Moz API Free API Key Limit 2026: Rows, Rates, and Real Costs

The Moz API free API key limit 2026 sits at 50 rows of data per month, with one request allowed every ten seconds. That single number decides whether the API becomes a real data source for your project or stays a short experiment. Moz publishes the figure openly, yet plenty of third-party pages still quote older allowances that no longer apply.

Moz has sold this product under several names over the years, including Moz Links API, Moz Data API and, earlier still, Mozscape. What matters now is the shape of the current service. It is a row-billed JSON-RPC interface that returns Domain Authority, Page Authority, Brand Authority, Spam Score, backlink data and keyword metrics on demand.

This guide covers the free key limit, the throttles attached to it, every paid tier, and the practical ways to stretch a small row budget. It also compares Moz with other SEO data APIs so you can choose deliberately rather than out of habit.

What the Moz API Actually Is

Moz is a Seattle-based search-marketing company founded in 2004 as SEOmoz, and it now operates as part of Ziff Davis. Its product line includes Moz Pro, Moz Local, STAT, Moz Data and the Moz API itself. The API exposes Moz’s link index and SEO metrics programmatically, billed by the row rather than by the seat.

Technically, the service is built on JSON-RPC 2.0 and runs through a single endpoint at https://api.moz.com/jsonrpc. Authentication happens through an x-moz-token header. Moz documents 62 public methods spread across five namespaces, which keeps the surface area reasonably small for a product with this much data behind it.

One Endpoint, One Token

A previous unification update consolidated links, keyword metrics and Brand Authority into one API with a single token, moving the whole product to JSON-RPC. New calls go to api.moz.com/jsonrpc, while several link endpoints remain documented on the legacy lsapi.seomoz.com/v2/ host. If you inherit old code, expect a mix of both hosts during migration.

Each account can hold up to five active API tokens. Tokens are deletable, but deleting one breaks any integration still using it, so rotate carefully rather than tidying aggressively.

The Metrics You Can Request

Metric endpoints cover Fetch Site Metrics and Fetch Multiple Site Metrics, which return Domain Authority, Page Authority, Brand Authority and Spam Score for one URL or many. Link endpoints return backlinks, linking root domains, anchor text, Link Intersect, Link Status and Final Redirect. Keyword endpoints return Difficulty, Volume, Organic CTR, Priority, search intent and related keywords.

There is also List Ranking Keywords, which returns the keywords a domain, subdomain, subfolder or page ranks for within the top 50 positions, along with position, Difficulty and Monthly Volume. Moz claims an index of 45.5 trillion links, 8.7 trillion URLs and 1 billion domains, plus more than 800 million keyword suggestions. For teams that need lighter keyword workflows without code, a tool like Keyword Tool Pro covers the research side in a browser.

The API Is a Separate Subscription from Moz Pro

This surprises a lot of buyers: Moz’s own FAQ states that no paid API access is included in a Moz Pro subscription. The API is a standalone purchase with its own row-based billing. If you want the interface, campaign tracking and reporting that Moz Pro provides, read the Moz Pro product breakdown before you assume one plan covers both.

Moz API Free API Key Limit 2026: What 50 Rows Actually Buys

The free allowance is a testing budget, not a working quota. A single ranking-keywords call can return up to 50 rows and consume the entire month in one request. Understanding how rows are counted is the difference between a smooth prototype and a stalled integration on day two.

How Moz Counts a Row

Rows are the billing unit, and the endpoint plus its parameters determine consumption. Single-object endpoints such as Final Redirect always cost one row. Multi-result endpoints such as Links and URL metrics cost roughly one row per returned object, and some weighted endpoints cost more than that. One independent review notes that a SERP call can cost 15 rows.

The Ten-Second Throttle

Free accounts are limited to one request every ten seconds. Paid accounts are reported to allow up to 200 requests per second. That gap tells you exactly what the free tier is for: confirming authentication, validating a payload shape, and checking that your parser works.

The 4xx Penalty Window

Moz applies a second layer of protection on top of the standard throttle. Once more than 50 requests in a five-minute window return a 4xx response, the caller is capped at 50 requests per five minutes until 30 seconds pass without a 4xx. Malformed test loops therefore cost you far more than the failed calls themselves.

Checking Remaining Rows Mid-Build

Remaining rows are readable in every response body, and a dedicated quota.lookup method returns the figure at path api.limits.data.rows. Quota is not exposed in response headers, so your client has to parse the body to track usage. Build that check into your request wrapper early rather than bolting it on later.

Where Third-Party Numbers Go Wrong

You will find pages claiming the free tier includes 2,500 rows per month, and at least one comparison site saying 10 requests per month. Moz’s own current documentation states 50 rows at one request per ten seconds, and independent reviews published in 2026 corroborate it. The outliers appear to describe legacy allowances, so treat the official documentation as authoritative.

Moz API Pricing in 2026: Every Tier Compared

Moz groups its plans into Starter and Growth bands, with Advanced and Enterprise listed separately. All figures below are in US dollars, quoted per month, at the time of writing (October 2026). No annual discount for the API appeared in the pricing materials reviewed, which is worth noting because Moz Pro does offer annual discounting.

Moz publishes sizing examples that make the row math easier to picture. The 3,000-row Starter Medium tier roughly covers URL metrics for 25 domains daily. The 120,000-row Growth Medium tier covers up to 100,000 links against a single target plus URL metrics for more than 500 domains daily.

Paid tiers also carry small beta row bonuses that are metered separately from the main plan quota. They do not reduce your purchased rows and they do not trigger overages, which makes them genuinely free headroom rather than a billing trap.

Moz API vs Other SEO Data Options in 2026

Moz is not the only way to get link and keyword data programmatically, and it is not the cheapest at every volume. The comparison below sticks to published or reported entry costs, so you can see where the Moz API free key limit stops being the deciding factor.

Two caveats matter more than the price column. First, Domain Authority and Page Authority are Moz-proprietary scores and are not interchangeable with Ahrefs DR or Semrush Authority Score. Second, Moz’s terms require displaying the Moz logo linked to moz.com when you show API data, and they prohibit white-labelling the metrics.

If your priority is a second independent backlink index rather than the Moz metric set, a tool such as Majestic has its own citation-based model. The Majestic SEO pricing guide breaks down what that comparison costs in practice.

How to Get a Moz API Key and Stay Under the Limit

The signup itself is short. The discipline comes afterwards, when a working script starts burning rows faster than your reporting needs justify.

1. Create a Moz account and add a valid, non-expired credit card, which is required for the free tier but is not charged unless you upgrade.
2. Generate an API token in the dashboard, remembering that an account can hold up to five active tokens at once.
3. Send your first call to https://api.moz.com/jsonrpc with the x-moz-token header set to your token value.
4. Start with a single-object endpoint such as Final Redirect, which always costs one row and confirms authentication cheaply.
5. Read the remaining-row value from the response body before every batch so a runaway loop cannot exhaust the month unseen.
6. Cache every response locally, because a repeat lookup answered from cache costs nothing and protects your quota.
7. Log 4xx responses separately, since more than 50 of them in five minutes triggers the penalty window.

Quota is checked before a method runs, and a shortfall returns HTTP 403 with code -32670. That error is unambiguous once you know it, but it looks like a generic authorisation failure if you have not planned for it. Handle it as a quota event rather than retrying in a loop.

Practical Tips to Stretch Every Row in 2026

Small design decisions decide whether 3,000 rows lasts a week or a quarter. These habits cost nothing and reliably reduce consumption.

• Batch URL lookups through Fetch Multiple Site Metrics to cut request overhead, and remember that batching saves requests rather than rows.
• Reserve the free tier strictly for integration testing, since one ranking-keywords call can consume the full 50-row allowance.
• Avoid SERP endpoints on the free tier, because a single SERP call can cost 15 rows according to independent testing.
• Refresh Domain Authority on a monthly cadence rather than daily, since the underlying score rarely moves fast enough to justify daily pulls.
• Choose Starter Large over Starter Medium as soon as you expect real traffic, because Starter Medium has no overage and simply stops.
• Track consumption inside your own application logs, because Moz reports quota in the response body rather than in headers.

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One structural question deserves an early answer: do you need the API at all? The API is a data layer with no tracking over time, no saved campaigns and no scheduled reporting. Every call is a snapshot. If what you actually need is a dashboard and recurring reports, a subscription to the application is the better purchase.

Moz Data MCP Beta: Moz Metrics Inside Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Cursor

Moz opened its Data MCP Server beta on 3 August 2026, which changes how non-developers can reach the same metrics. Two remote servers are available at https://api.moz.com/mcp/v1/data and https://api.moz.com/mcp/v1/local. Authentication runs through OAuth 2.1 sign-in or a Bearer token built from your Moz API key, and Moz describes setup as taking under two minutes.

Access is limited to account owners during the beta, with seated-user access still in progress. MCP requires a Moz Data API subscription, and all paid tiers list MCP access as beta enabled. Beta rows are metered separately from the main quota, so experimentation does not eat into the rows you paid for or generate overages.

Pros & Cons of Moz API in 2026

Who Should Use Moz API in 2026?

Solo Developers and Small SEO Teams

If you need recognisable authority metrics on a tight budget, the $20/month Starter Medium tier is genuinely hard to beat. Three thousand rows is enough for a small portfolio of client sites refreshed monthly. Just plan the refresh cadence before you buy, because that tier has no safety net once rows run out.

Agencies With Their Own Reporting Layer

Agencies that already run a BI stack or a custom dashboard only need Moz as one input among several. In that setup the API is efficient, since your own system holds the history and scheduling. Teams weighing a full platform against point tools can compare Moz Pro vs Raven Tools before deciding where the interface budget belongs.

AI and Agent Workflow Builders

The MCP beta is the most interesting 2026 development for anyone building agent workflows. Moz metrics can be pulled into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Cursor without writing an integration. The current limitation is real, though: only account owners can connect during the beta, so shared team access is not yet available.

Teams That Mainly Need Tool Interfaces

Plenty of people searching for API limits actually need the applications built on top of that data. A one-off audit, a keyword sprint or a backlink review rarely justifies an API subscription and a client library. Toolsurf provides 1-Click Cloud Access to premium tools through the browser for $2/Day, which suits that use case without any coding.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – Moz API in 2026

How many rows does the Moz API free tier include?

Moz’s current documentation states 50 rows of data per month on the free tier, with one request permitted every ten seconds. Some third-party pages quote 2,500 rows or 10 requests, but those figures appear to describe older allowances. Independent reviews published in 2026 corroborate the 50-row figure, so plan around it.

Do I need a credit card to get a free Moz API key?

Yes. Moz’s authentication guide states that a valid, non-expired credit card is required to sign up for the free tier. The card is not charged unless you upgrade to a paid plan. Some third-party guides claim no card is needed, but the official documentation is the version to trust here.

What happens when I reach the free API key limit?

Calls stop returning data until the next cycle. Quota is checked before a method runs, and a shortfall returns HTTP 403 with error code -32670. On the paid Starter Medium tier the behaviour is the same, because that plan has no overage option. Higher tiers can exceed their allowance and pay the published overage rate instead.

How fast can I call the Moz API on the free tier?

One request every ten seconds, which works out to a slow trickle rather than a usable batch rate. Paid accounts are reported to allow up to 200 requests per second. A separate penalty applies if more than 50 requests in a five-minute window return 4xx errors, capping you at 50 requests per five minutes.

Is the Moz API included with a Moz Pro subscription?

No. Moz’s own FAQ states that no paid API access is included in a Moz Pro subscription, and the API is billed separately by row volume. If you need both the application interface and programmatic data, budget for two products. That separation is the single most common surprise for new buyers.

Does the Moz API offer a free trial separate from the free tier?

No separate trial appeared in the pricing materials reviewed. The 50-row free tier is the trial path, and it is enough to confirm authentication, test a payload and validate your parser. Treat it as a proof of concept rather than a preview of production capacity, because one ranking-keywords call can consume the entire month.

How do I check my remaining Moz API rows?

Every response body includes the remaining row count, and a quota.lookup method returns it at path api.limits.data.rows. The figure is not exposed in response headers, so your client must parse the body. Building that check into a request wrapper early prevents surprise 403 errors mid-batch.

Can I use the Moz API inside Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor?

Yes, through the Moz Data MCP Server beta that opened on 3 August 2026. Authentication runs through OAuth 2.1 or a Bearer token built from your API key. Access is limited to account owners during the beta, and it requires an active Moz Data API subscription on a paid tier.

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