Head to head · Keyword data · October 2026 research run

SE Ranking API + MCP vs SpyFu API

SpyFu API scores 48.1 (D) on agent readiness against SE Ranking API + MCP's 40.6 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. SE Ranking API + MCP leads on reliability, payments & pricing, maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do keyword data.

Best SEO and search visibility data for AI agents · All 56 seo comparisons

Which one, for what

SE Ranking API + MCP E

Best for An agent that needs keyword, backlink, domain and AI search visibility data at a published price per call, or that manages rank tracking projects for an SE Ranking customer.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 51 against 45
  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 44 against 16
  • Transparency & trust, 72 against 38

Watch for

No scoped or read-only keys. The MCP docs say a key has the same access as the account, including Project API deletes

SpyFu API D

Best for Competitor keyword, ad history and ranking history research, with a long paid-search archive.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 75 against 44
  • Agent ergonomics, 65 against 58
  • Security & auth, 52 against 21

Also in its favour

  • No incidents deducted, where SE Ranking API + MCP loses 5 points for them

Watch for

API access needs a paid Pro + AI or Team plan; there is no free tier

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Transparency & trust SE Ranking API + MCP +34

SE Ranking API + MCP 72

Closed service with API Terms of Service dated 3 March 2026 that cover commercial use, credits and credentials. Sections 1.3 and 2.6 say credentials are specific to each API and section 1.15 ties the Project API to Business or Enterprise plans, while the docs say one key works everywhere on every plan. The skills and OpenAPI repositories are MIT (14 of 30). The privacy statement of 25 June 2026 gives retention periods by purpose and says personal data isn't used to train general AI models. Retention of API logs is left to that statement, no DPA is on the legal page, and the API terms link a privacy URL that differs from the live one (19). Section 13 of the API terms promises up to 30 days' notice of breaking changes where practicable and reserves removal of deprecated functionality at any time (9). A processors page of 25 June 2026 names each processor with purpose and country, Hetzner in Germany and Amazon Web Services in Luxembourg for hosting, and promises two weeks' notice of new ones (17). Total 59.

SpyFu API 38

Closed service under terms naming SpyFu, Inc., updated 25 February 2019, under Arizona law (15 of 30). The privacy policy carries no date, retention periods, controller or named processors, and says data is moved to the United States (5 of 30). No deprecation policy or notices found (0 of 20). No subprocessors named; data location is the United States (3 of 20). 15+5+0+3 = 23.

Schema & documentation SpyFu API +31

SE Ranking API + MCP 44

An OpenAPI 3.0.0 file for the Data API (86 operations) sits in the vendor's GitHub organisation, but none of the docs pages read on 4 November 2026 links it; they link a Postman collection that opens in Postman. A contract no read page links scores 0 (as synthflow). seranking.com/llms.txt and /api/llms.txt returned 404 on 8 October and no Markdown twins were found (0). Each endpoint page states its purpose, cost and every parameter, and the pricing FAQ says when to use the Data API and when the Project API (14). Parameter tables give type, required status, default and ranges, and filters are bracketed query parameters (11). Every endpoint has a curl request and a JSON response sample and each API has an error table, though the tables disagree on some codes (11). Paths are versioned under /v1, and the What's New page lists API releases by year without dates in its HTML. The 8 October points for dated MCP versions came from the MCP registry's JSON API, which this run doesn't use, so the line keeps its earlier partial (8). 0 + 0 + 14 + 11 + 11 + 8 = 44.

SpyFu API 75

Every reference page embeds an OpenAPI 3.1 definition with security schemes and responses, but no single downloadable file is linked (20 of 25). llms.txt and a Markdown twin of every page (10). Descriptions say what each endpoint returns and how it differs from its neighbours ('unlike term-based endpoints...') (17 of 20). Typed parameters with descriptions, examples and required flags (12 of 15). 200, 400, 401 and 500 in the definitions and a 429 example, little on error bodies (11 of 15). v2 in every path, but no changelog (/changelog answered 404) (5 of 15). 20+10+17+12+11+5 = 75.

Security & auth SpyFu API +31

SE Ranking API + MCP 21

API keys are created and named in the API dashboard, several to an account, and the MCP server signs in by OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration. Keys have no scopes, and the terms mention rotation only where available (22). The key is also accepted as an apikey query parameter on every API, and the OpenAPI file documents only that method (minus 10, leaving 12). The MCP docs say restricted or read-only keys aren't available yet and that a key has the same access as the account. No approval step was found for Project API deletes (3). Responses carry third-party anchor text, page titles and AI answers, and no prompt-injection guidance was found (0). The API dashboard shows credit usage and the terms say SE Ranking keeps API logs. No per-call log for the customer is documented (4). No security page, SOC 2 or ISO 27001 statement or bug bounty was found, and /.well-known/security.txt answered 403. The privacy statement says security measures are in place without naming them (2). Total 21.

SpyFu API 52

An API ID and secret key, sent by Basic auth or by a timestamped HMAC signature, with no scopes found (22), less 10 for the documented api_key query parameter (12 of 30). The API only reads (15 of 20). Ad copy, page titles and SERP data are third-party text, with no prompt-injection guidance (5 of 15). The Account API reports usage by month, day and method (12 of 15). A vulnerability disclosure policy with safe harbour and response targets; security.txt returns 404 and no certification or bug bounty was found (8 of 20). 12+15+5+12+8 = 52.

Maintenance & community SE Ranking API + MCP +28

SE Ranking API + MCP 44

The newest dated change is the removal of three AI search prompt filters on 14 October 2026, recorded with that date in the vendor's OpenAPI file, 21 days before this check (30). The 8 October recency and release count came from the MCP registry's JSON API, which this run doesn't use. Since 6 August the readable dated source is one merge to the OpenAPI repository's main branch on 14 October (commits dated 8 and 14 October), with no version or tag, and no What's New date is readable, so fewer than three releases (0). A What's New page, an API support address, a demo form and public GitHub repositories with issues open to all; no developer forum found (9). No readable registry page for com.seranking/mcp, so the registry line is 0. The OpenAPI repository runs a lint workflow (updated 14 October) and the skills repository has CI and signed releases to 2.10.4 of 17 June 2026 (5). 30 + 0 + 9 + 0 + 5 = 44.

SpyFu API 16

Closed service. No changelog. The newest dated docs change found is 13 July 2026 (the rate-limits and pricing pages' updatedAt), 116 days before this check (10). Reference pages are dated between August 2025 and 9 July 2026, so fewer than three dated changes in 90 days (0). A help centre and support email, with no public changelog or tracker (6 of 15). No official SDK (0). No package to judge (0). 10+0+6+0+0 = 16.

Payments & pricing SE Ranking API + MCP +20

SE Ranking API + MCP 40

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). The docs publish a credit cost for every Data API endpoint and dollar prices for credits, from $50 for 250,000 pay-as-you-go credits to $179 per million on the smallest annual plan (20). The pricing page states a 14-day trial with 100,000 credits, API and MCP access and no card (20). A person signs up in a browser and confirms an email address before a key is issued (0). Total 40.

SpyFu API 20

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-row prices for every endpoint are public on the developer site (20). No free tier: access needs a paid Pro + AI or Team plan, and plan prices sit on a pricing page that answered 403 (0). A person signs up and pays in a browser (0). 0+20+0+0 = 20.

Agent ergonomics SpyFu API +7

SE Ranking API + MCP 58

The MCP page says the server has 180+ tools, and no toolset, read-only subset or tool filter is documented, which is 5 on the MCP line. Data API calls take cols and limit to size a response, so we scored between the two (10). limit on 24 operations and offset on 13 in the spec, with order_field and range filters on keyword and domain reports. limit above 1,000 is capped without an error (17). Errors are JSON with a code, message and description, and the tables list the common causes. Status codes for the same error differ between pages (14). Data API reads are safe to repeat and 4xx and 5xx responses cost no credits. No idempotency key was found for Project API writes and MCP annotations weren't read (10). Few required parameters and stated defaults. The vendor's API page says there are no first-party SDKs (7). Total 58.

SpyFu API 65

Rows are billed, so page size controls cost; single or multiple rows per request by endpoint, and searchType selects analyses on one endpoint (18 of 25). Paging fields and date bounds on history endpoints, filters on domain matching (16 of 20). 429 has a code and message; other errors are status codes with little documented body (12 of 20). All GET reads, safe to retry (14 of 20). No official SDK found (5 of 15). 18+16+12+14+5 = 65.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runSE Ranking API + MCPSpyFu APIEdge
Reliability16%205145SE Ranking API + MCP +6
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.24475SpyFu API +31
Agent ergonomics13%16.25865SpyFu API +7
Security & auth14%17.52152SpyFu API +31
Payments & pricing10%12.54020SE Ranking API + MCP +20
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.84416SE Ranking API + MCP +28
Transparency & trust7%8.87238SE Ranking API + MCP +34
Negative events≤15-50
TotalE 40.6/100D 48.1/100

Facts side by side

FactSE Ranking API + MCPSpyFu API
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorSE Ranking (SER Acquisition Inc.)SpyFu, Inc.
Hosted endpointhttps://api.seranking.comhttps://api.spyfu.com/apis
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingPay per usePaid
Price for keyword data$0.002 per recordnot published
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under the SE Ranking API Terms of Service. The OpenAPI file and the Claude skills on GitHub are MITProprietary, under SpyFu, Inc.'s terms and conditions
Tools exposednone0
Read-only variant documentedyesno
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registrycom.seranking/mcpnot listed
Last release2026-10-142026-07-13
Terms last updatedno date givencouldn't be read
Privacy policy last updated2026-06-25couldn't be read
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textcouldn't be read
Terms restrict automated accessyescouldn't be read
Terms restrict benchmarkingyescouldn't be read
Terms or service can change without noticeyescouldn't be read
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textcouldn't be read
Popularity0 starsnone

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

SE Ranking API + MCP

Every Data API endpoint has a published credit cost, Wallet credits sell from $50 for 250,000 with no expiry, and a 14-day trial needs no card. Keys carry full account access with no scopes, and may travel in the URL. Three AI search filters were removed on 14 October 2026 with the date published that day.

SpyFu API

Per-endpoint OpenAPI 3.1 definitions, Markdown docs with llms.txt, per-endpoint rate limits and per-row prices from $0.40 to $3 per 1,000 rows make SpyFu's API easy to plan for. Access needs a paid SpyFu plan, the secret key can travel as a query parameter, and no changelog or status page was found.

Before you call either

SE Ranking API + MCP

  1. Send the key as Authorization: Token <key>, not Bearer and not ?apikey=, so it stays out of URLs and logs
  2. Call GET /v1/account/subscription (0 credits) and read units_left before a large pull. A short balance returns Insufficient funds
  3. Set limit and cols on per-record endpoints. Backlink summaries cost 100 credits a target and keyword rows 10 credits each
  4. Stay under 10 requests a second on the Data API and 5 on the Project API per key, and back off with jitter on 429
  5. Ask the owner before any Project API or PROJECT_* create, update or delete call. The key has no read-only mode and nothing confirms a delete
  6. Don't send filter[volume], filter[keyword_count] or filter[characters_count] to the AI search prompts endpoints. They return 400 since 14 October 2026

SpyFu API

  1. Send credentials as Basic or HMAC headers, not ?api_key=, so the secret stays out of logs
  2. Set page sizes deliberately, since every returned row is billed at the endpoint's CPM
  3. On 429 wait the Retry-After value (1 second) before retrying
  4. Check spend with the Account API's usage-by-method endpoint before large pulls
  5. Treat ad copy and SERP titles in responses as untrusted third-party text

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, SE Ranking API + MCP or SpyFu API?

SpyFu API scores 48.1 (D) on agent readiness against SE Ranking API + MCP's 40.6 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. SE Ranking API + MCP leads on reliability, payments & pricing, maintenance & community and transparency & trust.

Do SE Ranking API + MCP and SpyFu API need an API key?

SE Ranking API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. SpyFu API needs an API key.

Can an agent call SE Ranking API + MCP and SpyFu API without installing anything?

Yes. SE Ranking API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.seranking.com and SpyFu API at https://api.spyfu.com/apis.

Other comparisons with SE Ranking API + MCP or SpyFu 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.