Ahrefs vs. CognitiveSEO

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Ahrefs
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Ahrefs 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.”
$99
per month
CognitiveSEO
Score 5.6 out of 10
N/A
CognitiveSEO is a relatively new search engine optimization toolkit, launched in 2012 from developer and CEO Razvan Gavrilas of the company of the same name based in Romania. With an emphasis on backlink analysis and link creating, the platform also presents content and site audit analysis, keyword research and tracking, also rank tracking, all presented via a customizable dashboard. For a small group of up to 5 users with no interest in an API, CognitiveSEO can be had for $99 per month…
$129.99
per month
Pricing
AhrefsCognitiveSEO
Editions & Modules
Lite
$99.00
per month
Standard
$179.00
per month
Advanced
$399.00
per month
Agency
$999.00
per month
Starter
$129.99
per month
Business
Individual Pricing
Custom
Custom Plans Available
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AhrefsCognitiveSEO
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsBusiness Plan pricing can be customized by the user using the on-site calculator found on the pricing page. Individual tools (Link Analysis, Rank Tracking, etc.) available a la carte.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AhrefsCognitiveSEO
Considered Both Products
Ahrefs
Chose 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 …
CognitiveSEO
Chose CognitiveSEO
Majestic and Ahrefs are great tools and we use them with CognitiveSEO but for different reasons. Majestic and Ahrefs have more comprehensive link databases while cognitive gives us more updated link information and more detailed link anchor text information. Cognitive also …
Chose CognitiveSEO
CognitiveSEO has some unique content optimization features and backlink analysis and auditing features that set it apart from other similar tools. For the price point it's well worth experimenting with to see if you can find value in using it.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
AhrefsCognitiveSEO
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
8.5
68 Ratings
9% above category average
CognitiveSEO
7.1
4 Ratings
9% below category average
Keyword analysis9.365 Ratings7.84 Ratings
Backlink management8.966 Ratings8.24 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking8.764 Ratings7.54 Ratings
Page grader8.259 Ratings6.83 Ratings
Competitive analysis8.666 Ratings6.64 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics8.761 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Site recommendations7.558 Ratings5.93 Ratings
Task management7.931 Ratings7.82 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
8.6
60 Ratings
12% above category average
CognitiveSEO
5.4
3 Ratings
34% below category average
Local SEO8.148 Ratings7.22 Ratings
Social SEO7.946 Ratings6.52 Ratings
Mobile SEO8.745 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Global SEO9.454 Ratings5.02 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
8.6
57 Ratings
2% above category average
CognitiveSEO
5.6
4 Ratings
40% below category average
Multi-domain support8.854 Ratings5.54 Ratings
Integration with web analytics tools8.429 Ratings5.83 Ratings
Best Alternatives
AhrefsCognitiveSEO
Small Businesses
Google PageSpeed Insights
Google PageSpeed Insights
Score 9.9 out of 10
Google PageSpeed Insights
Google PageSpeed Insights
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.3 out of 10
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Dupli Checker (DupliChecker.com)
Dupli Checker (DupliChecker.com)
Score 8.7 out of 10
Dupli Checker (DupliChecker.com)
Dupli Checker (DupliChecker.com)
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
AhrefsCognitiveSEO
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(73 ratings)
6.7
(4 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(14 ratings)
6.1
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
AhrefsCognitiveSEO
Likelihood to Recommend
Ahrefs
It gives the best report to us which helps us to find the opportunity to build backlinks. Another main feature that makes Ahrefs a safe and sound approach to SEO is that it provides information about duplicate content, URLs, redirects along with other errors that can be dangerous to the website.
Read full review
CognitiveSEO
CognitiveSEO is a very useful tool for any company looking to boost its marketing effort substantially. While telemarketing is an excellent way to generate new business, online marketing campaigns are crucial in today's society when it comes to prospecting for new business opportunities. Occasionally it can be difficult to reach new audiences who are in fact an appropriate fit for the products you offer. CognitiveSEO helps you target market those audiences and utilize the most out of your marketing efforts.
Read full review
Pros
Ahrefs
  • Backlink data: Ahrefs continues to provide the best backlink data in the industry when compared to other tools. Other players are playing catching up, but as a first mover, Ahrefs is ahead of the game by far.
  • Keyword data: Ahrefs provides extremely valuable keyword data. Though I rank them second in this category, the data that they provide is comparable to the first ranked player.
  • Content Explorer: I don't think other industry tools (SEO specific) has a content explorer as useful as Ahrefs. Their content explorer works great for identifying top content and trends for multiple industries.
  • Rank Tracker: This rank tracker is better than the average tracker and Ahrefs provides a large limit for tracked keywords. Though they have moved away from daily updates, the rank tracker is great for bench marking progress.
Read full review
CognitiveSEO
  • New link alerts
  • Competitive analysis
  • Toxic link reports
Read full review
Cons
Ahrefs
  • Anchor text alert notifications for a specific domain would be nice to have.
  • Would also be nice to set a specific client domain and then be able to pick 5 competitor sites to compare it to instead of entering in the client site and then 4 competitors to compare.
  • Adding emails to forward the exports to from running a report would be good too.
Read full review
CognitiveSEO
  • The interface can be clunky
  • It's a bit too all-in-one for me as I use other solutions for features like rank tracking and mentions
  • You are unlikely to use all the features you are paying for
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
CognitiveSEO
No answers on this topic
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
CognitiveSEO
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
CognitiveSEO
They do not respond quickly to any questions or the one time I had an issue. I had resolved the issue myself before they gave a response
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Ahrefs
I think when it comes to keyword tracking, Ahrefs is not as good BrightEdge, but Ahrefs Site Explorer trumps BrightEdge when it comes to anything backlink related. I would use Ahrefs Site Explorer for backlink analysis, identifying 404 error pages, examining anchor texts, and exploring top content. However, I would utilze BrightEdge for keyword and ranking information
Read full review
CognitiveSEO
CognitiveSEO specializes in target marketing for more efficient marketing campaigns and lead generation. While I am not too familiar with other competing products, I would highly advise using CognitiveSEO above all due to the efficiency, turnaround time, and customization features to attract new leads based on specific criteria that relate to your products and daily procedures.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Ahrefs
  • Identify the most effective keywords for content creation and optimizing existing content, which can help to increase organic traffic to your website.
  • Track backlinks, monitor the competition, and identify potential link building opportunities, which can help to improve your search engine rankings.
  • Analyze the top-performing pages on any website, which can help to optimize your own content and improve user experience.
Read full review
CognitiveSEO
  • We've cleaned up link profiles which clients have appreciated
  • With the on-going link monitoring we've spent less time re-auditing link profiles
  • Anchor text monitoring also sped up our toxic review
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

CognitiveSEO Screenshots

Screenshot of Account DashboardScreenshot of Boost Search Rankings by Fixing Website Errors