Getting started with OpenSEO

This guide covers the hosted version of OpenSEO. To run it on your own machine instead, see Self-hosting.

OpenSEO is open-source software. Search data, such as keyword volumes, rankings and backlinks, comes from our data provider, YepAPI: you add your own key, and YepAPI bills each lookup to it. A monthly limit in Settings caps what you spend.

1. Create a YepAPI account

Sign up at yepapi.com. For a limited time, new accounts get $5 in free credit, so you can try every OpenSEO tool before adding any money. Then create an API key in your YepAPI account.

2. Create an OpenSEO account

Sign up for OpenSEO. The account is free.

3. Paste your YepAPI key

Add your YepAPI key to OpenSEO. From then on, every action that fetches data is sent to YepAPI with your key and billed by YepAPI to your account. OpenSEO stores the key encrypted.

4. Run research

Pick an action, such as a keyword research run or a rank check. Each lookup is billed to your key, and Settings and usage lists every call with its cost, so you always know what you have spent.

As a guide, $5 of credit covers roughly one of these:

• about 50 rank checks of the top 100, or
• about 60 keyword research runs of 150 results, or
• about 80 backlink lookups of 100 rows.

See Pricing for more examples. They are YepAPI's prices at the time of writing.

When credits run out

Actions that need YepAPI stop working until you add credit in your YepAPI account. OpenSEO cannot top up for you and will not charge you.

Optional: set a monthly limit

Under Settings and usage you can set a monthly spending limit. OpenSEO checks it before every paid call, including scheduled runs and agents, and stops there. See Costs, caching and limits.

Next

• How OpenSEO works: projects, markets and what runs in the background.
• Build a keyword list, the first tutorial.
• Connect an agent over MCP so Claude, Cursor or Codex can run the same actions.