What Semrush exposes
Semrush exposes data through three main developer surfaces. The MCP server is included on every paid plan (SEO, Pro+, Advanced) and on AI Visibility add-on subscriptions, Semrush is one of the more aggressive SEO vendors at pushing agent access broadly. The REST API is gated to Advanced+ only, with API integration as a headline feature of that tier. Looker Studio integration ships on Pro+ and Advanced for no-code dashboarding. Daily Analytics requests are capped by plan (3,000 / 5,000 / 10,000 from SEO through Advanced) and shared across endpoints. Coverage spans backlinks, keyword research, SERP analysis, traffic analytics, AI visibility reports, and content optimization, the broadest endpoint surface of any SEO tool.
Pricing, limits, and integration
Semrush uses an API units consumption model: every call costs a number of units that varies by endpoint and rows requested. Monthly unit budgets are tier-gated and shared with MCP usage on the same plan. The full REST API is gated to the Advanced plan and above ($455.67/mo annual, $549 monthly), SEO and Pro+ plans get MCP only, not direct API access. Authentication is API-key based via header for the standard endpoints; OAuth 2.0 is supported for the Projects API. Endpoint categories: SEO API (domain reports, keyword research, backlinks, organic/paid search), Trends API (traffic, market, audience insights, separate subscription), Projects API (Position Tracking, Site Audit, campaign management), and Local API (listing management, map rank tracking). No first-party SDKs and no OpenAPI spec documented. No webhooks. Use MCP on any plan for LLM-driven flows; reach for the direct API on Advanced+ for code-driven pipelines, scheduled jobs, and dashboards.
How much does the Semrush API actually cost?
Semrush publishes an API, but per-tier gating wasn't extracted automatically.
- Most likely scenario: API access is either included in all paid plans, or it's gated to higher tiers and we need to verify on the live docs page.
- Until verified, treat the question "which plan unlocks the API" as open. Don't budget on the assumption it's free with the cheapest paid plan.
API at a glance
Webhooks: Site Audit completion events ("Completed Site Audit", "New Task for Site Audit Campaign") are exposed via the official Zapier integration. Direct REST webhook subscriptions not documented separately.
Which AI clients can read Semrush data?
Not every AI assistant supports MCP natively. Here's the per-client picture for Semrush specifically.
| Client | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Claude (Desktop/Web) | Native MCP | Connect via the Semrush MCP URL in Claude Desktop settings. |
| Claude Code | Native MCP | — |
| ChatGPT | Via connectors | Works via ChatGPT custom connectors (Plus tier+). Rougher setup than Claude Desktop. |
| Cursor | Native MCP | — |
| Codex | Native MCP | — |
| Windsurf | Native MCP | — |
| Cline | Native MCP | — |
| Gemini | API-only (custom code) | Gemini chat has no native MCP client; call the API from custom code. |
| n8n | API-only (custom code) | No first-party n8n node; integrate via HTTP Request or community workflow. |
Semrush also has an MCP server
If you're wiring Semrush into Claude / Cursor / Codex, the MCP server is usually less code than the REST API.
See Semrush MCP pageWhat you can build with the Semrush API
Three personas, three different shapes of build. Pick the row that matches how you actually ship.
Glue Semrush into your daily workflow
- Pull a digest of fresh activity into your morning Slack
- Trigger a one-off backfill when something looks off
- Pipe data into your own SQLite for ad-hoc queries
Sell Semrush reporting at scale
- White-label Semrush data into client-branded dashboards
- Run scheduled multi-account reports without logging into the Semrush UI
- Cross-reference with the rest of the client's stack (CRM, analytics, ad spend)
Production pipelines for Semrush
- Real-time sync into your warehouse via webhooks
- Custom alerts the dashboard's built-in alerting can't express
- Backfill + idempotency handling for Semrush data older than the dashboard exposes
Quickstart template
# Starter template — endpoint paths and SDK package names come from # the Semrush API docs: https://developer.semrush.com/api/ curl -X GET "https://developer.semrush.com/<your-endpoint>" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \ -H "Accept: application/json" | jq .
Template only. Endpoint paths, exact base URL, and auth header format come from developer.semrush.com/api.
Limits and gotchas
- No OpenAPI spec — you write typed clients by hand or use a third-party generator on the docs HTML.
- Webhooks available — react to Semrush events in real time instead of polling.
- No official SDK detected. Plan on hitting the API directly with your HTTP client of choice.
- Rate limits: always read the docs page before scaling — the published limit is usually lower than the practical one and overages can be expensive.
- No-code fallback: Zapier cover the common triggers if you want to skip writing API code for simple flows.
Agent-readiness verdict
Powerful but gated. Direct API access requires the Advanced plan ($455.67/mo annual); lower tiers are MCP-only. The unit-based model adds friction for high-volume code-driven workflows compared to peers like DataForSEO; SDK and webhook coverage was not advertised on the docs I checked.
Remote streamable HTTP only, no stdio. The previously stored value was the semrush.com/mcp/ marketing page.
Semrush API FAQ
Does Semrush have a public API?+
Does Semrush support webhooks?+
Should I use the API or the MCP server for Claude / Cursor / Codex?+
Sources
- Semrush official site: https://www.semrush.com/
- API docs: https://developer.semrush.com/api/
- MCP server: https://mcp.semrush.com/v2/mcp
10+ years in digital marketing. I review marketing software for AI-stack fit: real pricing, MCP and API support, and how cleanly each tool drops into an AI agent workflow, cross-checked against verified data and real user feedback.