Ahrefs API pricing: Ahrefs API cost, API units and what each plan lets you pull

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Ahrefs API cost by plan

Most of what is written about the Ahrefs API describes an older setup, in which the API sat behind the Enterprise plan and was priced by quote. The pricing page Ahrefs shows today is different. Each of the three self serve cards carries "API and MCP access", and the plan comparison grid has an "API & Integrations" block that sets limits per plan rather than switching the API on or off.

Two cautions on that table. First, the units line on the pricing grid is labeled "Ahrefs Connect API integration units", which is Ahrefs' program for apps built on its data. The developer docs say eligible plans include "a monthly API unit allowance" for direct calls but, on the public pages we read, do not print that allowance per plan. Treat the Connect figure as a guide, and check Account settings, Limits and usage, after you subscribe. Second, the $29 Starter plan sits outside the main grid and does not list API access or Rank Tracker.

Enterprise adds "Uncapped API access" and "Custom API Endpoints" to everything in Advanced. It is the only tier with a published price that requires a year upfront. For the full plan side, including seats, credits and why Rank Tracker checks weekly on all four plans, see our Ahrefs pricing breakdown.

How Ahrefs API units are charged

The Ahrefs developer docs give the formula in one line: a request costs max(base cost, per row cost times rows). The base cost is 50 units. The per row cost is the sum of each unique field that appears in your select, where or order_by parameters. A field costs 1 unit by default, and certain metrics cost 5 or 10.

Ahrefs' own examples make the range clear. A Domain Rating lookup returns one row with two fields, so its row cost is 2 units and the request is billed at the 50 unit floor. A backlinks request that selects title and traffic, filters on traffic and referring domains and sorts by traffic has three unique fields. Traffic costs 10, the other two cost 1, so each row costs 12 units, and 500 rows cost 6,000 units.

What follows from that formula is practical. Select only the fields you need, because every extra field multiplies across every row. Keep expensive metrics out of filters when a cheaper field does the same job. Test on the free test queries before you point a job at live targets, since consumed units are non refundable. Every response also returns headers showing the rows, the per row cost and the units actually consumed, so a script can log its own spend. Responses served from cache cost nothing.

If the pull feeds a warehouse on a schedule, watch it the way you would any other pipeline. A job that hits a unit ceiling or a row cap and quietly writes half a table is worse than one that fails, and freshness and volume monitoring on the target table is the cheap way to catch it the same morning.

What the Ahrefs API costs for rank tracking

Here Ahrefs is generous. Its docs list Rank Tracker, Management and Public endpoints among the requests that consume no API units. The Rank Tracker API exposes a project overview, a SERP overview and competitor reports (overview, pages, domains and stats), and the Management endpoints let you create and edit Rank Tracker projects. Pull them as often as you like and your unit balance does not move.

The limit is not the API. It is the data behind it. The pricing grid lists Rank Tracker update frequency as weekly on Lite, Standard, Advanced and Enterprise. A free endpoint that returns a weekly position gives you a weekly chart, however often you call it. If your reporting or alerting needs a position for every day, the Ahrefs API cannot supply it at any plan price we could find published.

Compare that with Semrush, which tracks daily but meters access: 100 API units per keyword per request on its Position Tracking endpoint, on top of the $549 Advanced plan, with zero units included. Our Semrush API pricing page works out what that costs for 500 to 5,000 keywords at daily, weekly and monthly pull frequency.

Is the Ahrefs API worth it?

For the Ahrefs database, clearly yes, and Lite has become a low entry price for it. If your app or report needs backlinks, referring domains, Domain Rating, organic keywords for a competitor or keyword metrics, $129 a month with 100 rows per request is the cheapest door into an SEO database API from either of the two big suites. Batch jobs that return thousands of rows per call belong on Advanced or Enterprise, where the row cap stops being the constraint.

For rankings alone, it depends on how fresh they need to be. A monthly client report built on weekly positions is well served by Ahrefs, and the free Rank Tracker endpoints make it cheap to automate. A team that wants to know on Tuesday that a money keyword fell on Tuesday needs daily data, which Ahrefs does not list on any plan. Our guide to weekly vs daily rank tracking covers when the difference costs you money.

Where SerpsTracker fits

We sell one thing: daily Google rank tracking. The rank tracking API is included in the Agency plan at $249 a month, or $124.50 billed yearly, for 5,000 keywords checked every day across unlimited sites. It returns positions and stored history as JSON, with no units and no per call charge, and drop alerts go out by email and Slack the same day. We do not have a backlink or keyword volume database, so if you need those, keep Ahrefs and use us for the daily positions.

See the plans and limits, or put every option on one basis with the SERP API pricing comparison if you are weighing a raw search API instead.

Ahrefs API pricing questions

How much does the Ahrefs API cost?

The Ahrefs API comes with the paid plan rather than as a separate product. Ahrefs lists API and MCP access on Lite at $129 a month, Standard at $249 and Advanced at $449, and uncapped API access on Enterprise at $1,499 a month with an annual commitment. Requests then spend API units, with pay as you go charges above the plan allowance where enabled.

Is the Ahrefs API only available on Enterprise?

Not any more, going by the pricing page. Older reviews say the API is Enterprise only, but the current plan cards list API and MCP access on Lite, Standard and Advanced. What changes by plan is the maximum rows per request: 100 on Lite, 250 on Standard, 500 on Advanced and unlimited on Enterprise.

How are Ahrefs API units calculated?

Each request costs the larger of a 50 unit base cost and the per row cost times the rows returned. The per row cost is the sum of every unique field you select, filter or sort on, at 1 unit by default and 5 or 10 units for expensive metrics. Cached responses cost nothing, and consumed units are non refundable.

Does the Ahrefs Rank Tracker API use API units?

No. The Ahrefs docs list Rank Tracker, Management and Public endpoints among the requests that do not consume API units. Pulling your tracked positions, SERP overview and competitor figures from Rank Tracker costs nothing beyond the plan. The catch is the data itself: Ahrefs lists Rank Tracker updates as weekly on every plan.

Is there a free Ahrefs API?

Only for testing. Accounts without an eligible paid plan get a limited set of free test queries, and Ahrefs recommends using them while you build so development does not burn units. For production use you need a paid plan. The docs extend those test queries to every plan that is not eligible, which includes the Ahrefs Free account for site owners.

What is a cheaper alternative to the Ahrefs API for daily rankings?

If you need Google positions checked daily rather than weekly, SerpsTracker includes its rank tracking API in the Agency plan at $249 a month for 5,000 keywords across unlimited sites, with no unit meter, or $124.50 a month billed yearly. For backlink and keyword database data, Ahrefs or Semrush remain the right tools.