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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Ahrefs

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AAhrefs is an SEO tool providers. Ahrefs Site Explorer provides a suite of tools including a component for backlink & on-page SEO analysis, online brand mentions tracking, and domain comparison tool for competitor analysis, etc. They refer to themselves as “the largest index of live backlinks.”

    $127

    per month

    Sprout Social

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ASprout Social provides social media management, marketing, customer care, data and intelligence, and employee advocacy solutions for brands and agencies, including Ticketmaster, Chipotle, Grubhub, Subaru, and Zendesk. Sprout’s platform is used to simplify social publishing, engagement, reviews, analytics and listening for customers. Sprout also provides customer success and technical support, to deliver consistent value to all users. Any organization, regardless of size or industry, receives…

    $249

    per month per user

    Pricing
    AhrefsSprout Social
    Editions & Modules
    Lite
    $129.00
    per month
    Standard
    $249.00
    per month
    Advanced
    $449.00
    per month
    Enterprise
    $1499.00
    per month
    Essentials
    $79 per seat/per month annual / $99 per seat/per month monthly
    Standard
    $199 annual / $249 monthly
    per user/per month
    Professional
    $299 annual / $399 monthly
    per user/per month
    Advanced
    $399 annual / $499 monthly
    per user/per month
    Free Trial
    Free
    for 30 days
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    AhrefsSprout Social
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsDiscount available for annual billing.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    AhrefsSprout Social
    Considered Both Products
    Ahrefs
    No answer on this topic
    Sprout Social
    Chose Sprout Social
    Sprout Social is probably my top pick of the lot, mainly due to its simple navigation and content calendar. While some of the other platforms have more robust functionality and integrations, I've found I'm more comfortable using Sprout Social and would prefer a seamless user …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    38 Answers
    94%
    Would buy again
    106 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    34 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    93 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    39 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    108 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    33 Answers
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    86 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    36 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    92 Answers
    Features
    AhrefsSprout Social
    SEO
    Comparison of SEO features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    8.3
    72 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    Keyword analysis9.869 Ratings00 Ratings
    Backlink management9.470 Ratings00 Ratings
    SERP ranking tracking8.568 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page grader7.462 Ratings00 Ratings
    Competitive analysis9.270 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site audit / diagnostics7.465 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site recommendations7.561 Ratings00 Ratings
    Task management7.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Channels
    Comparison of SEO Channels features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    6.4
    63 Ratings
    17% below category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    Local SEO6.751 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social SEO6.048 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile SEO6.047 Ratings00 Ratings
    Global SEO7.057 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Platform & Account Management
    Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    7.3
    60 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-domain support6.357 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with web analytics tools8.429 Ratings00 Ratings
    Listening/monitoring
    Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    7.2
    114 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Boolean keyword searches00 Ratings6.980 Ratings
    Filtering out noise/spam00 Ratings7.196 Ratings
    Sentiment analysis00 Ratings7.077 Ratings
    Broad channel coverage00 Ratings8.090 Ratings
    Publishing
    Comparison of Publishing features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    8.2
    145 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Content planning and scheduling00 Ratings9.2145 Ratings
    Audience targeting00 Ratings7.2110 Ratings
    Content optimization00 Ratings8.2126 Ratings
    Workflow management00 Ratings8.4126 Ratings
    Engagement
    Comparison of Engagement features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    7.9
    132 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Automated routing and prioritization00 Ratings7.687 Ratings
    Customer interaction histories00 Ratings8.1116 Ratings
    Bulk actions00 Ratings8.1115 Ratings
    Marketing
    Comparison of Marketing features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    7.1
    96 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Lead generation00 Ratings6.869 Ratings
    Content marketing00 Ratings8.192 Ratings
    Paid media management00 Ratings6.23 Ratings
    Campaigns and promotions00 Ratings7.24 Ratings
    Channel coverage/integration
    Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    8.4
    144 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Twitter00 Ratings8.8126 Ratings
    Facebook00 Ratings8.7143 Ratings
    LinkedIn00 Ratings8.6130 Ratings
    Google+00 Ratings7.846 Ratings
    Instagram00 Ratings8.6132 Ratings
    Pinterest00 Ratings8.246 Ratings
    YouTube00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Reporting/analytics
    Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    8.2
    146 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Campaign success analytics00 Ratings8.6138 Ratings
    Real-time tracking00 Ratings8.1134 Ratings
    Competitor analysis00 Ratings7.8120 Ratings
    Account management
    Comparison of Account management features of Ahrefs and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    8.0
    138 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Role-based user permissions & privileges00 Ratings8.7132 Ratings
    Mobile access00 Ratings7.3124 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    AhrefsSprout Social
    Small Businesses
    Serpstat
    Score10 out of 10
    Sendible
    Score7.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Yoast
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Emplifi
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google Trends
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio (discontinued)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    AhrefsSprout Social
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (77 ratings)
    8.4
    (203 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    9.2
    (67 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    8.5
    (130 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.7
    (8 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.8
    (14 ratings)
    1.7
    (39 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    1.0
    (12 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (42 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    AhrefsSprout Social
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Ahrefs
    Ahrefs is a must have in the SEO toolbox. It is one of the leading tools in the industry for serious SEO research. It can do almost everything you need on the non-technical side of SEO. In my opinion, it is not great if you need a detailed technical tool that identifies errors and helps with fix suggestions. In that instance, I think there are better tools on the market. But - for content and keyword related tasks, I think it's must have.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    Sprout is typically the first platform that comes to mind when I think of social media content scheduling/platform management/social media management. However, Sprout is very pricey, and I don’t think there’s an obvious standout element that helps differentiate it from other scheduling platforms. For organizations with only a few social media profiles, I’d be more likely to recommend lower-cost or free platforms as opposed to Sprout. I’d probably only recommend Sprout for organizations with dozens or hundreds of social media accounts
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Ahrefs
    • I have been using this platform in my organization to develop several SEO tools to help to grow our website much.
    • It has all the main features which include competitor research, keyword research, website audit, content research, and rank tracking.
    • I have been using all these functions in the organization for several purposes. It provides complete information and complete performance details of the SEO.
    • It provides us the detailed keyword research with volume, CPC, and other information.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    • Social Scheduling: Sprout Social makes it easier than any platform I've used to schedule posts with each, and to batch-schedule the same post to run on multiple dates. The scheduling platform is intuitive and easy to understand.
    • Social Reporting: With just a few clicks of the button, you can easily export reports that are easy for both social media experts and complete novices to understand. I like how you can get a report within 60 seconds or so if needed.
    • Customer Service/Help: Whenever I've had a question, both my Sprout Social rep and the Help Center have been extremely easy to contact and quick to reply. Problems are solved very fast and it's made easy to understand.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Ahrefs
    • Can't export graphs: some graphs within the tool would be useful as an export. Unfortunately, exporting them is not an option.
    • No "blanket" reporting options: though Ahrefs is excellent for gathering and exporting intel/data, there are no blanket SEO reports provided. Exporting data is great, but simple report exporting would make it better.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    • I would like for Personal Instagram Accounts to be able to integrate with Sprout Social's Employee Advocacy platform. You are able to connect personally accounts to Sprout Social itself, which is great, but for employee re-sharing internal stories, this is not possible unless it is with a Business Instagram account.
    • I would like for the left hand tool bar to be more user friendly. There are so many tools and settings that are available, and I would like for it to be simplified in a way that makes it less cluttered.
    • An improvement can be made with the Sprout Social Mobile App. The user friendliness of the app does not allow as much autonomy as the regular webpage.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Ahrefs
    Their index is too vast to ignore when looking at a complete backlink profile. We find links in Ahrefs that do not appear in any other link detection tool. For this reason, it's a must for our agency to use for the foreseeable future. Plus, it's very affordable considering the data you get
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    Sprout Social is the best platform out there for social-media management, and now that I have all my clients using Sprout Social, it would be sort of silly for me to walk away format at this juncture. The only cloud on the horizon would be if Salesforce bought it (as has been rumored) and put it inside its walled garden.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Ahrefs
    Ahrefs is very easy to use - you can jump right in and understand most of the assets. Overall, the dashboard snapshots give a very good picture of inbound link activity. For deeper analysis of historical trends, the system can become cumbersome, making it hard to do full work without exporting and reformatting the data.
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    Sprout Social is straightforward to use - built for anyone regardless of tech experience to be able to navigate. It integrates pretty seamlessly to the native platforms and brings a lot of things together to make a seamlessly experience for seasoned social media managers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Ahrefs
    No answers on this topic
    Sprout Social
    Uptime was OK, but given the fact that we are in Europe, there were some specific problems: They tended to take the system down for maintenance during the night in the US, which was during our workday. This was definitely problematic and hard to explain to our clients.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Ahrefs
    No answers on this topic
    Sprout Social
    It is quick to post, however you have to refresh the page every time you add a new scheduled item.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Ahrefs
    Ahrefs has always been responsive when there's been a technical issue with the site. There are usually very little problems, but if there are, they announce it on their social media accounts which keeps its customers informed. Email support is prompt and the customer service people are very helpful, knowledgable and friendly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    The chat and online resources are great. The managers are too. They go through account reps pretty fast. Also, not a lot of onboarding once a product or service is sold. The ticket request system is terrible, they have too many people switching off roles, they take a long time to get back to you and don't plan on anything being fixed over a weekend - even if you have a problem. Their customer service via tickets is the worst.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Ahrefs
    No answers on this topic
    Sprout Social
    Their training is good, but the promotion of it is even better. I don't need or have the time for training, but I was always happy to know it was there. They did a great job sending updates out and making me aware when there was a new feature that I may want training for. As for the training I never used it, so I can't comment on that
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Ahrefs
    No answers on this topic
    Sprout Social
    Make sure you do it all the way. Do not break it into phases. Pour yourself a coffee, start it in the morning and you'll be done before you finish that coffee.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Ahrefs
    Majestic and Ahrefs are really close in terms of tool. Ahrefs does offer competitive comparison and they do have a more up to date data base. Majestic however has a more comprehensive historical view of sites which is also extremely valuable. Majestic also offers a link velocity chart that is missing on Ahrefs. Ahrefs makes up for this with their links gained/lost calendar which Majestic is missing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    We started this agency using Later and switched to Iconosqaure because we needed more in-depth reporting. We switched from Iconosquare to Sprout Social because of the continuous scheduling bugs/issues we were having with our account and our terrible experience with their Customer Service team. We are planning to close our Sprout Social account and move to HeyOrca because of cost, ease of use, and the basic scheduling features Sprout Social doesn't offer.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Ahrefs
    • Ahrefs Site Explorer has helped with any comprehensive backlink analysis and backlink profile management we've had.
    • Ahrefs Site Explorer has helped tremendously in getting manual penalties lifted for certain sites.
    • Aherfs Site Explorer has been helpful in identifying 404 error pages.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    • One positive impact has been a huge time saver for our team. Where we once had multiple systems and delays from producing content to approval to publishing, now everything is seamless.
    • Another positive impact is streamlining the onboarding process for new team members. Sprout Social is user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy to study even for someone completely new to social media.
    • One negative impact has been the time it takes to wade through irrelevant social listening posts. The filtering is not effective enough to eliminate the noise.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Ahrefs Screenshots

    Screenshot of Analyze backlinks and keywords of any website to find opportunities for your organic traffic growthScreenshot of Check your website for 100+ pre-defined SEO issuesScreenshot of Get relevant keyword ideas supported by accurate SEO metricsScreenshot of Find the most shared and linked-to content on any topicScreenshot of Track your and your competitors' search rankings

    Sprout Social Screenshots

    Screenshot of Sprout’s social media publishing tools, used to schedule and post messages to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn simultaneously from a single Compose window.