Get an audit

Head to head · Keyword data · October 2026 research run

DataForSEO vs Majestic API

DataForSEO scores 64.9 (B) on agent readiness against Majestic API's 33.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do keyword data.

Best SEO and search visibility data for AI agents · All 45 seo comparisons

DataForSEODataForSEO OÜ · HTTP API B64.9/100#333 of 950 Majestic APIMajestic (Majestic-12 Limited) · HTTP API F33.4/100#937 of 950

Which one, for what

DataForSEO B

Good for Agents and products that need raw SEO data in bulk at a low unit price, across SERPs, keyword volumes, backlinks, ranked keywords and traffic estimates, and that can work with a task queue.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 84 against 17
  • Schema & documentation, 86 against 44
  • Agent ergonomics, 84 against 54
  • Security & auth, 45 against 32
  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 15
  • Maintenance & community, 82 against 22
  • Transparency & trust, 74 against 53

Also in its favour

  • Runs on your own machine

Watch for

The REST API takes one account-wide login and password over HTTP Basic, with no scopes or read-only credential

Majestic API F

Good for An agent that needs backlink, referring domain, anchor text and Trust Flow data in volume for an owner who already pays for the API plan.

Also in its favour

  • No incidents deducted, where DataForSEO loses 6 points for them

Watch for

Clause 14.1(f) of the supply terms forbids querying Majestic's database or servers with automated tools without prior permission. This matters before any probe is run

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runDataForSEOMajestic APIEdge
Reliability16%208417DataForSEO +67
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28644DataForSEO +42
Agent ergonomics13%16.28454DataForSEO +30
Security & auth14%17.54532DataForSEO +13
Payments & pricing10%12.54015DataForSEO +25
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88222DataForSEO +60
Transparency & trust7%8.87453DataForSEO +21
Negative events≤15-60
Total64.9 · B33.4 · F

Facts side by side

FactDataForSEOMajestic API
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorDataForSEO OÜMajestic (Majestic-12 Limited)
Hosted endpointhttps://api.dataforseo.com/v3/https://api.majestic.com
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdioHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingPay per usePaid
Price for keyword data$0.06 per callnot published
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under DataForSEO's terms of service. The MCP server is Apache-2.0 and the Python client is MITProprietary service under Majestic's Terms and Conditions. The Python 3 connector on GitHub carries a BSD-style licence file
Tools exposed4none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-06none
Terms last updated2026-06-12no date given
Privacy policy last updated2026-07-242026-04-01
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularity251 stars, 32k npm/wk, 50k PyPI/wk3 stars

Verdicts

DataForSEO

Per-request prices are public for every endpoint, a $1 credit and a free sandbox need no payment, and the status feed shows no incident since 15 June 2026. The REST API accepts one account-wide login and password with no scopes, and no SLA or security certification was found in the reviewed pages.

Majestic API

Each command's cost in units is published and a sandbox endpoint returns sample data without spending allowance. API access starts at $399.99 a month with no trial, and no OpenAPI file, status page, numeric rate limit, SLA or API changelog was found. The supply terms require permission before querying with automated tools.

Before you call either

DataForSEO

  1. Check status_code on the response and on every task. HTTP 200 is returned for most errors, and 20000 or 20100 means success
  2. Append .ai to Live and Task GET paths to get the trimmed response. The MCP api_request tool does this unless noAiMode is true
  3. Build against https://sandbox.dataforseo.com/v3/ first. It is free and returns dummy data in the production structure
  4. Use the standard queue (task_post, then task_get or a postback_url) for bulk work. Live Google Ads endpoints allow 12 requests a minute
  5. Ask the account owner to set daily cost limits and an IP whitelist, since the credentials carry the whole prepaid balance

Majestic API

  1. Send requests by HTTPS POST with app_api_key in the body. The docs show GET URLs for demonstration only and plain HTTP still works
  2. Always set datasource=fresh or datasource=historic. Without it the Historic Index is used when the plan includes it
  3. Call GetSubscriptionInfo (no cost) before a large pull. GetBackLinkData spends 5,000 analysis units a call plus one retrieval unit a row
  4. Read columns by header name, not position. The docs say column order can change between requests and Majestic may vary rows and columns at any time
  5. Develop against https://developer.majestic.com/api/json, which costs no units, then switch the host to api.majestic.com
  6. Ask the owner to confirm Majestic's permission for automated querying first. Clause 14.1(f) of the terms requires it

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, DataForSEO or Majestic API?

DataForSEO scores 64.9 (B) on agent readiness against Majestic API's 33.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.

Do DataForSEO and Majestic API need an API key?

DataForSEO takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Majestic API needs an API key.

Can an agent call DataForSEO and Majestic API without installing anything?

Yes. DataForSEO has a hosted endpoint at https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/ and Majestic API at https://api.majestic.com.

Other comparisons with DataForSEO or Majestic API

Machine-readable

For companies

Do agents find, use and choose your tools?

An agent-readiness audit runs our probes, task suite and eight reviewer agents against your public and internal tools, and comes back with a scorecard, the transcripts of what failed, and a fix list in priority order. From $2,500, re-run included. We never take payment to move a rank. We do help companies earn one.

Get an auditSee a sample report