SE Ranking Pricing: Current Plans, Cost, Free Trial & Which Plan to Choose

Current SE Ranking Plans and Prices

SE Ranking currently offers two self-serve subscription tiers (Core and Growth) plus a custom Enterprise option. In late 2025, SE Ranking retired its older Essential/Pro/Business structure and replaced it with this cleaner two-tier model. If you have seen older reviews referencing those plan names, the information is outdated.

Core: $129/mo monthly or $103.20/mo annually

Ten projects, one manager seat, 2,000 tracked keywords per day, and 250,000 audit pages per month. Includes keyword and competitor research, backlink analysis, local rank tracking (up to 1,500 keywords, 3 locations included), website audit, content marketing tools (25 articles), and 25,000 API credits per month.

Core also includes GEO/AI Search tracking within the base price: 100 AI prompts per day and 5 domains in GEO research. That matters in 2026 given how much AI-driven results are affecting local search traffic.

Growth: $279/mo monthly or $223.20/mo annually

Everything in Core, plus 30 projects, 3 manager seats, 5,000 tracked keywords per day, 2 million audit pages per month, 250 AI prompts per day, 15 domains in GEO research, 100,000 API credits, all-time historical data (Core gives you 6 months), guest links, page changes monitoring, and dedicated customer support.

Enterprise: Custom pricing

For teams that need project counts, keyword limits, or seats beyond what Growth offers. You negotiate directly with SE Ranking’s sales team. Includes flexible terms, full API access, and advanced integrations. If you are reading this article, you almost certainly do not need Enterprise. Growth handles agencies with up to 30 active client projects comfortably.

Core Plan Explained

Core is built for people managing one website or a small number of client projects. Here is a full breakdown of what it includes.

Core is priced at: $129/mo monthly or $103.20/mo annually.

Growth Plan Explained

Growth is for agencies and consultants managing multiple clients actively. The jump from 10 to 30 projects is significant. Three manager seats means a small team can work without sharing a login. The keyword limit rising from 2,000 to 5,000 gives you room to track a real client portfolio.

What stays the same in both plans: Locations included (3), Local & Map Rank Tracker keywords (1,500), extra location pricing ($18.40/mo), and listing management coverage.

Growth is priced at: $279/mo monthly or $223.20/mo annually.

Enterprise Plan

Enterprise is custom-quoted. If you need more than 30 active projects, more than 5,000 tracked keywords, or custom user limits, you talk to SE Ranking’s sales team. Custom Enterprise includes flexible project and keyword limits, full API access, advanced integrations, and dedicated account management. Pricing depends entirely on your requirements.

Full SE Ranking Pricing Comparison Table

Core vs Growth: Which One Do You Actually Need?

This is where most buyers get stuck. The short answer: Core handles a lot more than people expect.

When Core is Enough

You run one or two websites. You are a single contractor, local business owner, or solo consultant managing your own site and maybe one client. Ten projects is generous for that scenario. Two thousand keyword targets per day is more than most local businesses will realistically use. And 250,000 audit pages per month is enough to audit any local business website multiple times over.

Core fits perfectly for:

• A roofing company tracking 50-100 local keywords on Google
• A plumber or HVAC company monitoring their primary service area rankings
• A solo SEO freelancer with 5-8 clients who does not need team seats
• A local marketing consultant managing a handful of client websites
• An in-house marketer managing one company website with active SEO

The 6-month historical data cap on Core is real, but for most users it is not a daily problem. You lose the ability to look back further than six months, which matters more for agencies analyzing year-over-year performance than for a business tracking its own rankings.

When Core Becomes Too Small

You will likely hit your first limit on projects, not keywords. Ten projects sounds like a lot until you add staging sites, separate location pages, or a growing client list. If you manage more than six to eight active clients simultaneously, Core gets tight fast.

The next limit you will hit: the one manager seat. If anyone else on your team needs to log in independently, you either share credentials (SE Ranking allows only one active session at a time) or pay for additional seats at $16/mo each.

The 50 on-page and SERP checks on Core is also restrictive. If you are doing detailed content optimization work for clients regularly, you will burn through 50 checks quickly. Growth gives you 1,000.

When Growth Is Worth It

You run a small agency managing 10 or more active client projects. You have team members who need their own login. You do detailed content audits and on-page work regularly. You need all-time historical data for client reporting. You are tracking thousands of keywords across multiple clients.

For a genuine five-client SEO agency, Growth starts making financial sense. At $223.20/mo annually, divided across 10 clients, you are paying about $22/client per month for your primary SEO platform.

When Growth Is Overkill

Which SE Ranking Plan Should You Choose?

Best Plan for a Contractor (Roofer, HVAC, Plumber, Electrician, Landscaper) Core

Recommendation: Core, annual billing.

You are tracking keywords for one business in one or a few service areas. You need local rank tracking to see where you sit in Google Maps and regular search results. You want to audit your website periodically and monitor backlinks. Core covers all of that at $103.20/mo annually.

The 3 included locations are plenty for most single-location service businesses. Local and Map Pack tracking for 1,500 keywords is more than enough to monitor every keyword that matters to a roofing or HVAC company.

If you want to see what better local search rankings might actually be worth to your business, the Local SEO ROI calculator for contractors can help you run the numbers before spending anything on tools.

Best Plan for a Local Business Core

Recommendation: Core, annual billing.

One website, one service area, a need to understand your rankings versus competitors. Core is built for exactly this. The Google Business Profile and Map Pack tracking on Core is particularly useful. Given how much Google Maps drives phone calls for local businesses, having a tool that tracks your map pack rankings gives you real feedback on whether your local SEO efforts are working. The Google Maps Business Checkup tool is a useful starting point if you want to see how your profile stands.

Best Plan for a Freelancer Core (Growth at 8+ clients)

Recommendation: Core, annual billing. Growth if you consistently manage more than 8 active clients.

Solo freelancers managing a handful of clients will find Core more than adequate. Ten projects, one seat, 2,000 keyword targets. The moment you exceed eight to ten active clients consistently, move to Growth for the expanded project limit and all-time historical data.

Best Plan for an SEO Consultant Core for 1-5 clients

Recommendation: Core for 1-5 clients. Growth for 6+ clients or when you need team access.

Once you add a virtual assistant or junior analyst, Growth’s extra manager seats justify the upgrade even without expanding your client count. For more on calculating what your SEO investment should be generating, the Marketing ROI FAQ covers some useful frameworks.

Best Plan for a Small Agency (5-15 Clients) Growth

Recommendation: Growth (annual) plus Agency Pack if you need white-label reporting.

Growth gives you the headroom to grow without constantly bumping into limits. Historical data, team seats, and expanded audit capacity matter when you are managing multiple clients professionally.

Whether you need the Agency Pack comes down to one question: do your clients receive reports branded as your agency’s work? If yes, Agency Pack at $69/mo annually is worth it. If clients log in directly with their own access, Agency Pack is optional.

Monthly vs Annual Billing

Annual billing saves exactly 20% on both Core and Growth.

Plan	12 Months Monthly	Annual Plan Total	You Save
Core	12 × $129 = $1,548	12 × $103.20 = $1,238.40	$309.60 (20%)
Growth	12 × $279 = $3,348	12 × $223.20 = $2,678.40	$669.60 (20%)

Annual plans are billed upfront in full. On Core annual that is $1,238.40 due at signup. On Growth annual it is $2,678.40. If you need to spread payments, SE Ranking’s pricing page notes you can contact sales to discuss a quarterly schedule — it is not a self-serve option, but it is available.

Monthly billing makes sense while you are still evaluating whether SE Ranking fits your workflow. For anyone who has already decided it is their tool, annual is the straightforward choice. SE Ranking also includes free assisted migration with annual subscriptions, which has real value if you are switching from another platform.

The SE Ranking Free Trial

SE Ranking offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

No credit card means no risk of accidental charges. When the 14 days end, your account simply pauses. It does not auto-bill. Your data stays in the account so you can pick up where you left off if you decide to subscribe later.

Compare that to Semrush, which requires a credit card and auto-charges when the trial ends if you do not cancel. Ahrefs has no free trial at all. SE Ranking’s no-card approach removes all friction.

Before the trial ends, test these specifically:

• Set up rank tracking for your primary keywords
• Run a full site audit on your website
• Check two or three competitors in the competitive research tool
• Run a backlink audit
• Try the local rank tracker if Map Pack visibility matters to you

Those five things will tell you whether SE Ranking fits your daily workflow before you spend anything.

Add-Ons and Optional Costs

SE Ranking’s base plans cover most use cases. But several features sit outside the Core and Growth pricing. Here is every current add-on, what it costs, and who actually needs it.

Extra Capacity Purchases

Do You Need the Agency Pack? Situational

If clients log into any SEO dashboard or receive branded PDF reports from you, yes. If you manage reporting entirely internally and deliver raw exports, skip it and save $69/mo.

Do You Need the AI Search Add-On? Situational

For most contractors and local businesses in 2026, this is optional. The base GEO features in Core and Growth already cover basic AI search tracking (100 prompts/day on Core, 250 on Growth). The add-on is for businesses running serious dedicated GEO optimization campaigns where AI visibility is a primary reporting metric.

Do You Need the API Add-On? Skip unless technical

Almost certainly not unless you are building custom reporting pipelines. The base plans already include 25,000 (Core) or 100,000 (Growth) API credits monthly, plus MCP access. The add-on is for developers doing bulk automated data pulls.

Hidden and Variable Costs to Know About

Nothing is actually hidden in SE Ranking’s pricing. The page is transparent. But there are costs that catch new buyers off guard because they are not in the headline plan price.

The Keyword Target Multiplier (Most Misunderstood)

Your plan includes a budget of keyword targets, not keyword phrases. A target is one keyword tracked in one search engine. The math looks like this:

Practical advice: Most local businesses can get by tracking Google alone. Pick Google Mobile or Google Desktop based on where most of your audience actually lands. You do not need to track both unless you are actively optimizing for different results on each.

Cost Per Keyword Analysis

This shows what SE Ranking costs relative to its tracking capacity. Useful for comparison purposes, but it does not capture the full value of a platform that also includes site auditing, backlink research, competitor analysis, and local rank tracking.

If you are tracking 500 keywords on Core annual, you are using 25% of your capacity and your effective cost per tracked keyword is about $0.21/month. If you max out all 2,000 slots, you get down to $0.052 each.

Cost Per Project Analysis

What This Means by User Type

• One local business on Core (annual): $10.32/mo per project. Nine unused slots. Extremely generous for a single website.
• Freelancer with 5 clients on Core (annual): Using 5 of 10 slots. Per-client platform cost: $20.64/mo. Manageable if billing $400-$800/mo per client.
• 5-client consultant on Growth (annual): $44.64/mo per client. Still reasonable. 25 unused project slots to grow into.
• 10-client agency on Growth (annual): $22.32/mo per client. Under 5% of a typical retainer.
• 20-client agency on Growth + Agency Pack (annual): $292.20/mo total. Per-client cost: $14.61/mo. That includes white-label reporting. The math is very favorable.

Growth becomes more cost-efficient per project as you fill your project slots. Consistently managing 15-25 active clients? Growth is clearly the better deal. The Agency Profit Calculator can help you model per-client cost across different tool subscriptions.

Break-Even Examples

SE Ranking vs Semrush, Ahrefs and Moz

The real question most buyers are asking: Is SE Ranking expensive for what you actually get? Short answer: no. SE Ranking is meaningfully cheaper than its closest all-in-one competitors, and the gap is largest at the entry tier.

SE Ranking vs Semrush Pro

SE Ranking Core at $103.20/mo versus Semrush Pro at ~$117.33/mo. But Semrush Pro does not include local rank tracking or Map Pack visibility in the base plan. Add the Semrush Local Toolkit at $30/mo+ and you are closer to $147/mo versus SE Ranking Core at $103.20/mo. Semrush Pro also limits you to 5 projects versus 10 on SE Ranking Core.

Semrush is the industry leader for reasons — the keyword database is massive and the competitive intelligence runs deep. But for a contractor, local business, or small consultant, you are paying a meaningful premium for data depth you may rarely need.

SE Ranking vs Ahrefs Lite

Very similar entry-level pricing (~$103 vs ~$107 annually). The key difference: Ahrefs is primarily a backlink intelligence and keyword research platform. It does not include a site audit tool, rank tracking, or local Map Pack tracking in any meaningful way at the base tier. Ahrefs also has no free trial. You pay from day one.

If backlink analysis and competitive research are your primary needs, Ahrefs is arguably the strongest tool available. If you need rank tracking, local rank tracking, site audits, and GEO visibility monitoring in one platform, SE Ranking is the better fit at a similar price.

SE Ranking vs Moz Pro Medium

Moz Pro Medium at $143/mo is 39% more expensive than SE Ranking Core at $103.20/mo. Moz has excellent domain authority metrics and a strong backlink index. But for local businesses and contractors, SE Ranking’s included local rank tracking and Map Pack monitoring give it a practical edge. Moz also requires a credit card for its 7-day trial, versus SE Ranking’s no-card 14-day trial.

Legacy Pricing Warning: Watch for Outdated Reviews

Any SE Ranking pricing article that references “Essential,” “Pro plan,” or “Business plan” is describing a product that no longer exists. The limits, prices, and feature allocations from those old plans do not apply to what you would actually buy today.

How to spot outdated SE Ranking pricing information:

• The article mentions “Essential” or “Business” plan names
• The article shows starting prices like $23.52, $52.32, or $87.20 (those were old tiered rates)
• The article shows three or more self-serve pricing tiers
• There is no mention of Core or Growth
• There is no mention of GEO or AI Search tracking features

If you are using a review from 2024 or early 2025 to make your buying decision, verify current pricing directly at SE Ranking’s pricing page before committing. Prices have changed and the plan structure is meaningfully different from what older articles describe.

Who Should Buy SE Ranking

If you want to go deeper on whether SE Ranking is worth it as a platform — not just on pricing — the SE Ranking review on JaysonLineReviews.com covers the platform’s actual features, accuracy, and usability in detail. This article focuses purely on pricing. That review handles the full “is it worth it?” question.

Who Should Not Buy SE Ranking

Common Purchasing Mistakes

• Buying Growth when Core would do. For a single contractor or small local business, starting on Core saves $120/mo. Upgrading is easy if you grow past Core’s limits — you can change plans anytime in billing settings.
• Ignoring the keyword target multiplier. Some buyers expect to track 2,000 unique keywords and run short because they enabled multiple search engines. Understand the keyword × search engine math before setting up tracking.
• Not using the free trial seriously. Two weeks is enough to run a real campaign, audit your website, and test the reporting. People who skip the trial and then feel surprised by the platform only have themselves to blame. It is free.
• Adding Agency Pack without needing it. Agency Pack is for agencies delivering client-facing dashboards and white-label reports. If you do not send branded client reports, you are paying $69/mo for features you will never open.
• Picking monthly billing when you have already decided to stay. Monthly costs 20% more annually for the same product. If SE Ranking fits your workflow, commit to annual and bank the savings.
• Treating the platform as set-it-and-forget-it. Ranking reports that no one reads do not improve your SEO. Build a habit of checking your rankings weekly and acting on site audit alerts. If SEO is important to your business revenue, the local SEO costs and ROI breakdown is worth reading to set the right expectations.

Cancellation and Refund Policy

• Can I cancel anytime? Yes. Cancel or change your plan at any time through account billing settings. Select “Change plan” to upgrade, downgrade, or cancel.
• What happens when I cancel? Your subscription stops at the end of the billing period. Your account is not deleted immediately, so your data and settings stay accessible.
• Can I get a refund? SE Ranking’s stated policy is that payments are non-refundable, except when the service was not delivered as promised. There is no money-back guarantee. This is why the 14-day free trial exists — use it seriously before committing to an annual plan.
• Can I upgrade or downgrade mid-cycle? Yes. Switch plans anytime through billing settings. Changes take effect based on your billing cycle.
• Can I pay for an annual plan quarterly? Annual plans are billed upfront. SE Ranking’s pricing page notes you can contact sales to discuss a quarterly payment schedule. It is not self-serve, but it is available if you ask.
• What happens when the free trial ends? Your account pauses. No charge because no payment info was collected. No cancellation required.

SE Ranking Pricing FAQ

Final Recommendation

For most contractors, local businesses, freelancers, and small agencies reading this, the Core plan at $103.20/mo billed annually is where to start.

It tracks your rankings. It audits your website. It monitors competitors. It handles local and Map Pack tracking. It gives you backlink and keyword research without limits on the research side. For a single local business or a small consultant managing a few clients, it is a complete toolkit.

• Move to Growth when you consistently manage more than 8-10 active projects, need team seats, or want all-time historical data for serious client reporting.
• Add Agency Pack if you deliver white-label branded reports to clients.
• Skip the AI Search add-on unless GEO optimization is a dedicated part of your service offering.

The free trial is no-risk. Fourteen days, no credit card, full platform access within trial limits. Start there before committing to a paid plan.

SE Ranking is not the cheapest SEO tool on the market. There are rank trackers at $20-40/mo if all you need is rank tracking. But for an all-in-one platform covering rank tracking, site auditing, competitor research, backlink analysis, and local SEO tracking, SE Ranking is competitively priced against every major alternative. It sits well below Semrush, meaningfully below Moz Pro Medium, and at a similar price to Ahrefs Lite with significantly more features relevant to local SEO work.

If your business needs to show up in Google when local customers search for what you do, SE Ranking gives you the tools to measure where you stand, understand why, and improve it systematically.