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Best SERP Tracking for 2024 My 11 + 1 Favorite Rank Trackers

Robert BrandlCai Ellis

By Robert & Cai

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How do you check your Google rankings? Typing your keyword into Google, counting the results and then adding your position to a spreadsheet?

Not exactly ideal, especially if you want to track a larger number of keywords.

That’s what SERP trackers are made for. You simply enter all the keywords you want to monitor and the tool tracks them for you. SERP, by the way, stands for Search Engine Results Page.

At Tooltester we have been using several of them: SE Ranking, AccuRanker, Serpwatch, Semrush and Serpstat. In the past we also used ProRankTracker. So even though writing this blog post will probably take me around 10 hours, it has actually been in the making for several years 🙂

For that reason, I thought it would be helpful for a lot of people just like you if I wrote down what I like and dislike about these online SERP keyword trackers. And as rank tracking isn’t cheap, we’ll also take a look at prices and check out the best deals you can get.

Watch this short video to see my favorites:

best rank trackers video

The 11 +1 Best SERP Trackers

Let’s now compare our lineup of rank trackers to find the best one for your project.

1. AccuRanker

best serp tracking accuranker

Best Rank TrackerWe awarded AccuRanker our Best Rank Tracker badge for 2023!

AccuRanker comes from Denmark and claims to be the world’s fastest, most accurate rank tracker. But what does fast mean? AccuRanker lets you manually request a refresh of your ranking data whenever you feel like it. And the update happens rather fast! It supports Google, Bing and now also YouTube, Yandex, and Baidu.

I’m using AccuRanker for the English ranking data of Tooltester as I tend to track my keywords (almost) daily to be able to react to important changes.

I very much like the no-nonsense menus and interfaces that let me get to the data I need at the speed of light. YouTube tracking also works really well, better than with other tools I tried.

You can also define segments and filter for things like specific SERP features and also export the data. And as with all rank trackers, you’ll come across in this article, AccuRanker shows you the search volumes for each keyword. If you work with clients, it also allows you to email automatic ranking reports with your own logo.

AccuRanker Pricing:

1000 keywords: $129 / month
1500 keywords: $189/ month
2000 keywords: $249/ month
3000 keywords: $369/ month

Keyword data updated daily. Monthly plans. Save up to 10% by subscribing to a yearly plan.

AccuRanker Screenshots:

What I like: Their clean Scandinavian design is a pleasure to use. It shows you whether you rank in the featured snippet (so-called ‘position zero’) and includes all other important Google features (related questions, site links, whether there are ads, etc.). It lets you tag and star your most important keywords and, of course, it’s great being able to request a keyword refresh whenever I feel like. You can also add as many domains as you like. Compared to other trackers I also had the feeling that Accuranker’s data is the most accurate.

What they should improve: It would be nice to see the ranking evolution in the main overview, as offered with other SERP trackers (instead of clicking the detail view of the keyword). They should offer plans with less than 1000 keywords as this restriction makes this keyword tracker REALLY expensive. I would also prefer email reports where you can see the rankings directly in the email and not only after opening in an attached file (PDF, XLS etc.).

Who is it for? Brands, store owners and agencies who need reliable & quick ranking data, competitor monitoring and things like historical data and API access.

Rating: 4.5/5

> Try it for 14 days for free: accuranker.com

2. SE Ranking

SEranking

This Ukrainian company offers a SERP tracking tool at fairly affordable rates. If 750 keywords are enough, you can go as low as $44 per month with an annual SE Ranking plan. But what does it offer?

Quite a lot actually.

Alongside the rank tracker, you get a whole host of tools: website audit, backlink monitoring & checking, and it also creates a marketing plan for you. SE Ranking is ideal if you are in the market for an SEO suite rather than just a rank tracker.

A feature I like is that, as well as Google rankings (obviously), you can even track YouTube rankings, along with Bing, Yandex and Yahoo. They claim to have 800,000 users, making them one of the biggest SEO tools out there.

SE Ranking Pricing:

Essential 750 keywords: $55/ month
Pro 2000 keywords: $109/ month
Pro 3500 keywords: $189/ month

Monthly plans. Discounts of up to 20% for annual plans.

SE Ranking Screenshots:

What I like: SE Ranking provides an extensive suite of features that extend beyond just rank tracking to include keyword research, website auditing, and backlink monitoring.

The platform also evaluates your ‘content score’ against that of your competitors, with a maximum achievable score of 100 points. This metric is valuable for pinpointing underoptimized pages on your website.

Customer support is generally responsive. Additionally, the platform offers tools like folders and tags to help you organize them.

What they should improve: Accessing reports can sometimes require multiple clicks. Occasional minor bugs in the system are not always addressed promptly. In terms of user interface, competitors like AccuRanker and Nightwatch tend to have an edge over SE Ranking.

Who is it for? Freelancers and small businesses who need an affordable tool that does a bit more than just SERP rank tracking tool. It’s one of the best rank tracker tools out there.

Rating: 4.3/5

> Try it 14 days for free: seranking.com

3. Wincher

wincher

Here’s another contender from Scandinavia. Wincher is made in Sweden and praises minimalism. The good news is that their prices are indeed minimalist. 500 keywords with daily updates will only cost you $39/month.

Right now they only track Google so if you are after other search engines too, you should look elsewhere. The ranking tables are well-structured and contain all the important information.

Columns can also be fully customized. It also shows you what SERP features are relevant to your keyword and whether your site is shown in one.

Using the Pages tool you can identify weak spots in your content. It’s alright, but doesn’t take into account synonyms the way Google does. Nevertheless it can certainly be helpful to some.

Wincher Pricing:

500 keywords: $39/ month (Starter Plan)
1000 keywords: $74/ month (Business Plan)
2000 keywords: $119 / month (Business Plan)

Keyword data updated daily. Monthly plans. Get 2 free months by subscribing to a yearly plan.

Wincher Screenshots:

What I like: The tool is well-designed and also lets you compare your website to your competitors. Their prices are some of the lowest in the industry given the great range of features, such as tracking of all the special Google features (Featured Snippets, etc.). The keyword research tool also looks very useful as it directly considers what you’re already ranking for.

What they should improve: Adding other search engines like Bing or YouTube would be useful to many users. And a few times I had smaller issues by getting ranking notifications via email that weren’t actually showing in the tool.

Rating: 4.2/5

> Try Wincher for free here (Use discount code WELCOME30 to get 30% off your first purchase)

4. Nightwatch

nightwatch homepage

Back in the day, the Nightwatch movie (starring Ewan McGregor) received mixed ratings. But what about the rank tracker?

The first thing you will note is that everything on their website is black. They seem to love dark-mode, which is also activated by default in their web app.

Even though I personally like it too, I switched it off pretty quickly. The reason is that the interface is relatively busy and the fonts are small. Having everything white on black doesn’t make it very readable.

What you will also note is that the Slovenian company offers very affordable plans compared to its competitors. With discounts of up to 40%, it’s particularly affordable if you sign up for a yearly plan.

In terms of features, they also offer website audits, competitor monitoring, and API access. A pretty complete product.

Nightwatch Pricing

500 keywords: $59 / month
1000 keywords: $99 / month
5000 keywords: $399 / month

Keyword data updated daily. Monthly plans. Discounts of up to 40% for longer terms.

Nightwatch Screenshots

What I like: Their yearly plans are very well-priced for daily updated keywords. Rank tracking comes with details like Featured Snippets, Local Packs and Knowledge Panels. Nightwatch not only offers YouTube but also DuckDuckGo tracking. You can add notes to your account and these will be plotted in the ranking graphs, similar to how notes work in Google Analytics. Their daily, weekly or monthly ranking updates via email work pretty well, too!

What they should improve: The help section doesn’t have a search function, and although they offer live chat, I didn’t always receive an immediate response. If you need more than 1000 keywords, you’ll see your costs go up significantly.

Who is it for? Agencies who need quick and accurate ranking data for their clients at affordable rates.

Rating: 4/5

Try for free: nightwatch.io

5. ProRankTracker (PRT)

proranktracker

ProRankTracker was actually one of the first keyword trackers we were using at Tooltester. If you don’t need a huge number of keywords, the Israeli company offers a pretty good deal at $13.50 for 100 tracked terms.

It has a SERP tracker for Google, YouTube, Yahoo, Bing, Yandex and wait for it … Amazon! That’s pretty unique, as we haven’t seen any other tracking tool offering Amazon tracking. But that’s not really the scope of this article, to be fair.

The reason why we moved to other services was mainly that ProRankTracker feels a bit more complicated than the others. They’ve recently improved the interface, but there’s still a lot going on in the navigation.

ProRankTracker Pricing:

100 keywords: $13.50 / month
500 keywords: $49 / month
1000 keywords: $89 / month
2000 keywords: $129 / month

Monthly plans. Up to 20% discount for yearly plans available.

ProRankTracker Screenshots:

What I like: It’s good that you can request manual ranking updates. You also get the evolution of your keywords in the main view, including the biggest winners and losers. The free plan is unique for rank trackers and could be sufficient for smaller businesses. I also had good experiences with their live chat support. Finally, PRT also features two iOS and Android apps that let you (or your clients) check rankings conveniently.

What they should improve: I find the navigation on the left-hand side overwhelming and there are many different views, of which most users will probably only use one. Also a quick way to view the current SERPs for each keyword would be nice (to achieve that now you need to completely change the view).

Who is it for? Definitely recommended for anyone who only needs to track a few keywords, as it’s free. Amazon sellers are another target group that could benefit from PRT.

Rating: 3.8/5

> Try ProRankTracker’s free plan: proranktracker.com

6. SEMrush

semrush rank tracking

Broadly speaking, all serious SEO professionals either use Semrush, Ahrefs, or both. I’ve always been a fan of Ahrefs for keyword analysis and backlink tracking. Its interface is cleaner and less overwhelming than Semrush’s. However, when it comes to rank tracking, it’s not the best, as we’ll discuss further below.

So, what about Semrush? One of our former employees, Josep, who is now a financial advisor and Semrush fan, and kindly allowed me to use his account for this review. The most crucial point to note: if you’re only looking for a rank tracker and not a complete SEO suite, Semrush is far too expensive. Tracking 500 keywords costs $129.95. In contrast, Accuranker, our top recommendation, offers 1000 keywords for the same price.

Semrush Screenshots:

Semrush Pricing:

500 keywords: $129.95 / month
1,500 keywords: $249.95 / month
5,000 keywords: $499.95 / month

You can also add 500 additional keywords for $60/month.

Keyword data updated daily. Monthly plans. Save 10% by subscribing to a yearly plan.

What I like: It offers a comprehensive rank tracking solution, providing everything you need. Features include visibility and traffic charts, competitor tracking, monitoring of featured snippets, and other Google SERP elements. You can also use tags and notes for improved organization. An additional benefit is their mobile app, known as the Position Tracking App.

What they should improve: It’s overly pricey if you’re solely looking for a rank tracker. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the Semrush interface, though I suppose it’s something one can get used to over time (Long-time user Josep, for example, noted: “The interface is very clear to me”). What Josep doesn’t like as much is the absence of on-demand keyword refreshes.

Rating: 3.7/5

> Try Semrush free for 7 days: semrush.com

7. Sitechecker

sitechecker

Sitechecker is actually not just a keyword tracking tool. It also does a technical SEO audit of your website. While we usually rely on the Ahrefs site audit, I have to admit, that Sitechecker found a couple of errors (e.g. broken links) that Ahrefs never reported.

But what about the keyword tracking? The good news is that it’s one of the cheapest SERP trackers. It supports Google, Bing and Yahoo. You can also get daily email updates on your most important ranking updates.

What I like: it’s a reliable rank tracker that comes at an affordable price. Ideal for users who want additional monitoring features such as the site audit it also provides.

What they should improve: as a rank tracker, it lacks certain features that competitors provide, e.g. tracking competitor’s ranks or viewing a snapshot of the Google SERP of a certain day. The interface is a bit dull, and sometimes I also wished it loaded a bit faster.

Sitechecker Screenshots

Sitechecker Pricing

750 keywords: $39 / month
1500 keywords: $149 / month
3000 keywords: $249 / month

Monthly plans. Save 20% signing up for a yearly plan

Who is it for? Anyone looking for an affordable rank tracking solution that also helps with technical SEO.

Rating: 3.5/5

> Try Sitechecker: sitechecker.pro (get 25% off via this link)

8. Serpwatch.io

serpwatch

Serpwatch claims to be the “Most Advanced Rank Tracker for Marketers and Agencies”. While I am not sure I would agree with this statement, I still think their rank tracker is pretty decent.

The feature set comprises client management (including white-label options), local ranking tools and a report builder among other things. There’s a 15-day free trial and pricing starts at $49/month for monthly plans.

Serpwatch Pricing:

250 keywords: $49 / month
750 keywords: $99 / month
2500 keywords: $349 / month

Daily updates. Interesting fact: you can also request multiple daily updates, but they will be taken off your monthly quota. For the lowest plan there are 7500 monthly checks included (250 x 30), for example. Get 5 free months with an annual plan.

Serpwatch Screenshots:

What I like: They recently did an overhaul to their interface, which works really well. You get a ton of useful information, such as when you are ranking for the same keyword with different pages (keyword cannibalization). Their email reports are useful, although it would be nice to have an option to also stop these emails 🙂

What they should improve: A few times I noticed that keywords can be a little “jumpy” (dropping and going back to the original position the next day), even though the ranking hasn’t changed when I check it directly on the SERPs. I also like to organize my keywords by search volume, unfortunately here it always reverts to alphabetical sorting. Once you exceed 250 keywords it also gets rather expensive if you don’t opt for an annual plan.

Rating: 3.5/5

9. Serpstat

Best SERP Tracking - Is it Serpstat?

Serpstat is another contender from Ukraine. Almost 100,000 active users perform things like rank tracking, keyword research, backlink analysis, and site audits. At the time of writing, they were going through a pricing change, removing the affordable $19 plan for 200 keywords.

From now on, the cheapest plan will start at $69 for 500 keywords, making it a not so affordable rank tracking tool. But to be honest, Serpstat has grown into a sort of mini-Ahrefs that does so much more than just rank tracking.

Serpstat Pricing:

500 keywords: $69 / month
2000 keywords: $149 / month

Keyword data updated daily. Monthly plans. Discounts of up to 20% for longer terms.

Serpstat Screenshots:

What I like: No other tool shows you a better visualization of your ranking evolution (see screenshots). They cleverly use graphs and colors so you can easily capture your current state of SEO affairs (although in some menus the amount of information can be a bit overwhelming). You are also in the know when it comes to which Google features get shown in the SERPs.

What they should improve: Just as a rank tracker Serpstat is very expensive. You should probably go all-in and use them for as many SEO tasks as possible. But especially for keyword research, I find that there are more advanced tools, like Ahrefs.

Who is it for? Website and ecommerce owners who need an all-in-one SEO tool with a wealth of features.

Rating: 3.5/5

Try for free: serpstat.com

10. Mangools SERPWatcher

Best SERP Tracking - Is it Mongools?

I know Mangools from their nifty free KWFinder tool, which we like to recommend as an alternative to Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs (for people with very small budgets).

The Slovakian company offers a whole suite of tools which, of course, also offers rank tracking. SERPWatcher is its name and it’s a pretty bare bones matter. At $49 for 200 keywords, it’s maybe a bit expensive for what it is. It only tracks Google results so far.

Mangools Pricing:

200 keywords: $49 / month
700 keywords: $69 / month
1500 keywords: $129 / month

Keyword data updated daily. Up to 40% discount for yearly plans available

Mangools Screenshots:

 

What I like: The design is one of the nicest and it’s very easy to use due to the limited range of features. Since it integrates with KWFinder, it’s probably a good choice if you are already using any of the other Mongools products. They also offer very high discounts when you sign up for a yearly plan.

What they should improve: Most importantly, it doesn’t show featured snippets or any of the other Google SERP features. There is no free trial, although support was nice enough to add a week of free rank tracking to my account to try it out.

Who is it for? Marketers who want a really clean and simple tool and don’t care much for the latest features.

Rating: 3/5

> Sign up here: serpwatcher.com

11. Ahrefs

Best SERP Tracking - Is it Ahrefs?

What about Ahrefs you may be asking? Whenever two or more SEOs start having a conversation it won’t take long until you hear the word Ahrefs. We love this tool and use it almost every day. They have fantastic keyword research and backlink tracking capabilities, which is perfect for pro-level SEOs and enterprise users.

And yes, they also do rank tracking. But we are actually not using it. You get an amount of 750 keywords for $99, which isn’t too bad considering the quality of the rest of the suite. But they only update these keywords once a week(!)

Ahrefs doesn’t offer daily updates at all, unfortunately. Another problem is that the keywords don’t seem to get updated all at the same time, it’s pretty random. That’s why they are not really a good option for rank tracking in my view.

Rating: disqualified

12. Query Hunter (affordable rank tracker alternative)

query hunter

Query Hunter offers a unique approach to tracking website rankings. By integrating with your Google Search Console, it quickly identifies all rankings for any page on your website.

This tool can serve as either an alternative to traditional rank trackers or complement them, depending on the level of keyword tracking detail you require. At Tooltester, we use Query Hunter alongside AccuRanker. Its major advantage is providing a comprehensive overview of all the keywords for which your page(s) are currently shown on Google, accessible via their Chrome Extension (a WordPress plugin is available too, but I much prefer the browser extension).

query hunter chrome

Query Hunter’s chrome extension

Tracking such a vast array of keywords would be virtually impossible with conventional SERP trackers without incurring costs for a huge number of keywords.

Query Hunter is also an excellent tool for optimization. It helps identify keywords your content ranks for but does not explicitly mention (as shown in the “No Mentions” tab in the screenshot), allowing for optimization across a broader spectrum of keywords. Priced at only $75/year for a single website, it offers excellent value.

> Sign up here: queryhunter.io

Compare the Best Rank Trackers in our Handy Table

Product 500 keywords 2000 keywords Comment and Rating
AccuRanker Not available $249 It’s an excellent rank tracker but quite pricey (4.5/5)
SE Ranking $55 (750 keywords) $109
(up to 2500)
Great rank tracking plus extra tools (4.3/5). Offers pretty good value.
Wincher $39 $119 Cheapest price point and great features (4.2/5). Best value for money.
Nightwatch $59 $198 Affordable yearly plans, features great email reports (4/5)
ProRankTracker $49 $129 Quite powerful but a bit clunky. Let’s you track Amazon rankings as well (3.8/5)
Semrush $129.95 $309.95 Complete SEO suite with excellent rank tracker – pricey if you just need a rank tracker (3.7/5)
Sitechecker $39 (750 keywords) N/A Very affordable with extra features. Rank tracking features could be improved  (3.5/5)
Serpwatch $49
(250 keywords only)
$349
(up to 2500)
Useful email reports, good interface. Large plan is extremely pricey (3.5/5)
Serpstat $59 $119 Very pricey just for SERPS tracking (4/5). Pretty good keyword research options.
SERPWatcher $69 $129
(up to 1200)
A bit too basic for a rank tracker (3/5)
Ahrefs $99 (up to 750) $199
(up to 2000)
Excellent SEO tool but not for rank tracking as it only updates rankings weekly.

Are there any Free Rank Trackers?

Yes, we also found two free rank trackers:

  • Seobility includes up to 10 keywords for free.
  • Ranktracker.app gives you up to 500 keywords for free. It’s based on Google Search Console data, though, which means that there’s always a delay of a few days.

If you don’t try to rank for a lot of different keywords, this might be a viable alternative to paid tools.

Final words

Pretty interesting that SERPS tracking is something mainly smaller European countries offer, huh? I certainly didn’t expect that.

So it’s no secret that AccuRanker is my favorite in the rank tracking arena – a pity their starting prices are so high. While most others offer additional features that may or may not be useful for you, AccuRanker is focused just on SERPs tracking and is just a super polished software.

I also quite like SERanking as it’s got some really nice SEO features that I didn’t even know I needed. For example, you can set the hour when your daily keyword updates are supposed to happen.

From a ‘value for money’ perspective, I would check out Wincher, which combines an affordable price point with a no-nonsense interface (but only works for Google rank tracking).

 

Let me know if you have any questions about the tools in the comments!

FAQ

The cost of rank tracking arises from several technical and operational challenges. Since Google and other search engines don’t like external tools to scrape its search results, it makes large-scale rank tracking challenging and requires the use of multiple servers and other advanced, and often expensive, technical solutions.

I used RankTracker.com in the past and, apart from some bugs I encountered, I found it to be an okay rank tracker.

However, I would exercise caution with this company. They sold hundreds of lifetime subscriptions on AppSumo in 2021. I also purchased such a subscription, which cost us $299 for 1,000 keywords—sounds like a great deal, right?

Well, in late 2023, they decided that they would no longer support these lifetime subscriptions unless you pay an additional $82 per year. After speaking with AppSumo, it appears that RankTracker found a loophole in their contract, enabling them to make this change.

So, the question is: Do you want to do business with a company that handles things in this manner? I wouldn’t.

The authors

Learn more about us

Robert Brandl

Founder and CEO

Hi, my name is Robert Brandl! I used to work in a digital marketing agency where I managed website and email marketing projects. To optimize my client's campaigns, I always had to find the optimal web tools. Tooltester offers this knowledge to you, hopefully saving you endless hours of research.

Cai Ellis

SEO Manager

Hi! My name is Cai. Over the years, I've used countless hosting providers, built innumerable ecommerce stores and picked up a bit of SEO know-how too. If you've got questions about these or any related subjects, I'll be happy to help!

Learn more about us

We keep our content up to date

02 Feb 2024: Query Hunter added
06 Dec 2023: Video review added
04 Dec 2023: ProRankTracker's free plan removed
24 Oct 2023: Semrush added, Morningscore removed
16 Oct 2023: FAQs added
04 Oct 2023: Smaller updates for SE Ranking
21 Aug 2023: Major update
08 Jun 2023: Pricing and other updates
15 Dec 2022: Badge added
03 Nov 2022: Ranktracker.app added
12 Oct 2022: Sitechecker added
20 Jul 2022: Free tools section added and pricing updates
20 Dec 2021: ProRankTracker updated.
19 Oct 2021: Wincher added.
14 Sep 2021: Serpwatch added.
15 Jun 2021: Smaller updates.
25 Aug 2020: Nightwatch added.
25 Feb 2020: AccuRanker removed all plans for less than 1000 keywords.
06 Feb 2020: AccuRanker added Youtube und PRT now supports featured snippet tracking.
06 Aug 2019: Smaller updates.
31 May 2019: Small change for SE Ranking.

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