As a content marketer, I’m always looking for competitor analysis tools that will give my company a leg up. I spend hours on competitive research each week, using a variety of software. Through my experience, I’ve identified some of the best tools available to help businesses analyze their competition and optimize their marketing strategies. In this blog post, I’ll share my top picks for competitor analysis tools to help you make an informed choice for your business.
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Why Use Competitor Analysis Tools
If you want your business to succeed, you have to compete in the crowded online marketplace. You need to keep up with evolving marketing trends, and that means constantly monitoring your competitors. What strategies are working for them? How can you beat them at their own game?
Thankfully, there’s a wide range of software available to help you conduct competitive research. These tools provide you with a wide range of data, such as:
- Which sites in your niche get the most search traffic
- What keywords drive their traffic
- How your competitors rank in search
- How your competitors use pay-per-click (PPC) search ads
- Competitors’ social media metrics and benchmarks
- Email marketing campaigns from rival brands
- Insights into your competitors’ best online content
Below, you’ll find my top picks for competitive analysis for SEO, social media, and content marketing. I’ve tested and reviewed each tool, so you can decide which ones best fit your business’s needs.
SEO & Web Traffic Competitor Analysis Tools
| Tool Name | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Semrush | In-depth SEO research on competitor keywords, traffic, content gaps, and more. | Free plan available Starts at $117.33/month |
| LowFruits | Competitor keyword research on a budget | Starts at $25 for 2,000 credits or at $249/year |
| Ahrefs | Comprehensive competitor analysis with a heavy focus on backlinks. | Starts at $129/month |
| Similarweb | Understanding high-profile competitor websites | Starts at $125/month |
| iSpionage | PPC campaign research | Free plan available Starts at $59/month |
1. Semrush
Semrush is arguably the best SEO competitor analysis tool on the market, and for good reason. You can use it to find potential competitors, spy on marketing strategies, and improve your own search performance.
In my job as an SEO content writer, I use Semrush every week to:
- Monitor the traffic of competitor pages
- Discover which keywords are driving traffic to competitors
- Find which competitors rank in search and have featured snippets for top keywords
To conduct this competitive research, I simply enter the competitor page’s URL or my keyword. It’s that easy to get started. And those are just the features I use as a writer. Other members of our marketing team take advantage of even more of Semrush’s advanced functionality.
Semrush Features
Here are Semrush’s top features for competitive research:
- Competitor traffic analysis
- Competitor keyword analysis
- Keyword gap tool (discover which keywords you’re missing out on)
- Organic research tool that shows your organic competitors
- Advertiser research to monitor competitors pay-per-click (PPC) campains
Additionally, Semrush lets you monitor and optimize your own site with features like Site Audit, Backlink Analytics, and the On Page SEO Checker.
Best for: In-depth SEO research on competitor keywords, traffic, content gaps, and more.
Is Semrush Free? Semrush does offer a free plan. It includes several several useful features but with fairly low daily limits
Premium Pricing: Starts at $117.33/month
2. LowFruits
Need a less expensive alternative to Semrush? Aptly named, LowFruits helps you find the low-hanging fruits your competitors aren’t taking advantage of. It does this by analyzing SERPs (search engine result pages).
In other words, you can discover keyword variations that your competition is performing poorly for. Then, you can create optimized content to outrank them for those keywords and drive more traffic to your site.
LowFruits is another tool that I use regularly. I’ll enter a single keyword to find keyword variations to target, as well as a list of top competitors for that keyword. I’ve also imported lists of keywords to get the information on entire batches of keywords at once.
LowFruits Features
- Rank Tracker: Track keyword search rankings for competitor sites
- Keyword Finder: Discover low-competition keyword variations
- Domain Explorer: See which competitors have weak Domain Authority
- SERP Extractions: Enter competitor domains to extract the keywords they have SERP rankings for.
Best for: Competitor keyword research on a budget
Is LowFruits Free? No, there is no free version.
Pricing: Starts at $25 for 2,000 credits or $249/year
Note: LowFruits has 2 pricing structures:
- Pay as you go (starting at $25): Purchase credits to run Keyword Finder and SERP Extraction reports. Pricing starts at $25 for 2,000 credits
- Subscription (starting at $249/year): Access all of LowFruits’ features. The Standard plan is $249 per year and gives you 3,000 credits per month. The Premium plan is $749 per year with 10,000 credits per month.
3. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO toolset that focuses heavily on competitor research. It offers very similar functionality to Semrush at a comparable price point.
I personally prefer Semrush due to the amount of data it provides and its breadth of tools. However, Ahref and Semrush are both leaders in their field, with each having its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Ahrefs has the world’s largest index of live backlinks, and it’s refreshed every 15-30 minutes. That’s a powerful feature for marketers focused on link-building.
Ahrefs Features
- Site Explorer: Analyze traffic, keywords, and backlinks for any competitor URL
- Keyword Explorer: Discover new keywords and see which sites rank for them
- Content Explorer: Find content ideas by analyzing the top-performing content in your niche
- Rank Tracker: Track search rankings for your competitors, your own site, or specific keywords
- Site Audit: Monitor and optimize your own site
Best for: Comprehensive competitor analysis with a heavy focus on backlinks.
Is Ahrefs Free? No, there is no free plan. However, verified website owners can access some data using Ahrefs’ free Webmaster Tools.
Premium Pricing: Start at $129/month. Limited Starter plan available for $29/month.
4. Similarweb
SimilarWeb is a versatile tool that lets you research where your competitors’ traffic comes from.
Important note: Similarweb analyzes traffic primarily at the domain level, so it’s not the best tool for in-depth content marketing or blog post research. You can see the top landing pages for a competitor site, but you can’t get full data on specific page URLs like you can with Semrush or Ahrefs.
Even so, I was impressed by the amount of information at my fingertips during my testing.
I simply entered a domain URL and had access to that site’s organic and paid traffic, their top referring websites, and important audience information such as geography, demographics, and other sites the audience has visited.
Similarweb Features
- Traffic analysis: Explore any website’s traffic data
- Organic search analysis: Find your competitors’ top SEO keywords and landing pages
- Paid search analysis: See the performance of any site’s paid search ads
- Referral information: Research a site’s incoming and outgoing referral traffic
Best for: Getting insights into the strategies of high-profile competitors
Is Similarweb Free? No, there’s no free plan, but there is a 7-day free trial.
Premium Pricing: Starts at $125/month
5. iSpionage
iSpionage is a popular competitive analysis tool that focuses on PPC research and also provides SEO data. Their software gives you an inside look at your competitors’ marketing strategies.
In my testing, I entered a domain URL and was immediately able to view trending PPC keywords, monthly advertising budgets, and more. iSpionage also helps you find the best keywords for your own SEO and PPC campaigns.
iSpionage Features
- PPC Summary: See an overview of a competitor’s PPC performance, including average ad position, budget, and monthly clicks
- PPC Keywords: Explore top PPC keywords for both Google and Bing/Yahoo
- Organic Keywords: See competitors’ top keywords, their SERP ranking, and the pages that rank for them
- Ads analysis: Review a site’s individual ads and their performance
- Landing Page analysis: Discover competitors’ top landing pages and see screenshots of those pages
Best for: PPC campaign research
Is iSpionage Free? iSpionage offers a free plan with limited functionality.
Premium Pricing: Starts at $59/month
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Social Media Competitor Research Software
| Tool Name | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social | Social media management + competitor analysis | Starts at $199/month |
| Rival IQ | Dedicated competitor research for social media | Starts at $239/month |
| Phlanx | Influencer marketing research | Starts at $39/month |
| Social Blade | Competitive social analysis on a budget | Free version available Premium starts at $3.99/month |
6. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a social media management solution that lets you schedule and monitor your social media posts. It connects to all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest.
Additionally, you can view competitive analysis reports to monitor the social media activity of your competitors.
I signed up for Sprout Social and connected it to a Facebook Page that I manage. In addition to in-depth data on my own Page, I was able to see competitor comparison charts and an overview of recent posts by competitors.
Sprout Social Features
- Competitor performance for Facebook, Instagram, and X
- In-depth competitor data, including audience size, audience growth, engagement metrics, and post count
- Competitor post feed that lets you see the recent posts from your competition
- Complete social media management to schedule posts and monitor your own social media performance
Best for: Comprehensive social media management with competitor insights.
Is Sprout Social Free? No, there isn’t a free version, but they do offer a 30-day free trial.
Premium Pricing: Starts at $199/ month
7. Rival IQ
Rival IQ is a dedicated social media competitive research tool, and it’s extremely easy to get started. I signed up for an account and was immediately prompted to enter my URL and the URLs of 3 competitors. For my testing, I entered websites for popular outdoor brands, and Rival IQ automatically accessed the public data from their social channels.
Within seconds, I navigated to the Competitive Audit section and accessed in-depth comparative data.
Depending on which plan you choose, you can track between 10 and 40 companies. Plus, you can connect Rival IQ directly to your social channels to track all your private social insights in a single dashboard.
Rival IQ Features
- Competitive benchmarking through social media data
- Custom Landscapes that let you create different groupings of companies to compare
- Custom Dashboards to track cross-channel or channel-specific data
- Social content analysis for hashtags, topics, and more
Best for: Experienced social media managers who want a dedicated competitor research tool
Is Rival IQ Free? No, there isn’t a free version, but they offer a 14-day free trial. You can also access limited reports and benchmarking data under Free Tools on their website.
Premium Pricing: Starts at $239/month
8. Phlanx
Phlanx is an influencer marketing platform that helps you discover and connect with social media influencers. It also includes competitor tracking for Instagram, YouTube, X, and Twitch.
As an influencer platform, Phlanx focuses mostly on engagement. I tried out their competitor tracking and found charts comparing engagement levels for various brands:
Additionally, their Engagement Calculators allow you to vet potential collaborators or keep an eye on rival brands.
Phlanx Features
- Competitor engagement tracking for several social platforms (Facebook not included)
- Engagement calculators for all major social platforms
- Influencer Directory to find the right social accounts to partner with
- Collaborations board to post collaboration requests and browse requests from other brands
Best for: Marketers seeking out influencer opportunities
Is Phlanx Free? No, there isn’t a free plan. Phlanx does offer a 30-day free trial, but you have to enter your credit card to access it.
Premium Pricing: Starts at $39/month
9. Social Blade
Are the above social competitor analysis tools out of your budget? Social Blade may be the right choice for you, as its free tool offers tons of competitor data.
The site’s search box suggests simply entering a username, but I had the best results by entering the full URL for a social media profile.
For instance, I entered a URL for a YouTube channel and got an in-depth chart full of useful metrics:
The free version does include a lot of ads. If you find them frustrating, you can opt for one of Social Blade’s very reasonable paid plans.
Social Blade Features
- Competitor tracking for YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, and X
- Detailed statistics to track daily performance
- Future projections that predict growth over the next 5 years
- Premium data charts & favorite slots for premium members
Best for: Social marketers on a tight budget
Is Social Blade Free? Yes, you can access Social Blade’s basic charts for free.
Premium Pricing: Starts at $3.99/month
Content-Based Competitor Research Software
| Tool Name | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Owletter | Email marketers | Starts at $19/month |
| Buzzsumo | Marketers wanting to optimize their brands’ content | Starts at $199/month |
10. Owletter (for Email Marketing)
Email marketing has the highest ROI (return on investment) of any digital marketing strategy. With Owletter, you can easily monitor your competitors’ email campaigns, so you can optimize your own.
I signed up for Owletter and found it very easy to set up email campaign tracking. I simply entered the name and website URL for each brand I wanted to track. Owletter then gave me a unique email address to use to sign up for that brand’s email newsletter.
Note: Some websites’ signup forms may block Owletter email addresses. One website gave me an error message that the address could not be verified.
Once I signed up for those newsletters, Owletter created a single inbox where I could view all of my competitor’s email campaigns:
I could sort the emails by website or topic tag, or I could search for specific subject line keywords.
Most importantly, Owletter stores and analyzes these emails to create summaries for each brand you monitor. Over time, these summaries will show your competitor’s email frequency, the days and times they send emails, common subject line words, spam score, and more.
Owletter Features
- Email inbox to monitor competitor email campaigns
- Email analysis that provides an overview of your competitors’ email marketing strategy
- Scheduled email reports with a summary of email activity from monitored sites
- Email alerts for specific websites or subject line keywords
Best for: Email marketers
Is Owletter Free? There’s no free plan, but you can sign up for a 14-day free trial
Premium Pricing: Starts at $19/month
11. Buzzsumo (for Content Marketing)
Buzzsumo is a comprehensive content marketing research tool. It lets you discover content that is trending in your industry, so you can optimize your own content strategy.
For example, I tried out Buzzsumo’s Content Analyzer tool. I entered a URL and got a list of the site’s most engaging content.
I could see the number of shares and engagement on social media for each post, a list of backlinks, and more. The Evergreen score shows which content continued to get engagement after 30 days. This helps you learn how to create content with lasting impact.
Keep in mind that this example is just one use for this extremely robust software. Buzzsumo’s functionality is broad, and you can get in-depth content data on any topic, brand, or URL.
Buzzsumo Features
- Content analyzer: See the most engaging content from competitors or on specific topics
- Competitor alerts: Get a notification whenever a competitor is mentioned online
- Content idea generator: Enter a topic keyword to get suggestions for engaging posts
- Trending feeds: Set up content feeds for different topics
Best for: Marketers wanting to optimize their brands’ content
Is Buzzsumo Free? There’s no free version, but you can sign up for a 7-day free trial.
Premium Pricing: Starts at $199/month
More Competitive Research Tools
There are countless software options for competitive analysis. I’ve reviewed my top 11, but here are a few more to consider:
12. Majestic: Discover your competitors’ backlinks
13. Serpstat: Analyze your competitor websites SEO and PPC data
14. SpyFu: Download competitors’ SEO and PPC keywords
15. MozBar: See instant metrics on any page or SERP with this Chrome browser extension
16. Talkwalker by Hootsuite: Track social media and consumer data to keep an eye on the competition
17. Brandwatch: Conduct social media market research to benchmark your brand against competitors
Understanding Your Competitors = Better Marketing for Your Brand
There you have it! This list of competitor research tools has everything you need to perfect your marketing campaigns.
Use your competitors’ success to increase your web traffic, and then use OptinMonster to turn those visitors into quality leads. OptinMonster can help you nurture website visitors through your sales funnel by:
- Encouraging visitors to sign up for your email list with a lead magnet
- Offering enticing discounts to exiting visitors
- Showing product and content recommendations based on visitor behavior
- Precisely targeting your popups to just the right people at just the right time
Sign up for OptinMonster today and launch a comprehensive lead-generation campaign in minutes. That way, you’ll be ready to convert all the visitors you’ll gain through your competitive research.
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