SEOReport vs Semrush Site Audit API: which SEO audit API fits?
Semrush's Site Audit API audits Semrush projects for API units; SEOReport returns a fix-ordered diagnosis per URL. Access, pricing and MCP compared.
Semrush's Site Audit API, part of its Projects API, lets you run audits on a Semrush project, monitor crawl progress and read reports on errors, warnings and notices. Semrush's API docs say it needs the SEO Business subscription and available API units, and each request costs a published number of units. [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 Semrush Site Audit API side by side
| SEOReport | Semrush Site Audit API | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Reports on errors, warnings and notices. The snapshot request gives an overview of an audit, including the website's score, its issues and the number of performed checks; other requests list pages with their issues and audit history. [1][5] |
| Fix guidance | Each finding carries why it matters, the fix, how to verify it, and its evidence and pages, ranked in fix order. | Comparable: a request returns text descriptions of issues that explain why an issue could be harmful to a website and how it can be fixed. [1][5] |
| Starting a run | POST a URL, or call the MCP tool with it. No project setup; the URL only has to be publicly reachable. | Every method takes a Semrush project ID. You enable Site Audit on the project, which schedules audits and sets the pages to crawl, then launch audits against it. [1][4][5] |
| 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 per request: 100 to run an audit or read issue descriptions, 1,000 for one page's information, 10,000 for a snapshot overview and 10,000 per snapshot in history. [2][5] |
| 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. | Semrush's API docs require the SEO Business subscription, which its Knowledge Base lists at $499.95/month with 1,000,000 pages to crawl per month; Semrush's main pricing page does not list that plan today and shows API access on its Advanced plan at a custom price, so confirm the current plan with Semrush. Add a units package of 2, 5, 10 or 20 million units; units start at zero after upgrading. We did not find the package prices on Semrush's public pages. [2][6][10][9][11] |
| Crawl control | The request takes the URL, plus "forceRerun": true to scan a site again. Our public pages document no page-limit, rendering or threshold settings. | Stronger here: set the number of pages to crawl, include or exclude pages, reschedule audits, and choose whether SemrushBot follows the robots.txt Crawl-delay or crawls at a one-second interval. [1][5] |
| Authentication | A Bearer API key created in a paid account. The same key opens the REST endpoints and the MCP server. | The API key is passed as the key query parameter. Each account has one v3 key, generated automatically, which Semrush says cannot be revoked or deleted. [1][7] |
| 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. https://mcp.semrush.com/v2/mcp with OAuth or an API key, on the same unit system. It exposes all read-only Projects API methods, so you can read projects but not create them, change settings or perform other actions. [4][8] |
| Keyword, backlink and SERP data | None. SEOReport sells site diagnoses and weekly monitoring, not keyword, backlink or SERP data. | Stronger here: the SEO API's domain, keyword and backlink reports, position tracking, and Trends traffic data. [1][8][6] |
When to choose Semrush Site Audit API
Choose Semrush when your team already runs its sites as Semrush projects on a plan with API access. The API then automates the audits you already schedule there, reads their scores, issues and history, and returns Semrush's own explanation of each issue and its fix. [5][6]
It is also the stronger choice when the audit is one part of a wider data need: the same key and units reach keyword, domain and backlink reports and position tracking, and Semrush's Knowledge Base lists 1,000,000 pages to crawl per month on the SEO Toolkit Business plan. [8][10]
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: keep Semrush for the sites you track continuously and for keyword and backlink research, and use SEOReport for one-off diagnoses of sites that are not Semrush projects, such as a prospect's site, where a ranked fix plan or a white-label PDF is the deliverable. [5][1][2]
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
- Semrush API docs: Site Audit, verified on 2026-10-18
- Semrush API docs: Projects API overview, verified on 2026-10-18
- Semrush API docs: Authorization, verified on 2026-10-18
- Semrush API docs: Semrush MCP overview, verified on 2026-10-18
- Semrush Knowledge Base: Semrush API, verified on 2026-10-18
- Semrush Knowledge Base: SEO Toolkit Pricing and Plans, verified on 2026-10-18
- Semrush: Pricing, verified on 2026-10-18
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