OpenSEO

OpenSEO is an SEO tool for the people (non-seo professionals). If tools like Semrush or Ahrefs are too expensive or bloated, OpenSEO is a pay by usage alternative that you actually control.

Table of Contents

• Why Use This
• Main SEO Workflows
• Roadmap
• Pricing / Costs (Free + API costs)
• DataForSEO API Key Setup [5 minutes]
• Self Hosting (Deploy on Cloudflare) [5-10 minutes]
• Local Development
• Contributing
• SEO API Cost Reference

Why Use This

• Open source and self-hostable.
• No subscriptions.
• Focused workflows instead of a giant, complex SEO suite.
• AI Native - Use your own tools like Claude Code / Cowork for more powerful AI features than what other platforms provide.

Main SEO Workflows

• Keyword research
  • Find topics worth targeting, estimate demand, and prioritize what to write next.
• Domain insights
  • Understand where your domain is gaining or losing visibility so you can focus on the pages that move revenue.
• Site Audits
  • Catch technical issues early so your site is easier for search engines to crawl and rank.

Roadmap

Top priorities:

• Rank tracking
• AI content workflows

If something important is missing, please join the Discord or email me at ben@everyapp.dev and request it.

Pricing / Costs

OpenSEO is totally free to use. It works by using DataForSEO's APIs, which is a paid third-party service unaffiliated with OpenSEO.

There are two separate things:

1. OpenSEO app cost: $0, you host it yourself.
2. DataForSEO API: pay-as-you-go based on usage.

For cost estimates, see DataForSEO API Cost Reference.

DataForSEO API Key Setup [5 minutes]

OpenSEO expects DATAFORSEO_API_KEY as a Basic Auth value.

1. Go to DataForSEO API Access.
2. Request API credentials by email (API key by email or API password by email).
3. Use your DataForSEO login + API password, then base64 encode login:password:

printf '%s' 'YOUR_LOGIN:YOUR_PASSWORD' | base64

Set that output as DATAFORSEO_API_KEY in your environment/secrets.

Note: even though the env var is named DATAFORSEO_API_KEY, this app sends it as HTTP Basic auth, so the value should be the base64 form of login:password.

Self Hosting (Deploy on Cloudflare) [5-10 minutes]

OpenSEO is built on Every App, a platform for easily self-hosting open source apps like OpenSEO in your own Cloudflare account. Cloudflare enables much more powerful functionality than is possible running on your own computer or on a VPS.

Windows Users

This has not been tested on Windows. Please let me know if you run into problems. Using WSL will likely work better. Also, try using fly.io Sprites to get a linux sandbox for free if you get totally stuck.

Prerequisites

If you don't want to make a Cloudflare account yet (its easy!) and just want to test out OpenSEO, skip to the Run Locally section.

Note: If you're not comfortable with the terminal or these phrases, ChatGPT or Claude will do a good job coaching you through this.

1. Install Node.js (includes npx).
2. Create a Cloudflare account: dash.cloudflare.com/sign-up
3. Authenticate Wrangler:

npx wrangler login

4. Deploy the Every App Gateway (one-time per account):

npx everyapp gateway deploy

5. Create an Account

• Follow the link output by the last command to create an account. You will access OpenSEO through this account.

Deploy OpenSEO

git clone https://github.com/every-app/open-seo.git
cd open-seo
npx everyapp app deploy

After deploy, set your DataForSEO secret:

npx wrangler secret put DATAFORSEO_API_KEY

When prompted, paste the base64 value of login:password (using your DataForSEO login + API password).

Local Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• pnpm
• A DataForSEO account/API credentials

Run Locally (Quick Test)

1. Copy env template:

cp .env.example .env.local

2. Install and run:

pnpm install
# This runs in BYPASS_GATEWAY mode so that you don't need to set up the Every App gateway. This is fine for local use.
pnpm dev:agents

App runs on http://localhost:3001 by default (or PORT from .env.local).

Running locally is the fastest way to test core flows. In the future, local mode will not include some Cloudflare-backed capabilities (for example cron-based rank tracking and infrastructure-powered performance improvements for heavier audits).

Local Development Workflow (for coding agents)

# This log file make it easier for your coding agent to debug.
mkdir .logs
touch .logs/dev-server.log
# terminal 1: start once and keep running
pnpm dev:agents

• pnpm dev:agents mirrors output to .logs/dev-server.log (gitignored).
• The log file is overwritten on each run.
• If you need a different port, set PORT in .env.local and restart.

Database Commands

Generate migration:

pnpm run db:generate

Migrate local DB:

pnpm run db:migrate:local

Contributing

Contributions are very welcome.

• Open an issue for bugs, UX friction, or feature requests.
• Open a PR if you want to implement a feature directly.
• Community-driven improvements are prioritized, and high-quality PRs are encouraged.

If you want to contribute but are unsure where to start, open an issue and describe what you want to build.

SEO API Cost Reference

Use this section to estimate DataForSEO spend per request type. OpenSEO itself remains free; these are API usage costs only.

As of February 26, 2026, DataForSEO’s public docs/pricing pages say:

• New accounts include $1 free credit to test the API.
• The minimum top-up/payment is $50.

That means you can try OpenSEO for free with the starter credit, then decide if/when to top up.

Pricing sources

• DataForSEO Labs pricing: https://dataforseo.com/pricing/dataforseo-labs/dataforseo-google-api
• Google PageSpeed Insights API docs: https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/v5/get-started

1) Site audit

• No paid API calls in the current implementation.

2) Keyword research (related mode)

• Current billed cost pattern (from account usage logs):
  • 0.02 + (0.0001 x returned_keywords) USD
• Default app setting: 150 results per search ($0.035 each).
• Available result tiers:
  • 150 results = $0.035
  • 300 results = $0.05
  • 500 results = $0.07

3) Domain overview

• Standard domain overview request (with top 200 ranked keywords): $0.0401 per domain.
• General formula if needed:
  • 0.0201 + (0.0001 x ranked_keywords_returned) USD

Planning examples

• 100 keyword research requests at the default 150 results: $3.50
• 100 keyword research requests at 500 results each: $7.00
• 100 domain overviews (200 ranked keywords each): $4.01