SEOReport vs Ahrefs API for site audits: which SEO audit API fits?
Ahrefs API reads the Site Audit projects in your workspace; SEOReport starts a fix-ordered diagnosis for any public URL. Output, pricing and MCP compared.
Ahrefs API v3 pulls data from your Ahrefs workspace. Its Site Audit section reads the projects you audit in Ahrefs: health scores, full issue reports and the content of crawled pages. It sits beside Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, SERP Overview and Rank Tracker, and is metered in API units on eligible paid plans. [5][6]
SEOReport's API returns a finished diagnosis of a site: a score and band, a score per area, and every finding in fix order with the fix and how to verify it. It is sold as a monthly plan with a set number of new-site diagnoses. Prices on both sides change; the figures below were read on 18 October 2026. [1][2]
SEOReport and Ahrefs API (Site Audit) side by side
| SEOReport | Ahrefs API (Site Audit) | |
|---|---|---|
| What a run returns | A finished diagnosis per site: the overall score and its band, a score for each area, open issues by severity, and every finding in fix order with why it matters, how to fix it, how to verify the fix, and the evidence and pages behind it. JSON, Markdown, text or PDF. | A health score per project (the proportion of internal URLs without errors in the last finished crawl), issues with category and importance (Error, Warning, Notice), the URLs affected by an issue, and page content as text, Markdown, raw or rendered HTML. [1][7][8][9][10] |
| Starting a run | POST a URL, or call the MCP tool with it, and the diagnosis runs. | The Site Audit reference lists 4 GET endpoints that read projects set up in Ahrefs, identified by the project ID in the Site Audit URL; it lists no endpoint that starts a crawl. [1][6][8] |
| Change between crawls | Weekly monitoring re-audits a domain and emails on a new critical or high finding, a resolved critical finding, or a band change. | Stronger for history: the issues endpoint compares two dates and reports counts of newly affected, removed and missing URLs per issue, and project scores are available for past crawls. [1][8][7] |
| How runs are metered | Monthly credits. One credit runs a complete diagnosis of one new site URL in a calendar month; running a URL again after you have its completed report does not use a credit. Unused credits do not roll over. | API units: project health scores are free; issues, page explorer and page content cost 50 units per request, the minimum for any paid request. Units once consumed are non-refundable. [2][5][7][8] |
| Entry price | Essential $19/month (15 credits), Pro $39/month (50), Agency $89/month (150). API and MCP access on every plan; white-label PDFs on Pro and Agency. | Lite $129/mo, Standard $249/mo and Advanced $449/mo each list API and MCP access, with 100,000, 500,000 and 1,500,000 crawl credits; Enterprise is $1,499/mo with an annual commitment. Annual billing saves up to 17%. [2][12] |
| Which sites | Any publicly reachable URL. | Page explorer and page content support only projects with verified ownership. [4][9][10] |
| Authentication | A Bearer API key created in a paid account. The same key opens the REST endpoints and the MCP server. | A Bearer API key that only workspace owners and admins can create. Requests are limited to 60 per minute by default. [1][5][8] |
| Official MCP server | Yes. https://seoreport.dev/mcp over Streamable HTTP with the same Bearer key, 9 tools: create, poll, list, read and download reports, read the account, list plans, start checkout and send feedback. | Yes. Hosted at https://api.ahrefs.com/mcp/mcp on paid plans from Lite, connected by OAuth consent. Ahrefs says it is not a general-purpose programmatic API; scripts should use the public API. [4][11] |
| Keyword, backlink and SERP data | None. SEOReport sells site diagnoses and weekly monitoring, not keyword, backlink or SERP data. | Stronger here: Site Explorer backlinks and traffic, Keywords Explorer metrics and ideas, top-100 SERP results, Rank Tracker and Brand Radar from the same key. [1][5] |
When to choose Ahrefs API
Choose Ahrefs when your sites already run as Site Audit projects in an Ahrefs workspace and you want their results in your own dashboards: health scores over time, issues compared between crawls, and the crawled pages' text and HTML. [6][8][10]
It is the stronger choice when the audit sits beside link and keyword research. The same API key reads Site Explorer backlinks, Keywords Explorer and SERP data, and every Lite-and-above plan lists API and MCP access. [5][12]
When to choose SEOReport
Choose SEOReport when the deliverable is the diagnosis itself: a ranked list of what to fix on a site, each item with why it matters, the fix, how to check the fix worked, and the pages it was seen on. That is what the report export contains, so there is no prioritisation layer to build on top. [1]
The cost is a fixed monthly plan rather than a per-page meter: one credit per new site in a month, and a rerun of a site you already have a report for uses no credit. Pro and Agency add white-label PDFs for client work. [2]
An agent can run the whole flow itself: the MCP server takes the same API key as REST, and its tools start a report, wait for it, and read the findings and score. The URL only has to be publicly reachable. [1][4]
Using both together
Our suggestion, not a joint integration: Ahrefs for backlinks, keywords and the audit history of the sites in your workspace; SEOReport when you need a diagnosis started from a URL, such as a prospect's site that is not an Ahrefs project, with a ranked fix plan as the output. [5][6][1]
Every endpoint, the MCP server and the plans are on the SEO report API page. API and MCP access come with every paid plan.
Sources
- SEOReport: API for developers, verified on 2026-10-18
- SEOReport: Pricing, verified on 2026-10-18
- SEOReport: Connect an AI agent, verified on 2026-10-18
- SEOReport: MCP server card, verified on 2026-10-18
- Ahrefs API docs: Introduction, verified on 2026-10-18
- Ahrefs API docs: Site Audit, verified on 2026-10-18
- Ahrefs API docs: Project Health Scores, verified on 2026-10-18
- Ahrefs API docs: Project Issues, verified on 2026-10-18
- Ahrefs API docs: Page explorer, verified on 2026-10-18
- Ahrefs API docs: Page content, verified on 2026-10-18
- Ahrefs MCP docs: Introduction, verified on 2026-10-18
- Ahrefs: Plans & Pricing, verified on 2026-10-18
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