Long Tail Pro is no longer available, so "Long Tail Pro vs Ahrefs" now has a one-line answer: use Ahrefs (or a cheaper keyword tool) to do what Long Tail Pro did. When we checked on October 19, 2026, longtailpro.com showed a website for an unrelated insurance investigations firm, its pricing and blog pages returned 404 errors, and the app subdomain did not respond. There is no sign-up, no login and no way to export old data.
Ahrefs replaces Long Tail Pro's core job, turning a seed keyword into a filtered list of easy long-tail phrases, with four filters in Keywords Explorer. Its Starter plan costs $29 a month; Lite, with backlinks, audits and rank tracking, costs $129. If that's more than you need, KWFinder ($29.90 a month billed annually) is the closest thing to Long Tail Pro's simplicity.
Key takeaways
- Long Tail Pro is offline: in October 2026 its domain shows an unrelated business and its app does not load.
- In Ahrefs, long-tail research means Matching terms + Words filter (4+) + KD 0–20 + sorting by Traffic Potential.
- Ahrefs Starter ($29/month) covers keyword research; Lite ($129) adds Site Explorer, Site Audit and Rank Tracker. There's no free trial and no discounts.
- 96.7% of the 189,369 keywords Outrank targeted in the last 90 days had under 1,000 monthly searches; the median was 170.
- Cheaper Long Tail Pro replacements: KWFinder ($29.90/month billed annually), KeySearch ($24) and Google Keyword Planner (free).
What happened to Long Tail Pro?
Long Tail Pro was a keyword research tool built around one idea: find long, specific phrases with low competition, scored by its own Keyword Competitiveness (KC) metric. It was a favourite of niche site builders and bloggers.
Here is what we could verify on October 19, 2026:
- longtailpro.com loads a site for an insurance adjusting and investigations firm, unrelated to SEO.
- longtailpro.com/pricing and /blog return 404 errors.
- app.longtailpro.com, where the tool used to run, does not respond.
We could not find an official shutdown announcement, so be careful with any exact closure date or backstory you read elsewhere, including in earlier versions of this article. What matters for you is practical: the tool and any data saved in it are gone. If you have old CSV exports on your computer, those are the only copies.
Long Tail Pro vs Ahrefs: how they compared
When both existed, they weren't really competitors. Long Tail Pro was a single-purpose keyword tool; Ahrefs is a full SEO suite where keyword research is one of five main modules.
| Long Tail Pro (offline) | Ahrefs (2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Keyword research, focused on long-tail phrases | Keywords, backlinks, rank tracking, site audits, competitor analysis, AI visibility |
| Difficulty metric | Keyword Competitiveness (KC) | Keyword Difficulty (KD), from referring domains to the top 10 pages |
| Long-tail focus | The whole product | Filters in Keywords Explorer (word count, KD, volume, questions) |
| Backlink data | None to speak of | Site Explorer, one of the largest link indexes |
| Status | Not available | Active; Starter $29, Lite $129 a month |
If you used Long Tail Pro, the Ahrefs workflow below will feel familiar. It just has more data behind each number.
How to find long-tail keywords in Ahrefs
- 1
Start with broad seeds in Keywords Explorer
Enter one to ten broad seeds for your niche (for example "workout routine") and open Matching terms. This lists every keyword containing your seed. - 2
Keep the long phrases
Set the Words filter to a minimum of 4. Switch to the Questions tab to see only how, why and what queries, which are almost always long-tail. - 3
Keep the winnable ones
Set KD to 0–20 and Volume to at least 50 (lower in small niches). Ahrefs' own rule of thumb is that KD 0–5 means the top pages barely have any backlinks. - 4
Sort by Traffic Potential, not volume
Traffic Potential is the traffic the current - 5
Group by Parent Topic before you write
If several long-tail keywords share a Parent Topic, they belong on one page. Writing five near-identical posts invites keyword cannibalization. - 6
Check the SERP
Open the SERP overview for your shortlist. Forums, thin pages and low-DR sites in the top 10 are good signs; ten big brands with dedicated pages are not.
Two extra methods that Long Tail Pro couldn't do:
- Competitor long tail: in Site Explorer, enter a competitor of similar size, open Organic keywords, and filter to positions 1–20, KD under 20 and 4+ words. These are long-tail keywords proven to be winnable by a site like yours.
- Content gap: Ahrefs' Competitive Analysis compares your site with three to five competitors and lists keywords they rank for and you don't. Apply the same long-tail filters.
For the theory behind this, see our long-tail keyword research guide and the short-tail vs long-tail keywords explainer.
Why long-tail keywords still matter
Long-tail keywords are search phrases with low individual volume, usually three or more words, that are easier to rank for and closer to a specific need. Most successful content programmes are built on them, and our own data shows why. Across the 189,369 articles Outrank wrote with a known target volume in the last 90 days, the median keyword had 170 monthly searches:
Monthly search volume of keywords targeted by Outrank articles
0–49
22.3%
50–99
14.5%
100–249
19.3%
250–499
27.1%
500–999
13.5%
1,000–4,999
1.7%
5,000+
1.6%
Those keywords are cheap to win but tedious to find and write for, one at a time. That's the gap tools like Long Tail Pro filled, and it's what Outrank automates today: it picks long-tail keywords your site can rank for (the median KD it targeted in the same period was 14), writes the article and publishes it to your CMS.
Is Ahrefs worth the money in 2026?
Ahrefs' pricing as of October 2026:
| Plan | Monthly | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $29 | Keyword research and competitor lookups |
| Lite | $129 | One business: 5 projects, 750 tracked keywords, Site Explorer, Site Audit |
| Standard | $249 | Freelancers: keyword clustering, Content Explorer, 2 years of history |
| Advanced | $449 | Teams: 5,000 tracked keywords, 5 years of history |
| Enterprise | $1,499 | Annual commitment, API, unlimited history |
Ahrefs is worth it if you'll use more than keyword research: backlink analysis, audits and competitor research are where it beats every budget tool. It's hard to justify for a single blog that only needs long-tail ideas; Starter or KWFinder covers that.
Three policy details people search for:
- Discounts and trials: Ahrefs says it "never runs discounts" and offers no free trial. The free option is Ahrefs Free, with limited Site Explorer and Site Audit data for sites you own.
- Refunds: Ahrefs "does not issue refunds in general". On monthly plans you can request one if you haven't used the service, but it may decline if there's material activity on your account.
- Cancelling: you can cancel or downgrade anytime in Account Settings; changes take effect at the end of the billing period, after which you drop to Ahrefs Free. Support is reachable at support@ahrefs.com.
Cheaper Long Tail Pro alternatives
If Ahrefs is more than you need, these cover Long Tail Pro's job. Prices checked October 19, 2026.
Long Tail Pro replacements compared
| Google Keyword Planner | $0/mo | $0/mo | Free with a Google Ads account; volume ranges unless you run ads |
| KeySearch Starter | $24/mo | $20/mo | 200 searches a day, 80 tracked keywords |
| Ahrefs Starter | $29/mo | — | Ahrefs keyword data without the full suite |
| Mangools KWFinder Basic | $49/mo | $29.90/mo | Closest to LTP's simplicity; free tier with 5 lookups a day |
| Moz Pro Standard | $99/mo | $79/mo | Keyword research plus Domain Authority and links |
| Ahrefs Lite | $129/mo | $107.50/mo | Full suite: keywords, backlinks, audit, rank tracking |
| Semrush SEO | $139.95/mo | $117.33/mo | Keyword Magic Tool plus ads and market data |
Click a column header to sort.
KWFinder: the closest spiritual successor
KWFinder's whole pitch is "find long-tail keywords with low SEO difficulty", which is what Long Tail Pro sold too. It draws on about 2.5 billion related keywords, supports some 65,000 locations, and scores difficulty from Moz and Majestic authority metrics of the page-one results. Our Ahrefs vs KWFinder comparison covers the tradeoffs.
Google Keyword Planner: free, but vague
Keyword Planner is free and comes straight from Google, but it's built for advertisers: without active ad spend, volumes appear as broad ranges, and there's no SEO difficulty score. Use it for ideas, then check difficulty elsewhere. Our guide to checking keyword search volume for free shows how to combine it with Search Console.
Semrush: Keyword Magic Tool
Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool does the same long-tail filtering (word count, KD%, intent, questions). Its SEO plan costs $139.95 a month. We compared it directly with Long Tail Pro in Long Tail Pro vs Semrush.
Moz Pro: keyword research with authority metrics
Moz Pro Standard ($99, or $79 billed yearly in the first year) includes Keyword Explorer, but only 150 keyword queries a month on that plan, which is tight for long-tail research. It's a better fit if you also want Domain Authority and link data.
FAQ
Is Long Tail Pro still available?
No. As of October 19, 2026, longtailpro.com shows an unrelated insurance investigations business, its pricing and blog pages return 404 errors, and the app at app.longtailpro.com doesn't respond. There is no way to sign up, log in or recover saved data.
What is the best alternative to Long Tail Pro?
For most former users, KWFinder is the closest match: a focused, easy keyword tool for finding low-difficulty long-tail keywords, from $29.90 a month billed annually. If you also need backlinks, audits and competitor research, Ahrefs (Starter $29, Lite $129) is the stronger choice.
How do I find long-tail keywords in Ahrefs?
In Keywords Explorer, enter a broad seed, open Matching terms, set the Words filter to 4 or more and KD to 0–20, then sort by Traffic Potential. Use the Questions tab for question-style queries and group keywords that share a Parent Topic onto one page.
Is Ahrefs worth the money?
Ahrefs is worth it if you use its backlink analysis, site audits and competitor research, not just keyword research. Lite costs $129 a month with no free trial. If you only need long-tail keyword ideas, Ahrefs Starter ($29), KWFinder or KeySearch cost far less.
Does Ahrefs give refunds?
Generally no. Ahrefs' pricing page says it "does not issue refunds in general"; on monthly plans you can request one if you haven't used the service, but it may decline if your account shows material activity. You can cancel anytime, and the plan runs until the end of the paid period.
Does Ahrefs have discounts or promotions?
No. Ahrefs states that it never runs discounts, so you won't find a legitimate Ahrefs coupon or promotion. The only savings are annual billing (up to 17% off) and the free Ahrefs Free plan for your own websites.
