Category by category
| Category | Semrush | Google Search Console |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Stronger | – |
| Backlinks | Stronger | – |
| Keywords | Stronger | – |
| Ease of use | – | Stronger |
| Starting price | from £113.40/mo | free |
Category calls are editorial judgements, not lab test results. Swipe sideways if the table is cut off.
- Features
- Semrush covers competitor research, keyword discovery, backlink analysis, and content tools. GSC shows your own site's search performance data only
- Backlinks
- Semrush has a full backlink research suite. GSC only shows links pointing to your site in a limited, filtered view
- Keywords
- Semrush discovers new keyword opportunities. GSC shows queries your pages already rank for, valuable but reactive, not proactive
- Pricing
- Cheapest paid plans: Semrush £113.40/mo, Google Search Console free. The vendors publish prices in different currencies, so neither is called cheaper here. Plan limits are in the tables below.
- Ease of use
- GSC is a focused, clean interface for your own data. Semrush has a steep learning curve given its breadth
Side by side
| Detail | Semrush | Google Search Console |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | SEO, £113.40/mo | Free, $0/mo |
| Paid plans | 3 | not published |
| Sites or projects (that plan) | 5 | not published |
| Tracked keywords (that plan) | 500 | not published |
| Other limits (that plan) | Basic keyword research and competitor analysis; AI search tracking | not published |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 7 days, card needed | not published |
| Currency shown | GBP | USD |
| Prices checked | 31 Oct 2026 | 3 Oct 2026 |
"Not published" means the vendor's pricing page did not show it on the check date; it is not assumed to be zero or unlimited. Swipe sideways to see both tools.
What Semrush and Google Search Console cost for the same workload
The cheapest plan on each tool whose published limits cover the workload, and what the first year costs at list price. Yearly billing is used where the vendor publishes it.
| Workload | Semrush | Google Search Console |
|---|---|---|
| 1 site, 100 tracked keywords, 1 userSolo blogger or one business site | SEO: £1,140.84 | Limits not published |
| 5 sites, 500 tracked keywords, 1 userFreelancer with a few clients | SEO: £1,140.84 | Limits not published |
| 15 sites, 1,500 tracked keywords, 2 usersSmall agency | Limits not published | Limits not published |
"Limits not published" means the vendor's pricing page did not list a limit needed to judge the plan. Try your own numbers in the plan finder.
Every Semrush and Google Search Console plan
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly, per month | Sites or projects | Tracked keywords | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semrush SEO | £113.40 | £95.07 | 5 | 500 | not published |
| Semrush Starter | £161.25 | £133.84 | 5 | 500 | not published |
| Semrush Pro+ | £242.28 | £201.09 | 15 | 1,500 | not published |
Prices are shown in the currency each vendor published, before tax. Swipe sideways to see every column.
- Prices read from vendor site; some terms not published thereSemrush: prices read from semrush.com on . Shown in GBP as the vendor displayed it; not converted.
- Checked on vendor siteGoogle Search Console: prices read from support.google.com on .
Semrush Black Friday 2026
Not announced yet. Black Friday is Friday 27 November and Cyber Monday is Monday 30 November.
No Black Friday offer from Semrush has been found on its own site for 2024 or 2025.
Checked 31 Oct 2026. Every SEO tool's Black Friday offer.
Which should you pick?
Pick Semrush if
You need competitive research, keyword discovery, backlink analysis, and a full professional SEO toolkit
Semrush plans and catchesPick Google Search Console if
You just launched a site and need to understand how it performs in search. GSC gives you everything Google officially shares for free
Google Search Console plans and catchesThe verdict
GSC and Semrush answer different questions. GSC tells you how your pages currently perform in Google Search: impressions, clicks, average position, index coverage. Semrush tells you what keywords you could rank for, what your competitors rank for, and where they get their backlinks. Every site should use GSC from day one. Semrush is the upgrade you buy when you're ready to find and act on opportunities beyond what you currently have.