The one-line difference
Ahrefs Site Audit is one module of a paid SEO suite: you create a project, it crawls your whole site on a schedule, and the findings sit inside years of backlink and keyword data. Shipwork is a standalone free audit: paste a URL, get every applicable check in under a minute, no account, nothing stored. Suite depth versus instant access. Choose by which constraint binds you: time or thoroughness.
| Shipwork | Ahrefs Site Audit | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Paste a URL, no account | Paid subscription, project setup |
| Crawl depth | Bounded sample, instant | Full site, scheduled, historic |
| Backlinks & keywords | No: outside the product | Yes: the industry reference data |
| Google Shopping feed checks | Yes: rejections, prices, stock | No: not a feed tool |
| AI crawler checks | Yes: nine named agents | No: robots.txt only via generic audit |
| Watches for regressions | Yes: daily watch, 12 months | Yes: scheduled recrawls with alerts |
What each one sees
Ahrefs sees everything about your site as a website: technical health at full depth, who links to you, what you rank for, and how that moves over time. It does not read your store as a store: Merchant Center feed rejections, price and stock mismatches, and whether ChatGPT can read your catalogue are outside its model. Shipwork is the reverse: a shallow-but-instant outside read that covers the store-specific and AI-specific surface Ahrefs never built, because its customers are SEOs and ours are store owners with a disapproval to fix today.
What each one costs
Shipwork\u2019s audit is free and complete; the only paid thing is the watch. Ahrefs is a paid suite. Check current plans, but expect a monthly subscription sized for professionals and teams, not one-off checks. If you already pay for Ahrefs, run its audit too: the two views compose. If you need an answer in two minutes with no account, that is what the free audit exists for.
Which one fits
- Pick Shipwork first if: something is rejected or broken today, you want no signup, or the question involves Shopping feeds, landing pages as crawlers see them, or AI crawler access.
- Pick Ahrefs if: you need full-depth technical coverage, backlink and keyword data, or month-over-month history across a large site.
- Use both if: you run SEO professionally: Ahrefs for the deep scheduled view, Shipwork for the instant outside read and the store-specific checks.
Related: vs Feed Doctor · Merchant Center requirements · the free audit itself
The free audit runs every check that applies to your site in under a minute. The instant outside read this comparison recommends starting with. Free, no account, no signup. Paste your store address.
Run the free auditQuestions
- Can Shipwork replace Ahrefs?
- No, and it does not try to. Ahrefs covers backlinks, keywords and full-depth scheduled crawls; Shipwork covers the instant outside read plus store and AI checks Ahrefs does not do. Different products.
- Why would I use both?
- Ahrefs for the deep professional view with history; Shipwork when something needs an answer in two minutes with no account, or when the question is feed, landing-page or AI-crawler shaped.
- Does Shipwork need an account?
- No. Paste a URL and read the answer. Nothing is stored.
- Which is better for a Shopify store with disapprovals?
- Start with the free audit: disapprovals are usually data or landing-page problems visible from outside. Ahrefs earns its place later, for backlinks and ongoing technical depth.
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