Ahrefs vs Semrush

Ahrefs (BTW we use OCaml) and Semrush (We do love open source and have an opportunity to make it better from now.) both appear on the Smoower Developer Ecosystem Index.

Semrush (rank #317) holds a narrow lead over Ahrefs (rank #401) on the overall Smoower ecosystem score (44 vs 41). The gap of 3 points reflects composite signals across code, docs, community and reach.

On code quality (the state of repositories, tests, releases and polish), Semrush is slightly ahead of Ahrefs. On education (docs, guides and learning material for developers), Semrush is slightly ahead of Ahrefs. On community (issue response, PR reviews and discussion health), Ahrefs is slightly ahead of Semrush. On reach (how visible the ecosystem is beyond its own repos), Semrush is ahead of Ahrefs. On momentum (release cadence and how fast the ecosystem moves), Ahrefs is clearly ahead of Semrush.

Ahrefs carries 1,303 GitHub stars across 171 public repos, with 28 repositories active in the last 90 days and 7 external contributors on record. Semrush shows 454 stars across 11 public repos, 2 active in the last 90 days and 7 external contributors.

Ahrefs is the stronger read for anyone weighting momentum. Semrush looks better where reach is the deciding factor. The table below breaks the scores down pillar by pillar; the linked profiles cover the underlying repos, docs and community signals in full.