Skip to content
seo.bargains

Pricing guide

Annual vs Monthly SEO Tool Billing — Is the Discount Worth It?

Most SEO tools charge less per month on annual billing, which sounds good until you realise you're paying upfront for software you might stop using partway through the year. Annual billing makes most sense for tools you use regularly and have already evaluated on a monthly plan. Here's how to decide which subscriptions to commit to and which to keep monthly.

Yearly or monthly billing?

Pay yearly when

  • You have used the tool for a few months
  • The workload is steady
  • The yearly discount is meaningful

Pay monthly when

  • You are still deciding
  • Work is project-based
  • You might switch tools soon
Yearly billing trades flexibility for a lower price; the chart above shows the size of that discount per tool.

Entry price, cheapest first

  1. Mangools$49/mo
  2. Serpstat$69/mo
  3. Semrush$139/mo
  • Ahrefs: £23/mo (priced in GBP; not placed on the monthly USD scale)
  • SE Ranking: £95/mo (priced in GBP; not placed on the monthly USD scale)
Paid entry plan per tool (free-only tools show as free); "/mo" is the price billed monthly, "yearly" marks annual-billing figures available in our records (shown per month); monthly billing may also be available. Cheapest is not best: check what the entry plan leaves out before buying. Prices from each vendor's pricing page; dates on each tool page.
  • Partly checkedSemrush: prices read from semrush.com on .
  • Partly checkedAhrefs: prices read from ahrefs.com on . Shown in GBP as the vendor displayed it; not converted.
  • Partly checkedMangools: prices read from mangools.com and mangools.com on .
  • Partly checkedSE Ranking: prices read from seranking.com on . Shown in GBP as the vendor displayed it; not converted.
  • Checked on vendor siteSerpstat: prices read from serpstat.com on .

Frequently asked questions

How much do SEO tools save with annual billing?
Annual discounts vary by vendor and change over time. The plan table on each tool page shows the current monthly and annual rates and the date they were checked, so you can work out the actual saving.
Which SEO tool has the best annual discount?
It varies and changes, so compare the monthly and annual rates in each tool's plan table. Weigh the saving against how confident you are that you will use the tool for the full year.
When should you stay on monthly billing for SEO tools?
Stay monthly if you are still evaluating the tool, running a time-limited project, or uncertain about your long-term usage. Monthly billing also makes sense for tools you use seasonally or for occasional audits.
Can you get a refund if you switch to annual and stop using the tool?
Refund terms on annual plans vary by vendor and are often limited. Check each vendor's refund policy before committing. A safer path is to start monthly, confirm value, then switch to annual.