Compiled by Amit KumarOpenSEO is an open-source SEO workspace that gives people and AI agents keyword, backlink, rank, audit and AI-visibility data over MCP. The hosted Base Plan is $10 a month with $10 of included usage. Checked 9 October 2026 on openseo.so and the OpenSEO pricing page. Compiled for MPAT from vendor pages—not a hands-on review.
MPAT read the OpenSEO homepage, pricing page, features overview, keyword research feature page, MCP setup docs, AI Visibility docs, self-hosting docs, OpenSEO vs DataForSEO, Ahrefs alternative page, About, Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, the every-app/open-seo GitHub repository, the Y Combinator company page, and the Product Hunt product page on 9 October 2026. MPAT did not create a paid account or run research credits against live SERPs for this page.
What OpenSEO does
On the homepage, OpenSEO positions itself as SEO data and tools meant to work with the AI agents you already use. You connect a compatible MCP client to https://app.openseo.so/mcp, pick a project, and ask the agent to research keywords, inspect SERPs, pull domain or backlink overviews, read Search Console, track ranks, or check how AI answers mention a brand. The same workspace also works in the browser app.
Classic SEO surfaces listed on the site include keyword research (volume, difficulty, CPC, intent and live SERPs), saved keywords, domain overview, backlinks and referring domains, rank tracking, and site audits. AI Visibility adds Prompt Research, Prompt Explorer and Prompt Tracking so you can study questions, compare model answers and schedule mention or citation checks. The AI Visibility documentation names ChatGPT and Gemini as default tracking engines, with Google AI Overviews, Claude and Perplexity also supported.
OpenSEO states that paid SEO index data comes from DataForSEO. The hosted product trims API responses for agents, prices tools before they run, and adds project features on top: shared project context, a research log, scheduled tracking, and HTML reports your agent can save and share. Google Search Console (and Google Analytics on the comparison page) connect without you standing up your own Google Cloud OAuth client on the hosted plan.
Homepage skills and MCP docs describe guided workflows such as SEO coach, site audit, keyword research and competitor analysis. Reports and project context do not spend credits. Re-opening data you already fetched is also described as free of credit spend on the Ahrefs-alternative pricing examples.
Who it is for, and who should skip it
A good fit if you run SEO for one business or a small client set, you already work in Claude, Cursor, Codex or ChatGPT, and you want keyword, backlink and AI-answer data without a $100-plus monthly suite. The Base Plan’s included $10 of usage is aimed at light-to-moderate monthly research; the pricing estimator’s sample business-owner month stays inside that allowance. Agencies that want one workspace per client can use projects and invite teammates with no per-seat fee, per the Ahrefs-alternative FAQ.
Skip the hosted plan if you need a forever-free continuous tracker with no subscription: the free path is a $0.50 trial, then Base Plan, or self-hosting with your own DataForSEO spend. Skip OpenSEO as a full Ahrefs replacement if link building is your full-time job and you rely on Ahrefs’ proprietary crawl depth—the vendor itself says DataForSEO’s backlink index is smaller and points heavy link builders back to Ahrefs. Skip it too if you refuse third-party data and AI processors; the privacy policy names DataForSEO, OpenRouter, OpenAI, Stripe, Cloudflare and PostHog among vendors.
OpenSEO is a $10-a-month, MIT-licensed SEO workspace that wires DataForSEO research and Google Search Console into MCP clients such as Claude, Cursor, Codex and ChatGPT. One Base Plan covers keyword research, backlinks, rank tracking, site audits and AI Visibility, with $10 of usage included each month and top-up credits that do not expire. Google Search Console reads do not spend those credits. You can start with $0.50 of free trial credits and no card, cancel from the billing portal, or self-host the open-source app and pay DataForSEO directly while skipping the hosted markup. Treat OpenSEO as an agent-friendly research and visibility layer for small teams—not as proof that MPAT measured ranking or citation gains. Plan names, prices and feature lists in this listing were checked on OpenSEO’s own pages on 9 October 2026.
Plans and prices
| Plan | Price | What you get | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free trial | $0 | $0.50 of credits to test the product; no credit card required | Credits are a one-time trial balance; not a permanent free hosted plan |
| Base Plan | $10/mo | Keyword research, backlinks, rank tracking, site audits; AI visibility, prompt research and tracking; MCP use inside Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT; $10 of usage included each month; GSC data free of credit spend; buy extra usage anytime | Included $10 usage resets each billing cycle; paid research pauses when credits run out unless you top up; active subscription required to use the hosted product |
| Usage top-ups | Pay as needed | Extra usage credits that roll over indefinitely | Still need an active Base Plan subscription to spend them on hosted OpenSEO |
| Self-hosted (MIT) | $0 for the app | Run OpenSEO yourself (Docker or Cloudflare paths in docs); bring your own DataForSEO API key; skip the hosted 28% data markup | You pay DataForSEO (and optional OpenRouter) directly; DataForSEO documents a $1 test credit and $50 minimum top-up; you operate hosting, updates and Google OAuth yourself |
Vendor estimator examples on the pricing page (checked 9 October 2026): about $0.05 per keyword search, about $0.08 per backlink domain overview with one year of history, and about $0.002 per AI prompt check on one platform. The Ahrefs-alternative page adds that tracking 100 keywords weekly is about $1.09 a month and that a standard site audit is included. The vs-DataForSEO page states hosted OpenSEO adds a 28% fee on DataForSEO requests. Terms (revised 23 August 2026) describe a 30-day money-back guarantee on the most recent subscription charge; consumed usage or top-up credits are excluded.
How it compares to tools already on MPAT
FlexQueries is the closest peer: pay-as-you-go SEO research and AI search visibility with MCP, compiled on MPAT on 6 October 2026. FlexQueries has no monthly subscription—you preload a balance from $5 after an eligible $1 start. OpenSEO charges $10/mo with $10 included and sells the agent project context, skills and report layer as part of that plan. Choose FlexQueries when you want pure prepaid metering with idle months at $0. Choose OpenSEO when a small flat plan plus MCP project memory fits how you already work in Claude or Cursor.
CrawlRaven turns your own Search Console, optional GA4 and imported keyword lists into a ranked SEO to-do list, with a free forever plan for one site and lifetime licences from $39 one-time (MPAT check 30 September 2026). CrawlRaven is not a rented keyword/backlink index. Use CrawlRaven for first-party prioritization; use OpenSEO when you need outside keyword, SERP, backlink and AI-answer data for agents.
Prefer is an AEO platform that tracks prompts across five answer engines from $24/mo Starter (MPAT check 3 October 2026). Prefer focuses on continuous AI-answer visibility, action ranking and article drafts. OpenSEO bundles thinner AI Visibility with classic SEO research in one $10 plan. Pick Prefer for deeper AEO ops; pick OpenSEO for agent-ready SEO data plus lighter prompt tracking.
Browse more SEO tools on MPAT, or return to the MPAT homepage launch board. After publish, this listing lives at /tools/openseo.
Is OpenSEO free?
Partly. The pricing FAQ states a free trial with $0.50 of credits and no card. Self-hosting the MIT app is free as software if you pay DataForSEO yourself. Ongoing hosted use is the $10/mo Base Plan. Checked 9 October 2026.
How much does OpenSEO cost?
Hosted Base Plan: $10 per month including $10 of usage. Top-ups never expire. Example vendor unit prices on the pricing page are about $0.05 per keyword search and about $0.08 per backlink overview. An active subscription is required to use hosted OpenSEO.
Does OpenSEO work with Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT?
Yes. Add https://app.openseo.so/mcp in a compatible client. The OpenSEO MCP docs cover Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex and bearer-token setups. Research tools spend credits; project context and saved reports do not.
Who makes OpenSEO?
About OpenSEO and the terms name Every App, Inc. Founder/CEO Ben Senescu is listed on the Y Combinator OpenSEO company page (Fall 2026, Boston, team size 2). Contact email published across legal pages: support@openseo.so.
What happens to my data?
The Privacy Policy (updated 24 August 2026) says Every App does not sell personal information for marketing. Hosted processing may involve Cloudflare, Stripe/Autumn, DataForSEO, OpenRouter and OpenAI when you use AI features. Google Search Console and Analytics scopes are described as read-only; Google user data is not used to train generalized AI/ML models; GSC/GA report data is fetched on demand and not stored in OpenSEO databases. PostHog session replay on the hosted app masks form inputs and designated sensitive text. Self-hosted deployments fall under the operator’s own privacy controls.
OpenSEO vs Ahrefs or Semrush — vendor framing
OpenSEO markets itself as an open-source alternative starting at $10/mo versus Ahrefs Lite at $129/mo on its comparison page. That page is vendor marketing; MPAT did not re-check Ahrefs checkout. Functionally, OpenSEO is a DataForSEO-powered research and MCP layer with AI Visibility, not a claim of identical index coverage. Re-read OpenSEO’s Ahrefs alternative page before you switch a professional link-building stack.
Sources
- OpenSEO pricing page — Base Plan $10/mo, included usage, trial credits, estimator
- OpenSEO MCP documentation — endpoint, clients, tool list
- AI Visibility docs — engines, credit behaviour
- Self-hosting guide — MIT app cost $0, DataForSEO key, 28% hosted markup note
- OpenSEO vs DataForSEO — data source and fee
- About OpenSEO / Privacy / Terms — Every App, Inc, refunds, Google data rules
- GitHub every-app/open-seo — MIT open source
- Product Hunt — OpenSEO — 8 October 2026 launch signal (~#2 day rank on page opened)
