Outbrain
Semrush
| Feature | Outbrain | Semrush |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Contact sales | From $139.95/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Rating | 3.9 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
| Best For | content-marketers, enterprise-brands, publishers, agencies | digital-marketers, agencies, seo-professionals, content-teams |
| Founded | 2006 | 2008 |
| Native Ads | ✓ | ✗ |
| Smartfeed | ✓ | ✗ |
| Audience Targeting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Conversion Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| A B Testing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Brand Safety | ✓ | ✗ |
| Keyword Research | ✗ | ✓ |
| Site Audit | ✗ | ✓ |
| Position Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Backlink Audit | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ppc Analysis | ✗ | ✓ |
| Content Optimization | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Outbrain Pros
- Premium publisher network
- Good content amplification
- Strong audience targeting
- Better brand safety than competitors
✗ Outbrain Cons
- Higher minimum spend
- Lower volume than Taboola
- Requires quality content to perform
✓ Semrush Pros
- Comprehensive toolkit
- Great competitive analysis
- PPC research
- Content marketing tools
✗ Semrush Cons
- Expensive
- Can be overwhelming
- Data limits on lower plans
The Verdict
Outbrain is built for content marketers and enterprise brands, with a focus on native-ads and smartfeed. Semrush targets digital marketers and agencies and leads with keyword-research and site-audit.
Outbrain uses custom enterprise pricing, while Semrush starts at $139.95/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Neither tool offers a free plan, so factor the subscription cost into your decision from the start.
Semrush edges out on user ratings (4.6 vs 3.9). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Both tools are a solid fit for agencies — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
Bottom line: Semrush has a slight overall edge — but if premium publisher network matters most to you, Outbrain may still be the right call.