Compare entry plans and the restrictions that matter to adult businesses.
THE ATN TAKE · EDITORIAL ASSESSMENT
Policy fit comes first. Ahrefs explicitly lists adult content as prohibited; an exception for the intended workflow has not been verified. Semrush’s affiliate program prohibits promotion on adult websites, while customer-use eligibility is a separate unresolved question. The price comparison below is not an endorsement of either service for ATN. [3][6][4]
AhrefsSite and keyword research, technical site audits and rank tracking. [1]
SemrushKeyword and competitor research, site audits and position tracking; additional AI-search plans are offered. [2]
Free entry
AhrefsFree account for verified sites; its help table lists 5,000 crawl credits per verified project per month. [1]
SemrushUS$0 plan: one demo project and 10 reports per day across core tools; no credit card required. [2]
Paid entry · monthly billing
AhrefsStarter: US$29/month in the USD help table. Monthly renewal only; Lite is listed at US$129/month. [1]
SemrushSEO: US$139/month on monthly billing. The US$117.33/month display is an annual-billing equivalent, not a monthly-payment offer. [2]
Included limits to notice
AhrefsStarter: 200 monthly credits, 50 tracked keywords and no report exports. Additional users and credits cannot be purchased on Starter. [1]
SemrushSEO: five monitored websites and 500 daily tracked keywords. Other tool allowances and add-ons must be checked against the selected plan. [2]
Adult-business eligibility
AhrefsIts Content Policy explicitly prohibits adult content. ATN has not verified an exception for the intended workflow. [3]
SemrushTerms cover internal business use within plan limits. Explicit adult-business permission was not established; confirm your intended use. [4]
Affiliate status
AhrefsOfficial June 2023 statement says the public program was discontinued. No replacement program was verified. [5]
SemrushThe public program prohibits affiliate promotion on adult websites. This restriction is separate from customer-use eligibility. [6]
Decision pointATN assessment
AhrefsResolve the content-policy restriction first; a cheaper entry plan is not useful if the work is ineligible. [3][1]
SemrushCheck service eligibility and required allowances before paying; do not budget for affiliate income from promotion on an adult site. [4][2][6]
Published entry plans have different scopes and allowances. Prices are dated snapshots; confirm currency, billing term, taxes and add-ons. Customer-use policies and affiliate-promotion rules are separate. This comparison does not establish permission for an adult-business workflow or prove research accuracy.
Ahrefs Starter is listed at US$29 per month with 200 monthly credits and no exports. Semrush SEO is US$139 on monthly billing and includes different website and keyword allowances. A lower starting price does not establish better value for a particular task. [1][2]
Try the permitted free scope first
Ahrefs’ free account focuses on verified sites; Semrush’s free plan includes a demo project and limited daily reports. Paid access can wait until a specific limit blocks necessary work, and only after eligibility is resolved. [1][2][3][4]
Separate buying a tool from promoting it
Ahrefs’ official statement says its public affiliate program was discontinued. Semrush’s adult-site promotion restriction prevents treating it as an eligible affiliate offer here. Neither program status is evidence of how well the tools perform. [5][6]
Research based · No hands-on testing or numeric scores · Direct links, no affiliate tracking. Our editorial standards