Ahrefs limits explained: credits, export rows and how to raise them

This post is about the Ahrefs limit: who sets it, why it changed, what uses a credit, how to check what you have left and how to get more. It brings together what our two help articles on Ahrefs say, in one place.

Who sets the limit

The limits are set by Ahrefs, not by us. When Ahrefs changes its plans, the change applies at once to every user, new and old. Our part is to give you access and to share out the limits of the main pack.

That matters because Ahrefs did change its plans. On 18 March 2022 it changed its plans and pricing, and the way it counts usage changed with them.

From separate limits to reports

On the older plans, Ahrefs gave a separate limit for each feature. The Agency plan, for example, gave 1,000 Keywords Explorer, 1,000 Site Explorer and 1,000 Content Explorer searches a day, which is 90,000 searches a month. Now it gives 500 reports a month.

One report is used each time you search in Keywords Explorer, Site Explorer, Content Explorer, Batch Analysis or Domain Comparison. How you spend the reports is up to you: 500 keyword searches, 500 site analyses, or any mix of Content Explorer searches and batch analyses.

Ahrefs went from more than 70,000 reports a month to 500. No reseller can keep the old limits after a change of that size, which is why access bought under the old limits did not keep them.

What uses a credit

A search uses 1 credit, whether it is a site, a keyword, a topic or a batch analysis. The clicks after the search count too:

• Keywords Explorer and Site Explorer: after you search a keyword, opening Related terms, Matching terms or another section on the left uses 1 more credit. Viewing the SERP or position of a suggested keyword uses 1 credit, and so does updating the SERP.
• Site Explorer: after you search a site, each feature you open from the left panel (Organic keywords, Backlinks, Top pages, Broken links, Broken content and the rest) uses 1 credit.
• Filters: each filter you apply to the results uses 1 credit.
• Charts: checking a SERP or position (any chart that opens with a result in a box) uses 1 credit.
• Modes: changing any mode uses 1 credit.

So one keyword search where you then open three sections and apply two filters uses six credits, not one. If you plan your searches before you start (which keyword, which section, which filter), the same limit goes further.

Ahrefs explains its counting in detail, in English, in What actions consume credits.

The limit that comes with your access

Your Ahrefs access comes with its own dedicated limit. The base pack comes with 25 credits a day and 25,000 export rows a month.

When you reach the daily limit, wait until it resets the next day and try again. An API error, or a similar error, can mean that you have used up your daily limit, so check your usage before you report a fault.

How to check your usage

1. Open Ahrefs from your dashboard first.
2. Then go to the usage page. It shows the credits used today and the export rows used this month.

How to raise it

You can add daily credits in blocks of 25 credits a day, each for an additional monthly fee. For example, 50 credits a day is the 25 base credits plus one extra block.

To add credits, contact support and say how many extra credits a day you need. Support then sends you an invoice for the extra package.

Where Ahrefs comes from

Ahrefs comes in the Ahrefs Combo, which also includes Semrush. Semrush comes bundled free with the Ahrefs Combo pack, so it cannot be removed to lower the cost. Ahrefs is also included in the Mega Combo Pack, and it can be picked in a customisable pack for an addon fee (see the addon fee explained). The prices are on each tool page. To see how the two tools in the Ahrefs Combo differ, read Semrush vs Ahrefs.

The full articles are in the help center: Ahrefs limits explained and Ahrefs limit: how to check it and how to raise it.