A one-time scored audit and an ongoing keyword-research subscription solve two different problems. Most sellers actually need both, at different points, not one tool that claims to do everything.
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Table of Contents
Why Sellers Look for an Audit Tool
“Etsy SEO tool” covers two genuinely different products, and sellers often shop for one while actually needing the other. The first type is a one-time diagnostic: paste a shop URL, get a scored breakdown of what’s working and what isn’t, and walk away with a ranked list of fixes. The second type is an ongoing subscription: ongoing keyword research, tag tracking, and competitor monitoring you keep open in a browser tab while you write listings. This guide covers four real tools that Etsy sellers actually use — Store Score, eRank, Marmalead, and Alura — and is upfront about which category each one falls into, what each one actually costs once the free tier runs out, and where the honest overlaps and gaps are.
None of these four are interchangeable. Store Score is a free, no-account scored audit built by StableCommerce, an e-commerce platform for sellers who want to grow beyond a single marketplace. eRank, Marmalead, and Alura are subscription keyword-research and listing-optimization suites built specifically for Etsy, each with a different free-tier policy and pricing structure. All figures below are pulled from each tool’s own current pricing page; pricing changes, so verify directly before you commit to a paid plan.
Store Score Overview
Store Score is a free Etsy shop-audit tool: paste a public shop URL, no Etsy login or account required, and get a scored breakdown across four categories — SEO & Discoverability, Pricing Strategy, Shop Presentation, and Reviews & Social Proof — benchmarked against other shops in the same category and age range. The report ranks specific fixes by impact rather than handing back a generic checklist, and results come back fast enough to check a shop during a single sitting.
Strengths:
- Genuinely free: one audit per email address, no credit card, no account creation
- Covers pricing and shop presentation alongside SEO, which most dedicated keyword tools don’t score at all
- Benchmarks against shops in the same niche and shop-age bracket rather than a flat industry average
- Fast turnaround — a single-sitting diagnostic rather than a tool you need to learn
Weaknesses:
- One audit per email, not an ongoing dashboard — there’s no ongoing keyword tracking, tag history, or competitor monitoring the way eRank or Marmalead offer
- No dedicated keyword-research module for drafting new listing titles and tags from scratch; it scores what’s already published rather than helping you brainstorm new keywords
- Opting in lists your shop in Store Score’s own directory with a dofollow backlink by default (opt-out is available), which is a fair trade for a free report but worth knowing going in
Pricing: Free. One audit per email address, no paid tier currently offered. Store Score is built by StableCommerce; the audit exists as a genuinely free diagnostic, not a gated preview of a paywalled report.
eRank Overview
eRank is one of the longest-running Etsy SEO tools on the market: a full keyword-research and listing-analytics suite covering tag and title research, competitor tracking, rank checking, and a shop-health audit inside the same dashboard. It’s built for sellers who want an ongoing tool open in a tab, not a one-time report.
Strengths:
- A genuinely free-forever Basic plan, not just a time-limited trial — you can use eRank’s core keyword tools indefinitely without upgrading
- Deep keyword-research tools for drafting new titles and tags, which a one-time audit doesn’t cover
- Rank tracking over time, useful for sellers who want to watch a specific listing’s search position change week to week
Weaknesses:
- Free plan caps out at core keyword lookups; the shop-audit and full listing-analytics features sit behind the paid Pro and Expert tiers
- No pricing-strategy or shop-presentation scoring — it’s an SEO/keyword tool, not a full shop audit across categories
- Interface is dense with data, which is a strength for a seller who wants raw numbers and a learning curve for someone who just wants a quick answer
Pricing: Free Basic plan with core keyword tools included indefinitely. Paid plans start at roughly $9.99/month (Pro) and $29.99/month (Expert) for full listing analytics, rank tracking, and competitor tools. Confirm current tiers on eRank’s own pricing page, since plan names and limits shift over time.
Marmalead Overview
Marmalead is a dedicated Etsy keyword-research tool built around its own trend-scoring system, showing search volume, engagement, and competition data for individual keywords so sellers can pick tags and titles data-first rather than by guesswork.
Strengths:
- Keyword scoring is specific and Etsy-native, built around Etsy search behavior rather than adapted from general SEO tools
- Listing-linking and tag-optimization features aimed specifically at improving titles that already exist
- Long track record among Etsy sellers specifically, with a narrower, more focused feature set than an all-in-one suite
Weaknesses:
- No free plan at all — only a 14-day free trial, after which a subscription is required to keep using it
- Narrowest scope of the four tools here: keyword and tag research only, no pricing, presentation, or review scoring
- Trial length is short if you’re comparing multiple tools before committing to one
Pricing: No free tier. 14-day free trial, then $19/month, or roughly $15.83/month billed annually. Verify current pricing on Marmalead’s pricing page before the trial converts to a paid subscription.
Alura Overview
Alura is the broadest all-in-one suite of the three subscription tools here, bundling keyword research and listing analysis with extras like email marketing and shop bookkeeping under one login, aimed at sellers who’d rather consolidate tools than run several separate subscriptions.
Strengths:
- Real free plan (not just a trial) covering basic keyword research, so there’s a genuinely no-cost way to try it before upgrading
- Bundles keyword tools with adjacent features (email capture, basic bookkeeping) that eRank and Marmalead don’t include
- Useful for a seller who wants fewer logins rather than the single sharpest keyword tool
Weaknesses:
- Free plan is limited enough that most sellers doing serious keyword work upgrade fairly quickly
- Bundling means some individual features are shallower than a tool built to do just that one thing (eRank’s rank tracking or Marmalead’s keyword scoring specifically)
- No pricing-strategy or shop-presentation audit in the way Store Score covers
Pricing: Free plan available with limited features. Paid plans run up to roughly $29.99/month for the full feature set. Check Alura’s pricing page for current tier breakdowns.
Side-by-Side: Free Tier, Pricing, and What Each Tool Checks
| Tool | Free Tier | Paid Pricing | Format | Categories Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Store Score | 1 free audit per email, no account | None currently offered | One-time scored report | SEO, Pricing, Presentation, Reviews & Social Proof |
| eRank | Free-forever Basic plan (core keyword tools) | ~$9.99/mo (Pro), ~$29.99/mo (Expert) | Ongoing dashboard | SEO/keywords, rank tracking, listing analytics |
| Marmalead | None — 14-day trial only | ~$19/mo (~$15.83/mo annual) | Ongoing dashboard | Keyword and tag research only |
| Alura | Free plan, limited features | Up to ~$29.99/mo | Ongoing dashboard | Keywords, listings, plus email/bookkeeping extras |
The clearest way to read this table: Store Score is the only one of the four that scores pricing strategy and shop presentation at all, and the only one with no paid tier to eventually hit. The other three compete on the depth of their keyword and listing-analytics tools, which Store Score doesn’t try to replace.
Who Should Use Which Tool
Start with Store Score if: you want a fast, free, no-signup read on where a shop is actually losing sales across SEO, pricing, presentation, and reviews together, before deciding where to spend more time. It’s a good first stop precisely because it’s a single sitting, not a new subscription to learn.
Add eRank if: the audit (from Store Score or otherwise) points at weak titles or tags, and you need an ongoing keyword-research tool to actually rebuild them and track rank over time. eRank’s free-forever Basic plan makes it a reasonable next step without an immediate subscription commitment.
Choose Marmalead if: keyword and tag research is specifically what you need, you’re comfortable paying from day one (no free plan), and you want a tool built narrowly around Etsy’s own search behavior rather than a broader suite.
Choose Alura if: you’d rather have one login covering keywords, listings, and a few adjacent seller tasks (email capture, basic bookkeeping) instead of stacking several single-purpose subscriptions.
How to Actually Use an Audit Report
A scored report is only useful if it changes what you do next. A workable sequence:
- Run the free audit first. Get the full four-category snapshot before spending money on a subscription tool, so you know which category (SEO, pricing, presentation, or reviews) actually needs the most work in your specific shop.
- Fix the highest-impact items first, not every item at once. A ranked list exists so you don’t try to rewrite every listing title and repackage every photo in the same week; start with whatever the report flags as highest-impact.
- If the biggest gap is SEO or keywords, bring in a dedicated tool. This is where eRank, Marmalead, or Alura earn a subscription — ongoing keyword research and rank tracking is genuinely their strength, not a one-time audit’s.
- If the biggest gap is pricing or presentation, fix it directly. Neither of the three keyword tools above score pricing strategy or shop presentation, so a scored audit (or manual review against category benchmarks) is the more direct path there.
- Re-check after a few weeks, not a few days. Etsy’s search ranking and buyer behavior both take time to reflect listing changes; re-running an audit the day after edits won’t show a meaningful shift yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Store Score actually free, or is there a hidden catch?
It’s genuinely free: one audit per email address, no credit card, and no account creation required. The one trade-off is that a completed audit lists your shop in Store Score’s own directory with a dofollow backlink by default, which you can opt out of. There’s currently no paid tier being upsold behind the free report.
What’s the real difference between a one-time audit and a tool like eRank or Marmalead?
A one-time audit (Store Score) is a snapshot: it scores your shop as it exists right now across several categories and hands back ranked fixes. eRank, Marmalead, and Alura are ongoing tools you keep open while you actively research keywords, track how a listing’s rank moves over weeks, and monitor competitors on a continuing basis. They solve different stages of the same problem.
Do I need more than one of these tools?
Many sellers use two: a free audit for the initial diagnostic across pricing, presentation, and SEO together, then a dedicated keyword tool (eRank, Marmalead, or Alura) for the ongoing work of researching and tracking tags once they know SEO is the priority. Running all four at once is rarely necessary; the audit is what tells you where to focus first.
Which of these four has the best free plan?
It depends on what “best” means for your situation. Store Score’s free plan gives a full four-category audit with zero ongoing access, one time. eRank’s free Basic plan is available indefinitely but limited to core keyword lookups. Alura has a genuine free plan with limited features. Marmalead has no free plan at all, only a 14-day trial.
Do these tools need access to my Etsy account?
Store Score only needs your shop’s public URL — no Etsy login. eRank, Marmalead, and Alura typically offer (and in some cases require, depending on the feature) connecting via Etsy’s own API for deeper analytics like sales history or rank tracking over time. Check each tool’s specific connection method and requested permissions on its own site before connecting an account.
Is CartCompare affiliated with Store Score, eRank, Marmalead, or Alura?
No. CartCompare is an independent research site with no paid placements in this comparison. Each tool is evaluated against the same criteria — free-tier terms, real pricing, and what it actually scores or checks — and each tool’s genuine advantages and gaps are stated directly, including Store Score’s lack of an ongoing keyword-research module and Marmalead’s lack of any free plan.
About This Research
This article is desk research compiled from each tool’s own current pricing and feature pages, cross-referenced with independent seller-tool comparison coverage, rather than a paid trial of every plan tier. All figures are sourced from official pricing pages at the time of writing; pricing and free-tier terms change, so verify current rates directly on each tool’s site before subscribing.
Content reviewed and updated: 2026-08-13
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