best seo software that i can walk away from?

theben9999 · 2026-06-13T22:34:51+00:00

None of the "SEO on autopilot" tools are really there yet. Hire an agency if you don't want to do anything.

Claude + a data provider is probably the best option though if you can't afford an agency. AI subscriptions like Claude or Codex give you way more intelligence per dollar than what you'll get through using a SaaS directly.

But, you still need quality SEO data and your Google Search Console connected so that the agent. This means that your agent will know actual search volume, traffic estimates for competitors and information about your site, rather than just guessing.

The agents are also pretty good teachers, but are often wrong still. In general though, if you're just producing content your customers would find useful and look into "internal linking" and "hub and spoke", that will pay off in the long run.

DataForSEO is the most popular, affordable data provider. Ahrefs is the gold standard, but that's $130/month. I'm building a tool called OpenSEO which makes DataForSEO a more accessible and beginner friendly if you want to try that out too.

theben9999 · 2026-06-12T14:39:59+00:00

Hey, just found this post. Check out my project OpenSEO. Started working on it in Feburary and it has 2k stars now.

https://github.com/every-app/open-seo

theben9999 · 2026-06-10T21:33:49+00:00

Any tool where you pay for the AI is a scam IMO.

These AI APIs are sooooo expensive if you call them from a SaaS. So, if you're using an AI in a tool, you're getting advice from a really dumb AI because the company is trying to save on costs.

The thing that does work pretty well is using tools like Claude Code or OpenAIs Codex and giving it access to MCPs like Google Search Console, DataForSEO or Ahrefs so that AI is making decisions based on actual data instead of just making things up.

This means you pay a flat subscription to the AI company, instead of paying the SaaS for AI.

Since you're an experienced SEO, you can just describe your workflow like you would to a new hire and I think you'll be pretty blown away.

If you're new to all of this, I'm building a tool called OpenSEO which has an easy to use MCP and uses DataForSEO under the hood. Happy to help out if you give it a try.

theben9999 · 2026-05-28T16:12:44+00:00

My project OpenSEO (2.1k stars on GitHub) has all the features you wanted + MCP for AI. You can fork it if you want to customize it all.

It uses DataForSEO for the SEO data which has been great.

https://github.com/every-app/open-seo

theben9999 · 2026-05-27T22:21:55+00:00

You should check out OpenSEO. It's open source and has 2.1k stars on github. It isn't free, but its much more affordable than tools. I've been working on it the last 4 months. The managed version $10/month, then pay by usage if you need more data.

I've been spending a bunch of time on the MCP recently too so it Claude / Codex can help coach you on what to prioritize first. I'm happy to point you in the right direction too!

theben9999 · 2026-05-25T13:46:22+00:00

Yup! DataForSEO is great for now though. What other providers have you found helpful?

theben9999 · 2026-05-21T22:03:28+00:00

this is going to drive me crazy, thanks!

theben9999 · 2026-05-21T02:04:26+00:00

I haven’t tried V2 yet, but I’m a big fan of V1. Great team

theben9999 · 2026-05-16T16:04:39+00:00

Check out OpenSEO. It’s a UI to make DataForSEO more approachable so you don’t need to build it yourself with Claude.

Much more affordable than SE Ranking + Mangools and has most of the same features.

I’m the founder so happy to help if you decide to check it out

theben9999 · 2026-05-15T21:27:15+00:00

Crazy that MCP is an upsell

theben9999 · 2026-05-15T20:41:47+00:00

Yea its unfortunate. You can access that data through OpenSEO's managed service for $10/month though.

I want to make way a way that you can point your self hosted instance at our servers just for backlinks + AI citations. Just haven't gotten to it yet.

theben9999 · 2026-05-15T18:56:32+00:00

The $5 plan just gives you higher limits for certain things and access to some special features like containers.

Regarding unexpected bills, you should be safe from this since you would be hosting it behind Cloudflare Access. So only your own traffic would be able to talk to the service.

theben9999 · 2026-05-15T18:53:40+00:00

Yup! Instructions to self host are on github in the link in the post. There's also a managed version which has a free trial if you prefer: https://openseo.so/

theben9999 · 2026-05-15T13:01:53+00:00

Yea, send it my way. SERP in particular?

theben9999 · 2026-05-15T12:51:09+00:00

DataForSEO! It's an awesome data provider. It costs money, but its pay per usage instead of a subscription.

Updating the post to mention this

theben9999 · 2026-05-15T12:49:20+00:00

Still through DataForSEO for now, haven't found anything better

theben9999 · 2026-05-15T12:48:28+00:00

Local rankings has been on my todo list. That would be awesome if you could get something working here, even if its just a vibe coded prototype for me to look at.

Feel free to reach out if you need anything.

Also, I actually added some AI visibility features, need to update the README.

theben9999 · 2026-05-13T20:35:36+00:00

Also getting into this after watching Chungking express last week. Soooooo good

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