GitHub - every-app/open-seo: Own your SEO. Research keywords and competitors on your terms. 100% open source.

Source
seoopen-sourceself-hosteddataforseokeyword-researchbacklinkssite-auditpay-as-you-go

Summary

OpenSEO is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Semrush/Ahrefs that uses DataForSEO APIs on a pay-as-you-go basis. It covers keyword research, domain insights, backlinks, and site audits with no subscription fees - you only pay for the underlying API calls, which run roughly 0,035 USD per keyword search and 0,04 USD per domain overview.

Key Insight

  • The real cost advantage becomes clear at scale: 100 keyword research queries at default settings cost just 3,50 USD vs hundreds per month for Ahrefs/Semrush subscriptions
  • DataForSEO gives 1 USD free credit to test, then minimum 50 USD top-up - so there is a small commitment barrier but far less than traditional SEO tool subscriptions
  • Self-hosting via Docker is trivially simple (cp .env, docker compose up), making this viable for agencies who want to run their own SEO infrastructure
  • Cloudflare deployment option means teams can share the tool across devices without managing servers
  • The tool is “AI-native” by design - meant to work with Claude Code and similar agents rather than building its own AI features, which is a smart architectural bet
  • Backlinks module costs roughly 0,08 USD per domain search, with extra tabs adding about 0,02 USD each - fully explored backlinks for 100 domains would run about 13 USD
  • Currently missing rank tracking and AI content workflows, which are on the roadmap - rank tracking is the biggest gap for daily SEO work