gShift vs. SpyFu

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
gShift
Score 7.0 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
gShift is the flagship cloud-based search engine optimization platform from the Canadian company gShift Labs headquartered in Barrie, Ontario, launched in 2009 to simplify and "demystify" organic SEO. Billed as a comprehensive and integrated suite of tools, gShift offers keyword analysis across multiple and international (including Baidu) search engines, backlink checking and insights, content-level analytics and reporting, mobile discoverability and local search analysis, and some more rarely…
$199
SpyFu
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
SpyFu is the eponymous SEO and PPC research platform from the company in Scottsdale, Arizona focused on "spying" on competitors, or basically using their behaviors to refine your own through keyword and content analysis, and backlink poaching. This positional search engine optimization and paid listings management platform touts the ability to lower costs and raise rankings via a Kombat-oriented approach... basically a cute way of saying "it makes comparisons" of how well your site does in niche…
$39
per month
Pricing
gShiftSpyFu
Editions & Modules
kontextURLs
$199
Influencer Marketing module
$299
Brand Professional
$325
Agency Professional
$999
Basic
$39
per month
Professional
$79
per month
Team
$299
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
gShiftSpyFu
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsSEO Platform pricing is based on the number of keywords per month. kontextURL pricing is based on the number of clicks registered per month. Influencer Marketing module pricing is based on the number of influencers and/or rosters managed.
More Pricing Information
Features
gShiftSpyFu
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
gShift
8.6
1 Ratings
10% above category average
SpyFu
7.2
51 Ratings
8% below category average
Keyword analysis10.01 Ratings6.651 Ratings
Backlink management6.01 Ratings5.739 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking10.01 Ratings8.243 Ratings
Page grader9.01 Ratings7.829 Ratings
Competitive analysis9.01 Ratings9.150 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics7.01 Ratings7.232 Ratings
Site recommendations8.01 Ratings7.030 Ratings
Task management10.01 Ratings6.120 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
gShift
8.3
1 Ratings
9% above category average
SpyFu
7.6
38 Ratings
0% below category average
Local SEO10.01 Ratings7.632 Ratings
Social SEO9.01 Ratings8.027 Ratings
Mobile SEO4.01 Ratings8.029 Ratings
Global SEO10.01 Ratings6.834 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
gShift
6.0
2 Ratings
34% below category average
SpyFu
8.8
27 Ratings
4% above category average
Multi-domain support5.01 Ratings9.027 Ratings
Integration with web analytics tools7.02 Ratings8.518 Ratings
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gShiftSpyFu
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Score 10.0 out of 10
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Medium-sized Companies
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Score 8.2 out of 10
Advanced Web Ranking
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Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
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Score 8.6 out of 10
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User Ratings
gShiftSpyFu
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(2 ratings)
7.3
(61 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.6
(13 ratings)
User Testimonials
gShiftSpyFu
Likelihood to Recommend
gShift Labs
gShift's pace of development is pretty amazing and they are very responsive to enhancement requests and other feedback on their solutions. gShift is well-suited for an agency environment where multiple clients need the basics in keyword rankings and website analytics and PPC reporting integration. gShift is less suited for a large organizations with multiple properties or web presences that are all integrated but require silos for reporting purposes or any type of parent-child reporting relationship that necessitates reporting at the property level as well as summarized reporting for all properties.
Read full review
SpyFu
If you have a Google ads PPC campaign and then I would say this is more or less essential if you want to know what your competitors are doing. You can get very useful data out of it even if you subscribe for one month. And the pricing is very reasonable. Even if you don't use Google ads, I would say this is still useful for your SEO/SMO team since it gives you a great idea of what keywords and traffic your competitors are working on.
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Pros
gShift Labs
  • Bringing most of your applications to one platform.
  • Managing Gmail Accounts.
  • Bringing all your communication channels to one spot.
  • Easy setup and account integration.
Read full review
SpyFu
  • Keeping a tab on competitors organic and inorganic activities
  • Helps identify where the competitor is getting the backlinks from.
  • Identify competitors top content and the keywords that's bringing them traffic
  • Get proper information of their current and past ADS run on Google.
Read full review
Cons
gShift Labs
  • Minor bugs and defects are an ongoing issue - for example, PDF export capability for custom dashboards seems to be down frequently. While these type of defects are always resolved in 1-2 weeks, the fact that some of them keep reoccurring is an ongoing frustration.
  • Custom Dashboard functionality is limited to pre-set defaults as far as what data points or "beacons" as gShift calls them, that you could pull.
Read full review
SpyFu
  • As with any database, their keyword database has limits, so the data returned is relative to their database, not necessarily the full picture.
  • When SpyFu database or scoring chances, the data provided can spike, thus causing confusion among stakeholders, we're reporting to.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
gShift Labs
No answers on this topic
SpyFu
Love this tool but would like insights from all 3 major search engines not just Google. I would also like deeper understanding of the placement for local businesses on Google Places/Maps. Insight into mobile search rankings and best landing pages per industry would also help :) Overall, SpyFu is a necessity for serious search marketers.
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Support Rating
gShift Labs
No answers on this topic
SpyFu
SpyFu comes with a link to tutorial videos. I recommend you watch them. The software is capable of so much you really need to watch the videos and learn how to get the most out of it. When I have a question 90% of the time it's there. When it isn't, and I reach out to them, support is always quick and concise.
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Alternatives Considered
gShift Labs
They are very different tools can't compare them.
Read full review
SpyFu
I was surprised to find I preferred Semrush when it comes to keyword research. SpyFu is great (and less expensive than Semrush), but I felt the data Semrush provided was vaster than SpyFu. I was able to get more competitors spending insights in Semrush than SpyFu. Overall, I liked the ability to use both in our keyword research for both paid and organic marketing.
Read full review
Return on Investment
gShift Labs
  • We have been able to identify other keyword ranking opportunities and increase our on-site conversion rate.
  • gShift has helped us prioritize content and discover content that is over-performing, and better optimize that content and use it for remarketing purposes.
Read full review
SpyFu
  • Helping us track our ranking.
  • It helps solve the problem of ambiguity when it comes to Google Ads. It makes the strategy more clear.
  • You can sift through lots of different online analytics to find the information, but it takes way too long. SpyFu has it all in one place!
Read full review
ScreenShots

gShift Screenshots

Screenshot of Web Presence Overview Dashboard - collection of data beacons to help focus on analytics, keyword and content performance trends, competitive visibility trends, keyword discovery, content discovery and competitor discovery.Screenshot of An agency level beacon designed to highlight keyword/content, analytics and domain-specific trends across multiple web presences.Screenshot of Keyword Dashboard - a collection of beacons designed to provide keyword visibility and discovery insights.Screenshot of Content Engagement Dashboard - Customizable kurl  dashboard designed to provide insight on content performance.Screenshot of Content Conversion Dashboard - Customizable kurl dashboard designed to provide insight into performance, optimization and ROI of content campaigns.Screenshot of Site Audit Recommendations - prioritized list of website issues based on technical SEO best practices.