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Pricing comparison · checked Oct 19, 2026
Ahrefs API alternative
What Ahrefs API access actually costs, and when a pay-per-result data tool is the cheaper way to get domain authority, backlinks, traffic and keyword volumes.
The short answer
Ahrefs includes API and MCP access from its Lite plan at $129/month, with 200,000 API units a month and up to 100 rows per request. Standard ($249) has 800,000 units and 250 rows, Advanced ($449) has 2,000,000 units and 500 rows, and Enterprise starts at $1,499/month with an annual commitment. Every request costs at least 50 units.
If you already pay for Ahrefs, use its API. If you only need the data, such as domain authority, backlinks, traffic estimates and keyword volumes, for a report, a pipeline or an AI agent, paying per result is usually cheaper and has no seat limits.
Side by side
| Wrenfield Data on Apify | Ahrefs API (Lite) | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost to start | $0 | $129 / month (Lite) |
| Included usage | Pay per result; Apify Free plan $5 credit | 200,000 API units / month, min 50 units per request (at most 4,000 minimum-cost requests) |
| Rows per request | No fixed cap (set by input) | 100 on Lite, 250 Standard, 500 Advanced |
| Domain authority, backlinks, traffic for 1,000 domains | $5 (Domain Authority & Traffic) | Units depend on endpoint, rows and fields requested |
| Keyword volume, 1,000 keywords | $4.15 (Keyword Search Volume, Google Keyword Planner data) | Keywords Explorer endpoints, units per row and field |
| Authority metric | DataForSEO Domain Rank (not Ahrefs DR) | Ahrefs DR / UR (proprietary index) |
| AI search visibility | $0.04 per prompt per engine, 6 engines (AI Search Visibility Tracker) | Brand Radar (tracked AI prompts by plan) |
| Dashboards, site audit, rank-tracking UI | No, we sell the data | Yes |
When to pick which
- You need Ahrefs DR specifically (clients ask for it by name): Ahrefs. Our authority score is a different, licensed metric.
- You need a few thousand domain checks a month for lead scoring or link prospecting: $25 for 5,000 domains with us, against a $129 plan before units.
- Your AI agent needs SEO data: both work over MCP. With us there is no seat or plan, and the agent pays per call.
FAQ
Is the Ahrefs API free?
No. Ahrefs API v3 needs a Lite or higher plan (from $129/month as of Oct 19, 2026), and usage comes out of a monthly API-unit allowance. A limited set of free test queries is available.
Do you scrape Ahrefs?
No. Our domain and keyword tools use licensed data providers and Google Keyword Planner data. We never scrape Ahrefs or ask for your Ahrefs login.
Is your domain rank the same as Ahrefs DR?
No. It is DataForSEO Domain Rank, a separate backlink-based score. It moves in the same direction as DR but uses a different scale and index, so do not mix the two in one report.
Sources
Competitor prices are list prices from the linked pages, checked Oct 19, 2026 (monthly billing, USD). Our prices are read from the Apify API at build time and are the Apify Free-plan tier; paid Apify plans get lower tiers. Vendors change prices; check the source before you buy. Trademarks belong to their owners. Wrenfield Data is not affiliated with SerpApi, DataForSEO, Ahrefs or Semrush.
Estimate your own month
Plug your volumes into the cost calculator, or open a tool and run the prefilled example for a few cents.
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