Moz
PaidSEO software for smarter marketing
About Moz
Moz is the SEO tool company that invented Domain Authority (DA) and Spam Score — metrics that became industry shorthand even outside the Moz ecosystem. Moz Pro plans: Starter $49/month, Standard $99/month, Medium $179/month, Large $299/month. Domain Authority, while invented by Moz and not used by Google, is a common proxy for site strength in SEO conversations and useful for quick site comparisons. Keyword Explorer has solid search volume data with SERP feature tracking. Link Explorer covers the backlink database, though it's generally considered smaller and less fresh than Ahrefs. Moz Local (separate product) handles local SEO citation management for multi-location businesses. The main r/SEO complaints: Moz's backlink index lags Ahrefs significantly in size and freshness, and the product has shipped features more slowly than Ahrefs or SEMrush in recent years. Moz was acquired by iContact (Roper Technologies) in 2021, raising questions about product investment. Competes with Ahrefs (stronger backlink data, higher price), SEMrush (more comprehensive, more expensive), and Mangools (affordable alternative). Best for teams that primarily need keyword research and DA benchmarking at a lower price than Ahrefs.
Key Features
Pricing Plans
Starter
- 1 user
- 1 campaign
- Keyword research
- Rank tracking
Standard
- 1 user
- 3 campaigns
- Full keyword explorer
- Link research
Medium
- 2 users
- 10 campaigns
- Full crawl and audit
- Competitive research
Large
- 3 users
- 25 campaigns
- Extended limits
- Priority support
Pros
- Domain Authority is an industry-standard metric
- Excellent educational resources and community
- More affordable than Ahrefs and SEMrush
- MozBar browser extension is very useful
- Good local SEO tools with Moz Local
- Straightforward and beginner-friendly interface
Cons
- Backlink index is smaller than competitors
- Crawl speed is slower than other tools
- Feature set is narrower than SEMrush
- Data freshness can lag behind competitors
- Keyword database is smaller
- UI feels dated compared to newer tools
Best For
- agencies and teams that use Domain Authority as a standard metric for site comparisons
- SEO practitioners who need solid keyword research at a lower cost than Ahrefs or SEMrush
- local businesses using Moz Local for multi-location citation management
- teams just getting started with SEO tooling who want a lower-stakes entry price
Not Ideal For
- professional SEOs who need the most accurate backlink data (Ahrefs is clearly better)
- agencies doing deep link prospecting where index freshness and size matter
- teams that need PPC competitive intelligence alongside SEO (SEMrush covers this)
Potential Deal Breakers
- backlink index is smaller and less fresh than Ahrefs — a significant gap for link-focused SEO work
- Roper Technologies acquisition raised product investment concerns that haven't fully resolved
- feature development has been slower than Ahrefs and SEMrush in recent years
Data & Privacy
SEO tool analyzing public web data. Project data stored on Moz servers. No AI training on customer projects. Data exportable as CSV. Straightforward privacy practices.
Who Is This For?
Hands-on tested May 2026
Signup Experience
Email signup with a 30-day free trial -- no credit card required. The onboarding adds a domain to track and sets up a keyword list. MozBar Chrome extension installs separately in under 2 minutes. The first Domain Authority and keyword report populates within a few minutes of setup.
For Home Users
The free MozBar extension provides Domain Authority scores on any webpage with no account required -- the most accessible free SEO data point in the industry. The 30-day trial covers full platform access. After the trial, the free account has very limited functionality. Hobbyist SEO users are better served by the free MozBar plus Google Search Console rather than paying for the full platform.
For Business Users
Starter at $49/mo covers 1 user, 1 tracked site, and 150 keyword queries per month -- sufficient for small site owners. Standard at $99/mo adds 3 users and 300 queries. Medium at $179/mo adds 5 users and 500 queries. Large at $299/mo covers agencies with 10 users. Domain Authority is the most widely recognized link metric in the industry and carries weight in client reporting. The keyword database is smaller than Ahrefs or SEMrush, which limits competitive research depth. Moz is the better choice for SEO beginners and small agencies who need credible reporting metrics without the learning curve of more complex platforms.
Our Verdict
Moz invented the Domain Authority metric and it still matters as a shorthand for site comparisons, but the core SEO tooling has fallen behind Ahrefs and SEMrush on backlink index quality and feature velocity. At $49-$99/month, it's the most accessible entry point among major SEO tools. If budget is a constraint and DA benchmarking is central to your workflow, Moz works. If backlink analysis is critical, pay for Ahrefs.