{"id":136,"date":"2024-08-13T17:19:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T17:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/ahrefs-api-alternatives\/"},"modified":"2024-10-13T17:19:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T17:19:46","slug":"ahrefs-api-alternatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/ahrefs-api-alternatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahrefs API Pricing and Best Alternatives for SEO Data Access"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Ahrefs API is one of the most powerful SEO data sources available \u2014 but at $14,990\/year (Enterprise plan required), it prices out most startups, freelancers, and small development teams. Fortunately, several alternatives offer <a href=\"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/programmatic-seo\">programmatic SEO<\/a> data access at a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n<h2>Ahrefs API: What You Get and What It Costs<\/h2>\n<p>Ahrefs restricts API access to its Enterprise plan ($1,499\/month billed annually). The API provides access to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Backlink data (referring domains, anchor text, new\/lost links)<\/li>\n<li>Organic keyword rankings and traffic estimates<\/li>\n<li>Domain metrics (Domain Rating, URL Rating)<\/li>\n<li>Content Explorer data<\/li>\n<li>Site audit results<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For companies already on the Enterprise plan, the API is a valuable addition. For everyone else, the price barrier makes alternatives worth exploring.<\/p>\n<h2>Best Ahrefs API Alternatives<\/h2>\n<h3>1. DataForSEO<\/h3>\n<p>DataForSEO is a dedicated SEO data API provider built specifically for developers and agencies who need programmatic access to SEO metrics.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Data available:<\/strong> SERP data, keyword research, backlink analysis, on-page SEO audit, domain metrics, Google Trends, and more<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pricing:<\/strong> Pay-per-request model starting at around $0.0001-0.002 per request depending on the endpoint. No minimum commitment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strengths:<\/strong> Flexible pricing scales with usage, comprehensive API documentation, covers most SEO data needs in a single API<\/li>\n<li><strong>Best for:<\/strong> Developers building SEO tools, agencies automating reporting, startups that need affordable API access<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2. SEMrush API<\/h3>\n<p>SEMrush offers API access on its Business plan ($499.95\/month), significantly cheaper than Ahrefs Enterprise.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Data available:<\/strong> Keyword analytics, domain analytics, backlink data, advertising data, project-level data<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pricing:<\/strong> Included with Business plan; API units are consumed per request<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strengths:<\/strong> Comprehensive keyword and competitive data, well-documented API, extensive historical data<\/li>\n<li><strong>Best for:<\/strong> Agencies and businesses already using SEMrush who want programmatic access to their data<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>3. Moz Links API<\/h3>\n<p>Moz provides a focused backlink and domain authority API at accessible pricing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Data available:<\/strong> Domain Authority, Page Authority, Spam Score, backlink data, anchor text, linking domains<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pricing:<\/strong> Free tier with 10 queries\/month; paid plans from $99\/month with higher limits<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strengths:<\/strong> Domain Authority is an industry-standard metric, straightforward API, free tier for testing<\/li>\n<li><strong>Best for:<\/strong> Applications that primarily need domain-level authority metrics and basic backlink data<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>4. SerpAPI \/ SerpStack<\/h3>\n<p>These services provide real-time Google SERP data by scraping search results programmatically.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Data available:<\/strong> Live SERP results, featured snippets, People Also Ask, local pack, knowledge panels, shopping results<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pricing:<\/strong> SerpAPI from $75\/month (5,000 searches); SerpStack has a free tier<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strengths:<\/strong> Real-time SERP data rather than estimated metrics, useful for rank tracking and SERP feature monitoring<\/li>\n<li><strong>Best for:<\/strong> Rank tracking tools, SERP monitoring, competitive SERP analysis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>5. Majestic API<\/h3>\n<p>Majestic specializes in backlink data with its own proprietary link metrics.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Data available:<\/strong> Trust Flow, Citation Flow, backlink history, referring domains, anchor text, topical trust flow<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pricing:<\/strong> API access from $99.99\/month (Lite plan); full API on Pro plan at $399.99\/month<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strengths:<\/strong> Deep backlink index, unique Trust Flow metric, historical backlink data going back years<\/li>\n<li><strong>Best for:<\/strong> Link building tools and applications focused on backlink quality analysis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Comparison Table<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Provider<\/th>\n<th>Starting Price<\/th>\n<th>Best For<\/th>\n<th>Backlinks<\/th>\n<th>Keywords<\/th>\n<th>SERP Data<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Ahrefs<\/td>\n<td>$14,990\/year<\/td>\n<td>Enterprise teams<\/td>\n<td>Yes (best)<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>DataForSEO<\/td>\n<td>Pay-per-use<\/td>\n<td>Developers, startups<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>SEMrush<\/td>\n<td>$499.95\/month<\/td>\n<td>Agencies<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<td>Yes (best)<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Moz<\/td>\n<td>$99\/month<\/td>\n<td>DA\/PA metrics<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<td>Limited<\/td>\n<td>No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>SerpAPI<\/td>\n<td>$75\/month<\/td>\n<td>SERP monitoring<\/td>\n<td>No<\/td>\n<td>No<\/td>\n<td>Yes (best)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Majestic<\/td>\n<td>$99.99\/month<\/td>\n<td>Link analysis<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<td>No<\/td>\n<td>No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>How to Choose<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Budget under $100\/month:<\/strong> DataForSEO (pay-per-use) or Moz (free tier + $99 plan)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Need comprehensive data:<\/strong> SEMrush API at $499.95\/month covers most needs<\/li>\n<li><strong>Building a rank tracker:<\/strong> SerpAPI for real-time SERP data<\/li>\n<li><strong>Backlink-focused tool:<\/strong> Majestic for deep link analysis<\/li>\n<li><strong>Maximum flexibility:<\/strong> DataForSEO for pay-per-request pricing across multiple data types<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For most developers and small teams, DataForSEO offers the best balance of data coverage, pricing flexibility, and API quality. It covers keyword research, backlinks, SERP data, and on-page analysis in a single API \u2014 making it the closest all-in-one alternative to Ahrefs at a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ahrefs API is one of the most powerful SEO data sources available \u2014 but at $14,990\/year (Enterprise plan required), it prices out most startups, freelancers, and small development teams. Fortunately, several alternatives offer programmatic SEO data access at a fraction of the cost. Ahrefs API: What You Get and What It Costs Ahrefs restricts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"Compare Ahrefs API pricing with affordable alternatives like DataForSEO, SEMrush, Moz, and SerpAPI. Find the best SEO API for your budget and use case.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"Ahrefs API alternatives","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[56,107,108,51,106,49],"class_list":["post-136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ahrefs","tag-dataforseo","tag-developer-tools","tag-semrush","tag-seo-api","tag-seo-tools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autorank.so\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}