A Cheaper Semrush Alternative for Rank Tracking
· 3 min read
Semrush is a complete marketing suite: keyword and competitor research, site audits, a backlink database, content and advertising tools. If you use most of it, it's worth the money. But many people open Semrush every day for one thing: to see where their keywords rank. For that, its cheapest plan with rank tracking costs $139 a month ($117.33 billed yearly) for 500 tracked keywords, as of October 2026.
Altitude is a rank tracker for the Mac. You buy it once and it fetches rankings from DataforSEO, paying the data provider's own price — about $0.0006 per keyword check of the top 10 results. Tracking those same 500 keywords every day for the top 20 comes to about $18 a month in data.
Semrush vs Altitude at a glance
| Semrush (SEO plan) | Altitude | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $139/mo, or $117.33/mo billed yearly | One-time license + DataforSEO data at cost |
| Tracked keywords | 500 | No limit (you pay per check) |
| Updates | Daily | Daily, on weekdays or weekly — your choice |
| Where it runs | Web browser | Native Mac app (macOS 14 or later) |
| AI Overviews | Flagged as a SERP feature; ChatGPT prompts need an extra toolkit | Whether an AI Overview appears and whether it cites you; ChatGPT prompts tracked |
| Search Console | Yes | Yes |
| Free option | Free plan with 10 keywords on 1 site | Free with 1 project and 2 keywords |
Semrush figures come from its pricing page and Position Tracking help (October 2026). Semrush shows daily data for 60 days and weekly points after that.
What tracking really costs
DataforSEO bills each check by pages of 10 results, so the depth you track drives the price. At the standard-queue price of $0.0006 per page:
| Keywords, checked daily | Top 10 | Top 20 | Top 100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $1.80/mo | $3.60/mo | $18/mo |
| 500 | $9/mo | $18/mo | $90/mo |
| 2,000 | $36/mo | $72/mo | $360/mo |
These are data costs at DataforSEO's list price (30 checks a month). Checking on weekdays only, or once a week, cuts them further. Loading the full AI Overview adds one page per check when you turn it on. If you'd rather not open a DataforSEO account (its minimum top-up is $50), Altitude also sells a prepaid balance that charges DataforSEO's cost plus a margin.
When Semrush is the better choice
- You use the whole suite. Site audits, the backlink database, PPC research and content tools are not in Altitude.
- Your team works in the browser, on Windows, or shares dashboards. Altitude is a Mac app; it shares results as PDF reports and CSV files, not as a web login.
- You track tens of thousands of keywords at top-100 depth. At that volume, plans built for agencies can work out cheaper.
When Altitude is the better choice
- Rank tracking is what you pay Semrush for. You keep daily positions, competitors, SERP features and Search Console data for a fraction of the monthly cost.
- You want to know about AI search. Altitude records, every day, which of your keywords show an AI Overview, whether it cites you and which domains it cites; it also tracks which ChatGPT prompts mention your site.
- You like native apps. Altitude has widgets, a menu bar extra, keyboard shortcuts, and keeps your data on your Mac.
Moving from Semrush
- Export your tracked keywords from Position Tracking as CSV.
- In Altitude, create a project with your domain, market (country or city), device and language, and paste the keywords.
- Connect Search Console to see clicks and impressions next to positions.
History doesn't move over, so keep your Semrush exports if you need last year's numbers. You can try Altitude free with one project and two keywords before deciding; the license is a one-time purchase.
Try Altitude for free
A native rank tracker for the Mac: daily Google rankings, Search Console and AI Overview and ChatGPT visibility. Free with 1 project and 2 keywords, no card needed.