BuzzSumo vs Semrush
Updated onCompare BuzzSumo and Semrush side-by-side. See how they stack up on features, pricing, and target market.
BuzzSumo
Content- and influencer-research platform that also provides a media/journalist database and PR insights for comms teams.
Starts at $199 / month
Has a free trial
vs
Semrush
Full-featured digital marketing platform offering keyword research, competitive analysis, site audits, and an SEO Chrome extension.
Starts at $129.95 / month
Has a free trial
Which should you choose?
BuzzSumo
you are a content or PR team that primarily needs trend discovery, content performance analysis, influencer/journalist discovery, and media monitoring rather than deep technical SEO tooling.
Semrush
you need an all-in-one SEO and digital marketing suite—covering keyword research, technical audits, backlink analysis, AI search visibility, advertising, and reporting—for multiple sites or clients.
Typical cost comparison
Scenario: 1 marketing user on entry-level plans, billed monthly
BuzzSumo
$199 per month
Semrush
$139.95 per month
Semrush saves you $59.05 per month in this scenario.
Key differences
| Category | BuzzSumo | Semrush | Why? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breadth of Marketing Features | Beyond SEO, Semrush adds dedicated toolkits for content production, advertising, local SEO, social media, traffic and market intelligence, and AI visibility, whereas BuzzSumo stays focused on content and media intelligence. | ||
| Content & PR Intelligence | BuzzSumo offers deeper tools for content discovery, social engagement analysis, media monitoring, and a large journalist database, making it stronger for PR- and content-led workflows. | ||
| Ease of Use & Learning Curve | Because it concentrates on a narrower set of use cases, BuzzSumo is generally easier for content and PR teams to adopt quickly than Semrush’s broader, more complex platform. | ||
| Pricing | For a single user on entry-level plans, Semrush’s SEO Toolkit Pro starts around $139.95/month versus BuzzSumo’s Content Creation plan at $199/month, though effective cost depends on which Semrush bundle or toolkit you choose. | ||
| SEO & Technical Optimization | Semrush includes comprehensive SEO capabilities like keyword research, site audits, backlink analysis, and rank tracking across traditional and AI search, which BuzzSumo largely lacks. |
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