Long Tail Pro is gone. It stopped working reliably around December 2023 and shut down permanently on 5 June 2024. The domain now points at an unrelated insurance and claims firm, so if you landed here after clicking an old bookmark, that is why.
This page used to be a straight feature comparison. It is not useful in that form any more, because one of the two tools no longer exists. So here is what is actually worth knowing: what Long Tail Pro did well, why people are still searching for it two years later, and what to move to depending on what you were using it for.
Why Long Tail Pro shut down
Spencer Haws built it in 2011 and sold it years before the end. The company that acquired it made the call to close.
The reasons were structural rather than dramatic. It ran on ageing infrastructure that cost more to maintain than the tool earned. Google's 2016 restriction on Keyword Planner access had already knocked out a chunk of what made the original version work, and the tool never fully recovered from that. We also compared the best keyword gap analysis tools, which is where most of that job moved.
What people actually used it for
This matters, because "replace Long Tail Pro" means different things depending on which part you relied on.
Most users came for one specific job: find long-tail keywords with enough search volume to be worth writing about, and low enough competition that a small site could actually rank. It had a Keyword Competitiveness score, it let you filter aggressively, and it was cheap. That was the whole appeal. Our guide to creating long tail keywords covers doing that job without a dedicated tool.
It was never a backlink tool, never a rank tracker worth using, and never an enterprise platform. People who tell you Ahrefs is a "direct replacement" are skipping the part where Ahrefs costs several times more and does far more than you were paying LTP for.
How Ahrefs compares to what you lost
Ahrefs is the tool most people land on, so it is worth being precise about the fit.
| What you used LTP for | Does Ahrefs do it? | Honest note |
|---|---|---|
| Long-tail keyword discovery | Yes, better | Keywords Explorer has a far bigger index and real click data |
| Competition scoring | Yes | Keyword Difficulty is more transparent than LTP's KC score |
| Filtering to low-competition terms | Yes | More filter dimensions, steeper learning curve |
| Cheap entry price | No | This is the gap. Ahrefs starts well above what LTP cost. |
| Backlink analysis | Yes, far better | LTP barely did this |
| Doing the work for you | No | Ahrefs gives you data and expects you to act on it |
| Simple enough to learn in an afternoon | No | LTP's whole appeal. Ahrefs is a platform, and it takes weeks to use well. |
That last row is the one people underestimate. Ahrefs is an analytics platform. It tells you which keywords are winnable and then hands the list back to you. If you were a solo operator using Long Tail Pro to find something to write about this week, you have replaced a $37 tool with a $129 one that gives you a bigger spreadsheet and the same amount of writing to do.
Three replacements, by what you need
If you want the data and you will do the work: Ahrefs. Best keyword index available, and the backlink data is the strongest on the market. Right choice if you have a writer, or you are the writer and you enjoy that part. Overkill if you only need keyword ideas.
If you want cheap keyword discovery and nothing else: Mangools (KWFinder). This is the closest thing to what Long Tail Pro was. Simple interface, difficulty scoring, priced for individuals. It does not do backlinks or content, and it is not trying to. The method those tools are meant to serve is set out in our guide to long tail keyword research.
If the keyword list was never the bottleneck: Distribb. Worth being direct about who this is for. If you found keywords in Long Tail Pro and then never published anything against half of them, the missing piece was not research. Distribb finds buyer-intent keywords, writes and publishes the articles against them, and earns contextual backlinks through its exchange network, all on the same plan. You review drafts or let them publish on schedule.
It is a different category of tool, not a like-for-like swap. If you specifically want a research interface to browse, use Mangools or Ahrefs. If what you actually wanted was published pages ranking for those long-tail terms, that is the gap Distribb closes.
What happened to your data
Nobody got it out.
There was no export window and no migration path. Saved keyword lists, campaigns and Keyword Competitiveness scores went with the servers. If you still have a CSV you exported before December 2023, that is all you have.
For rebuilding: take your old seed keywords, run them through whichever tool you pick below, and expect the difficulty scores to disagree with LTP's. Every tool computes competition differently, so treat the new numbers as a fresh baseline rather than trying to reconcile them with what you remember.
Five more replacements worth knowing
Beyond the three above, these five cover the rest of the ground LTP occupied.
Semrush. The other full suite. Broader than Ahrefs on advertising and content tooling, comparable on keywords, similar price bracket. Pick it over Ahrefs if you also run paid.
Keysearch. The closest price match to old Long Tail Pro. Difficulty scoring, competitor analysis, built for bloggers and affiliate sites. If budget is the reason you used LTP, start here.
Keywords Everywhere. A browser extension rather than a platform. Shows volume and competition inline as you search. Credit-based and cheap. Good as a supplement, not a replacement.
Wincher. Strongest on rank tracking, with keyword research attached. Right choice if what you actually need is to watch positions rather than find new terms. Our roundup of keyword research automation tools covers the rest of the field on the same terms.
SE Ranking. Full suite at a lower price than Ahrefs or Semrush, with white label reporting. The usual pick for small agencies serving clients.
Which one, in one line each
- Solo blogger, tight budget, just needs keywords: Mangools or Keysearch
- Cheapest possible, occasional lookups: Keywords Everywhere
- Client reporting on a budget: SE Ranking
- Rank tracking is the real job: Wincher
- You also run paid: Semrush
- Agency or in-house SEO who needs backlink data too: Ahrefs
- Founder or small team who needs the content to actually get written and published: Distribb
- You want all three jobs and only want one bill: Distribb, with Ahrefs added later if you need deeper link research
FAQ
Is Long Tail Pro coming back? No. The shutdown was permanent and the domain has been sold on. Any site still listing current Long Tail Pro pricing has not been updated since 2023.
What happened to my Long Tail Pro lifetime deal? Lifetime licences ended with the product. Some AppSumo buyers raised this at the time; there was no migration path offered.
Is Long Tail Pro still available in 2026? No. It shut down on 5 June 2024 and longtailpro.com now resolves to an unrelated insurance and claims firm. Any page listing current LTP pricing is stale.
How steep is the learning curve compared to Long Tail Pro? Considerably steeper on Ahrefs and Semrush, which are full platforms. Mangools and Keysearch are closest to LTP's simplicity, and you will be productive in an afternoon rather than a fortnight.
Is Ahrefs worth it if I only do keyword research? Usually not. You are paying mostly for the backlink index. If keywords are the only job, Mangools covers it at a fraction of the price. The wider shortlist for that job is in our roundup of the best keyword research tools.
Long Tail Pro solved the easy half of the problem. Finding a good long-tail keyword takes minutes. Publishing forty articles against forty of them is the part that quietly never happens.
Distribb does the research, writes the articles in your brand voice, publishes them to your CMS on a schedule, and builds contextual backlinks through its exchange network. Three-day free trial, cancel anytime.
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