--- title: "DataForSEO API: pricing, rate limits & MCP | ONEGTMLAB" description: "DataForSEO API: Pay-as-you-go SEO and search data APIs: SERPs (Google, Bing, YouTube, AI Mode), keyword volumes, backlinks, DataForSEO Labs, on-page…" canonical: https://www.onegtmlab.dev/tool-directory/research-and-scraping/dataforseo --- # DataForSEO API: pricing, rate limits & MCP | ONEGTMLAB [](/) [ Book a call ](/book) ![](/_astro/dataforseo.lmwMYLks_1EqKhb.webp) API review # DataForSEO API review Pay-as-you-go SEO and search data APIs: SERPs (Google, Bing, YouTube, AI Mode), keyword volumes, backlinks, DataForSEO Labs, on-page crawls, business listings/reviews, domain technologies and LLM brand-mention data. Best for cheap bulk SERP pulls via the Standard queue. Verified 25 Oct 2026 · 15 endpoints listed · Official MCP server [ See pricing ](#pricing)[ DataForSEO API docs ](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/) At a glance Category Research, Scraping, Signals, Data platform Pricing model Usage-based Free tier $1 free trial credit on registration, usable for an unlimited period (e.g Auth Basic auth Official MCP Yes Best for Cheap bulk SERP pulls via the Standard queue [dataforseo.com ↗](https://dataforseo.com)[Pricing page ↗](https://dataforseo.com/pricing) ## What a call costs The actions you pay for, as DataForSEO prices them. Action Cost Per Google Organic SERP (10 results) $0.0006 Standard / $0.0012 Priority / $0.002 Live SERP Google AI Mode SERP $0.0012 / $0.0024 / $0.004 task Google Maps SERP (100 results) $0.0006 / $0.0012 / $0.002 SERP Google Ads keyword data $0.06 Standard / $0.09 Live task DataForSEO Labs (most endpoints) $0.012 + $0.00012 per item (historical rank overview, historical bulk traffic estimation, domain metrics by categories: $0.12 + $0.0012) task Backlinks $0.024 + $0.000036 per row task Content Analysis $0.024 + $0.000036 per row task OnPage crawl $0.00015 base (up to $0.0051 with browser rendering) page Show all 20 priced actionsHide the rest Action Cost Per Lighthouse $0.005 task Domain Technologies (one domain) $0.012 task Business Listings $0.012 + $0.00036 per item task ChatGPT LLM Scraper $0.0012 / $0.0024 / $0.004 result LLM Mentions $0.1 + $0.001 per row task Amazon ASIN $0.0015 / $0.003 / $0.005 product SERP AI summary add-on $0.01 result SERP screenshot $0.004 result Clickstream DataForSEO / global search volume $0.18 task (Live) LLM Responses $0.0006 Live / $0.0002 Standard, plus the LLM provider's own charge task AI keyword search volume $0.01 + $0.0001 per keyword task Google AI Mode SERP turnaround Standard ~5 min avg (45 min target) / Priority up to 1 min / Live up to 6 s task ## Pricing, plan by plan US dollars, as DataForSEO's pricing page shows them on 25 Oct 2026. Monthly and annual billing are shown apart. Free tier $1 free trial credit on registration, usable for an unlimited period (e.g. 800+ priority SERPs); free Sandbox returns sample responses; creating extra trial accounts violates the ToS and gets the account suspended ### Pay as you go One-off pack prepaid balance, $50 minimum top-up, never expires API includedPlan details n/a - requests fail when balance is empty ## Rate limits 10,000 API calls per minute per account (live user\_data rates.limits.minute.total = 10000; X-RateLimit-Limit header = 10000). More on limitsLess Per-endpoint ceilings are returned in X-RateLimit-Limit / X-RateLimit-Remaining. Standard-method endpoints accept up to 100 tasks per POST (so up to 1,000,000 tasks/min). Accounts also carry a daily spend cap (ours: $1,000/day in money.limits.day). Increases via support. ## How to get an API key DataForSEO uses Basic auth. The steps below follow DataForSEO's own docs. 1. Create a DataForSEO account. API access starts on the Pay as you go plan. 2. Register, then copy the API login and password shown at [app.dataforseo.com/api-access](https://app.dataforseo.com/api-access) 3. Send it with every request: header Authorization: Basic base64(login:api\_password). 4. Make a first call: Trends, Bing Ads and clickstream search volume. Keep the key in an environment variable, never in the command. ``` curl -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/keywords_data/{google_trends|dataforseo_trends|bing|clickstream_data}/*" \ -u "$DATAFORSEO_LOGIN:$DATAFORSEO_API_SECRET" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{}' ``` ## Where the docs live What Where Documentation [docs.dataforseo.com/v3](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/) API reference [docs.dataforseo.com/v3](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/) llms.txt [dataforseo.com/llms.txt](https://dataforseo.com/llms.txt) Base URL `https://api.dataforseo.com/v3` MCP server `https://mcp.dataforseo.com/v3/mcp` SDKs Python client (official), TypeScript client (official), C# client (official), Java client (official), PHP client (jovixv/DFSClient-v3, recommended), Postman collection ## Strengths and limits ### Where it fits - Cheap bulk SERP pulls via the Standard queue ($0.60 per 1K SERPs) - Keyword volumes, competitor and ranking research (Labs, Google Ads, Clickstream) - AI visibility / GEO: ChatGPT LLM Scraper, LLM Mentions, AI keyword volume - Technographics and local-business lists (Domain Technologies, Business Listings, Google Maps SERP) - Usage-based billing with no subscription and a balance that never expires ### Where it falls short - Contact data (emails, phones) or person-level enrichment - Real-time interactive use at Standard-queue prices (Standard target turnaround is 45 minutes; Live costs ~3.3x) - Anyone who cannot prepay; minimum top-up is $50 ### Worth knowing - The remote MCP's api\_request tool can call any paid endpoint, so an agent with the MCP connected can spend balance without per-module limits; gate it like the REST API. - Auth is Basic (base64 of login:password from app.dataforseo.com/api-access), not Bearer. - Live mode costs ~3.3x Standard for SERPs ($0.002 vs $0.0006); Standard targets 45 minutes (pricing/serp/google-organic-serp-api). - Cost multipliers hide in parameters: each search operator x5, depth +1 base per extra 10 results, calculate\_rectangles x2, include\_clickstream\_data x2 on Labs, OnPage browser rendering raises a page from $0.00015 to $0.0051 (per-API pricing pages). - LLM Responses is $0.0006 plus whatever the LLM itself charges (pricing/ai-optimization/llm-responses). 5 moreShow fewer - Duplicate tasks are your error: identical tasks are billed and not refunded (terms-of-service 8.2). Refunds: 30-day no-question refund on first-time API credit purchases only; none on database purchases (terms-of-service 5.1). - Live results are not stored; Standard results kept 30 days, HTML 7 days (docs/v3/). - Prepaid wallet with $50 minimum top-up; the free trial is $1 and multiple trial accounts get suspended (pricing; help-center free trial). - No public OpenAPI file; the reference is HTML/markdown docs under docs.dataforseo.com/v3/. - The marketing pages are product pages, not the API reference. ### Our take For our own AI-visibility check we sent 20 questions to the ChatGPT LLM Scraper as one task\_post array at $0.0012 each, charged when posted, and collected the answers with the free tasks\_ready and task\_get calls. In the brand results, the brand name sits in the markdown field; the title field holds ChatGPT's description of the brand. ## Who should use it Use DataForSEO for Cheap bulk SERP pulls via the Standard queue ($0.60 per 1K SERPs) Look elsewhere for Contact data (emails, phones) or person-level enrichment ## If DataForSEO is not the answer Other Research and scraping tools in this directory, each with its own review. [ ![](/_astro/exa.rOWjsHOa_ZIjcqx.webp) Exa Research and scraping Free planOfficial MCP Best for agent web search and RAG grounding with token-efficient contents. Exa API review →](/tool-directory/research-and-scraping/exa)[ ![](/_astro/parallel-ai.DNKGhCFf.svg) Parallel AI Research and scraping Free planOfficial MCP Best for row-level account/contact research and enrichment with per-field citations and confidence. Parallel AI API review →](/tool-directory/research-and-scraping/parallel-ai)[ ![](/_astro/tavily.zLOQxnbo.svg) Tavily Research and scraping Free planOfficial MCP Best for agent web search with LLM-ready snippets at 1-2 credits per query. Tavily API review →](/tool-directory/research-and-scraping/tavily) ## Before you build Four things to settle first, each read off DataForSEO's own pages. - **Confirm the API is on your plan**API access starts on the Pay as you go plan. Free tier: $1 free trial credit on registration, usable for an unlimited period (e.g. - **Keep the key out of your code**Basic auth. It is sent as: header Authorization: Basic base64(login:api\_password). - **Design around the rate limit**10,000 API calls per minute per account (live user\_data rates.limits.minute.total = 10000; X-RateLimit-Limit header = 10000). - **Know the catch before you scale**The remote MCP's api\_request tool can call any paid endpoint, so an agent with the MCP connected can spend balance without per-module limits; gate it like the REST API. ## Want us to build it for you? Tell us what you want DataForSEO to do in your stack. We will show you how we would wire it into your data, outbound or CRM, and what we would check first. [ Book a call ](/book)[ See case studies ](/case-studies) Read from [dataforseo.com/pricing](https://dataforseo.com/pricing), [docs.dataforseo.com/v3](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/) and [docs.dataforseo.com/v3/auth.md](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/auth.md). Verified 25 Oct 2026. All 15 endpointsFor developers: method, path, what it does and what it costs. **Base URL:** `https://api.dataforseo.com/v3` **Bulk and async:** Standard method: up to 100 tasks per task\_post; poll tasks\_ready, then task\_get **Webhooks:** pingback\_url (notification with task id) or postback\_url (results pushed to your server) when setting Standard tasks Filter endpoints 15 endpoints Method Path What it does Cost POST+GET / POST LIVEasync `/serp/google/organic/task_post, /tasks_ready, /task_get/{regular|advanced|html}/{id}, /live/{regular|advanced|html}` Google organic SERP (one SERP = up to 10 results) $0.0006 Standard, $0.0012 Priority, $0.002 Live per SERP; search operators x5; each extra 10 results +1 base; calculate\_rectangles / load\_async\_ai\_overview x2; People Also Ask click +$0.00015 POST+GET / POST LIVEasync `/serp/google/ai_mode/*` Google AI Mode results $0.0012 Standard, $0.0024 Priority, $0.004 Live per task POST+GET / POST LIVEasync `/serp/google/{maps|local_finder|news|images|jobs|autocomplete|...}/*, /serp/bing/organic/*, /serp/youtube/*, /serp/{yahoo|baidu|naver|seznam}/*` Other SERP types and engines mostly $0.0006 Standard / $0.0012 Priority / $0.002 Live per SERP (Maps and Images SERP = 100 results; News/Jobs/Local Finder = 10) POST+GET / POST LIVEasync `/keywords_data/google_ads/{search_volume|keywords_for_site|keywords_for_keywords|ad_traffic_by_keywords}/*` Google Ads keyword volume, CPC, competition, ideas $0.06 per task Standard (1-3 h), $0.09 per task Live POSTasync `/keywords_data/{google_trends|dataforseo_trends|bing|clickstream_data}/*` Trends, Bing Ads and clickstream search volume Google Trends $0.0027 Standard / $0.011 Live per task; DataForSEO Trends explore $0.0012; Bing $0.06/$0.09 per task; Clickstream bulk $0.012 + $0.00012 per keyword POST `/dataforseo_labs/google/*/live` Labs: keyword ideas, ranked keywords, competitors, domain intersection, traffic estimates, search intent, historical SERPs $0.012 per task + $0.00012 per item for most endpoints; exceptions at $0.12 per task + $0.0012 per item: historical\_rank\_overview, historical\_bulk\_traffic\_estimation, domain\_metrics\_by\_categories; historical\_serps $0.00012 per SERP; search\_intent $0.012 + $0.00012 per keyword; include\_clickstream\_data=true doubles cost (plain bulk\_traffic\_estimation stays $0.012 + $0.00012) POST `/backlinks/*/live` Backlink profiles, referring domains, anchors, competitors, bulk metrics $0.024 per task + $0.000036 per row POSTasync `/on_page/task_post, /on_page/instant_pages, /on_page/content_parsing/live, /on_page/page_screenshot, /on_page/lighthouse/*` Site crawls / technical SEO, single-page parse, Lighthouse $0.00015 per crawled page base (+$0.0003 load\_resources, +$0.00135 JS, +$0.00495 browser rendering); screenshot $0.0048; Lighthouse $0.005 per task POST `/content_analysis/*/live` Brand/keyword citations and sentiment across the web $0.024 per task + $0.000036 per row POST `/domain_analytics/technologies/*, /domain_analytics/whois/overview/live` Technographics (by domain or find domains using a technology) and Whois Domain Technologies $0.012 per domain; other technology endpoints $0.012 + $0.0012 per item; Whois $0.12 + $0.0012 per domain POSTasync `/business_data/business_listings/{search|categories_aggregation}/live, /business_data/google/{my_business_info|reviews}/*, Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, Hotels` Local business records, Google Business Profiles, reviews Listings $0.012 + $0.00036 per item (up to 1,000 items/response); GBP info $0.0015 per profile Standard; Google Reviews $0.00075 per 10 reviews Standard POSTasync `/merchant/amazon/*, /merchant/google/*` Amazon and Google Shopping products, sellers, ASINs Amazon $0.0015 Standard / $0.003 Priority / $0.005 Live per product (ASIN); Google Shopping products $0.001 per 40-product SERP Standard POSTasync `/app_data/{apple|google}/*` App Store and Google Play info, search, reviews App info $0.0006 per result Standard POSTasync `/ai_optimization/{chat_gpt|...}/llm_scraper/*, /ai_optimization/*/llm_responses/*, /ai_optimization/llm_mentions/*, /ai_optimization/ai_keyword_data/keywords_search_volume/live` AI visibility: ChatGPT search answers with sources, model responses, brand mentions in LLMs, AI search volume LLM Scraper $0.0012 Standard / $0.0024 Priority / $0.004 Live per result; LLM Responses $0.0006 Live + the LLM's own charge ($0.0002 + $0.01 advance Standard); LLM Mentions $0.1 per task + $0.001 per row; AI keyword volume $0.01 + $0.0001 per keyword GET `/appendix/user_data, /appendix/errors, */locations, */languages, */id_list, */tasks_ready` Account balance + price book, errors, lookups, completed-task lists free [](/) © 2026 ONEGTMLAB Private Limited. 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