How to Cancel Semrush (2026)

Semrush Pro costs $139.95 USD/month. That's roughly $215 AUD. If you're not using it daily, that's an expensive background charge. Even the annual plan works out to $117.33 USD/month ($180 AUD). For a tool many people use once a week at most, that's hard to justify.

How to cancel

There's no obvious "Cancel" button in your account settings. Semrush routes cancellation through a form-based flow that requires email verification.

1. Log in to your Semrush account
2. Go to Subscription Info (top-right avatar > Subscription Info)
3. Find the Recurring: Active line and click the link next to it
4. Click Contact us (this opens the cancellation form)
5. Decline the "free product training" offer
6. Fill in the four-question cancellation survey
7. Enter your account email address
8. Check your inbox for the confirmation email from Semrush
9. Click the Cancel Subscription button in the email

That last step is easy to miss. If you close the tab and forget the email, your subscription stays active. Semrush treats this as "you didn't complete the cancellation".

Alternative: Email mail@semrush.com from your registered email address with your billing details and a request to cancel. This is slower but creates a paper trail.

Annual plan complications

If you're on an annual plan, cancelling mid-term does not get you a prorated refund. Semrush's policy is clear on this: you've committed to the full term, and cancellation just stops the next renewal.

There is a one-time 7-day money-back guarantee, but only for your initial annual purchase. If you bought your annual plan more than 7 days ago, no refund. Monthly plans have no refund option at all.

To request a refund within the 7-day window, you must explicitly state it in the "additional comments" field during cancellation. Refunds are processed within 30 days back to your original payment method.

Current pricing

Semrush bills in USD:

Annual billing saves about 17%, but locks you in for the full year with no refund after 7 days.

Retention offers during cancellation

Expect Semrush to counter with discount offers during the cancellation flow. Users report seeing:

• 40-50% off your current plan for a few months
• A free month extension
• Plan downgrade suggestions
• A "pause" option (keeps your data but only pauses billing for 7 days, then auto-resumes)

The pause option sounds appealing but the 7-day window is too short to be useful. If you're cancelling because you don't use the tool enough, a week's pause changes nothing.

Free alternatives for SEO basics

You don't need to spend $215/month to do SEO. These free tools cover the fundamentals:

• Google Search Console (free) shows your actual search performance, indexing issues, and which queries drive clicks. This is the single most important SEO tool and it's free.
• Google Keyword Planner (free with a Google Ads account) provides search volume data, CPC estimates, and keyword suggestions. Less detailed than Semrush, but solid for research.
• Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (free) gives you limited access to Site Explorer and Site Audit for sites you own. Good for backlink monitoring and technical SEO checks.
• Ubersuggest (free tier) offers basic keyword research, content ideas, and domain analysis. Limited daily searches, but enough for occasional use.

For most small businesses and solo operators, Google Search Console plus Google Keyword Planner covers 80% of what you'd use Semrush for.

Worth knowing: the free tier

You don't have to fully cancel. Semrush's free tier lets you keep your account with restricted access. You get 10 analytics lookups per day, one project, and basic access to their core tools. If you only check rankings or run the occasional keyword search, this might be enough.

The free tier is also useful as a holding pattern. Keep your account, use the free limits, and only resubscribe if a specific project requires the full toolset.