Moz Links API review
Best for Domain Authority
There is one reason to buy the Moz Links API and it is Domain Authority. DA is one of the most widely cited third-party SEO metrics: it appears in outreach spreadsheets, client reports and a good share of the tooling in this category, though most link sellers now quote Ahrefs' Domain Rating instead. If the people you work with already speak DA, no competitor's link score substitutes for it, because the number itself is the deliverable.
What you get is a small, well-scoped API: link metrics, referring domains, anchor text and the authority scores, including Brand Authority alongside Domain Authority, plus keyword metrics. Billing is by row of data returned, on monthly plans that run from 3,000 rows at $20 to 4 million at $2,000, with a free tier of 50 rows a month for evaluation.
It is worth being straight about the trade. Working SEOs are consistently unenthusiastic about Moz as a platform, and the specific criticism of DA, that it is a modelled score and a gameable one, is fair and widely made. Neither of those things stops DA being the number your client asks about, which is precisely why the API exists.
Our scorecard
Our editorial read across six dimensions, scored 1 to 5. This is our own assessment, not an aggregate of user reviews, and it is deliberately kept out of the page's structured data.
- Data coverage3/5
Links, authority scores and keyword metrics. Narrow by design, and the index is not Ahrefs' or Majestic's.
- Pricing4/5
Genuinely cheap to start at $20, and the row model is easy to forecast once you know your query shape.
- Documentation4/5
Clear v3 reference with a straightforward token model. Nothing clever, nothing missing.
- Ease of integration5/5
A single API token and plain JSON. This is the easiest thing in the directory to wire up.
- Reliability4/5
Long track record and stable endpoints. The free tier's one-request-per-ten-seconds is severe.
- Support3/5
Adequate, and the product is simple enough that most people never need it.
An editorial read, not an aggregate of user reviews, and deliberately kept out of this page's structured data.
What you can pull
Domain Authority
Billed per row returned
The 1 to 100 score for a domain, plus the underlying link counts. The metric people actually buy this API for
Page Authority
Billed per row returned
The same modelled score at URL level, which is what outreach workflows usually filter on
Brand Authority
Billed per row returned
A separate proprietary score for brand strength rather than link strength, used for benchmarking and PR measurement
Linking domains and backlinks
Billed per row returned
Referring domains, individual links, anchor text and the spam signals Moz attaches to them
Anchor text
Billed per row returned
Aggregated anchor distribution for a target, which is the standard input to a link-profile audit
MCP access
Included, beta
Model Context Protocol connectivity, listed as Beta Enabled across the paid tiers, so an AI client can query the metrics directly
Who Moz Links API is for
Anyone building outreach, link prospecting or reporting tooling where Domain Authority is the number users expect to see. That is a real and common requirement, and it is not a technical one: you are buying a shared vocabulary. At $20 a month for 3,000 rows the cost of speaking that vocabulary is low.
As a primary link dataset it falls short. Practitioners who care about link data as data use Ahrefs or Majestic, and the criticism of DA as modelled and gameable is fair. Buy Moz for the metric, not for the index behind it.
Strengths and limits
What it does well
- Domain Authority is the most widely recognised third-party SEO metric, and this is the only legitimate way to get it programmatically.
- Brand Authority gives a second proprietary angle, aimed at PR and brand measurement rather than links.
- $20 a month is a genuinely low entry price, and the row model is simple to forecast once you know your query shape.
- A single API token and plain JSON make this the fastest integration in the directory.
- MCP access is listed as Beta Enabled on the paid tiers, so AI-client access is already a supported route.
- Beta row allowances are added on top of every paid tier, from 150 extra rows to 8,400.
- Tiny as it is, the free plan needs no card and is enough to confirm the response shape before committing.
Where it falls short
- The $20 Starter tier has NO overages available. Exceed 3,000 rows and the API stops rather than billing you.
- The link index is not in Ahrefs' or Majestic's class, and practitioners consistently say so when comparing them directly.
- Domain Authority is a modelled score and a well-known target for manipulation, so treat it as a shared shorthand rather than a measurement.
- One request per ten seconds on the free plan makes it useless for anything but a smoke test.
- Coverage is links, authority and keyword metrics. No SERP data and no rank tracking.
- Overage rates vary by sub-tier in a way that is easy to misread: $5 per 1,000 on Starter Large, $25 per 10,000 on Growth Small, $20 per 10,000 on Growth Medium.
- Two API versions are still documented, v2 and v3, which adds a decision before you write any code.
Moz Links API pricing
Billing is per row of data returned, on two named plans that each contain sub-volumes with their own price and overage rate. Starter runs $20 for 3,000 rows or $75 for 15,000. Growth runs $125 for 50,000 rows, $250 for 120,000 and $500 for 500,000, and Advanced is $2,000 for 4 million. A free tier gives 50 rows a month at one request every ten seconds.
The detail that catches people is at the bottom. Starter Medium at $20 has no overage available at all, so exceeding 3,000 rows stops the API rather than generating a bill. That is safe and it is also a hard wall in the middle of a job, so if your volume is at all uncertain, $75 with overages at $5 per 1,000 is the more forgiving choice.
Overage rates are not uniform and are worth checking against your own overage expectation rather than assuming they scale: $5 per 1,000 rows on Starter Large works out at $50 per 10,000, against $25 per 10,000 on Growth Small and $20 on Growth Medium. Buying a bigger plan therefore improves your overage rate as well as your allowance.
One easy saving: Domain Authority moves slowly. Storing scores and refreshing monthly rather than querying live costs a fraction of what a naive integration does, because you are billed per row every time you ask. Read Moz's API General Conditions before you build a cache, though: since August 2026 they bar storing data in ways they do not expressly permit.
Free
$0
50 rows a month
- One request every ten seconds
- Enough to test the shape of a response, nothing more
- No card required
- Not viable for any production use
Starter
$20 - $75 / mo
3,000 or 15,000 rows
- $20 buys 3,000 rows with NO overages available
- $75 buys 15,000 rows with overages at $5 per 1,000
- Beta row bonuses of +150 and +750 respectively
- MCP access marked Beta Enabled
Growth
$125 - $500 / mo
50,000 to 500,000 rows
- $125 for 50,000 rows, overages $25 per 10,000
- $250 for 120,000 rows, overages $20 per 10,000
- $500 for 500,000 rows, overages $10 per 10,000
- Marked Most Popular, and where per-row cost really falls
Advanced
$2,000 / mo
4 million rows
- Overages $5 per 10,000 rows
- Beta row bonus of +400,000
- Above 4 million rows, Enterprise is quoted
Request example
A minimal call against the live endpoint, with credentials read from the environment rather than pasted inline.
curl -s -X POST "https://api.moz.com/jsonrpc" \
-H "x-moz-token: $MOZ_API_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"id": "1",
"method": "data.site.metrics.fetch.multiple",
"params": { "data": { "site_queries": [
{ "query": "example.com", "scope": "domain" },
{ "query": "example.org", "scope": "domain" }
]}}
}'
# You are billed per ROW returned, so batching many targets in one
# call does not save money: two sites is two rows. What saves money
# is not re-querying domains whose DA you already stored, because
# DA moves slowly and a monthly refresh is usually enough.Rate limits and quotas
- Free: 50 rows per month and one request every ten seconds.
- Starter Medium: $20/mo, 3,000 rows, overages NOT available.
- Starter Large: $75/mo, 15,000 rows, overages $5 per 1,000 rows.
- Growth Small: $125/mo, 50,000 rows, overages $25 per 10,000 rows.
- Growth Medium: $250/mo, 120,000 rows, overages $20 per 10,000 rows.
- Growth Large: $500/mo, 500,000 rows, overages $10 per 10,000 rows.
- Advanced: $2,000/mo, 4 million rows, overages $5 per 10,000 rows. Enterprise above that is quoted.
- Beta row bonuses: +150, +750, +3,500, +8,400, +35,000 and +400,000 on the respective tiers.
- MCP access is marked Beta Enabled on paid tiers.
What practitioners say on Reddit
Moz has the strongest brand recognition of any link-metric vendor and the weakest reputation among working SEOs, which is an unusual combination and the honest summary of what the threads say. Direct comparisons against Ahrefs go one way with striking consistency.
The specific criticism is worth understanding rather than dismissing, because it is about the metric rather than the company: Domain Authority is modelled, it is widely known to be manipulable, and practitioners are uneasy that so much of the industry treats it as ground truth. Nobody in these threads argues that DA is accurate. They argue about whether that matters.
It usually does not, for the use case this API serves. If your outreach spreadsheet, your client report or your marketplace listing is denominated in DA, you need DA, and its methodological weaknesses are somebody else's problem.
“I like Ahrefs myself. Certainly much more technique than Moz. Moz has a place in the market but if you're an SEO you'll be fine with Ahrefs.”
r/bigseo on Reddit“It makes me sad so many people have so much faith in Moz's "DA" since it is so easily gamed. [...] Moz is built for people that don't know SEO, AHREFS is built for getting work done and getting out of your way.”
r/bigseo on Reddit“Ahref is more precise, had more options but Moz has it own and simple fundamentals. You can use both.”
r/bigseo on Reddit
Verdict
Buy the Moz Links API when you need Domain Authority specifically, and skip it otherwise. That sounds dismissive and is not: DA being the industry's shared shorthand is a genuine, durable requirement, and if your product, your outreach list or your client reporting is denominated in it, there is no substitute and $20 a month is cheap.
Do not buy it as your link index. The practitioner consensus that Ahrefs and Majestic have better link data is consistent and credible, and Moz's own strength has never really been the crawl. Pair them if you need both: the good index for analysis, Moz for the number everyone quotes.
Watch the bottom tier. $20 buys 3,000 rows with no overage available, so it stops dead rather than billing. If your volume is uncertain, the $75 tier with overages is worth the extra just for not failing mid-job.
Moz Links API FAQ
How much does the Moz API cost?
Starter is $20 a month for 3,000 rows or $75 for 15,000. Growth is $125 for 50,000 rows, $250 for 120,000 and $500 for 500,000, and Advanced is $2,000 for 4 million. There is a free tier of 50 rows a month. Billing is per row of data returned rather than per request.What happens if I exceed the $20 plan?
The API stops. Starter Medium has no overages available at all, unlike every tier above it, so exceeding 3,000 rows means waiting for the next cycle rather than paying more. If your volume is uncertain, the $75 tier with overages at $5 per 1,000 is the safer buy.Is the Moz API the only way to get Domain Authority?
It is the only legitimate one. DA is Moz's proprietary metric, so no competitor exposes it and any third party claiming to is either reselling Moz data or approximating it. That exclusivity is the entire commercial logic of this API.Is Domain Authority accurate?
It is a modelled score rather than a measurement, and practitioners widely note that it can be manipulated. That is a fair criticism and mostly beside the point: DA's value is as a shared vocabulary rather than as ground truth. Use it to communicate, not to conclude.What is Brand Authority?
A second proprietary Moz score, aimed at brand strength rather than link strength, intended for benchmarking against competitors and measuring the impact of PR. It comes through the same API and is billed the same way, per row returned.Does Moz have an MCP server?
MCP access is listed as Beta Enabled across the paid tiers, so connecting an AI client is a supported path rather than something you build yourself. Being in beta, treat it as usable but not yet something to architect a product around.How do I keep the row count down?
Cache. Domain Authority changes slowly, so storing scores and refreshing monthly costs a fraction of querying live, and you are billed per row every time you ask. Batching many targets into one call does not help, because a batch of fifty domains is fifty rows. Check Moz's API General Conditions first: since August 2026 they bar storing data in ways they do not expressly permit.Moz API or Ahrefs API?
Ahrefs for link data you intend to analyse: its API starts on the $129 Lite plan with 200,000 units, and since June 2026 a separate endpoint returns Domain Rating free. Moz for Domain Authority as a number your users expect to see, from $20. They answer different questions, and plenty of teams end up paying for both without that being wasteful.
Other providers worth a look
This is an independent review. We have no affiliate relationship with Moz Links API, earn nothing if you sign up, and no provider pays for placement in the directory. Prices were read from the vendor's own pages in September 2026 and change without notice.