Semrush vs SimilarWeb 2024 – Which is The Best Web Analytics Tool?

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There are many web analysis tools to gain audience insight, traffic, keywords, competitor, benchmarking, etc… Today, we will review two of the most used digital marketing intelligence tools – Semrush vs. Similarweb.

Each of these marketing tools collects and processes web traffic data differently. And present marketers with data in different ways and uses.

One tool tends to be more efficient based on data sources, database sizes, and the sheer number of available tools.

So, in this article, I walk you through the significant differences between Semrush and Similarweb. You will see why one tool is better than the other.

At the end of this comparison post, you can decide which tool is better for your marketing needs and budget.

And which is not…

Ready?

Let’s dive in…

Semrush vs. Similarweb – Which is Better?

Before we begin, here is something to note…

We will evaluate each tool by key marketing features, free plan, database sizes, keyword tool, pricing, data accuracy, link building tool, etc.

With these, you’ll see how one tool is compared. So, let’s get started…

Free Basic Plan

Since you want to see Semrush vs. Similar Web, which tool should you use? I believe it will be helpful to walk you through what’s in each tool’s basic and free trial plan.

Semrush

While both Semrush and Similarweb offer a 7-day free trial of their tools, the Semrush free plan gives you access to more marketing tools.

With the Semrush free user account, you can access all keyword tools, including position tracking tools, keyword magic, Keyword Gap, etc.

Also, you have access to advertising research tools, social media, link building, traffic analytics, site audits, and more.

However, your account is limited to how much data you can pull through. With a free user account and limited SEO needs, you’re good with limited marketing data in Semrush’s free user account.

Similarweb

Yes, a 7-day Similar web free trial offer lets you see how the Similar web marketing data analytics works.

Most advanced marketing features are locked when the 7 days are over. It will require an upgrade to be unlocked.

In the Similarweb free basic plan, you only access the website research analysis features – web performance and competitive landscape (up to 5 results).

All other marketing intelligence tools are locked for an upgrade.

Semrush is more generous in terms of what it offers free users of its tools than Similarweb does to users on a free plan.

In this aspect, Semrush is better than Similarweb

All-in-One-Marketing Tool

Semrush

With over 50+ marketing tools, Semrush is an all-in-one marketing tool designed to manage your everyday digital marketing tasks.

Semrush lets you do SEO (off-page and on-page), content marketing, PPC, social media management and marketing, keyword research, and competitor research from just one platform for individuals, SEO professionals, businesses, and agencies.

Semrush aimed to make the platform your one-stop solution for digital marketing tasks.

For each project launched on the Semrush platform, you have access to a variety of advanced digital marketing tools:

Similarweb

Similarweb is heavily focused on web analytics and competitive intelligence tools. The primary focus of Similarweb is analyzing website traffic and performance and uncovering marketing strategies for growing your business.

It is not a complete marketing platform that lets you do everyday SEO tasks, content optimization, social media, link-building analysis, or even local SEO listing.

If you’re looking to audit your website for possible on-page SEO errors and recommendations, Similarweb is not an efficient tool.

There is a limit to what you can and can’t do with Similarweb

Advanced Marketing Tools and Features

Semrush

Semrush has every tool you need to run an effective SEO and content marketing campaign as an all-one marketing tool.

The Semrush marketing tools consist of full-fledged SEO tools.

From site audit, link building, link analysis, keyword research, competitive research and analysis, advertising, content research, social media, etc.

This tool gives you more advanced features for SEO professionals and agencies than basic SEO features.

Similarweb

Similarweb, on the other hand, does not provide the tool for most of these SEO and content marketing tasks.

For instance, you can’t run a site audit on Similarweb. Therefore, you can’t use Similarweb to fix on-page SEO errors on your website.

Similarweb is more helpful for web analytics to gather marketing intelligence for your marketing campaign.

Clear Pricing Details

Semrush

Each Semrush plan, feature, and pricing is visible on the website.

There are no hidden marketing tricks or gimmicks. At a glance, you will see what’s in each Semrush plan, features, and pricing.

This allows you to make an informed decision based on your business needs and the available budget.

Here’s the pricing plan on the Semrush website:

If you subscribe to an annual Semrush plan, you’ll save 16% of your total payment. This is a better deal for businesses that have needed SEO services for a long time.

Similarweb

On the Similarweb website, there are no visible pricing details.

Aside from the 7-day Similarweb free trial offer, the following pro plan is at the enterprise level.

You’ll have to talk to a consultant/specialist to discuss a marketing plan that fits your business needs and budget. This could be a potential turn-off for many businesses and marketers.

Few people have the time, courage, or patience to talk to a customer rep before buying the company’s products.

I’d love to see Similarweb work this out sooner rather than later. It will be more helpful if a clear pricing page and plan structure are on the website.

This will bring the company more transparency, a detailed billing structure, and customer satisfaction.

Link Building Tools

Semrush

As a complete SEO tool, Semrush has SEO features or tools developed to start and complete your link-building campaign.

The Semrush backlink analytics tool lets you analyze any website link profile in minutes.

With the Semrush backlink audit tool, you can easily identify potentially harmful links. And get rid of them in time to save you from the Google penalty.

You can also track lost and new backlink profiles over time. This feature lets you keep your link-building profile up to date.

When writing this line, you can track the historical data of any website link profile for up to 8 years.

With over 17bn URLs crawled daily, the Semrush backlink index is one of the largest on the planet today. Also, it is the freshest and fastest to report link-building profiles.

Similarweb

In Similarweb, there is no dedicated link-building tool.

You can use the referrals tool in Similarweb for link-building campaigns; it only gives basic link data of the analyzed website.

There is little you can do with the data it provides. You can only see the root domain linking to a website. No SEO data on the exact linking page on the website.

This makes it nearly impossible to use Similar Web for link-building outreach campaigns.

Data Accuracy

Semrush

Semrush is built on anonymous user data (actual consumer behavior), databases with more than 25bn keywords, real Google SERP data, and other third-party sources.

With over 43Tn backlink index, you should expect marketing data from Semrush to be the closest accurate data you can get.

Semrush is built to help small, medium, and large businesses run SEO and marketing research efficiently.

Even though your website drives less than 10k traffic monthly, you can use Semrush to analyze your web traffic data.

Read my extensive review of Semrush data accuracy and methodology to understand better how and where Semrush gets its data.

Similarweb

Similarweb, on the other hand, relies on its web crawler, user panel, and public data through first-party analytics tools such as Google Analytics.

For websites with less than 50k monthly visits, there could be a wide-margin discrepancy in reporting data. Or still, no data reporting at all.

For instance, analyzing this website with less than 10k monthly traffic, Similarweb couldn’t return any traffic data.

Below I analyze this website with less than 10k monthly traffic in Semrush and Similarweb using the domain overview tools.

As you can see, Semrush returns the domain overview metrics analysis but not with Similarweb.

CyberNaira analysis in Semrush domain overview tool…

CyberNaira analysis using Similarweb competitive analysis website overview tool…

Semrush vs Similarweb – Features vs Features Comparison

Semrush.Trends come from a comprehensive suite of tools with SEO tools, PPC, Keyword research, advertising, social media, and content marketing.

While Similarweb is solely for web analytics and statistics, Semrush and Similarweb are feature-rich tools.

Let’s see how Similarweb vs Semrush compares feature-wise…

Keyword Research Tool

Semrush

When writing this line, the Semrush keyword database consists of over 20bn search queries.

The keyword tool can return over 14 million ideas for a single seed keyword for your query. This makes analyzing keyword ideas with the Semrush keyword tool more efficient than most paid keyword tools.

With the Semrush keyword tool, you can see any keyword’s organic and advertising value. This feature is helpful for advertisers, affiliate marketers, and businesses that leverage content for business growth.

It helps to target the rights keyword with high commercial intent.

The keyword magic tool in Semrush provides more helpful search filters to run keyword research efficiently.

You can filter by:

Users on the Semrush free plan can access the position tracking tool for up to 10 keywords. In comparison, the free trial Semrush Pro plan gives you more. You can track up to 500 keywords during your free trial.

Similarweb

The keyword tool in Similarweb is not as comprehensive as that of Semrush. However, it does have one keyword feature worth mentioning here.

The traffic share per keyword feature in Similarweb is a helpful tool that lets you analyze traffic percentage per keyword against your competitors.

You can see who gets the most SERP traffic share for a particular keyword and where you stand in the SERP. This information can help optimize your target keywords for competitive analysis.

Head-to-head, the keyword generator tool feature in Similarweb lets you analyze keyword performance by:

• Search Volume
• Google
• Amazon
• Questions
• Organic vs Paid
• SERP pages
• Traffic Share
• Zero Clicks
• Click rates

Additionally, for competitive market analysis, you can research top-performing keywords by landing pages, ad campaigns, and country-specific for more in-depth marketing insight.

In Semrush, you can access keyword features with a free user account; you need a pro account to access keyword features in Similarweb.

Social Media Tool

Semrush

Whatever the Semrush plan, you can access the Social media marketing tool.

This tool includes a social media tracker, poster, and ad features.

You can connect up to 7 social media profiles, including Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, Google My Business listing, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.

You can schedule posts to multiple social media accounts and manage engagements from within each social media profile.

There are options to schedule, send now, set up regular posting, add to queue, and save as a draft.

Similarweb

In Similarweb, there is no social media management tool.

Competitive Traffic Analysis

Semrush

According to Statista, mobile traffic accounts for 54.8% of all internet traffic from the first quarter of 2015 to the same period in 2021.

So having access to mobile traffic data is not an option; it’s a must in today’s digital marketing world.

The competitive traffic analysis tool is part of Semrush.Trend features.

It gives you access to both desktop and mobile traffic data. This helps you better analyze your traffic sources and understand where you should invest and optimize more.

Access to desktop and mobile traffic data is available to all Semrush users – including free accounts.

However, there is limited data available in the free plan. If you want more comprehensive traffic analysis data, upgrade to Semrush.Trend package for an additional $200/month.

Below is the Semrush.Trend pricing comparison for each Semrush standard plan.

Similarweb

While there are available desktop traffic data, you must purchase mobile traffic data analysis access separately.

Source Data Collection

For data accuracy, it’s crucial to analyze how Semrush and Similarweb collect their data for marketing uses.

After all, information is as authentic as the sources.

Semrush

Semrush uses different methods for data collection.

Depending on the marketing metrics, data are collected from Semrush trusted partners, Google search result pages for more than 500 million popular keywords, clickstream data from hundreds of partners, and public API from social media sites.

Also, Semrush uses its own machine-learning algorithm to present the data in its databases. This makes Semrush data more relevant and accurate you can get.

This page lets you learn more about how Semrush collects and uses data.

Similarweb

Similarweb uses several data sources to gather marketing intelligence information for its users.

It uses data from direct website owners, partners, and internet providers with millions of users. Also, it collects its data from public patented technologies and indexing mechanisms that regularly scan public data.

Like Alexa, Similarweb also uses browser extensions on the visited websites to collect data for research and marketing purposes.

Semrush vs Similarweb Pros and Cons

Summary…Semrush vs Similarweb

While top marketing professionals widely use both tools, Semrush is more robust and used by nearly 7 times as many Similar Web users.

Unless your business SEO needs are fundamental, you need just web analytics data. Semrush is the preferred SEO and marketing tool for professional SEOs, agencies, individuals, and small business owners.

If you’re looking to spend your marketing budget and time wisely, it makes sense to choose Semrush over Similarweb. This will ensure you pay less for more SEO and content marketing tools.