SEO tools range from free to several thousand dollars monthly, and what you pay depends entirely on what you're tracking and how many domains you manage. Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Bing Webmaster Tools cost nothing and cover fundamental indexing, traffic, and keyword data. For most solo consultants or small businesses, that's enough to start. Mid-tier platforms like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz run $100 to $400 USD per month. Ahrefs Lite starts around $99/month but limits projects and crawl credits. Semrush Pro is roughly $130/month and includes keyword tracking, site audits, and backlink analysis for a handful of domains. Moz Pro sits in a similar range. These tools are built for agencies managing 5–20 client sites or brands running multiple properties. Enterprise plans scale up fast. Ahrefs Advanced is $400/month, Semrush Business is $500/month, and custom agency or enterprise contracts can hit $1,000–$2,500/month when you need API access, white-label reporting, or 100+ projects. Screaming Frog costs about $260 CAD per year for unlimited crawls, which is a bargain if you do technical audits regularly. Specialty tools add to the stack. Surfer SEO runs $90–$220/month for content optimization. Clearscope is $170–$1,200/month depending on volume. Rank tracking tools like AccuRanker or SERanking are $50–$200/month based on keyword count. If you're running a portfolio like Ottawa SEO's 500+ domains, you're either building custom scrapers or negotiating enterprise deals because off-the-shelf plans don't scale economically. The real cost isn't the subscription—it's whether the tool saves you more time or wins more rankings than it costs. At Ottawa SEO, we combine free tools for indexing checks, one paid all-in-one platform for client reporting, and niche tools only when a specific project justifies it. Don't stack subscriptions because a feature exists; stack them because you'd lose money without them.