Ahrefs reached $149.1 million in annual revenue during 2024, marking a 49.1% increase from the previous year. The SEO platform now commands 22.94% of the global SEO/SEM software market while maintaining its position as a bootstrapped company with zero external funding.
The company operates 3,600+ servers processing 10 million new pages daily through its AhrefsBot crawler. Ahrefs’ web index contains 456.5 billion pages and 35 trillion external backlinks as of March 2025.
This analysis examines verified statistics defining Ahrefs’ search engine capabilities, market position, and infrastructure scale in 2026.
Ahrefs Search Engine Key Statistics
- Ahrefs generated $149.1 million in revenue during 2024, representing 49.1% year-over-year growth
- The platform holds 22.94% market share in the SEO/SEM software category, ranking second globally behind Google Ads
- Ahrefs’ infrastructure includes 691,000 CPU cores, 4 petabytes of RAM, and 495 petabytes of SSD storage as of March 2025
- The web index contains 456.5 billion indexed pages and 35 trillion external backlinks, with updates every 15-30 minutes
- AhrefsBot ranks as the most active SEO crawler globally, processing 8+ billion pages every 24 hours
Ahrefs Search Engine Revenue Performance
Ahrefs recorded $149.1 million in annual revenue for 2024, up from $100 million in 2023. The 49.1% growth rate marks the company’s strongest annual performance in recent years.
The company achieved this expansion without external funding or a dedicated sales team. Ahrefs remains entirely bootstrapped, relying on product-led growth and content marketing strategies.
| Year | Annual Revenue (USD) | Year-over-Year Growth |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $65 million | — |
| 2021 | $86 million | 32.3% |
| 2023 | $100 million | 16.3% |
| 2024 | $149.1 million | 49.1% |
The revenue acceleration between 2023 and 2024 correlates with expanded infrastructure investments and ongoing development of the Yep search engine. Ahrefs invested $60 million of its own capital into building the Yep platform.
Ahrefs Search Engine Market Share Analysis
Ahrefs controls 22.94% of the global SEO/SEM software market as of March 2025. The platform serves 49,085 customer domains, ranking second only to Google Ads.
Google Ads dominates with 55.3% market share and 118,406 customers. Yext and SEMrush follow Ahrefs with 6.98% and 6.86% respectively.
| Platform | Market Share | Customer Base (Domains) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | 55.3% | 118,406 |
| Ahrefs | 22.94% | 49,085 |
| Yext | 6.98% | 14,934 |
| SEMrush | 6.86% | 14,672 |
The platform’s customer base concentrates in the United States at 56.71% (24,215 customers). The United Kingdom accounts for 10.65% (4,548 customers), followed by India at 8.31% (3,547 customers).
Ahrefs Search Engine Infrastructure Scale
Ahrefs operates more than 3,600 servers as of March 2025. The infrastructure includes 691,000 CPU cores, 4 petabytes of RAM, and 495 petabytes of SSD storage.
The platform’s custom-built “Yep1” supercomputer processes SEO data at 23.32 petaflops. This places the system among the top 50 supercomputers globally.
| Infrastructure Metric | Value (March 2025) | Growth Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Servers | 3,600+ | — |
| CPU Cores | 691,000 | — |
| RAM | 4 Petabytes | — |
| SSD Storage | 495 Petabytes | — |
| Pages Crawled Daily | 10 million new pages | +233.33% since 2022 |
| Metrics Updated (24hrs) | 300 million pages | +25% since 2022 |
Daily page discovery increased from 3 million in 2022 to 10 million in 2025. This represents a 233.33% expansion in crawling capacity over three years.
Ahrefs Search Engine Index Statistics
The Ahrefs web index contains 456.5 billion indexed pages as of March 2025. This represents a 12.94% increase from 404.2 billion pages in December 2024.
The platform tracks 267.6 million indexed domains, up 24.87% from 214.3 million in November 2024. The external backlink database expanded to 35 trillion links, marking a 960.61% increase from 3.3 trillion in 2022.
| Database Metric | Value (March 2025) | Change from Previous Period |
|---|---|---|
| Indexed Pages | 456.5 billion | +12.94% (from 404.2B, Dec 2024) |
| Indexed Domains | 267.6 million | +24.87% (from 214.3M, Nov 2024) |
| External Backlinks | 35 trillion | +960.61% (from 3.3T, 2022) |
| Internal Backlinks | 27.2 trillion | +112.5% (since 2017) |
| Keywords Indexed | 28.7 billion | +37.98% (from 20.8B, 2024) |
The keyword database contains 28.7 billion keywords, sourced from 217 global locations and 10 search engines. The unfiltered database includes 110 billion total keywords from platforms including YouTube, Amazon, Bing, and Baidu.
AhrefsBot Crawler Performance
AhrefsBot ranks as the most active SEO crawler globally and fourth among all web crawlers. The bot processes more than 8 billion pages every 24 hours.
The crawler updates its index every 15-30 minutes. Backlink data refreshes every 15-20 seconds, ensuring near real-time accuracy for SEO analysis.
| Crawler Metric | AhrefsBot Performance |
|---|---|
| Global Crawler Ranking | 4th most active |
| SEO Crawler Ranking | 1st (most active) |
| Pages Crawled per 24 Hours | 8+ billion |
| Index Refresh Rate | Every 15-30 minutes |
| Backlink Update Frequency | Every 15-20 seconds |
AhrefsBot processes nearly as many requests as all 20 other SEO bots combined. The crawler outpaces 19 competing bots individually according to Ahrefs’ internal analysis.
Yep Search Engine Development
Yep represents Ahrefs’ entry into the search engine market with a $60 million self-funded investment. The platform launched with a 90/10 revenue-sharing model that allocates 90% of advertising revenue to content creators.
The search engine employs a team of 11+ developers. Yep updates its index every 15-30 minutes using Ahrefs’ existing infrastructure.
| Yep Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Investment | $60 million (self-funded) |
| Revenue Share Model | 90% to creators, 10% retained |
| Development Team | 11+ members |
| Index Update Frequency | Every 15-30 minutes |
| Languages Supported | 13+ languages |
Yep collects minimal user data by default. The platform records only search terms, browser language preferences, and approximate city-level location from IP addresses.
The search engine operates without building user profiles for targeted advertising. Yep stores no personal search history, differentiating itself from Google and Bing.
Ahrefs Search Engine Customer Demographics
Startups with 0-9 employees represent 40.99% of Ahrefs’ customer base. This segment includes 20,119 companies, making it the largest customer category.
Companies with 20-49 employees account for 24.60% of customers (12,073 companies). Organizations with 10-19 employees make up 10.15% (4,980 companies).
| Company Size (Employees) | Customer Percentage | Customer Count |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 (Startups) | 40.99% | 20,119 |
| 10-19 | 10.15% | 4,980 |
| 20-49 | 24.60% | 12,073 |
| 100-249 | — | 6,638 |
The platform added 20,113 new users during a single week in April 2025. This demonstrates sustained growth momentum across all customer segments.
FAQs
How much revenue does Ahrefs generate annually?
Ahrefs recorded $149.1 million in annual revenue for 2024, representing a 49.1% increase from $100 million in 2023. The company remains entirely bootstrapped without external funding.
What is Ahrefs’ market share in SEO software?
Ahrefs holds 22.94% of the global SEO/SEM software market as of March 2025, serving 49,085 customer domains. The platform ranks second behind Google Ads which controls 55.3% market share.
How many pages does Ahrefs index?
Ahrefs maintains an index of 456.5 billion pages as of March 2025, up 12.94% from December 2024. The platform tracks 35 trillion external backlinks and 267.6 million domains globally.
How fast does AhrefsBot crawl the web?
AhrefsBot processes over 8 billion pages every 24 hours, making it the most active SEO crawler globally. The bot updates its index every 15-30 minutes with backlink data refreshing every 15-20 seconds.
What is the Yep search engine revenue model?
Yep operates on a 90/10 revenue-sharing model, allocating 90% of advertising revenue to content creators while retaining 10%. Ahrefs invested $60 million to develop the privacy-focused search platform.