SEOPeek vs Moz API: Which SEO Audit Tool is Right for Your Budget?
Moz built its reputation on Domain Authority—the industry-standard metric for measuring a website's link authority. The Moz API is genuinely useful for that. But if what you actually need is a fast, cheap SEO audit API that checks title tags, meta descriptions, Open Graph markup, and structured data on individual URLs, Moz was never designed for that job. This is a direct, honest comparison of what each tool does well, what each costs, and how to decide which fits your workflow in 2026.
What Moz Actually Does
Moz has been around since 2004 and is one of the oldest names in the SEO industry. Its core products—Moz Pro and the Moz API—are built around a proprietary link graph. The flagship metric is Domain Authority (DA), a 0–100 score that predicts how likely a domain is to rank in search results based on its backlink profile. Page Authority (PA) is the same concept applied at the page level.
The Moz API exposes these metrics programmatically. You can query DA, PA, Spam Score, and link data for any domain or URL. It is widely used in SEO tools that display authority scores, link prospecting systems, and domain research workflows.
Moz API Pricing in 2026
Moz API access is sold as part of Moz Pro or as a standalone API subscription. The tiers in 2026:
- Starter — $99/mo. Entry-level API access with a capped monthly call volume. Covers DA, PA, Spam Score, and basic link data. Suitable for low-volume tooling or small-scale research.
- Medium — $179/mo. Higher call limits, access to more link data endpoints. The tier most small agencies land on for production tooling.
- Large — $299/mo. High-volume access with the broadest endpoint coverage. Aimed at agencies and platforms that embed Moz data at scale.
All three tiers deliver the same core data types: link authority metrics, backlink counts, anchor text data, and spam signals. They do not differ in terms of what data categories are available—they differ in how many API calls you get per month.
What Moz Does Well
- Domain Authority and Page Authority. DA and PA are the most widely recognized authority metrics in the SEO industry. If your workflow involves qualifying link prospects, scoring domains, or surfacing authority signals in a dashboard, Moz is the go-to data source.
- Spam Score. Moz's Spam Score flags domains that share characteristics with known spammy or penalized sites. Useful for disavow workflows, link audits, and outreach qualification.
- Backlink data. The Moz Link Explorer index surfaces links pointing to any domain or URL. It is not as large as Ahrefs' index, but the data quality is solid for prospecting and monitoring.
- Brand recognition. DA scores are cited in proposals, reports, and client decks across the industry. If a client or stakeholder asks for "the DA," Moz is the authoritative source.
- Moz Pro site audits. The Moz Pro platform includes a browser-based site crawler that surfaces technical SEO issues. For non-developers doing periodic manual audits, it works.
Where the Moz API Falls Short
- No on-page audit endpoint. The Moz API does not have an endpoint where you submit a URL and receive structured on-page checks. There is no response object telling you whether the page has a title tag, a valid meta description, proper Open Graph tags, canonical URLs, or JSON-LD structured data. That is simply not what the API was built to do.
- Expensive for developers who only need on-page checks. At $99/mo minimum, the Moz API is priced for teams that genuinely need authority and link data at scale. If what you need is programmatic on-page auditing for CI/CD pipelines or monitoring scripts, $99/mo buys you a tool that cannot do the job.
- The site audit is dashboard-only. Moz Pro's site crawler is a browser-based product. You navigate a dashboard, trigger crawls, and download reports. There is no way to integrate it programmatically into an automated workflow or CI/CD pipeline. You cannot fire a request after a deploy and get on-page results back in JSON.
- Credit and rate limit complexity. Depending on your tier, Moz API calls are governed by a mix of monthly limits, row limits per request, and access rules that vary by endpoint. For high-frequency per-URL auditing, the math quickly becomes unfavorable.
The core mismatch: Moz is excellent at answering "how authoritative is this domain?" SEOPeek is excellent at answering "does this page pass on-page SEO checks?" These are different questions. Choosing the wrong tool for the question you are asking costs time and money.
SEOPeek: On-Page SEO Audit via API
SEOPeek does one thing: it audits a URL for on-page SEO quality and returns structured JSON. Send a URL, get back 20 on-page checks, a score from 0 to 100, and a letter grade from A to F. The response takes under 2 seconds.
There is no dashboard, no site crawler, no keyword tool, no backlink index. Just a clean API endpoint designed for developers who need to integrate on-page SEO checking into automated systems.
What SEOPeek Checks
Each audit covers 20 on-page factors:
- Title tag — presence, content, and character length
- Meta description — presence and length
- H1 tag — presence and count (flags multiple H1s)
- Open Graph tags — og:title, og:description, og:image
- Twitter Card meta
- Canonical URL
- Structured data (JSON-LD)
- Image alt text coverage
- Mobile viewport meta
- Language attribute
- Charset declaration
- Favicon
- Internal and external link counts
- Word count
- HTTPS status
Every check returns a pass boolean, the extracted value, and a human-readable message. The response is predictable, flat, and easy to consume in any language.
SEOPeek Pricing
- Free tier — 50 audits/day. No signup. No API key. No credit card. Hit the endpoint and get results immediately. Enough for development, testing, and low-volume use cases.
- Pro — $9/mo for 1,000 audits. That is $0.009 per audit. Flat monthly rate, no credits, no overage surprises.
- Business — $29/mo for 10,000 audits. For teams running bulk audits, monitoring campaigns, or embedding SEOPeek into a product.
The free tier alone handles most development and low-traffic monitoring needs. The jump from free to Pro is $9.
Feature and Pricing Comparison
| Feature | SEOPeek | Moz API |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free (50/day) | $99/mo (Starter) |
| Mid tier | $9/mo (1,000 audits) | $179/mo (Medium) |
| High volume | $29/mo (10,000 audits) | $299/mo (Large) |
| Per-URL on-page audit | Yes — core product | No |
| Response format | Pure JSON | JSON (link data only) |
| Response time | < 2 seconds | Varies by endpoint |
| On-page checks per URL | 20 | Not available |
| Score + letter grade | 0–100 + A–F | Not available |
| Domain Authority (DA) | No | Yes — core product |
| Page Authority (PA) | No | Yes |
| Spam Score | No | Yes |
| Backlink data | No | Yes |
| OG tag validation | Yes | No |
| Structured data check | Yes | No |
| CI/CD integration | Yes — designed for it | Not supported |
| Free tier with API access | Yes — 50/day, no signup | No |
When to Choose Moz
Moz is the right choice when your workflow centers on link authority, domain qualification, or competitive link analysis. Choose Moz when you need:
- Domain Authority at scale. If you are building a link prospecting tool, a CRM that scores outreach targets, or a reporting dashboard that surfaces DA for any domain, the Moz API is the authoritative source. There is no serious competitor to Moz's DA data.
- Spam Score for link audits. Identifying toxic links or disavow candidates benefits from Moz's Spam Score model. If you are managing large link profiles and need programmatic spam detection, Moz delivers.
- Backlink research via API. The Moz Link Index lets you query the backlinks pointing to any URL or domain. For applications that need inbound link data without the full Ahrefs price tag, Moz's Medium or Large tiers are worth evaluating.
- Client reporting that references DA. DA is the metric clients recognize and ask about. If your deliverables include authority data, Moz is what stakeholders expect to see cited.
- Periodic manual site audits. If your SEO workflow involves logging into Moz Pro, running a crawl, and reviewing issues in the dashboard once a month, that workflow is fine for non-developers. You do not need an API for that.
When to Choose SEOPeek
SEOPeek is the right choice when your workflow is automated, developer-driven, and focused on on-page correctness. Choose SEOPeek when you need:
- On-page SEO checks in CI/CD pipelines. Add an SEO quality gate to every pull request or deploy. Fail the build if a page ships without a title tag, a meta description, or proper Open Graph tags. This is SEOPeek's primary use case, and it is something Moz cannot do at all.
- Automated monitoring of critical pages. Schedule daily or hourly audits of your most important pages. Catch regressions early—a CMS update that strips canonical URLs, a template change that drops the viewport meta tag, or a deploy that inadvertently removes structured data.
- Bulk auditing for content teams or agencies. At $0.009 per audit on the Pro plan, you can check 1,000 pages for $9. That scales. The Moz API at $99/mo does not provide this functionality regardless of how many calls you have.
- Embedding SEO scoring in a SaaS product. Building a platform that surfaces on-page quality scores for users? SEOPeek's structured JSON response is designed for embedding. Predictable schema, fast response, no parsing surprises.
- Budget-conscious teams who only need on-page checks. At $9/mo versus $99/mo minimum for Moz, the cost difference is over 90% for the specific job of on-page auditing. If backlinks and DA are not in scope for your project, there is no reason to pay Moz pricing.
Example: Automated On-Page Monitoring with SEOPeek
Here is a simple monitoring script that audits a set of URLs and alerts when any page drops below a score threshold:
// monitor.js — run daily via cron or GitHub Actions
const URLS = [
"https://yoursite.com/",
"https://yoursite.com/blog/",
"https://yoursite.com/pricing"
];
const THRESHOLD = 75;
for (const url of URLS) {
const res = await fetch(
`https://seopeek.web.app/api/audit?url=${encodeURIComponent(url)}`
);
const data = await res.json();
if (data.score < THRESHOLD) {
console.error(`FAIL: ${url} scored ${data.score} (${data.grade})`);
// Send alert via Slack, PagerDuty, or email
} else {
console.log(`OK: ${url} — ${data.score} (${data.grade})`);
}
}
This runs in a few seconds, costs less than a cent, and surfaces regressions before Google recrawls the page. You cannot replicate this with the Moz API—it has no on-page audit endpoint to call.
Using SEOPeek and Moz Together
The two tools operate on different layers of SEO, which means they genuinely complement each other rather than compete:
- Moz for authority signals. Use Moz DA and PA to qualify link prospects, score inbound links, and surface authority data in dashboards and reports. These are metrics derived from Moz's link graph—a dataset you cannot replicate with on-page analysis.
- SEOPeek for on-page correctness. Use SEOPeek for automated auditing of page-level technical SEO. Run it in CI/CD, schedule it as a monitor, or use it to bulk-check client pages programmatically. These are checks that require fetching and parsing the live page—something Moz's link-focused API is not designed to do.
An agency that manages SEO for ten clients might use Moz to track domain authority trends and qualify new link opportunities, while running SEOPeek checks on every content publish to make sure pages ship with correct metadata. The two workflows never overlap. At $9/mo for SEOPeek's Pro plan added on top of a Moz subscription, the combined cost is still well under a single Moz Medium tier alone.
The Honest Summary
Moz built its business on Domain Authority, and that metric remains genuinely useful. The Moz API is a solid choice if your application needs link authority data, Spam Score, or backlink metrics. At $99–$299/mo, the pricing is reasonable for teams that actually need those data types at scale.
But if what you need is a fast, cheap API that checks on-page SEO quality—title tags, meta descriptions, Open Graph markup, structured data, canonical URLs—the Moz API is not the right tool, regardless of tier. It does not offer that functionality. You would be paying $99/mo for data your use case does not require.
SEOPeek is purpose-built for that job. Twenty on-page checks per URL. JSON responses under 2 seconds. A free tier that requires no signup. A Pro plan at $9/mo. It is a narrower tool that costs less and fits the on-page auditing use case precisely because it was designed for exactly that—nothing more, nothing less.
If you are unsure which to start with, the answer is simple: SEOPeek's free tier costs nothing. Try it on your URLs today and see whether the on-page audit data is what you need. If you later discover you also need DA and backlink data, Moz will still be there.
For more context on how SEOPeek stacks up against other tools in the market, see SEOPeek vs Ahrefs and the best SEO audit APIs for 2026.
Try SEOPeek Free — No Signup Required
50 on-page audits per day, zero friction. Get structured JSON with 20 checks, a 0–100 score, and a letter grade back in under 2 seconds. The fastest way to add programmatic SEO quality checks to your stack.
Run your first audit →Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Moz API support on-page SEO auditing?
No. The Moz API is built around link authority metrics—Domain Authority, Page Authority, Spam Score, and backlink data. It does not offer a per-URL on-page audit endpoint that checks title tags, meta descriptions, Open Graph tags, heading structure, canonical URLs, or structured data. For that use case, SEOPeek is purpose-built and starts at free.
How much does the Moz API cost in 2026?
Moz API tiers in 2026 are $99/mo (Starter), $179/mo (Medium), and $299/mo (Large). The tiers differ by monthly call volume and data access breadth. All tiers focus on Domain Authority, Page Authority, Spam Score, and link data.
Is SEOPeek a good Moz API alternative?
SEOPeek is a strong Moz alternative for the specific problem of on-page SEO auditing via API. It checks 20 on-page factors per URL in under 2 seconds for as little as $9/mo. For link authority data and DA scores, Moz remains the better source. They solve different problems and are often used together rather than as substitutes.
Can I use SEOPeek and Moz together?
Yes, and it is a sensible combination. Moz handles authority signals and link data; SEOPeek handles on-page correctness checks and automated monitoring. Because they operate on different data layers, there is no overlap. Adding SEOPeek's Pro plan ($9/mo) on top of a Moz subscription adds on-page audit automation without meaningful cost impact.
What is the cheapest way to get programmatic SEO audits in 2026?
SEOPeek's free tier gives you 50 on-page audits per day with no signup. The Pro plan is $9/mo for 1,000 audits—roughly $0.009 per audit. That is cheaper than any Moz tier for on-page auditing, and cheaper than Ahrefs, Semrush, or any other major platform for this specific use case. See the best SEO audit APIs for 2026 for a broader market comparison.
The Bottom Line
Moz and SEOPeek are not really competing for the same buyer. Moz is a link authority platform. SEOPeek is an on-page SEO audit API. The right question is not "which one is better" but "which one solves the problem I actually have."
If you need DA, PA, Spam Score, and backlink data in your application, use Moz. If you need automated, per-URL on-page SEO checks that plug into CI/CD pipelines and monitoring scripts, use SEOPeek. If you need both, use both—the combined cost is lower than most people expect.
Browse more SEOPeek articles to learn about automated SEO monitoring, CI/CD integration patterns, and how SEOPeek compares to other tools in the market.