OpenSEO

OpenSEO is an SEO tool for the people. 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
• Community
• Pricing / Costs (Free + API costs)
• DataForSEO API Key Setup
• Self-hosting
  • Cloudflare Deployment + Access Setup
  • Docker Self Hosting
• 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.

Community

Email me: ben@everyapp.dev Join discord to chat: Discord

Follow along for updates:

• r/everyapp
• On X: https://x.com/bensenescu

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

OpenSEO use DataForSEO to get the SEO info. You need an API key to connect OpenSEO to the service.

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

4. Set this as DATAFORSEO_API_KEY in your environment file:

• Docker self-hosting: .env
• Local development: .env.local

Self-hosting

OpenSEO supports two self-hosting paths:

• Cloudflare for hosting on the internet (Recommended).
• Docker for your homelab or local use.

Use this quick guide:

• Choose Cloudflare when:
  • You've never used Docker before.
  • You want a more SaaS like experience.
  • You want to use it from multiple devices or with teammates.
  • You want support for more powerful features in the future like sharing public links to reports or site audits rendering your websites javascript.
• Choose Docker when:
  • You already have Docker installed and want to get setup most quickly.
  • You have a homelab setup.
  • You only want to use OpenSEO locally on one device.

Cloudflare Deployment + Access Setup

You can use the Deploy button at the top of this README or run with Wrangler directly.

1) Deploy the Worker

Clicking this button will open a page to deploy OpenSEO in your Cloudflare account.

2) Set required environment variables

OpenSEO needs these vars in production:

• DATAFORSEO_API_KEY: base64-encoded login:password from DataForSEO.
• AUTH_MODE=cloudflare_access
• TEAM_DOMAIN: your Access team domain (for example https://your-team.cloudflareaccess.com).
• POLICY_AUD: Access Application Audience tag for your OpenSEO app.

You can set plain vars and secrets with Wrangler:

pnpm exec wrangler secret put DATAFORSEO_API_KEY
pnpm exec wrangler secret put POLICY_AUD
pnpm exec wrangler secret put TEAM_DOMAIN
pnpm exec wrangler secret put AUTH_MODE

You can also set these in Cloudflare Dashboard under Worker Settings.

3) Configure Cloudflare Access

In Cloudflare Zero Trust:

1. Create an Access application for your OpenSEO route/domain.
2. Add policy rules for the identities/groups allowed to access OpenSEO.
3. Ensure requests to your Worker include cf-access-jwt-assertion.
4. Copy values into OpenSEO config:
   • Access team domain -> TEAM_DOMAIN
   • Access app AUD tag -> POLICY_AUD

4) Validate setup

• Visit your OpenSEO URL.
• You should be prompted by Cloudflare Access if not signed in.
• After sign-in, the app should load normally.
• If config is missing, OpenSEO shows an in-app setup error that links back to this section.

Docker Self Hosting

Quickstart:

1. cp .env.example .env
2. Set DATAFORSEO_API_KEY in .env
3. docker compose up
4. Open http://localhost:<PORT> (default 3001)

For runtime details, caveats, and troubleshooting, see SELF_HOSTING_DOCKER.md.

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
# Initialize local DB schema (required on a fresh machine)
pnpm run db:migrate:local
# This runs in local_noauth mode for local use and quick testing.
pnpm dev:agents

pnpm dev runs on http://localhost:3001 by default (or PORT from .env.local) in AUTH_MODE=local_noauth.

pnpm dev:agents runs through portless at http://open-seo.localhost:1355 by default.

When using a git worktree, portless prefixes the branch name, for example http://feature-name.open-seo.localhost:1355.

Running locally is the fastest way to test core flows.

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
# Run once per fresh local DB
pnpm run db:migrate:local
# 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.

Auth modes

• AUTH_MODE=cloudflare_access (default): validates Cloudflare Access JWTs (cf-access-jwt-assertion) using TEAM_DOMAIN + POLICY_AUD.
• AUTH_MODE=local_noauth: local trusted mode, no auth check, injects admin@localhost.
• AUTH_MODE=hosted: reserved for upcoming multi-tenant auth flow (not yet implemented).

Local scripts (pnpm dev and pnpm dev:agents) set AUTH_MODE=local_noauth automatically. Use AUTH_MODE=cloudflare_access pnpm dev when you specifically want to test Access validation locally.

For Cloudflare deployments, ensure Cloudflare Access is enabled on your Worker route/domain and provide TEAM_DOMAIN + POLICY_AUD in environment variables.

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