Moz

What Moz is

Moz Pro is an all-in-one SEO platform that combines rank tracking, keyword research, site audits, and backlink analysis into a single dashboard, and it is the company that invented Domain Authority (DA), the 0-100 score that became the industry's informal shorthand for a site's ranking strength. The suite centers on four core tools: Keyword Explorer for search volume, difficulty, and keyword prioritization; Site Crawl for automated weekly technical audits that flag broken links, duplicate content, and crawlability issues by severity; Link Explorer for backlink analysis with a Spam Score on every referring domain; and campaign-based rank tracking that runs on a weekly cadence across desktop and mobile SERPs.

Moz Pro is aimed at small-to-midsize businesses, in-house marketers, and boutique agencies who want a straightforward, less overwhelming interface than Ahrefs or Semrush, at a lower entry price point. It is not the deepest tool in any single category anymore. Its keyword database and link index are both meaningfully smaller than Ahrefs and Semrush, which matters most for large sites, competitive link-building campaigns, or niche B2B keywords. Moz's advantage is usability, its trusted DA metric (used sitewide as a credibility shorthand even by people who never log into Moz), and steadily improving AI-search features, including a beta AI Visibility dashboard that tracks brand mentions inside ChatGPT and Gemini answers.

Where Moz is the strongest pick

Domain Authority as the industry-standard credibility metric, an approachable UI for SEO beginners and small in-house teams, and Spam Score backlink-toxicity flagging

Pricing

No free plan. No standalone free plan for Moz Pro. Moz offers separate always-free tools (MozBar browser extension, limited monthly Link Explorer and Domain Authority lookups) plus a 7-day free trial of the full Standard or Medium plan; a credit card is required to start the trial and no charge applies if canceled before it ends.

• Starter: $49/mo ($39/mo annual) (monthly or annual). 1 user, 1 campaign, 50 tracked keywords, about 20K pages crawled per month, AI-powered keyword suggestions.
• Standard: $99/mo ($79/mo annual) (monthly or annual). 1 user, 3 campaigns, 300 tracked keywords, about 400K pages crawled, 150 keyword queries/month, 7-day free trial.
• Medium: $179/mo ($143/mo annual) (monthly or annual). 2 users, 10 campaigns, 1,500 tracked keywords, about 2M pages crawled, branded reports, AI Visibility beta (brand mentions in ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode).
• Large: $299/mo ($239/mo annual) (monthly or annual). 3 users, 25 campaigns, 3,000 tracked keywords, about 5M pages crawled, everything in Medium at agency scale.

Pricing verified June 2026 from the official site. Confirm current pricing before purchase.

Best for

Small businesses, solo marketers, and small agencies who want core SEO tracking (rank, keywords, backlinks, technical audits) in one approachable dashboard without the complexity or price of Ahrefs or Semrush

Key features

• Domain Authority (DA), Moz's proprietary 0-100 site-strength metric
• Keyword Explorer with search volume, difficulty, CTR, and priority scoring
• AI-powered keyword suggestions on all plans
• Site Crawl: automated weekly technical audits with severity-ranked issues
• Link Explorer backlink index with per-link Spam Score
• Weekly rank tracking across desktop and mobile SERPs by campaign
• AI Visibility beta (Medium+): tracks brand mentions in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode against up to 3 competitors
• MozBar browser extension for on-page and DA metrics while browsing

Pros

• Domain Authority is the most widely recognized SEO credibility metric outside the tool itself
• Simpler, less overwhelming interface than Ahrefs or Semrush for beginners
• Lower entry price than Ahrefs or Semrush at the Starter and Standard tiers
• Free MozBar extension and limited free DA lookups for casual use
• AI Visibility beta is an early mover in tracking brand presence inside AI chat answers

Cons

• Keyword database (about 500M) is far smaller than Ahrefs or Semrush, so niche and long-tail terms often show no data
• Backlink index is smaller and updates slower than Ahrefs or Semrush
• Rank tracking is weekly by default; daily tracking needs Moz's separate STAT product
• Keyword and campaign limits on lower tiers fill up quickly for active content teams

Best-fit use cases

• Tracking keyword rankings and search visibility for a small business site
• Running weekly technical SEO audits to catch broken links and crawl errors
• Checking Domain Authority on your own or a prospect site before a pitch
• Finding and prioritizing new keyword opportunities for content planning
• Auditing a backlink profile for toxic links using Spam Score
• Monitoring how a brand is mentioned inside ChatGPT and Gemini via AI Visibility

Moz in depth

How Moz works day to day

In practice, Moz is built around a few core capabilities that shape the daily workflow. Domain Authority and Page Authority means Moz's signature contribution to SEO is Domain Authority, a 1 to 100 logarithmic score that predicts how likely a domain is to rank, plus the page-level equivalent, Page Authority. Both are machine-learning models trained against Google results and have become an industry-wide shorthand, quoted by clients, link sellers, and competitors far beyond Moz itself. Keyword Explorer means Keyword Explorer is Moz's research hub, returning monthly search volume ranges, a 0 to 100 Difficulty score, Organic CTR, and a proprietary Priority metric that blends those signals to rank opportunities. You can build and save keyword lists, filter by SERP features, and pull up to 1,000 keyword suggestions from a single seed query. Link Explorer and Spam Score means Link Explorer analyzes any site's backlink profile against a link index Moz publicly reports at roughly 44.8 trillion links, surfacing referring domains, anchor text, new and lost links, and Spam Score, a signal that flags potentially manipulative or risky linking patterns. It is a core tool for competitive link research and disavow-file preparation.

Who gets the most from Moz

Moz is not a fit for everyone, and the honest answer to "should I use it" depends on your role. Freelance SEO consultant: Runs client audits and monthly reporting on the Standard plan, using Site Crawl to catch technical issues, Rank Tracking for client dashboards, and Domain Authority as an easily explained progress metric that clients already recognize. Boutique SEO agency: Manages up to 10 client campaigns on the Medium plan, pulling Competitive Research and Link Explorer reports for pitches and using Priority-scored keyword lists to plan content roadmaps across multiple accounts from one login. Content marketer or blogger: Uses Keyword Explorer to find low-Difficulty, high-Priority topics and Page Optimization to tune drafts before publishing, leaning on MozBar to size up competing SERP results at a glance during research. Multi-location local business: Adds Moz Local alongside Moz Pro to push accurate business listings to directories, monitor and respond to reviews, and track local pack rankings for each storefront without juggling separate listing tools. In-house marketer new to SEO: Learns the discipline through Moz Academy and Whiteboard Friday while using the beginner-friendly dashboard and the DA metric to demonstrate steady, understandable progress to non-technical stakeholders and leadership.

Is Moz worth the price in 2026?

Moz Pro runs on four tiers, all available monthly or on annual billing that trims 20% off the sticker price. Starter is $49 per month ($39 annually) and suits a single site owner: one campaign, 75 keyword queries, 50 tracked keywords, and 20,000 pages crawled per month. Standard, at $99 per month ($79 annually), is a popular entry point for freelancers, bumping you to 3 campaigns, 150 keyword queries, 300 tracked keywords, and 400,000 crawled pages. Medium at $179 per month ($143 annually) is the agency sweet spot with 10 campaigns, 5,000 keyword queries, 1,500 tracked keywords, and 2 million crawled pages, and Large at $299 per month ($239 annually) scales to 25 campaigns, 15,000 keyword queries, 3,000 tracked keywords, and 5 million crawled pages. Extra user seats run about $49 per month and additional campaigns about $10 per month. The number worth acting on is the promotion: new customers can currently take 25% off the first year on annual plans (Standard and up), which stacks on top of the standard 20% annual saving and can cut hundreds of dollars from year one before renewal reverts to the normal annual price. Beyond Moz Pro, Moz Local handles local-listing management from roughly $20 to $40 per month per location (Lite, Preferred, Elite), and the Moz Links API offers a free testing tier plus paid plans starting around $20 per month for developers who want DA, Spam Score, and link data programmatically. A free trial lets you test the full suite before committing.

Where Moz falls short

No tool is perfect, and being clear about the trade-offs matters more than a marketing pitch. The limitations worth weighing before you buy: Keyword and backlink datasets are generally considered smaller and less frequently refreshed than Ahrefs and Semrush. Keyword query and tracked-keyword limits feel tight on lower tiers (75 queries on Starter, 150 on Standard). Narrower scope than Semrush: no deep PPC, social media, or content marketing suites bundled in. Domain Authority recalibrations can move your score with no site changes, which regularly confuses newcomers. None of these are dealbreakers for the right user, but they are the reasons some teams pick a competitor instead.

How Moz compares to the alternatives

No tool wins for every use case. Before committing, it is worth seeing Moz side by side with the closest rivals on pricing, features, and output quality. We have detailed head-to-head breakdowns for Ahrefs, Semrush. If none of those fit, the full list of Moz alternatives ranks the strongest options by use case.

The bottom line on Moz

Moz Pro is a well-rounded, beginner-friendly SEO suite built around the industry-standard Domain Authority metric, with solid keyword research, weekly rank tracking, automated site audits, and a link index Moz reports at roughly 44.8 trillion links. It is easier to learn than Ahrefs or Semrush and backed by an unusually strong education library, though its keyword and backlink datasets are generally considered less deep than those two market leaders. For solo SEOs, small agencies, and content teams who value clarity and the DA vocabulary over raw data volume, Moz Pro remains a credible, fairly priced choice starting at $39 per month billed annually. A few practical facts to keep in mind: Moz coined Domain Authority, but DA is a third-party estimate of ranking potential, not a metric Google uses; treat it as a directional benchmark, not a ranking factor. Moz has been owned by Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: ZD) since a 2021 acquisition; co-founder Rand Fishkin left in 2018 to start SparkToro. Annual billing saves 20%, and a 25% first-year promo (new customers, Standard tier and up) is currently available on top of that discount. For most buyers the smart move is to start on the free tier or trial, confirm Moz fits your workflow, then upgrade once the value is obvious.

FAQ

How much does Moz cost?

Moz Pro has 4 paid tiers: Starter $49/month, Standard $99/month, Medium $179/month, and Large $299/month. Billing annually cuts each price by 20% (Starter $39/mo, Standard $79/mo, Medium $143/mo, Large $239/mo). Extra campaigns, keywords, crawled pages, and user seats can be purchased separately.

Is Moz free?

Moz Pro itself is not free. Moz offers a 7-day free trial with full access to the Standard or Medium plan (credit card required, no charge if you cancel in time), plus permanently free tools: the MozBar browser extension and a limited number of monthly Domain Authority and Link Explorer lookups.

What is Domain Authority and why does it matter?

Domain Authority (DA) is Moz's proprietary 0-100 score predicting how likely a site is to rank, based mainly on backlink profile quality and quantity. Moz created the metric and remains the only platform that calculates it natively, which is why DA is widely cited across the SEO industry as shorthand for site authority.

How does Moz Pro compare to Ahrefs and Semrush?

Moz Pro is generally cheaper at the entry level and has a simpler interface, but its keyword database and backlink index are both smaller and update less frequently than Ahrefs or Semrush. Moz fits small businesses and beginners; larger sites or heavy link-building campaigns tend to outgrow its data depth faster.

Does Moz Pro have AI features?

Yes. Every plan includes AI-powered keyword suggestions. The Medium plan and above adds AI Visibility, currently in open beta, which tracks how often and where a brand is mentioned in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode responses against up to 3 competitors.

Is Moz Pro worth it in 2026?

For its target audience, yes. Moz Pro delivers reliable keyword research, weekly rank tracking, automated site audits, and backlink analysis in one of the most approachable interfaces in the category, all starting at $39 per month billed annually. It is particularly worth it if you value the universally recognized Domain Authority metric, want a gentle learning curve, or benefit from Moz's outstanding free education. It is less compelling if your work hinges on the largest, freshest keyword and backlink datasets, where Ahrefs and Semrush still lead. Use the free trial and free tools to confirm the data depth meets your needs before subscribing.

Does Moz have a free version or free trial?

Yes to both. A free Moz Community account unlocks 10 Keyword Explorer queries and 10 Link Explorer queries per month, plus the free MozBar extension and the free Domain Analysis tool, which surfaces Domain Authority, top pages, linking domains, and ranking keywords. For the full paid suite, Moz Pro comes with a free trial, historically advertised as 30 days of full access, though some current signup flows show a shorter window on monthly plans. A credit card is required to start the trial, but you can cancel before it converts to a paid subscription, so there is no obligation to continue.

What is Domain Authority and does Google use it?

Domain Authority (DA) is Moz's proprietary 1 to 100 score that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search results, calculated by a machine-learning model trained against real Google rankings. A higher DA suggests stronger ranking potential relative to other sites. Importantly, Google does not use Domain Authority; it is Moz's third-party estimate, not an official Google signal or ranking factor. DA is best treated as a directional benchmark for comparing sites or tracking link-building progress over time, rather than a target to optimize for directly. Because Moz periodically recalibrates the model, your DA can shift even when nothing on your site changed.

Moz vs Ahrefs vs Semrush: which is better?

It depends on your priorities. Moz wins on approachability, the recognizable Domain Authority metric, free tools, and education, making it ideal for beginners, freelancers, and content teams. Ahrefs is the favorite of link-building and technical SEOs for its large, frequently updated backlink index and keyword depth. Semrush is the broadest all-in-one, adding PPC, social media, content marketing, and PR tools that Moz does not match. On raw data volume, Ahrefs and Semrush generally lead; on ease of use and value for smaller teams, Moz holds its own. Many SEOs start on Moz and graduate to Ahrefs or Semrush as their data needs grow.