Link Explorer from Moz is a link building utility, replacing the former Open Site Explorer. Moz describes Link Explorer as a highly accurate link tool that lets users check the backlink profile and Domain Authority of any site.
Moz was acquired by iContact in June, 2021.
$99
per month
SE Ranking
Score 9.2 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
An SEO toolset for agency and in-house pros.
$65
per month
Semrush
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Semrush is a relatively popular search engine optimization tool set from the company of the same name based in Pennsylvania and founded in 2008. Largely the platforms relies on competitive intelligence, and features SEO staples like backlink checking, keyword analysis to refine SEO and PPC campaigning and locate low-cost / high-yield keywords, analysis of competitors who co-occupy desired ad and listing spaces, domain vs. domain analysis, as well as site audit and domain tracking.
Semrush can…
$139.95
per month
Pricing
Moz Link Explorer
SE Ranking
Semrush
Editions & Modules
Moz Pro
$99
per month
Moz Link Explorer
Free
Essential
$65
per month
Pro
$119
per month
Business
$259
per month
Pro
$139.95
per month
Guru
$249.95
per month
Business
$499.95
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Moz Link Explorer
SE Ranking
Semrush
Free Trial
No
Yes
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
No
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Optional
Additional Details
—
SE Ranking’s subscription plans are available at a 20% discount for annual pricing.
17% discount for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Moz Link Explorer
SE Ranking
Semrush
Considered Multiple Products
Moz Link Explorer
Verified User
Professional
Chose Moz Link Explorer
I think Moz Link Explorer is a great add-on to the overall Moz tool, but compared to Ahrefs, it’s not as robust because Ahrefs' main focus is on the backlink profile. I like SEMRush’s function of being able to reach out to websites directly from the platform and track all of …
SE Ranking is way more budget-friendly and suitable for less demanded SEO projects.
Verified User
Consultant
Chose SE Ranking
For us it's mainly a tool we use and/or suggest because of the price. It's complete enough to get yourself kickstarted and learn about your website and its positions in Google. But once you grow bigger and want more data it's smart to look around for more complete tools.
For me, Semrush has a good UX and is a trustworthy source of organic traffic data. When compared to other tools, they sometimes could be pretty much off when I observe data in Google Search Console and Google Analytics. That's why I think Semrush does a pretty good job for any …
I have some experience using Ahrefs and Moz, but I find the interface to be more user-friendly in Semrush. This is particularly useful when we show clients the tool or take screenshots directly from Semrush for client-facing documents.
[Semrush] is a better overall tool for SEO management. It has so many different tools that you can use. Moz doesn't offer everything, but has its own benefits, which are more focused around serps and keywords. Ahrefs is particularly good when working with backlinks. Much …
Semrush is an all in 1 tool for SEO and SEA, and does specific things really well even better then the competition. The mean issue i could have with Semrush is the pricing, for $119 a month you get the full tool but with limitations of projects, users etc. When you wanna add more …
Semrush is the widest-reaching tool with the most features, however, I find the keyword and SERP reliability can be a little off fairly often, especially when algorithm updates are concerned. Generally, though the tool is the best all-rounder and offers the widest breadth of …
Features
Moz Link Explorer
SE Ranking
Semrush
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
Moz Link Explorer
8.1
8 Ratings
6% above category average
SE Ranking
7.9
16 Ratings
3% above category average
Semrush
8.0
154 Ratings
5% above category average
Keyword analysis
8.35 Ratings
7.99 Ratings
8.6154 Ratings
Backlink management
9.07 Ratings
7.316 Ratings
8.3147 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking
8.36 Ratings
7.915 Ratings
8.3150 Ratings
Page grader
7.55 Ratings
7.611 Ratings
7.7129 Ratings
Competitive analysis
9.08 Ratings
7.915 Ratings
8.5149 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics
8.56 Ratings
7.916 Ratings
8.0150 Ratings
Site recommendations
8.05 Ratings
8.412 Ratings
7.6139 Ratings
Task management
5.96 Ratings
7.910 Ratings
6.691 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
Moz Link Explorer
7.4
7 Ratings
2% below category average
SE Ranking
8.1
14 Ratings
7% above category average
Semrush
8.2
140 Ratings
9% above category average
Local SEO
8.36 Ratings
8.111 Ratings
8.1128 Ratings
Social SEO
7.55 Ratings
00 Ratings
8.0106 Ratings
Mobile SEO
7.55 Ratings
8.112 Ratings
8.4113 Ratings
Global SEO
6.54 Ratings
8.213 Ratings
8.2114 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
It is helpful if you are trying to understand where a site stands in terms of the links coming to it from different websites. It is less helpful in terms of providing specific actions or steps to take to get more links. However, it is a part of a larger Moz package so other areas provide information that can help there.
SE Ranking is a fantastic tool if you are a marketing agency or freelancer looking for a single tool for the majority of your SEO work. It also includes B2B tools like their lead generation widget and white label reports that can help you generate new leads for your business. It would get 10 stars if their database was larger to accommodate research for small geographic areas, but they are always expanding their database so it may just be a matter of time. Research SE Ranking has pricing plans available for every budget.
This is suited to plan for keywords in a single market, but it struggles when you need to consolidate several markets. It is well-suited to discover new keywords directly related to the ones being used currently to expand the content the company is creating to get better results.
Moz Link Explorer has a straightforward and easy to use interface. It’s very simple to navigate and understand the data.
The anchor text tool gives you an idea of the most widely used anchor texts other websites use when linking to your site. It can raise a red flag when too many sites are linking to you using exact match keyword anchor texts.
You need to subscribe to Moz Pro to get all features, which is pricey if you aren’t using the tool regularly.
I’ve found that competitor tools give larger lists of inbound links.
You’ll need some understanding of how SEO works to maximize the tool. Would non-SEO specialists understand the difference between domain authority and page authority, or the difference between follow back, and non-follow backlinks? Moz offers lots of training resources, but it takes time to learn what you need.
The interface is a little less intuitive than it could be. The data is often available but filtering and manipulating the data can be a little difficult at times. Expanded comparisons would be helpful since most of the time seeing more than a few competitors at a time allows for a better sense of how to forecast.
I put a middling score here because of the difference in support between the free and premium uses. The Free tool was a great service, but there wasn't much support. It was tool that was intended to have a skilled SEO utilize it and save time. The Premium version has great support, but also offered more information so that skilled SEOs and novices alike could benefit from the tool.
The support is great but they don't have 24/7 support. And time zones can also be an issue sometimes. On the other hand there are plenty of guides and videos around to get yourself started. I never really needed support for "big" issues. And the help I got was good enough.
I'm in a FB group for Semrush paid users and it amazing! They are fast to respond, take suggestions and help with questions. I have not felt alone in using this product at all. Highly recommend their support team. When I had an issue I can jump into the group and they will help get me the right person to help or even tag their programmers to look at something that is going on. Love the group!
Ahrefs is much more comprehensive than Open Site Explorer. If you are in need of a deep backlink analysis there are better options out there for your money. If you need a quick look at the state of a client's backlink profile than OSE is for you. It will give you the top metrics you are looking for and then some. I find OSE to be more user-friendly than competitors
SE Ranking is better than Serpstat or MOZ or Ahrefs when it comes to tracking keyword rankings, but it lacks in every other SEO category, such as onsite and offsite SEO metrics, content analysis, etc... It's a good choice for agencies that are interested in tracking keywords for their clients, but other than that it underperforms in every other SEO category.
We have used both Ahrefs and Semrush extensively at our agency and Semrush remains the tool of choice. We find that Semrush has the largest selection of tools & features to use, with the highest accuracy, and provides top-tier analysis recommendations. It's really is the ultimate all-in-one tool when comparing other performance measurement tools in the digital marketing space.
The website "health" report has allowed us to fix things that Google might find strange or cause us to lose rankings, which has been very helpful.
It's given us more visibility into what exactly our SEO management company is doing and how they are performing, and if things are changing or not. It's very easy to see right from the dashboard.
Being able to see how our competitors stack up against us has helped us know where to improve, what to focus on, and how to be even better.
Using Semrush on behalf of our clients, we have seen some impressive growth in organic visibility, traffic, conversion and revenue, across multiple industries.
The site checks available with Semrush have helped us to pitch and sell our services, securing new clients.