Name: SE Ranking vs Semrush API (2026): Cost, Data and AI Search Tested
Uploaded: 2026-10-08
Duration: 1 min 45 s
Description: SE Ranking's API is far cheaper to start with and covers five AI search engines. Semrush's returned fresher backlinks and more keyword data in our side-by-side test.

Question 1

Is the SE Ranking API cheaper than the Semrush API?

Accepted Answer

Its entry price is far lower. SE Ranking sells 250,000 credits for $50, or 12 million a year for $2,148, while Semrush lists its SEO API only on the Advanced plan at $455.67 a month billed annually, with units bought separately. Per call, metrics for 101 keywords cost 100 SE Ranking credits and 790 Semrush units, and a backlink row costs 1 credit against 40 units.

Question 2

Does the Semrush API include AI visibility data?

Accepted Answer

Not per engine. Its SEO API has two AI Overview counts in the domain report: ranking keywords that trigger an AI Overview, and AI Overviews the domain appears in. The ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini data from Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit lives in the web app. SE Ranking's API returns brand presence and link presence for five AI engines at 800 credits per call.

Question 3

Which API has more accurate search volumes?

Accepted Answer

Neither was reliable on its latest data. SE Ranking's volume, which is its newest month, sat more than 2x away from its own prior median for 18 of 69 keywords. Semrush's trend sat more than 2x away from its prior median in its last value for 26 of 72. The two agreed on keyword order, with a rank correlation of 0.84, but SE Ranking's volumes were a median 0.37 of Semrush's. Check each keyword's history before trusting either headline number.

Question 4

Which API has fresher backlink data?

Accepted Answer

Semrush, in our test. All 45 of the top zapier.com backlinks it presented as live were still there, against 28 of the 38 checkable links from SE Ranking. 23 of SE Ranking's 50 rows were last crawled in 2019 or 2020. For the smaller organikpi.com both lists were fresh, at 98% for Semrush and 94% for SE Ranking.

Question 5

Do I need a paid plan to use either API?

Accepted Answer

For Semrush, yes: its SEO API is listed only on the Advanced plan. SE Ranking sells API credits on their own, from $50 for 250,000 credits that never expire. Its platform plans also include a monthly credit allowance, and its 14-day free trial includes 100,000 API credits.

Question 6

What format do the two APIs return?

Accepted Answer

SE Ranking returns JSON and takes the key in an Authorization header. Semrush's v3 API returns semicolon-separated text with the key in the query string, and some of its errors arrive with HTTP 200. Semrush's v4 endpoints return JSON but are in Early Access and need a separate v4 key.

Watch: SE Ranking vs Semrush API (2026): Cost, Data and AI Search Tested

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