Semrush SEO Course Alternatives: Paid and Free Options for 2026

• The Semrush SEO courses are free, short, and taught by well-known experts. They are a great place to start.
• Paid options go further: Mohit’s SEO Training and GrowthSchool for live teaching, UC Davis for depth, and Moz for a known certificate.
• Free options fill other gaps: Ahrefs for basics, HubSpot for AEO, Blue Array for technical SEO, and Google for the big picture.
• You do not have to pick one side. Start free, then pay only for what free courses cannot give you.
• Mohit’s SEO Training is led by me, Mohit Verma. It is my own course, so I explain it but do not score it.

Semrush started in 2008. Oleg Shchegolev and Dmitry Melnikov built it as a tool for SEO research. Over the years, it grew into a full marketing platform. The company went public in March 2021.

Along the way, Semrush opened Semrush Academy as its free school. The goal was simple: teach people SEO and show them how to use Semrush tools.

The academy then invited famous teachers. Brian Dean made an SEO crash course. Aleyda Solis covered international SEO. Bastian Grimm taught technical SEO.

The newest courses now include AI search. One example is “On-Page SEO and AI Search Essentials with Semrush”. In April 2026, Adobe bought Semrush for $1.9 billion, so the academy is now part of an Adobe company.

Semrush Academy does a lot right. So let me be fair to both sides.

What the Semrush SEO course does well

• It costs nothing. Every course and certificate is free.
• Experts teach it. You learn from names like Brian Dean and Aleyda Solis.
• It respects your time. The courses run from under an hour to about five hours.
• It keeps up. The newer courses cover AI search too.

Where learners want more

• More practice. Short videos explain ideas well. Skill comes from working on a real website.
• More than one tool. Many lessons teach SEO through Semrush’s own toolkit, and the full toolkit is paid.
• Someone to ask. Recorded lessons cannot answer your questions or check your work.
• Advanced topics. After the basics, many students want deeper training with an experienced trainer.

None of this makes Semrush a bad choice. It simply means a free course is step one, not the whole journey.

I teach SEO for a living, so I look at courses with a trainer’s eye. I check six things and then give one overall score out of 5.

Factor	The question I ask
Depth	Does it go beyond the basics?
Practice	Do you work on a real website?
AI search	Does it teach GEO, AEO, and how AI tools pick answers?
Support	Can you ask a real person for help?
Cost	Is the price fair for what you get?
Proof	Does it give a certificate or a project you can show?

On this scale, I give the Semrush SEO courses 3.5 out of 5. They score high on cost and teachers. They score lower on practice and support, which is normal for a free course.

A paid course asks for your money, so it should give you something a free one cannot. These four do that in different ways.

1. Mohit’s SEO Training (advanced, trainer-led)

This is my own program, so read this pick with that in mind. It is a live program with a trainer. The main course runs for 8 weeks with 40+ live hours in small batches. You practise on a real website every week, and you learn GEO and AEO beside classic SEO. It suits students who have finished a free course and now want feedback, projects, and job help. See the course details.

My score: Not scored, because it is my own course

2. UC Davis SEO course on Coursera

This is the deepest self-paced course on my list. The course, called Google SEO Fundamentals, runs for about 28 hours across four modules. You get lectures, quizzes, and a final project on a real website. The UC Davis name also looks strong on a resume. You can watch the lessons for free, but the certificate needs a Coursera subscription or financial aid. It suits students and career changers who like a classroom style.

My score: 4 out of 5

3. Moz Academy: SEO Essentials Certification

Moz has taught SEO for a long time, and this is its main paid course. The fee is $595, paid once. The course has six parts with roughly 6 hours of video, plus exams, so set aside about 8 hours. When you pass, you receive a certificate and a badge for LinkedIn. Everything is recorded, and no teacher reviews your work. It suits marketers who want a respected name on their profile.

My score: 3.5 out of 5

4. GrowthSchool: SEO Mentorship Program

This is a live program with a mentor, priced at about Rs. 32,000. The mentor is Kaushal Thakkar, founder of the SEO agency Infidigit. You study with a batch of other learners. GrowthSchool’s reviews on public sites go both ways, so I suggest a demo session first. It suits people who want to learn from someone who runs a large agency. Here is the program page.

My score: 3.5 out of 5

If you prefer to spend nothing, these four free courses pair well with what Semrush teaches.

1. Ahrefs Academy: SEO Course for Beginners

Ahrefs offers a free 2-hour course taught by Sam Oh. It covers keyword research, on-page SEO, technical basics, and link building. I like that it explains why each step matters. The course itself gives no certificate, though. Ahrefs runs a separate exam for that. It suits beginners who want clear, calm teaching. See the Ahrefs course list.

My score: 3.5 out of 5

2. HubSpot Academy: AEO certifications

HubSpot ran a famous free SEO certification for years. In 2026, it retired that course. Two new certifications took its place: AEO Fundamentals and Implementing AEO With HubSpot. That tells you where search is heading. The first suits marketers who want to learn answer engine optimisation for free. The second leans on HubSpot’s own software. Find both at HubSpot Academy.

My score: 3.5 out of 5

3. Blue Array Academy: Technical SEO Certification

Blue Array gives about 7 hours of free technical SEO training with a free certificate. It covers crawling, site audits, structured data, and internal linking. Few free courses go this deep on the technical side. It skips content and link building, so it works best as a second course.

My score: 3.5 out of 5

4. Google: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

Google’s free course is the longest one here at about 40 hours. Its 17 modules cover the whole of digital marketing, and SEO is one part. Learners rate it 4.6 out of 5, and Google gives a free award at the end. It suits beginners who want to see where SEO sits in the bigger picture.

My score: 3.5 out of 5

Course	Length	Cost	Live mentor	My score
Semrush: SEO Essentials	About 1 hour	Free	No	3.5 / 5
Mohit’s SEO Training	8 weeks, 40+ live hours	Paid	Yes	Not scored (my course)
UC Davis on Coursera	About 28 hours	Paid certificate	No	4 / 5
Moz: SEO Essentials Certification	About 8 hours	$595	No	3.5 / 5
GrowthSchool: SEO Mentorship Program	See GrowthSchool	About Rs. 32,000	Yes	3.5 / 5
Ahrefs: SEO for Beginners	About 2 hours	Free	No	3.5 / 5
HubSpot: AEO Fundamentals	See HubSpot	Free	No	3.5 / 5
Blue Array: Technical SEO	About 7 hours	Free	No	3.5 / 5
Google: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing	About 40 hours	Free	No	3.5 / 5

This table shows three kinds of courses. Free ones teach the basics at your own pace. Paid recorded ones add depth and a known certificate. Live ones add practice and feedback from a person. They work best in that order.

Free programs like Semrush Academy give you a solid base. When you feel ready to go further, an advanced program with a trainer is the natural next step. That is what we offer at Mohit’s SEO Training. Our course is paid, so here is what the fee covers:

• Live classes, not recordings. Our main program runs for 8 weeks with 40+ live hours. We keep batches small, at around 10 students.
• Practice every week. Each week ends with a capstone task on a real website. You finish with work you can show an employer.
• AI search from week one. You learn how LLMs work first. Then we teach GEO and AEO right beside on-page SEO.
• Real tools. You get hands-on with Screaming Frog, Google Search Console, GA4, and Google Tag Manager.
• A mentor who does SEO daily. Mohit Verma has 10+ years of SEO experience, and we hold doubt-clearing sessions every week.
• Help with the job hunt. We add mock interviews and job assistance after the course.

We run a track for each kind of learner. Beginners and working pros can join our advanced SEO training. Founders can pick one-on-one SEO training. If you like to study alone, try the self-paced SEO course. You can compare them all on our courses page.

Not sure yet? Read what our past students say, or play with our free SEO tools. Then book a free demo class and judge the teaching yourself.

My answer is both, in the right order.

1. Start free. Take the Semrush SEO course, or try Ahrefs. You will learn the key words and ideas in a few hours.
2. Add depth. Go further with UC Davis on Coursera, Blue Array for technical SEO, or HubSpot for AEO.
3. Practise on a real site. Open a small website and apply each lesson. Check Google Search Console every week.
4. Join an advanced program. When you want feedback, live projects, and career help, learn from a trainer. Mohit’s SEO Training is one such program.

A free course and an advanced program are not rivals. The first opens the door. The second helps you walk through it.

I checked these pages on 6 and 7 October 2026:

• Semrush Academy SEO courses: free courses, certificates, and course names
• Class Central’s free certificates report: count of free Semrush courses with certificates
• ALM Corp’s free SEO course comparison: lengths and certificate details for UC Davis, Ahrefs, and Blue Array
• Ahrefs’ list of free SEO courses: Ahrefs course details
• HubSpot Academy: notice about the retired SEO certification and the new AEO certifications
• Reliablesoft’s SEO certifications guide: Moz fee and length
• GrowthSchool SEO Mentorship Program and GrowthSchool on Trustpilot: mentor, listed fee, and learner reviews
• Google Skillshop: Google course length, modules, and rating
• Semrush newsroom: Adobe acquisition
• Mohit’s SEO Training: details of my own course

I wrote this comparison from public information available in October 2026. The scores are my personal opinion as an SEO trainer. I own Mohit’s SEO Training, which appears in this article beside rival paid courses, so I did not score it. Nobody paid me to include or rank any course. Course lengths, prices, and certificates change often, so please check each provider’s website before you enrol. All brand names belong to their owners.