Best SERP tracker tool

When searching for an effective SERP tracking tool, the most important characteristics to consider are accuracy, versatility, and efficiency. Recently, there have been dozens of new SERP checker tools available on the market. You might even hear about some of them for the first time, but in the meantime, they are cool and provide a free and hilarious functionality. We’ve hand-tested each one and love to share the results.

Rush Analytics

SERP Tracker from Rush Analytics helps you monitor how the search engine ranks your keywords in TOP-100 – check how new competitors are rising or falling. With a 7-day free trial, you can test the unlimited functionality of the platform.

When you hover over a keyword, you will see the top competitors that were in the top 10 at the time of the check performed:

You can also find the information about the topic leaders:

Then, you will be able to download an Excel document with all the data:

Ahrefs

Let’s start with the “old guys”, though. As we know, Ahrefs is the most advanced universal SEO tool on the market. This tool can be used for various SEO tasks such as backlink analysis, keyword research, website SEO audits, etc.

Ahrefs has a feature called Rank Tracker which will help you track your keyword rankings over time. With ahrefs SERP tracker tool, you can track your Google ranking on desktop and mobile devices in 170 countries.

Ahrefs has a free version of this tool, where you can see top 10 competitors for one keyword with metrics for the first three competitors. Here’s what it looks like:

To use ahrefs SERP Checker for multiple keywords and additional metrics you have to register and purchase a plan starting from $89.

To start the SERP checking process using ahrefs, simply enter the list of keywords you want to track and choose country.

For every top-ranking page, we show you backlink metrics to help you gauge the competition and understand the ranking difficulty of a keyword:

• Domain Rating (DR) shows you how strong the backlink profile of a website is. The higher the DR, the more authoritative the link is.
• URL Rating (UR) shows you the backlink profile strength of a specific URL. This metric has the highest correlation with rankings.
• Backlinks count — shows you the number of inbound links pointing to a URL.
• Domains count is where you can see the number of unique referring domains that point to a URL

You can analyze organic search traffic and check SERP position history, as well.

Ahrefs Pros: extensive functionality, free functionality
Ahrefs Cons: price, infrequent data updates

SpyFu

SpyFu is also a popular tool in the SEO industry. Its SERP tracker shows you metrics which help you grasp the competitive environment for the keyword. Get a sense of what kind of domains rank and what they do to get there.

With the SERP tracking feature, you can see up to top-100 SERP results of your competitors – it’s absolutely free:

SpyFu keeps a snapshot of every SERP we collect. It helps give you context and also backs up every ranking and ad claim that the service publishes.

There’s also one thing about this tool: if your site ranks higher for a new keyword that has not previously been ranked, this tool will send an email and let you know. If one of your pages or keywords loses ranking, you will also be notified.

SpuFu Pros:  creating a PDF of organic results and ads, top-100 results for free, competitive price

SpyFu Cons: limited location data (only 14 countries), lack of competitor backlink data

SERPSTAT

Nearly 100,000 active users perform tasks such as ranking tracking, keyword research, backlink analysis and site audits on Serpstat platform.

At the time of writing, they were going through a price adjustment that included the removal of the low-cost $19 plan for 200 keywords.

The lowest package now starts at $59 for 10 000 position checks per month, making it an expensive rank tracking tool. Frankly, Serpstat has evolved into a mini-href that does much more than rank tracking.

SERPSTAT pros: tracks ranking history and generates customizable reports, integrates with Google Analytics

SERPstat cons: price, limited geographic targeting options, lacks some competitor backlink and other off-page metrics, requires paid subscription for all features

SERanking

SERanking has 14 days trial and allows you to track up to 5 keywords for free, registration is needed. If you want to use full plan, it will cost from €31.20 per month.

Here are some key points about the SERanking SERP tracker tool:

• Provides tracking of keyword rankings in Google search results, including precise rankings, top 10 competitors, and local pack tracking.
• Allows monitoring of rankings by location, so you can track rankings for a domain in the USA, UK, or other target countries.
• Tracks historic keyword ranking changes to see improvement or decline over time.
• Offers integration with Google Search Console to combine keyword data with search analytics.
• Monitors competitor keyword rankings side-by-side for comparison.
• Tracks keywords across desktop and mobile search results.
• Provides rank tracking API for automated monitoring and custom reporting.
• Generates shareable ranking reports and exports to track keywords.
• Provides suite of other SEO tools including site audit, backlinks tracker, organic traffic insights, and recommendations.
• Suite offers different pricing tiers based on number of keywords tracked.

It takes several minutes to register, give all the data, and then to complete the task, but the result looks impressive:

SERanking pros: lets you compare rankings in different countries, integrates with Google Search Console, offers automatic tracking and API for custom reporting

SERanking cons: requires paid subscription for full features

SERPwatcher

SERPwatcher is another tool with an attractive user interface that makes the app more pleasant to use. The Mangools team has obviously spent a lot of time refining the aesthetics of their product to make it not only easy to use, but also beautiful to look at.

A monthly or annual subscription to the Mangools suite of tools is offered. Individual elements such as the keyword finder and link miner are not available separately, but the prices are reasonable given the power you get in an SEO toolkit.

For about US$30 per day, you can track up to 200 keywords.

The premium plan, which costs about US$40 per month, includes 700 keywords monitored, adding significant value for twice the monthly fee.

A free 10-day trial is available to see how great it is.

SERPWatcher Pros: allows tracking of local pack rankings and monitoring, provides useful keyword suggestions for targeting, has a free plan with basic capabilities

SERPWatcher Cons: no integration with other analytics platforms, traffic estimates may not be highly accurate, lacks customization options for reports.

The best way to monitor SERP competitors

It’s important to know who your top competitors are in the SERPs if you want to beat them for top positions in the SERPs.

Since Rush Analytics tracks the entire search engine results page for all of the added keywords in a task, we can show who has the most rankings in the top 10 Google in your keyword list.

By using the SERP rank tracking tool, you can find where your competitors have an advantage over you on keyword rankings and understand what to do to make your site more competitive in Google search.

Monitor competitors’ with Rush Analytics SERP tracker tool

Rush Analytics has a SERP checker tool that allows you to track keyword rankings of your and competitors’ sites on Google.

Monitor SERP competitors’ rankings is pretty easy:

• Click “Create Task”
• Add the name of the task and the search depth you want to collect for SERP analysis
• Select “Desktop” or “Mobile” to track your competitors’ SERP position in desktop or mobile search, and add the task location
• Add the keywords you want to track. Once you’ve added them, click the “Add Keywords” button and “Run Task”

Once the SERP analyzer task is done, you will be able to see your competitor’s ranks on Google. You can check this task report daily to see if your ranking has increased or decreased.

SERP tracker tools’ prices in 2024

Here, you can take a look at prices offered by SERP tracking tools mentioned in our top list. All the rank trackers prices are current as of 2024.

Here is a brief comparison of the pricing for these SERP tracking tools:

SERanking offers a mid-range price point at €31.20 per month. Ahrefs is at the high end at $89 per month, providing premium features. SpyFu ($39), SERPSTAT ($59), Nightwatch ($39) and SERPwatcher ($40) are closely grouped in the mid-range pricing. Rush Analytics starts at the very affordable $19 per month and also provides a free test period for trying out the tool.

Overall, there is a good range of pricing options from budget-friendly to premium tools. Ahrefs sits at the top end, likely offering the most advanced capabilities for its higher price point. SERanking, SpyFu, SERPSTAT, Nightwatch and SERPwatcher are tightly grouped in the mid-price tier around $40 per month. And Rush Analytics offers a great low-cost option at just $19 while also letting you test with a free trial. For any budget, there are options to get started with SERP tracking and monitoring.