SE Ranking is one of the most recommended SEMrush alternatives for freelancers and small agencies, and the price tag plays a big role in that. Late 2025, SE Ranking restructured its entire plan lineup, renaming tiers, reshuffling limits and migrating existing customers whether they wanted to or not. There is a reason people are searching “SE Ranking pricing” in 2026 more than ever before.
This article breaks down exactly what each plan costs, what you actually get for your money and which one makes sense for your situation.
SE Ranking plans at a glance
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $129/mo | $103.20/mo | Solo bloggers, freelancers, small in-house teams |
| Growth | $279/mo | $223.20/mo | Agencies managing multiple clients |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Large teams with high data volumes |
An annual subscription saves you around 20% on both plans. The 14-day free trial gives you access to the Core plan with reduced usage limits, no credit card required.
What changed in 2025
SE Ranking used to run three tiers: Essential, Pro and Business, now they are gone.
The new tiers are Core, Growth and Enterprise. They didn't just rename the tiers, limits were shifted, features were moved and existing customers on legacy plans were pushed to migrate.
If you signed up before late 2025 you might still be on the legacy plan. You can switch to the new plan when your current term renews. But make sure to verify the new limits match your actual usage.
Core plan
The entry point, at $103.20 per month on annual billing.
This is what it gives you:
- 10 projects and 1 manager seat
- 2,000 keyword positions checked per day
- 100 GEO prompts per day
- 5 domains in GEO competitive research
- 250,000 audits per month
- 25,000 research API credits with MCP access
- 6 months of historical data
- 25 content marketing articles per month
- 50 on-page checks and SERP analyses
If you are a solo blogger or freelancer this covers everything you need, keyword research, rank tracking, site audits, backlinks and analysis, it is all there.
Two limits to keep an eye on. First, the daily keyword check cap, 2,000 positions sounds like a lot until you are tracking 50 keywords across 10 projects on a daily basis. Make sure to set your frequency to weekly rather than daily, this way you won't burn through your usage via daily checks alone. Second, historical data is capped at 6 months on Core. If you want data older than that, you will need Growth.
Best for: freelancers with a small client base and bloggers who manage one or two sites
Worst for: Agencies tracking dozens of clients and thus require multiple seats and a larger cap
Growth plan
The agency tier. At $223.20 per month on annual billing you get:
- 30 projects and 3 manager seats
- 5,000 keyword positions checked per day
- 250 GEO prompts per day
- 15 domains in GEO competitive research
- 2,000,000 audit pages per month
- 100,000 research API credits with MCP access
- All-time historical data
- 50 content marketing articles per month
- 1,000 on-page checks and SERP analyses
- Guest links for client collaboration
- Page changes monitoring
- Dedicated customer support
The difference between the Core and Growth plan is $120 per month. This is a significant difference and only makes sense if you are consistently running into Core's limits. Specifically the project cap, the daily keyword ceiling or the 6 month historical data cutoff.
At $223.20 per month, Growth is close in price to SEMrush Guru at around $208 per month. At this price point, the comparison with SEMrush becomes a real decision rather than a no-brainer. SEMrush Guru adds deeper competitor traffic analysis and a larger keyword database. SE Ranking Growth gives you more projects per dollar, a cleaner agency workflow and all-time historical data without paying extra.
Best for: SEO agencies managing 10 to 30 active clients with teams needing multiple seats and collaboration tools
Worst for: anyone who has not hit Core's ceiling, you'll be paying for headroom you do not need
Enterprise plan
The Enterprise plan has custom pricing. This plan is best suited for teams whose needs go beyond what Growth can handle. Teams who need more projects, more seats or a higher API volume.
Annual vs monthly: the math
Monthly billing costs you 20% more than the annual plan.
| Plan | Annual (per month) | Monthly | Extra cost per year on monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $103.20 | $129 | $309.60 |
| Growth | $223.20 | $279 | $670.80 |
If you are confident in choosing SE Ranking for the full year, annual is the obvious choice. The 14-day trial gives you access to test out the tool, after which you can decide on the monthly or yearly plan.
Add-ons
Agency pack ($69 per month, annual billing only): white-label reporting, unlimited schedule reports with AI summaries, tools that are client-facing, a lead generator widget and agency catalog placement. It also includes up to 30 client seats and 30 projects by default, with the option to expand. This option is relevant for agencies who send branded reports to clients.
AI Search ($71.20 per month annual / $89 per month monthly): track your brand's presence in AI-generated search results in Google's AI overview, Google's AI mode, Perplexity and ChatGPT. This includes access to SE Visible and SE Ranking's AI visibility dashboard. Useful in case AI visibility matters for your clients.
API add-on ($45 per month, annual billing only): 3 million credits for programmatic access to SE Ranking's backlinks, domain, keyword research, site audits and AI search data. Useful for developers or agencies that are running a custom reporting workflow.
Extra articles and keywords: both plans include content marketing articles and keyword tracking at the base level. Extra articles start from $39.20 per month. Extra keyword capacity start from $22.40 per month on the Core plan and $32 per month on the Growth plan.
Add-ons are stackable. If you are running Growth plus agency pack plus AI search, you'll be above the headline price. Factor this in before committing to an annual plan.
Which plan should you pick?
Core is right for you if:
- You manage 1 to 10 websites
- You are a solo blogger, a freelancer or a small in-house team
- You do not need team seats or all-time historical data
- You want a full SEO suite under $110 per month
Growth is right for you if:
- You are an agency with 10 to 30 active clients
- You need multiple user seats and guest collaboration links
- You need all-time historical data for long-term reporting
- You hit Core's keyword tracking limit daily
Stick with the free trial for now if:
- You are just starting out and do not have a set SEO workflow yet
- You're not sure how many keywords you'll actually track
If you are reading this as a blogger or solopreneur researching SEO tools, Core is almost certainly good enough for you. The 10-project limit will cover most of your use cases and adjusting keyword tracking frequency to a weekly rather than a daily basis stretches your usage dramatically.
For the money, SE Ranking's Core plan is one of the strongest value full SEO platforms available. Especially compared to SEMrush at $139.95 per month or Ahrefs at $129 per month for a smaller feature set. See our full SEMrush alternatives breakdown.
Conclusion
SE Ranking's Core plan on annual billing is the right starting point for most people. It has keyword research, rank tracking, it can perform site audits, do backlink analysis and more. It has the full toolkit that you would need available at a reasonable price.
Growth makes sense only when you hit Core's ceiling on a daily basis. Only upgrade when needed.
The late 2025 restructure caused real confusion for their existing users, but for new signups the choice is straightforward: two self-serve plans with a clean split between solo use and agency use.
Start your 14-day free trial, no credit required: Get started with SE Ranking
Frequently Asked Questions
SE Ranking has two self-serve plans. Core runs $103.20/month on annual billing or $129/month on monthly. Growth is $223.20/month (annual) or $279/month (monthly). Enterprise is custom pricing. Contact them directly for a quote. For solo bloggers and freelancers, Core is the only tier worth considering. Growth is an agency product.
Yes. 14 days, no credit card required. You get the Core plan with slightly reduced limits: 750 tracked keyword positions per day, 10 projects and 20 AI prompts. Your projects and data carry over when you subscribe, so run it on your real site rather than a throwaway domain. Two weeks is enough to properly test the workflow.
Core. At $103.20/month on annual billing you get 10 projects, 2,000 keyword positions checked daily, site audits, rank tracking and backlink analysis. That’s everything a solo operator needs. The only reason to look at Growth is if you’re consistently hitting Core’s project cap or keyword ceiling, and most freelancers won’t get close.
Annual billing saves you 20%. Core drops from $129/month to $103.20, saving $309.60 per year. Growth drops from $279 to $223.20, saving $670.80 annually. Use the 14-day free trial first before committing to a year. The trial gives you a real look at the tool without locking anything in.
The gap is bigger than the price suggests. Core gives you 10 projects, one manager seat and 6 months of historical data. Growth triples the keyword cap, adds multiple seats, all-time historical data and guest client collaboration links. The price difference is $120/month on annual billing. Only upgrade when you’re genuinely hitting Core’s limits on a daily basis.
Yes, at the entry level. Core costs $103.20/month versus SEMrush Pro at $139.95/month. Both cover the same core SEO functions. At the higher tier, the gap closes: SE Ranking Growth at $223.20/month sits close to SEMrush Guru at $208/month. At that price point it becomes a real comparison rather than an obvious call. See our SEMrush alternatives breakdown.
Not hidden, but worth knowing. The base plans cover standard SEO. Optional add-ons are stackable: Agency Pack at $69/month (annual only), AI Search tracking at $71.20/month annual, and an API add-on at $45/month (annual only). Extra keyword capacity and content articles are also purchasable on top. If you stack several add-ons, your monthly cost climbs well above the headline plan price.