Does your SEO tool have real infrastructure, or is it just a wrapper?
152 tools torn down so far, sorted by what's actually running underneath.
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2 tools built by readers so far
RECENTLY TORN DOWN
01AccuRankerAPI STITCHRank tracker that checks Google SERPs directly instead of reading Search Console — real scheduling infrastructure, no proprietary web-scale index.CONF HIGH$224+/MO02Advanced Web RankingAPI STITCHRank tracker that queries search engines directly across 4,000+ engines beyond Google — real scheduling infrastructure at scale, no proprietary web-scale index.CONF HIGH$139+/MO03AhrefsDATA MOATOwn crawler, 8B+ pages a day, a decade of historyCONF HIGH$129+/MO
The index
152 tools, sorted by structure — Data Moat, API Stitch, or Pure Wrapper. The glyph counts parts, not quality. How we classify →
01AhrefsDATA MOATOwn crawler, 8B+ pages a day, a decade of historyCONF HIGH$129+/MO02ApifyDATA MOATRuns the cloud platform, proxy service, and 61,000+-scraper marketplace many scraping-based SEO tools build onCONF MEDIUM$29+/MO (FREE PLAN: $5 USAGE/MO)03Apollo.ioDATA MOATOwn crawler plus a crowdsourced contributor network and licensed third-party data feed a database refreshed on 150M+ contacts a month — real infrastructure behind the outreach tool.CONF HIGH$49+/MO04BotifyDATA MOATOwn crawler at Googlebot-matching render speed, plus real server-log ingestionCONF MEDIUMNO PUBLIC PRICING (EST. $75K–$400K+/YR)05Bright DataDATA MOATRuns a 400M+-IP proxy network — the infrastructure many scraping-based SEO tools rentCONF HIGH$8+/GB (RESIDENTIAL PROXIES)06BrightEdgeDATA MOATOwn crawler plus licensed backlink data, enterprise-only pricingCONF HIGHCUSTOM QUOTE — NO PUBLIC PRICING07BuzzSumoDATA MOATOwn multi-year content and social-engagement index (8bn+ articles, up to 5 years of history) — not a live API call, though the underlying crawler mechanics aren't publicly documentedCONF MEDIUM$199+/MO08DataForSEODATA MOATOwn crawler, 1.9T+ live backlinks — the backend many SEO tools rentCONF HIGH$50 MIN (PAY-AS-YOU-GO)09Exploding TopicsDATA MOATOwned by Semrush since 2024 but still sold as its own branded product with its own pricing pageCONF MEDIUM$39+/MO10Hunter.ioDATA MOATOwn crawler indexing 150M+ emails from the public web — a real data moat behind what looks like a simple email-finder wrapper.CONF MEDIUM£28+/MO (GBP)11MajesticDATA MOATOwn crawler since 2004, Fresh + Historic link indexes, proprietary Trust Flow/Citation FlowCONF MEDIUM$49.99+/MO12Moz ProDATA MOATOwn crawler (Dotbot), 40+ trillion link index, proprietary Domain Authority metricCONF MEDIUM$49+/MO13NinjaOutreachDATA MOATA 130M+ profile influencer/blogger database built and maintained since 2014 — not on-demand search or a rented third-party feed.CONF MEDIUM$49+/MO14OxylabsDATA MOATRuns a 175M+-IP proxy network across 195+ countries — the infrastructure many scraping-based SEO tools rentCONF HIGH$6+/GB (RESIDENTIAL PROXIES)15RocketReachDATA MOATRuns its own web-scanning search technology across a claimed 700M+ profiles and 60M+ companies — a real data moat, not a lookup you can fake with one API call.CONF MEDIUM£20+/MO (GBP)16ScraperAPIDATA MOATA scraping API whose moat is its CAPTCHA-bypass and rendering engineering, not an owned proxy networkCONF MEDIUM$49+/MO (FREE TRIAL: 5,000 CREDITS)17ScrapingBeeDATA MOATA scraping API whose moat is its rendering and anti-bot-bypass engineering, not a disclosed owned proxy networkCONF MEDIUM$19.99+/MO (FREE TRIAL: 1,000 CREDITS)18SE RankingDATA MOATOwn crawler, 2.7T backlinks, 420M domains, 6B pages/dayCONF MEDIUM$129+/MO19SemrushDATA MOATRuns its own web crawler plus a licensed 200M-user clickstream panel — a genuine data moat, not an API stitched together.CONF HIGH$117+/MO20seoClarityDATA MOATOwn daily SERP crawl plus a claimed proprietary clickstream panel behind a 32B-keyword databaseCONF MEDIUM$2,500+/MO21SerpApiDATA MOATOwn scraping fleet across 80+ engines — the SERP API many SEO and AI tools rentCONF HIGH$25+/MO (FREE TIER: 250 SEARCHES/MO)22Serper.devDATA MOATLive Google-only scraping API, priced to undercut SerpApi — the fast/cheap fetch layer many tools rentCONF MEDIUM$50+ PAY-AS-YOU-GO (2.5K FREE CREDITS, NO CARD)23SerpstatDATA MOATOwn crawler (Serpstatbot), 1.7T+ link index, also sold as raw dataCONF HIGH$50+/MO24SimilarwebDATA MOATClickstream panel, ISP data, and its own crawl, blendedCONF MEDIUM$125+/MO25SistrixDATA MOATOwn Google-SERP crawler running since 2008, 18 years of historyCONF HIGH€119+/MO26WappalyzerDATA MOATOwn cross-site crawl behind paid lead lists; single lookups are freeCONF HIGH$0 (50 lookups/mo) · $250+/MO Pro · $450/MO Business · $850+/MO Enterprise27XOVIDATA MOATOwn Google-SERP index (OVI), 500K keywords tracked weekly since Dec 2009CONF HIGH€99+/MO28YextDATA MOATProprietary Knowledge Graph feeding 200+ publisher APIs, quote-only pricingCONF HIGHCUSTOM QUOTE — NO PUBLIC PRICING29ZenRowsDATA MOATA scraping API whose moat is its anti-bot-bypass and rendering engineering, not a disclosed owned proxy networkCONF MEDIUM$16+/MO (FREE: 5,000 CREDITS/MO)