DataForSEO vs Semrush in 2026: Prices, Data and Who Each One Fits

By licheo Research Team | September 26, 2026 | Tools & Technology | 12 min read

Semrush is a finished tool that a person opens in a browser, from $139 per month. DataForSEO sells search data to software, priced per request, with a $50 minimum payment. Every price here was read on the companies' own pages on September 26, 2026.

The short answer. Semrush is a finished tool that a person opens in a browser and can use the same day, with plans from $139 per month. DataForSEO sells search data that software requests automatically. It charges per request, asks for a minimum payment of $50, and leaves unused balance on the account. A business owner or a marketing team is served better by Semrush. A developer, or a company building its own reports, pays less with DataForSEO for the same volume of data, and the calculations below show by how much.

Every price in this article was read on the two companies' own public pages on September 26, 2026, and each page is linked at the end. Where a figure is a company's claim about itself, the text says so.

One disclosure before we begin: Licheo uses both DataForSEO and Semrush in its own work. Every figure below comes from the companies' public pages, so that you can check each one yourself.

Two different kinds of product

It is tempting to compare these two names as if the buyer were choosing between two similar tools. The truth is that they are built for two different kinds of customer, and this point decides everything else.

Semrush is a web application. You log in, you type a website or a keyword, and you read the answer on the screen. Inside it there are tools for keyword research, competitor analysis, daily tracking of a site's position on Google, automatic checks of a website for faults, and tracking of how AI assistants describe a brand.

DataForSEO works in another way. A program written by a developer sends a request, and DataForSEO sends back the data as a structured file for that program to read. The technical name for this type of service is an API, and this is the word you will meet on both companies' websites. A person sees the data only after somebody has built a screen to display it. DataForSEO does offer some help here. Its help centre describes a test page where you can send real requests through a graphic interface, and its website lists a Google Sheets connector, and a connection to the automation service n8n, for people who do not write code.

So which question should one ask first? Who will use it. If the answer is "a person, in a browser", the choice is already made.

A word on ownership, because it concerns anyone signing an annual contract. Adobe completed its acquisition of Semrush on April 28, 2026. Adobe's quarterly filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission states the price as $1.87 billion, primarily in cash. On the same day, Semrush told its customers there would be "no immediate changes" to features, access, support or billing.

What Semrush costs

Semrush sells monthly plans, and its pricing page listed four paid ones on September 26, 2026.

The SEO plan costs $139 per month, or $117.33 per month when billed annually. It covers 5 websites to monitor and 500 keywords tracked daily.

The Starter plan costs $199 per month, or $165.17 billed annually. It has the same 5 websites and 500 keywords, and it adds 50 AI prompts tracked daily. An AI prompt is a question that Semrush puts to AI assistants every day to record how they answer.

The Pro+ plan costs $299 per month, or $248.17 billed annually, for 15 websites, 1,500 keywords and 100 AI prompts. Historical data begins at this plan.

The Advanced plan costs $549 per month, or $455.67 billed annually, for 40 websites, 5,000 keywords and 200 AI prompts. It is the only plan that lists "API data integration".

There is also a free plan, limited to one demo project and 10 reports per day, and a seven day free trial of the paid plans. Additional users start at $45 per month each.

What DataForSEO costs

DataForSEO has no monthly plan. You add money to a balance, and each request takes its price from it. The minimum payment is $50. The company's FAQ says that funds "will remain on your balance until you use them". A new account receives $1 of credit for testing, which the help centre says can be used "for an unlimited period of time".

These are the prices on its pricing pages on September 26, 2026.

Google results. One page of 10 Google results costs $0.0006 on the standard queue, delivered in 5 minutes on average. The priority queue costs $0.0012 and delivers in up to 1 minute on average. Live delivery costs $0.002 and takes up to 6 seconds on average.

Keyword search counts. One request holds up to 1,000 keywords. It costs $0.06 on the standard queue, delivered in 1 to 3 hours, and $0.09 live, delivered in up to 7 seconds on average.

Links from other websites to a site (backlinks). Each request costs $0.024, plus $0.000036 per row returned. DataForSEO's own example gives $0.06 for a request that returns 1,000 rows.

The research database (DataForSEO Labs). Most requests cost $0.012 each, plus $0.00012 per row returned. This is where competitor keywords and keyword ideas come from.

Automatic reading of a website's pages. The basic price is $0.00015 per page. With each page's scripts run as a browser runs them, the price is $0.0015 per page.

Mentions of a brand in AI answers (LLM Mentions). Each request costs $0.1, plus $0.001 per row returned.

On the standard queue a request waits its turn, and the two faster options cost more. The FAQ states a limit of 2,000 requests per minute, which DataForSEO says it can raise on request.

It must be said that these prices changed this year. On July 1, 2026, DataForSEO announced new rates across eight of its products, with an increase of 20% on every request type in the backlink product and in the research database. In the same announcement it removed the $100 monthly commitment that the backlink and LLM Mentions products used to require. The Google results product is absent from the list of products whose price changed.

The same job, priced both ways

Prices per request mean little until one applies them to real work. Here are four common jobs, calculated from the prices above.

Checking the Google position of 500 keywords every day for 30 days. This is 15,000 result pages. On DataForSEO it costs $9.00 on the standard queue and $30.00 with live delivery. On Semrush it is included in the SEO plan at $139 per month.

Listing 1,000 keywords that a competitor's site ranks for. On DataForSEO this costs $0.132. Through Semrush's service for developers it costs 10,000 units, at 10 units per row.

Listing 1,000 links that point to a site. On DataForSEO this costs $0.06. On Semrush it costs 40,000 units, at 40 units per row.

Getting search counts for 1,000 keywords. On DataForSEO this costs $0.06 on the standard queue and $0.09 live. On Semrush it costs 10,000 units, at 10 units per row.

Semrush counts requests from software in credits that it calls API units, which is why three of the four jobs show units in place of dollars. Three notes are necessary to read these figures correctly.

The first concerns depth. The $9.00 covers the first 10 results for each keyword. DataForSEO's pricing page says the price multiplies for each further 10 results, so by that rule the first 100 results for the same 15,000 checks cost $90.00 on the standard queue.

The second concerns what the money buys. The $9.00 buys data alone. Somebody must write the program that sends the requests, stores the answers and draws the charts. The $139 Semrush plan includes those screens, and with them the website checks and the research tools. A company without a developer has to add the cost of building all of this to the price of the data.

The third concerns Semrush's units. Requesting Semrush data from your own software requires the Advanced plan at $549 per month, and that plan contains zero units at purchase. Units are sold separately, in packages of 2,000,000, 5,000,000, 10,000,000 or 20,000,000. The Semrush pages we read give no dollar price for a package, so we leave those figures in units. Semrush's help page adds that "unused units will expire instead of being added to the renewed amount". The smallest package, by Semrush's own unit prices, covers 200,000 rows of a competitor's keywords or 50,000 rows of backlinks per period.

There is one inconsistency to be aware of. The pricing page calls the plan Advanced, while Semrush's developer documentation still says the API requires a "Business subscription". Confirm the plan name with Semrush before you buy.

How much data each one holds

Both companies publish the size of their databases. These are their own figures, and we found no independent audit of either.

Semrush's help centre states that, as of 2026, its database contains over 28.8 billion keywords, 808 million websites, 43 trillion backlinks and 142 geographic databases. The same page explains where the numbers come from. Semrush works with outside providers to collect Google's result pages, and it estimates website traffic from a panel of over 200 million internet users.

DataForSEO displays live counters on its product pages. On September 26, 2026 they showed 8,302,120,956 keywords and 535,740,574 Google result pages in its research database, and 1,848,939,666,969 live backlinks across 185,658,437,389 live pages in its backlink index.

Does the larger number mean the better answer for your business? We looked for an independent test comparing the accuracy of the two on the same keywords and found none. There is a practical check that anyone can do. Take 20 keywords from your own Google Search Console account, where the real numbers are recorded, and compare them with what each tool reports. The DataForSEO trial credit and the Semrush free trial both allow this.

Local data: the limits of DataForSEO

For a business that serves one city, this section matters more than all the others.

DataForSEO does hold local data. Its Google Maps product accepts an exact GPS point, with up to seven decimal digits, and returns each business found there with its rating, number of reviews, address, phone number, category and position in the list. Its Google results product supports 94,933 locations. Another product searches business listings inside a radius that you define, from 1 kilometre, and others read reviews from Google, Trustpilot and Tripadvisor.

Its documentation also shows three limits. The research database, which holds competitor and keyword research, accepts countries only. The documentation says that "Country is the only supported location_type" there. For keyword search counts, it says postal codes can be submitted, "albeit API response will not return data for such tasks". And every local product reads information. In the DataForSEO pages we read, we found no product that edits a business listing, publishes to directories or replies to a review.

Semrush handles that last part with a separate product, Semrush Local. The Base plan costs $30 per month per location, billed annually, and includes automated management of the Google Business Profile, automatic replies to reviews and 375 credits for its map position tracker. The Pro plan costs $60 per month per location, billed annually, and adds listing management, which sends the business's name, address and phone number to directories. Semrush's help page lists 61 countries for listing management (we counted them on September 26, 2026) and says the tool has "100+ unique directories". In the main Semrush product, position tracking can be set to a country, a state or region, a city or a ZIP code.

In practice, DataForSEO suits a company that wants to measure local results across many places, for example where each of 200 branches appears on Google Maps. Semrush Local suits the owner who wants the listing itself kept correct.

Working with AI assistants

Both companies now offer an official connection that lets an AI assistant such as ChatGPT or Claude request their data during a conversation. The technical name is MCP.

On the Semrush side, the help centre says this access comes with the Starter and Pro+ plans, and with two older plans named SEO Classic Pro and SEO Classic Guru. Each of these includes 50,000 units that refresh on the renewal date, and every question the assistant sends consumes units. Larger amounts require the Advanced plan and a package of units.

DataForSEO publishes the code of its connection on GitHub, a public website for software code, with setup guides for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Cursor. Its help page mentions no separate fee, and each request is charged to the balance at the normal price.

For tracking what AI assistants say about a brand, Semrush includes daily prompt tracking from the Starter plan upwards, with 50, 100 or 200 prompts depending on the plan. DataForSEO sells the same type of data per request through its LLM Mentions product.

Who should choose which

Naturally, the answer depends on who you are, so let us take the cases one at a time.

If you own a business and want to do the research yourself, choose Semrush, and start with the free plan or the seven day trial before paying for a year. If a marketing team of two or three people needs research, tracking and reports in one place, Semrush is again the sensible choice, and the question becomes which plan.

If you are a developer, or an agency with a developer, and you need large volumes of data inside your own reports, DataForSEO costs less. The $9.00 against $139 example is the clearest case. The same holds if you are building a product that needs search data inside it, because DataForSEO's balance does not expire and a month with no requests costs nothing.

If you need to update local listings, choose Semrush Local, since DataForSEO only reads local data.

And if your question is simpler, whether customers can find your business on Google and in ChatGPT at all, then a research tool is more than you need. The Get Found Check reads your homepage and returns a letter grade, with findings and a competitor comparison, in under 60 seconds. For a wider view of the tool categories, see our guide to AI SEO tools for small business.

Sources and further reading

All pages were read on September 26, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main difference between DataForSEO and Semrush?

The main difference between DataForSEO and Semrush is who uses them. Semrush is a web application that a person opens in a browser, with plans from $139 per month on September 26, 2026. DataForSEO sells search data that software requests automatically, priced per request, with a $50 minimum payment. A marketer can use Semrush the same day. DataForSEO needs a developer, or a connector such as its Google Sheets connector, before anyone can read the data.

How much does DataForSEO cost in 2026?

DataForSEO charges per request and has no monthly subscription. On September 26, 2026 its pricing pages listed $0.0006 for one page of 10 Google results on the standard queue, $0.002 for the same page delivered in up to 6 seconds, $0.06 for the search counts of up to 1,000 keywords, and $0.06 for 1,000 rows of backlink data. The minimum payment is $50, and the company states that unused balance stays on the account.

How much does Semrush cost in 2026?

Semrush listed four paid plans on its pricing page on September 26, 2026. The SEO plan costs $139 per month, Starter costs $199, Pro+ costs $299 and Advanced costs $549. Annual billing lowers these to $117.33, $165.17, $248.17 and $455.67 per month. Semrush also has a free plan limited to one demo project and 10 reports per day, and a seven day free trial of the paid plans.

Is DataForSEO cheaper than Semrush?

DataForSEO is cheaper than Semrush when the buyer only needs raw data and already has a developer. Checking 500 keywords daily for 30 days is 15,000 Google result pages, which costs $9.00 on the DataForSEO standard queue. The Semrush SEO plan at $139 per month includes the same 500 daily keywords, plus the screens, charts, site audit and research tools that a DataForSEO customer would have to build.

Which Semrush plan includes API access?

Semrush lists API data integration only under its Advanced plan, priced at $549 per month on September 26, 2026. The plan contains zero API credits at purchase. Semrush sells them separately in packages of 2,000,000, 5,000,000, 10,000,000 or 20,000,000 units, and its help page states that unused units expire at renewal. Semrush's developer documentation still calls the required plan Business, so confirm the plan name with Semrush before buying.

Does DataForSEO have local SEO data?

DataForSEO has local data, with limits. Its Google Maps product accepts an exact GPS point and returns each business with its rating, review count, address, phone number and position. Its research database supports countries only, and its documentation states that keyword requests by postal code return no data. DataForSEO only reads information. Editing a business listing is the work of Semrush Local, which starts at $30 per location per month.

Do DataForSEO credits expire?

DataForSEO credits do not expire, according to the company's FAQ, which says funds remain on the balance until the customer uses them. The $1 trial credit added at registration can also be used for an unlimited period. Semrush works differently: its help page states that API units renew on the plan's renewal date and that unused units expire instead of being added to the new amount.

Can ChatGPT or Claude use DataForSEO and Semrush data directly?

Both DataForSEO and Semrush offer an official connection that lets an AI assistant such as ChatGPT or Claude request their data during a conversation. Semrush includes 50,000 units for this on its Starter and Pro+ plans, refreshed at each renewal. DataForSEO publishes the code of its connection on GitHub, and each request made through it is charged at the normal price per request from the account balance.

Which is more accurate, DataForSEO or Semrush?

We found no independent test that compares the accuracy of DataForSEO and Semrush on the same keywords. Both companies publish the size of their own databases, and both sell estimated search counts. A practical check is to take 20 keywords from your own Google Search Console account, where the real numbers are recorded, and compare them with what each tool reports. DataForSEO's $1 trial credit and Semrush's seven day trial both allow this.

Did Adobe buy Semrush?

Adobe completed its acquisition of Semrush on April 28, 2026. Adobe's quarterly filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ending August 28, 2026 states the price as $1.87 billion, primarily in cash. Semrush told customers on the same day that there would be no immediate changes to features, access, support or billing, and that existing contracts would stay as they are.