Moz alternatives, matched to why you're leaving
By Jean Luc Poitier, SEO and growth marketing strategist · Moz Reviews · Updated October 5, 2026 · Grounded in Moz's Trustpilot, G2, and Capterra reviews
Disclosure: this site reviews Moz and earns a commission if you sign up for Moz through our links. This page lists Moz's competitors, for readers who have decided to leave, and ends with the reasons some people stay.
Why people leave Moz
Across our 1,834 Moz reviews, the complaints that come up most are price for small businesses, keyword and link data that power users find smaller than Ahrefs or Semrush, and billing on Trustpilot. Moz Pro also updates rankings weekly; daily tracking is a separate product, STAT, from $360 a month.
“The rank tracking updates are slower than real-time tools, and some reports lack the level of granularity advanced users might want. The price point can be steep for smaller businesses given these limitations.”Diego B., G2, August 2025
“the backlink index isn’t as extensive as tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush.”Akash P., G2, August 2025
On Trustpilot, the 34 unprompted reviews among Moz's 50 most recent (March 2025 to July 2026) average 1.29. Most describe the 7-day trial, which asks for a card and rolls into the $179 Medium plan, a cancellation that didn't go through, or a refund Moz refused under its no-refund policy. Moz Local users raise a separate set of complaints about listings and local rankings.
“Be careful as they will charge you even if you cancel the during the trial period.”Chris, Trustpilot, July 2025
“MOZ Local was not able to provide ranking data for my location.”Aaron Doherty, Trustpilot, May 2025
Match the Moz alternative to your reason for leaving
| Compared on | Best alternative | Check before switching |
|---|---|---|
| Moz costs too much | Mangools: free plan, SEO-only from $49 a month, bundle $37.70 a month billed yearly | 200 tracked keywords and 100 lookups a day on Basic; weekly tracking except on Agency |
| Keyword and link data feels thin | Ahrefs (35 trillion backlinks) or Semrush (43 trillion backlinks, 28 billion keywords) | Ahrefs Lite $129 with no trial; Semrush SEO $139 with a card-only trial |
| Rankings only update weekly | SE Ranking (2,000 keywords daily, $129) or Semrush (500 keywords daily, $139) | SE Ranking has no free plan; Semrush puts AI prompts on the $199 plan |
| Worried about trial charges and refunds | SE Ranking: 14-day trial with no card, or Mangools: free plan and a 48-hour refund | SE Ranking payments are non-refundable; Mangools won't refund two consecutive subscriptions |
| Local listings and local rankings | BrightLocal: Track from $41 a month per location, 14-day trial with no card | Costs more than Moz Local (from $20); daily tracking is a paid add-on; no refunds |
Figures checked against each company's published pages and review-platform listings as of 2026-10-05. “Not published” means the company does not publish that figure.
The 5 best Moz alternatives
Mangools
If price is the reasonMangools has a free plan with no card, SEO-only plans at $49, $69, and $129 a month, and a bundle with its AI Search Watcher from $61 a month ($37.70 a month billed yearly). Premium costs $81 against $99 for Moz Pro Standard, and Mangools refunds in full within 48 hours of a payment. Its 43 most recent unprompted Trustpilot reviews average 4.81. Caveats: Basic tracks 200 keywords and allows 100 keyword lookups per 24 hours, rankings update weekly except on Agency, its backlink data is licensed from Majestic, and its G2 score of 4.7 comes from 96 reviews.
Moz vs Mangools compared →Ahrefs
If data depth is the reasonAhrefs reports about 35 trillion external backlinks and 28.7 billion filtered keywords from a 110 billion keyword database, with its index updated every 15 to 30 minutes. Lite costs $129 a month for 5 projects and 750 tracked keywords, and it scores 4.5 on G2 from 717 reviews. Caveats: there is no free trial, rankings update weekly like Moz's, refunds are limited to monthly plans you haven't used, and its 50 most recent Trustpilot reviews (all unprompted, average 2.1) complain about credit limits and accounts blocked for suspicious activity.
Moz vs Ahrefs compared →Semrush
If data depth and daily tracking both matterSemrush reports more than 43 trillion backlinks and over 28 billion keywords across 142 country databases. Its SEO plan costs $139 a month for 5 websites and 500 keywords tracked daily, and it scores 4.4 on G2 from 4,052 reviews. Caveats: it costs more than Moz Standard, AI prompt tracking starts on the $199 Starter plan, the 7-day trial needs a card, refunds aren't available on monthly plans, and its 48 most recent unprompted Trustpilot reviews average 1.52, most of them about billing.
Moz vs Semrush compared →SE Ranking
If daily tracking or trial billing is the reasonSE Ranking's Core plan costs $129 a month ($103.20 billed yearly) for 10 projects, 2,000 keywords tracked daily, and 100 AI prompts a day. Its 14-day trial needs no credit card, and it scores 4.7 on G2. On Trustpilot its 29 most recent invited reviews average 4.83 and its 21 unprompted ones 2.29. Caveats: there is no free plan, payments are non-refundable unless the service wasn't delivered as promised, and Core includes one seat.
Moz vs SE Ranking compared →BrightLocal
If local listings are the reasonBrightLocal's Track plan costs $41 a month for one location ($31 billed yearly), with 100 tracked keywords, 4 competitors, and a geo-grid for 5 keywords; Manage costs $54 and Grow $65. Its 14-day trial needs no card, and it scores 4.6 on G2 from 230 reviews. Its 27 most recent unprompted Trustpilot reviews average 3.33. Caveats: it costs more than Moz Local (from $20 a month), prices rise with each location, rank tracking is weekly or monthly unless you pay for daily, and its terms say paid charges are not refunded for early cancellation or any other reason.
Moz Local vs BrightLocal compared →
Reasons to stay with Moz
Moz still costs less than the two biggest suites: Standard is $99 a month ($79 billed yearly) against $139 for Semrush's SEO plan and $129 for Ahrefs Lite, and it includes 150 tracked AI prompts across GPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity. Reviewers on G2 (4.3 from 608 reviews) and Capterra (4.5 from 350) praise how easy it is to learn, its Domain Authority and Page Authority metrics, keyword research, site crawl, reports, and learning resources. The free Moz account keeps limited Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer, and MozBar access if you only need the basics.
If billing was your problem, cancel at least 24 hours before renewal and finish every step; our guide to cancelling Moz without being charged walks through them. You can also compare Moz's plans to see whether a smaller one fits, or read the full Moz review record.
See Moz pricingHow we sourced this: on October 5, 2026 we pulled Moz's reviews from Trustpilot, G2, and Capterra, and the 50 most recent Trustpilot reviews of each competitor. Trustpilot labels each review as invited or unprompted, and we used that label to split the averages. We left out Trustpilot reviews about the German newspaper MOZ, which shares the name. Prices come from each company's pricing page on the same date. Quotes are verbatim. See also the best SEO software compared and the Moz review statistics.
Moz alternatives FAQ
What are the best Moz alternatives?+
It depends on why you're leaving. Mangools for a lower price and a free plan, Ahrefs or Semrush for larger keyword and link data, SE Ranking or Semrush for daily rank tracking, SE Ranking for a trial that needs no card, and BrightLocal for local listings and local rank tracking.
Why do people leave Moz?+
On G2 and Capterra the common complaints are price for small businesses, keyword and link data that power users find smaller than Ahrefs or Semrush, and rankings that update weekly. On Trustpilot, Moz's 34 most recent unprompted reviews average 1.29, and most describe a trial that turned into a charge or a refused refund.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Moz?+
Mangools has a free plan, SEO-only plans from $49 a month, and its bundle costs $37.70 a month billed yearly. Moz Pro Starter also costs $49 a month, for one person and one website, so the saving shows up against Moz Standard ($99) and above.
Does Moz offer refunds?+
No. Moz's help center says it does not offer refunds of any kind, and you need to cancel at least 24 hours before your renewal date. The 7-day trial rolls into the $179 Medium plan unless you cancel, and the cancellation isn't done until you click "Yes, confirm cancellation".