DataForSEO in brief: DataForSEO sells SEO data through APIs: search results from Google, Bing and YouTube, keyword volumes and trends, and more, billed per request from a prepaid balance that doesn't expire. Entry price: Pay as you go; minimum top-up $50; SERP API from $0.0006 per SERP. People look elsewhere for a lower price, a usable free version, or a tool that does one job well instead of everything. Here are the alternatives, closest first.
Technical audit (can AI crawlers reach and read you)
A free one-page technical SEO audit that also covers AI search: indexability, canonical, titles, headings, sitemap, internal links, structured data and speed, plus whether Google, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity can crawl and read the page, with the exact fix for each issue.
- Best for
- A free, fast technical audit of a page for Google and AI search, with fixes you can hand to a developer
- Starting price
- Free audit; full report ₹499 (one-time); Pro ₹1,499/month; Agency ₹4,999/month
- Free plan or trial
- Yes: the full audit, every check's status and the top 3 fixes, no account
- Engines
- Checks access for ChatGPT search, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews/AI Mode, Bing/Copilot and 25 more crawlers
- Agency / white-label
- Yes: Agency ₹4,999/month (white-label reports, branded widget, lead capture)
- Limits to know
- Audits one page at a time; no keyword database, backlink index or rank tracking
Run a free audit
Rank tracker
Advanced Web Ranking is a rank tracker with AI visibility and citation tracking, local and mobile rankings, SERP feature analysis and SEO forecasts, with unlimited users and projects.
- Best for
- agency-grade rank tracking with white-label reporting
- Starting price
- Pro 139/month (currency not shown on the pricing page)
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. A free trial; all plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Agency / white-label
- Yes. White-label reports on Agency and higher plans, and on all yearly subscriptions.
- Limits to know
- Keyword allowances assume weekly updates; daily updates use about seven times as many
Advanced Web Ranking pricing (vendor's site)
All-in-one SEO suite
Ahrefs is an SEO suite built around Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit and Rank Tracker, backed by its own web crawler. Brand Radar AI, an add-on, tracks brand mentions across AI prompts.
- Best for
- deep backlink and keyword data from a large independent crawler
- Starting price
- Starter: $29/mo (renews monthly only); Lite: $129/mo; Ahrefs Free: Free
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. Ahrefs Free (formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools) is free for verified websites and includes Web Analytics, Site Audit (5K crawl credits/month per project) and Site Explorer (1K backlinks and keywords visible at once). The pricing page doesn't describe a free trial of the paid plans.
- Agency / white-label
- Partly. No white-label language on the pricing page. Advanced includes an "Agency directory listing", and the Report Builder add-on costs $99/mo.
- Limits to know
- Starter: 200 credits/month, 50 Rank Tracker keywords, 1 unverified project, 1 month of history; extra users and credits can't be bought, and it renews monthly only. Lite: 5 non-verified projects, 750 tracked keywords, 150 AI prompt checks, 100,000 crawl credits, 6 months of history, up to 2 extra users at $40/mo each. Enterprise: annual commitment required. Brand Radar AI is an add-on from $199/mo. Annual billing saves "up to 17%".
Ahrefs pricing (vendor's site)
WordPress SEO plugin
All in One SEO is a WordPress SEO plugin for titles, meta, sitemaps, schema and on-page analysis, with paid tiers for more sites and features.
- Best for
- a WordPress SEO plugin with plans sized by number of sites
- Starting price
- Basic €49.50 for the first year (1 site), renewing at full price
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. A free version (AIOSEO Lite) is on WordPress.org; paid plans have a 14-day money-back guarantee.
- Agency / white-label
- Partly. The Elite plan covers 100 sites and includes client management; no white-label branding is listed.
- Limits to know
- Listed prices are introductory first-year prices; renewals are at full price, and the page mixes euro and dollar labels
All in One SEO (AIOSEO) pricing (vendor's site)
Local SEO
BrightLocal is a local SEO platform for local rank tracking, Google Business Profile and listings management, citation building and review monitoring, priced by number of locations.
- Best for
- local rankings, listings and reviews for businesses with one or many locations
- Starting price
- Track $31/month billed annually ($369/year) for 1 location
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. A 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
- Agency / white-label
- Yes. White-labelling of tools and reports, plus an Agency Lead Generator.
- Limits to know
- Price rises with the number of locations; monthly billing is 25% more than annual
BrightLocal pricing (vendor's site)
All-in-one SEO suite
Conductor is an enterprise SEO and answer engine optimization platform with content creation, search and AI visibility intelligence, site monitoring and tools for AI agents.
- Best for
- an enterprise team that needs SEO and AI visibility across many sites and markets
- Starting price
- Not published (usage-based tiers; Essentials has a free trial)
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. Try the Essentials plan for free, plus a free AI visibility check.
- Agency / white-label
- No. It's aimed at in-house teams; no agency plan is listed.
- Limits to know
- Prices are by quote, and the Enterprise tier goes through sales
Conductor pricing (vendor's site)
Free SEO checker
Lighthouse is Google's open-source page auditor. It runs in Chrome DevTools, from the command line, as a Node module or through PageSpeed Insights, and scores Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices and SEO.
- Best for
- a free performance and accessibility audit with basic SEO checks
- Starting price
- Free (open source)
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. Free and open source.
- Agency / white-label
- No
- Limits to know
- Its SEO category is a short list of basic checks on the rendered page; it doesn't test how AI crawlers or a firewall treat your site
Google Lighthouse pricing (vendor's site)
Browser extension
Keyword Surfer is a free Chrome extension from Surfer that shows search volume, cost per click, estimated traffic and keyword ideas directly on Google's results page, for 70 countries.
- Best for
- free search volumes and keyword ideas without leaving Google
- Starting price
- Free
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. Surfer says it is "100% Free. Forever."
- Agency / white-label
- No
- Limits to know
- Chrome only; shows data on the results page rather than auditing your site
Keyword Surfer pricing (vendor's site)
Backlink analysis
Majestic is a backlink index. It maps who links to a site with Trust Flow, Topical Trust Flow and referring domains, from a Fresh index (last 120 days) and a Historic index going back to 2006.
- Best for
- backlink data and link-quality metrics on their own
- Starting price
- Lite $49.99/month, or $499.99/year (ex VAT)
- Free plan or trial
- No trial. Free tools (Backlink Checker, Majestic Million, browser plugins) and a 7-day money-back guarantee on a first Lite or Pro subscription.
- Agency / white-label
- Partly. Pro is aimed at agencies and includes Share Campaigns; no white-label option is mentioned. API access is on the API plan.
- Limits to know
- Lite: Fresh index only, 5,000 Site Explorer rows and 60 report units a month, no API
Majestic pricing (vendor's site)
Keyword research
Mangools is a suite of five tools: KWFinder for keyword research, SERPChecker, SERPWatcher for rank tracking, LinkMiner for backlinks and SiteProfiler for domain metrics.
- Best for
- easy keyword research with difficulty scores
- Starting price
- Free account (5 lookups per 24 hours); paid Basic, Premium and Agency plans
- Free plan or trial
- Yes. A free account with 5 lookups per 24 hours; 48-hour money-back guarantee on paid plans.
- Agency / white-label
- Partly. There's an Agency plan with daily rank updates; no white-label option is mentioned.
- Limits to know
- Rank tracking updates weekly except on the Agency plan; the pricing page didn't show prices when we checked, so see the vendor's site
Mangools (KWFinder) pricing (vendor's site)
What is the best DataForSEO alternative?
It depends on the job you bought DataForSEO for. The tools below are ordered closest substitute first, with their own starting prices, so you can match one to your budget and use case.
Is there a free alternative to DataForSEO?
Yes. SEO·AEO·GEO, Advanced Web Ranking, Ahrefs, All in One SEO (AIOSEO), BrightLocal, Conductor, Google Lighthouse, Keyword Surfer, Mangools (KWFinder) have a free plan, free version or trial, according to their own sites. SEO·AEO·GEO's audit is free with no account.
How much does DataForSEO cost?
DataForSEO's pricing page lists: Pay as you go; minimum top-up $50; SERP API from $0.0006 per SERP (checked 2026-10-21). Prices change, so confirm on their site.