Semrush vs OpenSEO
Semrush against OpenSEO for a one-person business that checks a few keywords. Prices from each vendor's site, checked Oct 21, 2026.
A figure marked as our estimate, or as our calculation, is ours. It is not a vendor promise. A price we could not read on the vendor's site is marked price unconfirmed.
Who should pick which
You check a handful of keywords, and search is not a weekly source of revenue
TRY Try OpenSEO. Skip Semrush for now.
The hosted OpenSEO plan is $10/month on its pricing page, with $10 of usage included. Set a date to decide whether those checks changed a page you actually publish. Our estimate for that test: about an hour. That hour is ours, not OpenSEO's. Semrush's cheapest paid card on the same day was $139/month if you pay monthly, or $117.33/month if you pay annually. That is a lot of money beside a $10 check.
Search already brings customers every week, and you want the large suite
TRY Only then, try Semrush with the real number in the budget.
Put $139/month in the budget for the monthly SEO plan, or $117.33/month if you accept the annual bill. Our calculation, not a yearly total Semrush printed on the card: 12 × $117.33 = $1,407.96 for the year. Advanced has no dollar amount on the card, so do not invent one. If you will not open the product most weeks, skip it even then.
Another site quoted a competitor's price to make this choice look easy
SKIP Skip that shortcut.
We did not confirm any other vendor's price, and we do not repeat one company's price for a competitor. Decide from the two price pages above.
Comparison
| Semrush | OpenSEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Job | A large SEO and AI-search suite: rank tracking, site work, and team plans. | Keyword research, backlinks, audits, rank tracking, and AI visibility, priced as usage on top of a small monthly plan. |
| Price as listed | SEO card, for freelancers and small businesses: $117.33/month billed annually, instead of $139 monthly. Starter, for small teams and agencies: $165.17/month billed annually, instead of $199 monthly. Pro+: $248.17/month billed annually, instead of $299 monthly. Advanced: no dollar amount on the card. The page includes the words “Custom pricing available.” Advanced price: unconfirmed. Free tier, from the pricing page: one website, and 10 keywords in Position Tracking. Checked Oct 21, 2026. | $10/month, and that $10 includes $10 of usage. OpenSEO says that usage is enough for most people. That is their claim, not our measurement. Free trial includes $0.50 of credits. Extra top-up credits roll over and do not expire. The usage credits included with the base plan reset each billing cycle. Cancel from the billing portal; access continues through the end of the period. Checked Oct 21, 2026. |
| Who it's for | A business where search already brings customers every week, and someone will use the suite often enough to justify the bill. | A one-person business doing a few keyword checks, with a date on the calendar to decide if the checks changed a page you publish. |
| Lock-in | The annual rate is the cheaper one. The reports live in the account. A useful export of that history was not confirmed. | The hosted account holds the projects. A self-hosted copy is the operator's own deployment, which is a way out if you can run it. We have not installed it. |
Checked Oct 21, 2026. Full verdict for Semrush and for OpenSEO: this page.
Privacy and lock-in
OpenSEO is Every App, Inc. Its privacy policy, last updated October 14, 2026, says a self-hosted deployment that Every App does not run is controlled by that operator. On the hosted service, the providers named for the features you use can include PostHog (including session replay, with form inputs and designated sensitive text masked), Stripe, Cloudflare, DataForSEO, OpenRouter, and OpenAI. Google API scopes for the integrations are read-only. The policy says Google user data is not used for advertising and is not used to train generalized AI or machine learning models. Session replay is the part to decline if you do not want a recording of how you click around the product.
We did not quote Semrush's privacy policy on this pass. What the pricing page makes clear is the commercial lock-in: the lower rate is the annual bill, and the reports live in their account. Canceling stops the next charge. Whether you can take the history with you in a useful file was not confirmed on Oct 21, 2026.
Full verdict
Full verdict: SemrushFull verdict: OpenSEO
This page is the full verdict. These two tools are not in the weekly tool library yet.
FAQ
Is OpenSEO a Semrush replacement?
For a few keyword checks, it is the tool to try. It is not the same product. Semrush is a broad suite with cards from $139/month. OpenSEO's own pricing page is a $10/month plan that includes $10 of usage. Checked Oct 21, 2026.
Why not take Semrush at the annual price?
$117.33 a month, paid annually, is still a yearly commitment. Our calculation from that monthly rate is 12 × $117.33 = $1,407.96. Semrush did not print that figure as an annual total on the card. Skip Semrush until search is a weekly source of revenue.
Is there a free way to look?
OpenSEO's pricing page offers a free trial with $0.50 of credits. Semrush's pricing page says a free user can monitor one website and track 10 keywords in Position Tracking. Either can answer whether you show up at all, before you pay.
Are these partner links?
None of the links on this page are partner links. We have not joined an affiliate program for these tools. Partner links may be used in the future. They never change a verdict.
Sources
None of the links on this page are partner links. We have not joined an affiliate program for these tools. Partner links may be used in the future. They never change a verdict.