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Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) no longer exists under that name – Ahrefs has renamed it Ahrefs Free. It’s still the same free account for verified site owners: once you’ve confirmed the site is yours (quickest via Google Search Console), you get Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics for your own domains free of charge, with no limit on the number of sites. What you can’t do with it is analyse competitors’ sites – for that you need a paid plan.
If you were searching for ‘Ahrefs Webmaster Tools’, you’re in the right place – ahrefs.com/webmaster-tools still works, it just greets you with ‘Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is now Ahrefs Free’. Below I show you exactly what you get with the free account, what the limits are, how to sign in, how to add and verify your site step by step, and when Ahrefs Free makes sense alongside Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
What are Ahrefs and Ahrefs Webmaster Tools?
Ahrefs is a paid SEO analysis tool (with a free plan) that uses its own crawler and its own database of links and keywords. Put simply: it shows you who links to a site, which queries it’s visible for in Google and what technical errors it has. In my day-to-day work I use it mainly for:
- Backlink analysis – where links to a site come from, what type they are and which of them have disappeared.
- Keyword research – which queries a site shows up for and which pages bring in organic traffic.
- Technical audits – 404 errors, redirects, problems with indexing, internal linking or meta tags.
- Competitor analysis – looking at other domains’ link profiles and visibility (paid plans only).
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is the free part of this ecosystem. ‘Ahrefs Webmaster Tools’ is the original name; today the same plan is called Ahrefs Free. Ahrefs explains the change by saying it has moved beyond ‘webmaster tools’, to better fit how teams work today and to give broader free access to its tools. According to Ahrefs, the tools and data are the same as in the paid version – the differences are the limits and the fact that they only work for your verified sites.
In practice: if you see ‘AWT’ in older guides, on forums or in this post, it means Ahrefs Free. The name of the plan has changed, not the way it works.
What do you get for free in Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (Ahrefs Free)?
According to Ahrefs’ official website (as of October 2026), the free account includes:
- Site Explorer (requires verification) – the keywords your site ranks for, the pages with the most organic traffic, and backlinks.
- Site Audit (requires verification) – crawling your site and monitoring more than 170 common technical and on-page issues, with a Health Score.
- Web Analytics (requires verification) – simple, privacy-focused traffic analytics.
- Social Media Manager, AI Content Helper and the Ahrefs SEO Toolbar – extras that Ahrefs added to the free plan when it was renamed (AI Content Helper has a limit, see below).
Free account limits
- Number of sites: unlimited – you can add as many verified sites as you like.
- Site Audit: 5,000 crawl credits a month per verified project. Only an HTML page with a 200 code uses up a credit – redirects, errors and non-HTML resources aren’t counted.
- Site Explorer: up to 1,000 backlinks and 1,000 keywords visible at a time (with sorting and filtering).
- Web Analytics: up to 1 million events a month per project.
- AI Content Helper: 1 free document a month.
In practice, 5,000 credits is enough for a full audit of most company websites and blogs. For a bigger online shop it’s worth narrowing the crawl down to the most important sections and getting a full technical review done separately – that’s how my SEO audit works, for example, where Ahrefs data is just one of the sources. If you’d like to check your site yourself first, have a look at my list of SEO quick wins – you can tick off most of the points with the help of Site Audit.
What you don’t get in the free version
- Analysis of sites you haven’t verified – in other words, Site Explorer for competitors.
- Keywords Explorer, Rank Tracker, Content Explorer and the other premium tools.
- Higher data limits – paying subscribers see more rows and get extra credits.
Site verification methods in Ahrefs
Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics only work once you’ve confirmed that the site belongs to you. Ahrefs offers four methods:
- Google Search Console (recommended) – you connect your Google account and give Ahrefs access to your GSC data. It’s the fastest way to verify many sites at once: every site verified in GSC is automatically verified in Ahrefs. The project must be added in the same version as in GSC (with www or without www in both places).
- DNS record – you add a TXT record in your domain’s DNS settings. Verification can take up to 48 hours because of DNS propagation.
- HTML file – you download a verification file and upload it to the root directory of your domain.
- HTML meta tag – you paste the meta tag provided into the <head> section of your homepage.
Important: the DNS record, file and meta tag must stay on the site permanently, because Ahrefs checks ownership regularly (including before every crawl). If verification fails, check that your site isn’t blocking the AhrefsBot crawler (e.g. in robots.txt or in a firewall) and try another method.
How do you verify your site in Google Search Console?
Since the most convenient method in Ahrefs is importing from GSC, first make sure your site is verified there. In Google Search Console you add a new property (Domain or URL prefix), choose a verification method – most often a TXT record in DNS or an HTML file on the server – and click ‘Verify’. DNS changes may need a while before Google sees them.
You’ll find the details of verifying a site in Google Search Console and managing access to it in my in-depth article on the subject.
➡️ How to add a site to Google Search Console
How to add a site to Ahrefs Webmaster Tools step by step
Below I describe the process with the Google Search Console import. The screenshots date from when the plan was still called Ahrefs Webmaster Tools – button names and the panel layout may differ slightly, but the order of the steps is the same. You start on ahrefs.com/webmaster-tools (now the Ahrefs Free page).
Step 1. Create an account or sign in
On the Ahrefs Free page, click ‘Sign up’ to create a free account, or ‘Sign in’ if you already have one.
Step 2. Create a new project
Once you’ve signed in, you’ll see the dashboard – with a new account it’ll be empty. To add a site, click the button for creating a new project (‘Create’ in the screenshot) at the top of the view.
Step 3. Choose verification via Google Search Console
A window for adding a project appears with two options: on the left, import from Google Search Console (automatic verification, many projects at once); on the right, adding a single site manually. Choose ‘Import’ in the Google Search Console section. If you’d rather add a single site manually and verify it via DNS, an HTML file or a meta tag, choose ‘Add manually’ – I described those methods above. After clicking Import you’ll be asked to choose the Google account from which Ahrefs should fetch the list of sites. You can repeat the process for several different Google accounts.
Once you’ve chosen the account, confirm that Ahrefs may access your Google Search Console data.
Ahrefs will automatically treat the sites verified in Google Search Console on that account as verified.
Step 4. Choose the sites to import
Tick the sites you want to add to Ahrefs in the list. During the import you can also switch on a scheduled Site Audit crawl, which gives you a regular list of issues to fix. Remember the limit of 5,000 credits a month per project – for large sites, set a sensible crawl frequency and scope.
Step 5. Use the data in your project
Once the site has been added, you can manage the project settings, browse keywords and organic traffic in Site Explorer, and analyse backlinks and technical audit results.
Clicking the project name takes you to a detailed view where you can look at keywords, links, visibility and Site Audit results – within the limits of the free account.
Done – your sites are verified in Ahrefs and you can use the data for free for as long as the GSC verification (or another method) stays active.
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools vs Google Search Console vs Bing Webmaster Tools
Ahrefs Free (AWT) doesn’t replace Google Search Console – it’s more of a complement. GSC shows real clicks and impressions from Google plus indexing status, while Ahrefs shows data from its own database and crawler. In a nutshell:
| Category | Ahrefs Free (formerly AWT) | Google Search Console | Bing Webmaster Tools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data source | Ahrefs’ own crawler and database | Google data | Bing data |
| Clicks and impressions | Estimated organic traffic | Real data from Google results | Real data from Bing results |
| Technical audit | Site Audit: over 170 SEO issues with advice on fixing them | Indexing reports, Core Web Vitals, selected issues | Site scan and SEO reports |
| Backlinks | Up to 1,000 visible at a time, with Ahrefs metrics | Links report without quality metrics | Inbound links, including to competitors’ sites |
| Keywords | Up to 1,000 visible at a time, with volume and difficulty | Queries with real clicks and positions | Queries from Bing results |
| Competitor analysis | Paid plan only | None | Link profile comparison |
| Requires verification | Yes | Yes | Yes |
If you want a free look at your competitors’ links, check out my guide to analysing competitors’ backlink profiles in Bing Webmaster Tools – it’s something the free Ahrefs account doesn’t offer.
Do I need paid Ahrefs?
As an SEO specialist, I consider Ahrefs one of the most important tools in my daily work – mainly for backlink analysis, keyword research and competitor monitoring. But if you run one or a few sites of your own and just want to know who links to you, which queries you show up for and what technical errors your site has, the free account is more than enough to get started.
A paid plan makes sense when you need to analyse competitors’ sites, do full keyword research, track rankings or get higher data limits. According to Ahrefs’ pricing (as of October 2026), the cheapest plan, Starter, costs USD 29 a month, and the full plans start with Lite at USD 129 a month (Standard – USD 249, Advanced – USD 449, Enterprise – USD 1,499, annual commitment only). If you pay annually, Ahrefs promises savings of up to 17%. Before you buy, check the current Ahrefs pricing, because prices and plan features change regularly.
Ahrefs won’t do the work on your site for you, but it makes it much easier to decide what to tackle first.
FAQ – Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (Ahrefs Free)
Is Ahrefs free?
Partly. Ahrefs Free (formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools) is a free plan, not a trial – Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics work in it for your verified sites, within the limits described above. Full Ahrefs, including competitor analysis and Keywords Explorer, is paid – starting with the Starter plan at USD 29 a month.
How do I log in to Ahrefs Webmaster Tools?
The same way as to any Ahrefs account: on ahrefs.com, click ‘Sign in’ in the top right-hand corner and enter your account details. The panel itself lives at app.ahrefs.com. There’s no separate ‘AWT login’ – since the rename, it’s simply your Ahrefs account on the free plan. If you don’t see your site’s data after signing in, check that your verification (e.g. the GSC connection) is still active.
What’s the difference between Ahrefs Free and Ahrefs Webmaster Tools?
None – it’s the same account. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is the original name, and Ahrefs Free is the new name for the same free plan, extended with tools for content, social media and analytics.
How many sites can I add to AWT?
An unlimited number, provided each one is verified. The limits apply per project, e.g. 5,000 crawl credits a month in Site Audit.
Will I see all my backlinks and keywords in AWT?
You’ll see up to 1,000 backlinks and up to 1,000 keywords at a time, with sorting and filtering. For bigger sites, filters let you pull out the most important data quickly, and the paid plans have higher limits.
Can I check a competitor’s site in AWT?
No. In the free account, Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics only work for sites whose ownership you’ve confirmed. Analysing any domain is available in the paid plans.
Do I need Google Search Console to use AWT?
No, but it’s the most convenient method. Alternatively, you can verify your site with a TXT record in DNS, an HTML file in the root directory or a meta tag in the <head> section of your homepage.
Do paying Ahrefs customers get AWT too?
Yes. The free account features are included in all paid plans, and for verified sites subscribers get extra credits in Site Audit and Site Explorer.
Can I upgrade to a paid plan later?
Yes, at any time from your account settings. The free account stays active whether or not you buy a subscription.
Got data from Ahrefs and Search Console but not sure where to start fixing things? Book an SEO consultation – we’ll go through your reports together and put together a to-do list, most important tasks first. No waffle and no promises of miracles.
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