstat is the budget suite for competitor research and keyword data across 230 countries.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Ahrefs | Deepest keyword data | See website | Free tools |
 Semrush | All in one research | See website | Free trial |
 SE Ranking | Agency value | $103.20 per month | Free trial |
 Mangools KWFinder | Beginner friendly | See website | Free tools |
 Ubersuggest | Solo marketers | See website | Yes |
 Keyword Tool | Free long-tail ideas | See website | Yes |
 Serpstat | Budget competitor research | See website | Free access |
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The best alternatives to Moz Keyword Explorer
#1Ahrefs
Best for: Deepest keyword data4.5/5 on
G2 (717 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit ahrefs.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree tools
Ahrefs Keywords Explorer is the most data rich replacement for Moz Keyword Explorer. The Ahrefs homepage cites a web index of 100 billion pages, 8 billion pages crawled daily, and keyword data across 217 plus countries, with tools for content marketing, competitive intelligence, and website performance alongside keyword research. Keywords Explorer gives search volume, difficulty, clicks, and parent topic data, plus SERP overviews that show who ranks and why.
The trade-off is price. Ahrefs is a premium platform, and casual researchers may find it more than they need. For SEOs who want the deepest keyword data with backlink and content gap analysis in the same tool, Ahrefs is the strongest Moz alternative.
What we like- 28.7 billion keywords filtered from 110 billion discovered
- Keyword difficulty, SERP analysis, and competitor gaps
- Free website performance monitoring
Watch out for- Premium pricing
- Full platform takes time to learn
#2Semrush
Best for: All in one research4.4/5 on
G2 (4,035 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit semrush.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial
Semrush Keyword Magic Tool is the all in one replacement. The Semrush homepage describes a platform to grow and measure brand visibility from search results to AI answers, with databases of 29 billion keywords, 43 trillion backlinks, and 808 million domain profiles, plus AI visibility tracking across prompts and engines. Keyword research connects directly to rank tracking, site audits, content tools, and advertising research.
The caveat is ownership change: Semrush news on its own homepage announces that Adobe has completed its acquisition of Semrush, so buyers should watch for packaging changes. For teams that want keyword research inside a complete marketing platform, Semrush is the top pick.
What we like- Keyword Magic Tool with billions of keywords
- 29 billion keyword database
- AI visibility tracking
- Competitor keyword gaps
Watch out for- Premium pricing
- Note that Adobe has acquired Semrush, so future packaging may change
Starting price$103.20 per month
Free planFree trial
SE Ranking is an AI SEO platform trusted by more than 40,000 agencies, with keyword research at its core. Its homepage cites a 5.5 billion keyword database, 2.2 billion domain profiles, and 188 country databases, plus AI visibility across major AI engines, rank tracking, competitor research, and reporting through Data Studio and Agency Analytics. Pricing on the homepage shows the Core plan from $103.20 per month, with 14 days of full platform access.
The trade-off is database size. SE Ranking covers fewer keywords than Ahrefs or Semrush, but it covers the keywords most sites actually target, at a lower price. For agencies and growing sites that want keyword research, tracking, and reporting in one fairly priced platform, SE Ranking is the best value pick.
What we like- Keyword research with 5.5 billion keyword database
- Rank tracking and AI visibility
- Agency Pack
- 14 day full access trial
Watch out for- Core plan price has risen
- Keyword database smaller than Ahrefs or Semrush
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree tools
Mangools is a set of affordable, easy to use SEO tools built around KWFinder for keyword research. Its homepage highlights discovering easy to rank keywords with difficulty, user intent, search volume trends, and top ranking websites' weaknesses, backed by 2.5 billion keywords, competitor keyword analysis, and 65,000 plus city level locations, plus SERP analysis, rank tracking, backlink checking, and site exploration. Mangools is trusted by more than 2.8 million SEO pros, agencies, and business owners since 2014.
The catch is depth. Mangools is not a giant all in one tool, and its rank tracking updates weekly except on the Agency plan. For beginners, bloggers, and small businesses who want keyword research without a steep learning curve or premium price, KWFinder is the easiest Moz alternative to adopt.
What we like- Clean intuitive interface
- 2.5 billion keywords
- Difficulty, intent, and SERP weakness data
- 65,000 plus city level locations
- Free mini tools
Watch out for- Smaller suite than Ahrefs or Semrush
- Rank tracking weekly except on Agency plan
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Ubersuggest is a free keyword research tool from Neil Patel that has grown into an all in one SEO and AI search visibility platform. Its homepage covers volume, difficulty, CPC, and AI era search intent for any keyword, expansion across autocomplete, related terms, questions, prepositions, and comparisons from a 2.2 billion keyword database, plus bulk analysis, competitor gaps, site audits, rank tracking, and AI visibility tracking for ChatGPT and Gemini. A free plan covers light research, and a lifetime option suits solopreneurs who prefer a one time payment.
The trade-off is agency polish. Ubersuggest itself notes it lacks white label reporting, branded client portals, and SSO, so agencies needing branded deliverables should look elsewhere. For solo marketers and small teams who want strong keyword data at a low price, Ubersuggest is the best value pick.
What we like- 2.2 billion keyword database
- Volume, difficulty, CPC, and AI search intent
- Competitor gaps and content ideas
- Free plan and lifetime option
Watch out for- No white label reporting or SSO
- 7 day trial requires a credit card
- Top self-serve plan covers 15 projects
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Keyword Tool is the best free starting point for keyword research. Its homepage explains that it uses Google Autocomplete to generate hundreds of relevant long-tail keywords for any topic, by prepending and appending letters and numbers to your seed term and pulling suggestions in a split second. The free version generates 750 plus keywords from Google autocomplete, and the tool supports 190 plus Google domains, 120 plus languages, and 17 platforms including YouTube, Bing, Amazon, eBay, App Store, Instagram, TikTok, and Perplexity.
The catch is data depth. The free version shows suggestions with limited metrics, while Pro adds search volume, CPC, competition, and trend data sourced from advertising platforms. For brainstorming long-tail ideas and questions that other tools miss, Keyword Tool is unmatched for free.
What we like- Free with no account required
- 750 plus keywords from Google autocomplete in seconds
- 17 platforms including YouTube, Amazon, and TikTok
- 190 plus domains
Watch out for- Free version limits data
- Search volume and CPC need Pro
- Autocomplete data differs from modeled volume data
#7Serpstat
Best for: Budget competitor research4.6/5 on
G2 (464 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit serpstat.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree access
Serpstat is a marketing tool for SEO and content tasks with a strong keyword research core. Its homepage covers fast keyword research on any topic, with keywords from 230 countries in Google including difficulty, search volume, and CPC, plus competitor analysis, site audits with prioritized fixes, rank tracking, and API access. Databases cited include 1.50 billion domains, 8.62 billion keywords, 529 billion backlinks, and 5.6 billion keyword suggestions.
The trade-off is polish. Serpstat is less refined than Ahrefs or Semrush, and its US presence is smaller. For budget conscious teams that want competitor research and keyword data across many countries at a lower price, Serpstat is a solid Moz alternative.
What we like- Keyword research across 230 countries with difficulty, volume, and CPC
- Competitor analysis and site audits
- 8.62 billion keywords
- Free access tier
Watch out for- Interface and data depth less polished than Ahrefs or Semrush
- Smaller brand presence in the US
How we chose
We compared tools that replace Moz Keyword Explorer for keyword research: finding ideas, measuring volume and difficulty, analyzing SERPs, and tracking competitors. Each vendor homepage was opened to confirm the product exists today and matches its category, including Ahrefs, Semrush, and SE Ranking, whose homepages were opened earlier in this session. Pricing was taken from vendor pages where published, and written as See website where prices vary by plan or have changed recently. We kept a mix of full suites, beginner tools, and free options, since Moz users range from solo bloggers to large agencies.
Doing keyword research that ranks
Start with seed terms from your products, services, and customer questions, then expand with a keyword tool to find long-tail variations, questions, and comparisons. Check difficulty honestly: a new site should target lower difficulty terms first, while an established site can compete for harder terms. Look at the actual SERP for each target keyword, since the pages ranking today tell you what intent Google rewards.
Group keywords by intent and topic, not by single terms, and build one strong page per group rather than thin pages per keyword. Track rankings and AI visibility over time, and refresh pages that slip. Finally, treat volume as an estimate, not a promise: different tools model volume differently, so use trends and relative comparisons rather than exact numbers to decide what to write.
Frequently asked questions
Is Moz Keyword Explorer still available?
Yes, Moz Keyword Explorer remains available inside Moz Pro, with keyword suggestions, difficulty, and SERP analysis. Teams switch for larger databases, lower prices, or AI visibility features that Moz does not emphasize.
Which Moz alternative is free?
Keyword Tool is free with no account for long-tail ideas, and Ubersuggest offers a free plan for light research. Ahrefs and Mangools offer free tools, while most suites offer free trials rather than permanent free plans.
What is keyword difficulty, and should I trust it?
Keyword difficulty estimates how hard it is to rank for a term, based on the authority of pages currently ranking. It is useful for comparison, but scores differ between tools, so use it to prioritize, not as a guarantee.
How is AI search changing keyword research?
People now ask full questions in AI assistants, so tools like Ubersuggest, Semrush, and SE Ranking track prompts and AI answers alongside classic rankings. Keyword research now covers both Google rankings and AI citations.
Do I need a paid keyword tool?
Not always. Keyword Tool and free tiers cover brainstorming and basic research. Paid tools add accurate volume, difficulty, competitor gaps, and tracking, which matter once you manage many keywords or clients. Start free, then upgrade when your keyword list grows beyond what free tools can track comfortably.
How many keywords should I target per page?
Target one primary keyword and a cluster of closely related terms per page, covering the same intent. Avoid creating separate thin pages for near identical keywords, since that splits authority and confuses search engines.
Sources we checked (7)
- https://ahrefs.com
- https://www.semrush.com
- https://www.seranking.com
- https://mangools.com
- https://www.ubersuggest.com
- https://keywordtool.io
- https://www.serpstat.com
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.