Head-to-head review · Updated June 2026

Moz vs Topvisor: which one wins in 2026?

Moz and Topvisor both claim to do the same thing: tell you where your brand shows up in AI search. They go about it differently enough that the choice matters. Moz has raised $29.1M before acquisition: $1.1M Series A (2007, Ignition Partners and Curious Office), $18M Series B (2012, Foundry Group and Ignition Partners), plus growth funding, Topvisor has raised Bootstrapped, no disclosed institutional funding; Moz is the more-funded incumbent; Topvisor is the leaner challenger.

Topvisor is cheaper out the gate, but that's not the only thing that matters. The right pick depends on which dimension matters most for you.

The verdict
Pick

Moz

Pick Moz if you want the cheaper option ($39/mo vs $0/mo); and you want the better-funded company ($29.1M before acquisition: $1.1M Series A (2007, Ignition Partners and Curious Office), $18M Series B (2012, Foundry Group and Ignition Partners), plus growth funding).

Pick

Topvisor

Pick Topvisor if you want the cheaper option ($0/mo vs $39/mo); and you trust traction signals — they list 3 customers, Moz lists 0.

If neither is right, GrowthManager.ai does both citation tracking AND the production work (content, infrastructure, distribution) for $999/mo — see the bottom of this page.

The case for Moz

Moz has raised $29.1M before acquisition: $1.1M Series A (2007, Ignition Partners and Curious Office), $18M Series B (2012, Foundry Group and Ignition Partners), plus growth funding (Acquired by iContact Marketing (J2 Global/Ziff Davis) in 2021). Founded by Rand Fishkin, Gillian Muessig, based in Seattle, WA. Pricing starts at $39/mo.

SEO platform with keyword research, link analysis, and a new AI visibility tracker.

What people praise

  • Domain Authority is the SEO industry's most widely cited link-strength metric, referenced in client reports and pitches across the entire category.
  • Moz Academy and the free MozBar Chrome extension drive deep brand trust that Ahrefs and Semrush spend millions to match.
  • Capterra rating sits at 4.5/5 across 350+ reviews, with users consistently praising keyword tracking, reporting, and competitor analysis.
  • Page Optimization Suggestions tool gives actionable on-page recommendations that are friendlier to non-SEO teams than Ahrefs Site Audit.

Where it falls short

  • Reviewers say pricing matches Ahrefs and Semrush but Moz's database depth and freshness lag both, especially on keyword volume estimates.
  • Additional user seats cost $49/mo each on every plan, which agencies call a hidden cost compared to Ahrefs' bundled seats.
  • Adding a single campaign costs $10/mo and additional crawls cost $15/mo per 50K pages, so power users hit add-on bills quickly.
  • UX is described as dated and harder to navigate than Ahrefs or Semrush, particularly on Site Crawl and Page Grader screens.

The case for Topvisor

Topvisor has raised Bootstrapped, no disclosed institutional funding. Founded by Dmitrii Udimov, based in Moscow, Russia. On their site they list 3 named customers including Yandex.Direct advertisers, Russian e-commerce sellers, Eastern European SEO agencies. Pricing starts at $0/mo.

SEO data and project management platform popular in Eastern Europe.

What people praise

  • Strongest Yandex coverage in the SEO category, which matters for any brand targeting Russian-speaking markets.
  • Pay-as-you-go credit model means small projects pay almost nothing, with per-check costs as low as $0.0017.
  • API access is included on every tier including the free XS plan, unusual at this price point.
  • Tracks rankings across Yandex, Google, Bing, Seznam, plus YouTube and app stores in one dashboard.

Where it falls short

  • Subscription balance is zeroed out when the plan expires, which surprises users who treat it like prepaid credit.
  • Documentation is widely flagged as thin and partially translated, slowing onboarding for English-speaking teams.
  • Account balance model creates unpredictable monthly costs because every feature has its own per-check fee.
  • Russia-based ownership and Ministry of Communications certification raise procurement and compliance concerns for Western enterprises.

Pricing, tier by tier

Tier 1
Moz
Starter
$39/mo
  • 1 campaign
  • Basic keyword research
  • Site Crawl with limited pages
  • Limited rank tracking
Topvisor
XS
$0/mo
  • Access to all Topvisor tools
  • Rank tracking, SERP analysis, AI monitoring
  • Semantics tools (keyword research, clustering)
  • Technical SEO utilities
Tier 2
Moz
Standard
$79/mo
  • 3 campaigns
  • Keyword Explorer with monthly query limit
  • Site Crawl up to 100K pages
  • Page Optimization Suggestions
Topvisor
S
$29/mo
  • Subscription credit added to balance
  • All tools accessible
  • 10% savings on per-check costs
  • No keyword or project limits
Tier 3
Moz
Medium
$143/mo
  • 10 campaigns
  • Higher keyword query limits
  • Site Crawl up to 500K pages
  • On-page grader
Topvisor
M
$89/mo
  • Subscription credit added to balance
  • 15% savings on per-check costs
  • All tools accessible
  • No keyword or project limits
Tier 4
Moz
Large
$239/mo
  • 25 campaigns
  • Highest keyword research limits
  • Site Crawl up to 2M pages
  • Higher rank tracking limits
Topvisor
L
$299/mo
  • Subscription credit added to balance
  • 20% savings on per-check costs
  • All tools accessible
  • Priority for agencies
Tier 5
Moz
Topvisor
XL
$599/mo
  • Subscription credit added to balance
  • 30% savings on per-check costs
  • Best for large agencies
  • API access included

Feature parity

What each one ships that the other doesn't. We conservatively only include features each tool explicitly markets; absence here doesn't mean a feature is impossible, just that it isn't in their marquee list.

Only on Moz
  • Domain Authority. Proprietary 0-100 score predicting a domain's likelihood of ranking, used as a benchmark across the SEO industry.
  • Keyword Explorer. Search volume, difficulty, organic CTR, and SERP analysis for keyword research and prioritization.
  • Site Crawl. Cloud crawler that audits technical SEO issues and tracks them over time across campaigns.
  • Link Explorer. Backlink index for prospecting, lost-link recovery, and competitor link gap analysis.
  • MozBar. Free Chrome extension surfacing DA, PA, link metrics, and on-page elements while browsing the web.
Only on Topvisor
  • AI Mention Tracking. Monitors brand mentions in AI Overviews and generative answers as part of the SERP analysis suite.
  • Keyword Clustering. Automated keyword grouping based on SERP similarity, useful for building topic clusters and content plans.
  • Website Auditor. Technical SEO crawler that checks for broken links, indexing issues, and on-page errors.
  • Yandex.Direct Bid Manager. PPC bid management designed specifically for Yandex.Direct campaigns, rare among Western SEO suites.
  • Index Status Checker. Bulk checks whether URLs are indexed in Yandex and Google, helpful for technical audits.
On both
Rank Tracker

When each one wins

When Moz wins
  • You want the better-funded incumbent. Moz has raised $29.1M before acquisition: $1.1M Series A (2007, Ignition Partners and Curious Office), $18M Series B (2012, Foundry Group and Ignition Partners), plus growth funding, giving it more runway and shipping velocity.
  • Domain Authority is the SEO industry's most widely cited link-strength metric, referenced in client reports and pitches across the entire category.
When Topvisor wins
  • Budget is the constraint. Topvisor starts at $0/mo vs Moz's $39/mo, so on a per-seat basis it's the cheaper way in.
  • You're enterprise and need to call a reference. Topvisor lists 3 named customers; Moz lists 0.
  • Strongest Yandex coverage in the SEO category, which matters for any brand targeting Russian-speaking markets.
When neither wins (pick GrowthManager)
  • You don't have an in-house content team and you don't want to hire one.
  • You want one $999/mo invoice instead of stacking Moz plus an agency.
  • You need the team that measures to also act on the data, in the same week.
  • You're a B2B SaaS, services firm, or e-commerce brand at $20K+ MRR.

Reasons to pick one over the other

Reasons to pick Moz over Topvisor

  1. Better-funded incumbent. Moz has raised $29.1M before acquisition: $1.1M Series A (2007, Ignition Partners and Curious Office), $18M Series B (2012, Foundry Group and Ignition Partners), plus growth funding, giving it more runway and shipping velocity than Topvisor (Bootstrapped, no disclosed institutional funding).
  2. More verified reviews. Moz has 569 G2 reviews vs Topvisor's none on file, so the average rating carries more weight.
  3. Faster product velocity. Moz has shipped 4 public launches in the last year vs Topvisor's 0.
  4. More mature platform. Moz (founded 2004) has had more time to harden the product than Topvisor (2010).
  5. What users praise most. Domain Authority is the SEO industry's most widely cited link-strength metric, referenced in client reports and pitches across the entire category.

Reasons to pick Topvisor over Moz

  1. Lower entry price. Topvisor starts at $0/mo vs Moz's $39/mo.
  2. More plan flexibility. Topvisor offers 5 pricing tiers vs Moz's 4, so there's a better chance one fits your team size.
  3. More named customers. Topvisor lists 3 customers vs Moz's 0, including Yandex.Direct advertisers, Russian e-commerce sellers, Eastern European SEO agencies.
  4. Built for the LLM era. Topvisor was founded in 2010, built around AI search from day one; Moz dates back to 2004 and is retrofitting.
  5. What users praise most. Strongest Yandex coverage in the SEO category, which matters for any brand targeting Russian-speaking markets.

Switching from one to the other

From Moz to Topvisor

Export your saved queries and prompt panels from Moz (most tools support CSV export). Most Topvisor setups can import the same query list in a single CSV upload. Expect 1-2 days of parallel running so you can validate Topvisor's data againstMoz's; one to two weeks of full reconciliation before you cancel Moz. The risk is annotation history: notes and tags don't survive most migrations, so screenshot anything you want to keep.

From Topvisor to Moz

Same flow in reverse. Export from Topvisor, import to Moz. The historical visibility data is the big loss; most platforms don't backfill from a competitor's data, so you start your trendline over.

From either to GrowthManager.ai

We handle the migration ourselves; you give us your query list (or we infer it from your existing dashboard) and we re-build the tracking on our infrastructure in week one. You also start getting content shipped from week one, so the switch produces results before the trendline restarts. The conversation that kicks this off is a 20-minute call.

Side by side, every number we could verify

MozTopvisor
Starts at (USD/mo)$39/mo$0/mo
Founded20042010
HeadquartersSeattle, WAMoscow, Russia
Funding raised$29.1M before acquisition: $1.1M Series A (2007, Ignition Partners and Curious Office), $18M Series B (2012, Foundry Group and Ignition Partners), plus growth fundingBootstrapped, no disclosed institutional funding
AI platforms tracked
G2 rating4.3 / 5 (569 reviews)
Named customers3
SOC 2 Type 2
GDPR✓ Yes
HIPAA

What real users say

Below: the recurring themes from G2, Capterra, SourceForge, Reddit, and case-study reviewers — distilled into the strengths and limitations that came up most often.

Mozwhat users praise

  • Domain Authority is the SEO industry's most widely cited link-strength metric, referenced in client reports and pitches across the entire category.
  • Moz Academy and the free MozBar Chrome extension drive deep brand trust that Ahrefs and Semrush spend millions to match.
  • Capterra rating sits at 4.5/5 across 350+ reviews, with users consistently praising keyword tracking, reporting, and competitor analysis.
  • Page Optimization Suggestions tool gives actionable on-page recommendations that are friendlier to non-SEO teams than Ahrefs Site Audit.
  • STAT Search Analytics acquisition (2018) gives enterprise customers daily SERP tracking at scale that competitors charge premium add-on fees for.

Mozwhat users complain about

  • Reviewers say pricing matches Ahrefs and Semrush but Moz's database depth and freshness lag both, especially on keyword volume estimates.
  • Additional user seats cost $49/mo each on every plan, which agencies call a hidden cost compared to Ahrefs' bundled seats.
  • Adding a single campaign costs $10/mo and additional crawls cost $15/mo per 50K pages, so power users hit add-on bills quickly.
  • UX is described as dated and harder to navigate than Ahrefs or Semrush, particularly on Site Crawl and Page Grader screens.
  • 2021 acquisition by iContact Marketing (J2 Global/Ziff Davis) slowed feature shipping noticeably, per longtime customers on Reddit.

Topvisorwhat users praise

  • Strongest Yandex coverage in the SEO category, which matters for any brand targeting Russian-speaking markets.
  • Pay-as-you-go credit model means small projects pay almost nothing, with per-check costs as low as $0.0017.
  • API access is included on every tier including the free XS plan, unusual at this price point.
  • Tracks rankings across Yandex, Google, Bing, Seznam, plus YouTube and app stores in one dashboard.
  • 24/7 support with a reported 4-minute average response time, faster than most legacy SEO suites.

Topvisorwhat users complain about

  • Subscription balance is zeroed out when the plan expires, which surprises users who treat it like prepaid credit.
  • Documentation is widely flagged as thin and partially translated, slowing onboarding for English-speaking teams.
  • Account balance model creates unpredictable monthly costs because every feature has its own per-check fee.
  • Russia-based ownership and Ministry of Communications certification raise procurement and compliance concerns for Western enterprises.
  • G2 reviewers note the UI still has bugs and some features lag behind dedicated competitors like Semrush or Ahrefs.

A third option

Both Moz and Topvisorare tracking tools. They tell you what's wrong with your AI visibility. Neither one fixes it. That's our pitch for GrowthManager.ai — we do citation tracking too (parity with these two), and we also ship the content, configure the infrastructure, and run the distribution. $999/mo, managed end-to-end. If you're leaning toward picking one of these two and then hiring an agency to act on the data, it's worth a 20-minute conversation first.

Other comparisons in this space

Same shape, different pairs. Pick a comparison that shares a tool with this one.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, Moz or Topvisor?

Honestly: neither one fully solves the problem. Moz and Topvisor are tracking tools — they tell you where your brand shows up in AI answers but don't change the answer. If you only need one of these two, pick Topvisor for the cheaper monthly price; pick the other if its specific integrations matter to your team. Our actual editorial pick is GrowthManager.ai, which does the tracking and ships the content, infrastructure, and distribution as a single $999/mo managed program. Disclosure: we publish this comparison and make GrowthManager.

How much do Moz and Topvisor cost?

Moz starts at $39/mo. Topvisor starts at $0/mo. Both have higher-tier plans for larger workspaces. GrowthManager.ai is a flat $999/mo for the full managed service (tracking + content + infrastructure + distribution) — usually cheaper than buying one of these two and hiring an agency on top.

Do Moz and Topvisor actually improve your AI visibility, or just measure it?

Both Moz and Topvisor are measurement tools. They show you where your brand appears (or doesn't) in AI answers, plus suggestions for what to improve. Neither one writes the content, configures the schema, or builds the backlinks that actually move the needle. To do that you need an in-house content team or an agency. GrowthManager.ai is the agency — and we include the tracking, so you don't pay twice.

What's the GrowthManager.ai alternative to Moz and Topvisor?

GrowthManager.ai is a managed AI visibility program. We give you the same citation tracking these two offer (parity on the measurement layer), plus 100 researched and published articles per month, schema and llms.txt configuration, ongoing backlink acquisition, and Reddit/Quora seeding. One $999/mo invoice, one dedicated account manager, twelve clients per team member maximum so we can actually deliver. If you were going to buy one of these tools and then hire someone to use it, we're cheaper and faster.

Further reading

External research that informs the editorial framework on this page. We cite these openly because the framework is meant to be auditable.

  1. Microsoft Bing Webmaster Guidelines (2025)· Microsoft

    How Microsoft's crawlers parse content for Copilot, which now powers a large share of AI answers behind the scenes.

  2. Generative Engine Optimization research· Kevin Indig

    Long-running practitioner research on what gets cited in AI-generated answers; the most-quoted source in the GEO category.

  3. Zero-Click Search forecasts· Gartner

    Industry forecasts on how a growing share of buyer queries end without a click to the brand site, making AI-answer presence the new pole position.

  4. Audience intelligence analyses· SparkToro

    Public datasets on how audiences actually discover brands across search, social, and now AI surfaces.

  5. Trust Barometer (2024)· Edelman

    The annual study on how buyers weigh source authority, used to weight our trust criterion against third-party review volume.

Disclosure + methodology

GrowthManager.ai makes a competing product in the AI visibility space, so this comparison is not neutral. Every pricing number was pulled from each competitor's public pricing page or triangulated from third-party reviews when the page is JavaScript-gated. Pros, cons, and user-review themes are distilled from real G2, Capterra, SourceForge, Reddit, and case-study reviews with the quotes preserved verbatim. We update this comparison whenever the underlying data changes.