Ahrefs MCP alternative: pay-per-call SEO data - CrakSEO

Ahrefs MCP connects Ahrefs’ API v3 to AI clients. It’s included on Ahrefs Lite and higher plans and draws from the plan’s API units. CrakSEO is pay per call with no plan, and adds URL indexing and a free Search Console server.

Side by side

	Ahrefs MCP	CrakSEO
Access	Ahrefs Lite plan or higher ($129/month on Lite)	No plan. Prepaid API credits
Usage	Shared API units: 200,000 a month on Lite, at least 50 units per request, 100 rows per request on Lite	Per-call prices from your credits balance
Data	Ahrefs’ own link index and keyword database	SERP, keyword, backlink, ranking, audit, local and AI visibility data from third-party data suppliers
URL indexing	Not included	URL Indexing MCP
Search Console and Bing Webmaster	Not included in the MCP	Free Search Console MCP

Ahrefs facts checked October 24, 2026 on Ahrefs’ pricing page and the “Getting started with Ahrefs MCP” help article. Check their site for current terms.

Choose Ahrefs MCP when

You already pay for Ahrefs Lite or higher. The MCP costs nothing extra.
You need Ahrefs’ own link index and metrics specifically.
Your team also uses Ahrefs’ web app for reporting.

Choose CrakSEO when

You don’t want a monthly SEO suite plan to use SEO data in your AI client.
You make occasional or bursty calls, where per-call pricing costs less than a plan.
You also need indexing and your own Search Console and Bing data.

Switch in one step

claude mcp add --transport http crakseo-seo https://crakseo.com/mcp/seo

Other clients: see the quickstarts.