I built an open-source alternative to $300/mo SEO tools

George3307 — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 04:45:17 +0000

I was spending $200+/month on SEO tools. Ahrefs for keyword research, Surfer for content optimization, Jasper for AI writing. Three subscriptions, three dashboards, and I was still copy-pasting between them.

🔗 Try the live demo — no signup needed

So I built SEOBot — an open-source toolkit that handles the whole SEO workflow in one place.

What it does

Keyword Research — Type a seed keyword, get 50+ long-tail suggestions via Google Suggest (recursive 2-level expansion). Automatically clustered by semantic similarity. Zero API cost.

AI Content Generation — Pick a keyword → get 3 title suggestions → generate a full SEO-optimized article with real-time scoring (keyword density, heading structure, readability). Costs about $0.01 per article via OpenAI API.

Technical SEO Audit — Paste any URL, get an 18-point analysis across meta tags, content quality, security, mobile-friendliness, and performance. Visual score with actionable recommendations.

One-Click Publishing — Push to Dev.to, WordPress, Twitter/X, or export as Markdown. Credentials stay in your browser.

What it doesn't do (yet)

I want to be upfront:

No backlink data (we don't crawl the web like Ahrefs)
No keyword volume numbers (Google Suggest gives you real queries but not search volume)
No rank tracking (yet)
AI content needs human editing — it's a strong first draft, not a final product

These are on the roadmap. But even without them, the current feature set covers the daily SEO workflow for indie hackers and small teams.

Tech stack

Next.js 14 + TypeScript + Tailwind + shadcn/ui
OpenAI GPT-4o-mini for content generation
Client-side only — your data never leaves your machine

Try it

git clone https://github.com/George3307/seobot.git
cd seobot && npm install && npm run dev

Keyword research and audit work without any API key. Content generation needs an OpenAI key (set OPENAI_API_KEY).

Why open source?

I believe the best SEO tool is one you control. No monthly bill that goes up. No feature gates. No "upgrade to see this keyword." Fork it, customize it, self-host it.

If SEOBot is useful to you:

⭐ Star it on GitHub — helps others find it
🐛 Open an issue — tell me what feature you need most
🔧 PRs welcome — check the roadmap

MIT licensed. Free forever.

I Built an Open-Source Alternative to Ahrefs & Surfer SEO (Costs $0.01/Article)

George3307 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 02:15:30 +0000

SEO tools are absurdly expensive.

Ahrefs: $99-999/month
Surfer SEO: $89-299/month
Jasper AI: $49-125/month
Semrush: $139-499/month

For indie developers and small teams, that's a lot of money for tools you might use a few times a week.

So I built SEOBot — an open-source AI SEO toolkit that does 80% of what these tools do, for essentially free.

What It Does

1. Keyword Research (Free, No API Key)

Enter a seed keyword, and SEOBot recursively expands it via Google's Suggest API (2 levels deep), then clusters results by semantic similarity.

No external API needed. Works instantly. Export to CSV for further analysis.

2. AI Content Generation (~$0.01/Article)

A 3-step workflow:

Enter target keyword
Review AI-generated outline (3 title options)
Generate full SEO-optimized article

Built-in SEO scoring checks keyword density, heading structure, content length, and readability.

Supports English and Chinese.

Uses OpenAI's GPT-4o-mini — about $0.01 per 2000-word article.

3. Technical SEO Audit (18-Point Check)

Enter any URL and get an instant analysis across 5 categories:

Meta Tags: Title, description, OG tags, Twitter card, canonical, robots, structured data
Content: H1, word count, heading hierarchy, image alt text, links
Security: HTTPS, mixed content
Mobile: Viewport, language attribute
Performance: Load time, page size

Visual score (0-100) with per-category breakdowns.

4. One-Click Publishing

Publish your generated content directly to:

Dev.to (draft or published)
WordPress (any self-hosted site)
Twitter/X (share summaries)
Markdown export (for Hugo, Astro, Jekyll, etc.)

The Cost Breakdown

What	Cost
Keyword research	Free (Google Suggest)
SEO audit	Free (server-side fetch)
Content generation	~$0.01/article (OpenAI API)
Hosting (Vercel free tier)	Free

Compare that to $99/month minimum for Ahrefs.

Tech Stack

Next.js 14 (App Router)
TypeScript + Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui
OpenAI GPT-4o-mini (for content generation only)

Try It

git clone https://github.com/George3307/seobot.git
cd seobot
npm install
export OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key
npm run dev

Keyword research and SEO audit work without any API key.

GitHub: github.com/George3307/seobot

If you find this useful, star the repo ⭐

Questions? Open an issue or drop a comment below.

DEV Community: George3307