← SEO Score API

SEO Score API vs Lighthouse

Google's open-source page-quality tool, free forever · Pricing: Free

Lighthouse and SEO Score API both touch SEO, but they are different shapes of product. Lighthouse is a Chrome DevTools + Node CLI + library; 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 Lighthouse over us.

Side-by-side

FeatureLighthouseSEO Score API
PricingFree$0 free, $5+ / mo paid
ShapeCLI / DevTools / libraryHosted REST API
SetupInstall Node + ChromeAPI key in 30 seconds
SEO checksBasic SEO category (~14 checks)82 checks across SEO, perf, a11y, AI
AI readability scoreNoYes
SXO / AEO / AIO scoresNoYes (Starter+)
Performance auditIndustry standardIncluded alongside SEO
History / monitoringBuild it yourself (LHCI)Built-in monitors with alerts
Multi-URL batchLoop yourselfNative batch endpoint
Run from any languageNode only (or HTTP wrapper)Any HTTP client

When each tool wins

Pick Lighthouse when…

  • You audit one page at a time during development inside Chrome DevTools.
  • You only care about Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, SEO, PWA — Lighthouse covers them all.
  • You want zero cost and don't mind running it locally or assembling your own pipeline.

Pick SEO Score API when…

  • You want a hosted API you can call from anywhere — no Node, no Chrome, no runner setup.
  • You want SEO-focused checks beyond Lighthouse's basics: AI readability, SXO/AEO/AIO, GEO signals.
  • You audit hundreds of URLs and want a single dashboard, scoreboard, and history without wiring it yourself.

Frequently asked

Is SEO Score API better than Lighthouse?

Different scope. Lighthouse is best-in-class for performance and accessibility on a single page during local development. SEO Score API has broader SEO and AI-readiness checks (82 vs ~14), runs as a hosted API from anywhere, and works in CI without runner setup. Many users run both — Lighthouse during dev, SEO Score API in CI and monitoring.

Does SEO Score API include the same Performance audits as Lighthouse?

We include performance checks (response time, HTML size, DOM size, render path) but we don't run a full Lighthouse trace. If you need the full Performance breakdown, run Lighthouse alongside us.

Why pay when Lighthouse is free?

You aren't paying for the audits — you're paying to skip building the rest of the stack: hosted runners, batch processing, history, monitors, alerts, multi-site dashboards, and the scoring layer. The free tier exists if you want to confirm the trade-off before paying.

Can I use SEO Score API and Lighthouse together?

Yes. The most common pattern: Lighthouse via LHCI for performance gates, SEO Score API for SEO + AI readability gates. They cover different surfaces.

Run an audit in your terminal in 30 seconds.

Get a Free API Key

Related reading