Category by category
| Category | Semrush | Google Keyword Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Stronger | – |
| Backlinks | Stronger | – |
| Keywords | Stronger | – |
| Pricing | Even | Even |
| Ease of use | – | Stronger |
| Support | Even | Even |
| Starting price | from $139/mo | no published price |
Category calls are editorial judgements, not lab test results. Swipe sideways if the table is cut off.
- Features
- Semrush covers all SEO and marketing disciplines. GKP is a keyword and bid planning tool designed for Google Ads, not organic SEO
- Backlinks
- Semrush has comprehensive backlink analysis. GKP has no backlink data
- Keywords
- Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool has 26B+ keywords with organic difficulty, SERP features, and intent data. GKP shows ad competition and bucketed volume ranges
- Pricing
- Compare the source-linked plan prices and included limits below. Currency and billing basis must match before treating one option as cheaper.
- Ease of use
- GKP is familiar to anyone who uses Google products. Semrush requires investment to learn but delivers far more actionable insights
- Support
- Check the vendor help centre and support terms for the plan you are considering; no comparative response-time test is claimed.
Every paid plan on one price scale
Semrush
- SEO$139/mo
- Starter$199/mo
- Pro+$299/mo
- Advanced$549/mo
- Partly checkedSemrush: prices read from semrush.com on . SEO + AI Search portfolio; add-ons and extra seats cost more. Annual totals calculated from the displayed monthly-equivalent rates.
- Partly checkedGoogle Keyword Planner: source information reviewed from support.google.com and support.google.com on . No cost stated on fetched pages; billing information required to complete account setup.
Which should you pick?
Pick Semrush if
You do professional SEO work and need competitor intelligence, organic difficulty scores, and comprehensive keyword databases
Semrush plans and catchesPick Google Keyword Planner if
You're planning Google Ads campaigns and want native Google data, or you're just starting out and have no SEO budget
Google Keyword Planner plans and catchesOur take
Every experienced SEO uses Google Keyword Planner — not as their primary tool, but as a cross-check. When Semrush shows a keyword with 5,000 monthly searches and GKP shows it in the 1K-10K range, you're at least in the right ballpark. But building an SEO strategy solely on GKP data is limiting. The bucketed volumes, the ad-focused competition metrics, and the lack of organic SERP data all constrain what you can learn. Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool gives you the specificity and competitive context that GKP can't match.