Full-suite SEO platform with the largest backlink index · Pricing: $129 – $1,499 / mo
Ahrefs and SEO Score API both touch SEO, but they are different shapes of product. Ahrefs is a Web app + API (paid add-on); SEO Score API is a hosted REST API that returns a scored audit as JSON in about two seconds. This page is an honest side-by-side — including when you should pick Ahrefs over us.
| Feature | Ahrefs | SEO Score API |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $129 / mo | $0 (free tier), $5+ / mo paid |
| Pricing model | Seat + credit based | Audits per month, no seats |
| Site audits | Yes (crawl-based, scheduled) | Yes (on-demand, single URL or batch) |
| API access | Yes (paid add-on, credits) | Yes — that's the entire product |
| Backlink data | Industry-leading index | Not included |
| Keyword research | Extensive | Not included |
| AI readability score | No | Yes (every audit) |
| SXO / AEO / AIO scores | No | Yes (every audit on Starter+) |
| CI/CD ready | Limited | GitHub Action + Python/Node SDKs |
| Free tier | 7-day trial | 5 audits/day, no card |
Only if you use Ahrefs primarily for site audits. SEO Score API does not provide backlink data or keyword research — it focuses on running on-demand audits via API. If you only use Ahrefs to audit sites for clients or to run periodic checks, SEO Score API will do that for a fraction of the cost.
Ahrefs starts at $129/month for 5 projects and a single user. SEO Score API starts at $0 for 5 audits per day and $5/month for 200 audits. If you audit 200 URLs a month, Ahrefs costs $129 and SEO Score API costs $5.
Yes. We publish a GitHub Action and Python/Node SDKs. Most users wire audits into pull requests so failed SEO checks block merges, the same way unit tests do.
We don't track backlinks. If backlink monitoring is critical for you, Ahrefs is the right tool. Many of our customers pair the two — Ahrefs for research, SEO Score API for automated audits.
Run an audit in your terminal in 30 seconds.