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SISTRIX API review

Best for Visibility Index history

Reviewed by Eugene SuslovUpdated September 2026No affiliate links
SISTRIX API homepage
SISTRIX API homepage, captured September 2026. Source: sistrix.com.

SISTRIX is a German SEO toolbox built around one number, the Visibility Index, which it has recorded week by week for more than a decade. The API exposes that series alongside keyword, backlink, AI answer, Amazon marketplace and project data, one function per call, answering in XML unless you ask for JSON. For anyone already reporting on the index, pulling it programmatically is the obvious next step.

The API is budgeted by the week. Credits refill every Monday, never roll over, and the same pool pays for exports from the interface. Access also climbs with the package: Start has none, Plus returns Visibility Index data only, and every function opens at Professional, €419 a month on monthly terms. A job sized against a monthly allowance somewhere else has to be cut into weekly slices here.

SISTRIX has also opened a second door beside the API. Its official MCP server lets Claude or ChatGPT query the same data, its datasheet lists full access on all four packages including Start, and its documentation says those requests consume no API credits. If the goal is answering questions rather than filling a warehouse, that route may remove the reason to upgrade, within whatever your package can already see.

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 coverage4/5

    Eleven years of weekly visibility, keywords, links, AI answers and Amazon. An index rather than live SERPs, and link data draws on Majestic and partners.

  • Pricing3/5

    Every price is public and cancellable monthly, but the full API starts at the third package and credits reset weekly.

  • Documentation4/5

    85 function pages, each stating a credit cost or none, plus a sandbox writing PHP, Python, Node and cURL. The trial FAQ is stale.

  • Ease of integration4/5

    GET or POST with an api_key parameter. XML by default, so format=json belongs on every call.

  • Reliability4/5

    A clear 300-a-minute limit with rate-limit headers you can read from a free call, plus a public status page.

  • Support4/5

    Chat on every package, telephone and premium priority from Professional, weekday office hours only.

An editorial read, not an aggregate of user reviews, and deliberately kept out of this page's structured data.

What you can pull

domain.*

1 credit per entry; 5 for domain.overview, 10 for the index overview

Current and weekly historical Visibility Index, ranking keyword counts, top URLs, paths and hosts, SEO and ads competitors, and traffic estimation

keyword.*

1 credit per entry; 5 per entry for keyword.seo.metrics

Top organic and ads positions for a keyword, a domain's ranking keywords, questions, search intent, SERP features and traffic estimates

links.*

25 for the overview; links.list 1 per entry, capped at 250

Backlink overview, up to 10,000 known backlinks for a domain, link texts and link targets

ai.*

1 credit per entry; 10 for overview calls; model and project lists free

Stored AI answers per prompt from AI Mode, AI Overviews and ChatGPT, brand and domain AI visibility checks, topic research and AI Tracker projects

project.* (Optimizer)

No credit cost listed; a new crawl's URLs are deducted from the account

Your own projects: tracked rankings and SERPs, competitors, project visibility, on-page crawl results and issues, and starting a new crawl

marketplace.*

1 credit per entry; price and reviews 1 plus 1 per entry

Amazon products, brands, sellers and keywords, bestseller ranks, price and review history, and Amazon visibility indexes

Basic functions

Free

Your remaining credits, the available countries and the SERP feature filters the other functions accept

MCP server

No API credits consumed, per SISTRIX's docs

The same data queried from Claude, ChatGPT or another MCP client at api.sistrix.com/mcp/, authorised through the SISTRIX login with OAuth 2.0

Who SISTRIX API is for

SEO agencies and in-house marketers who already report on the SISTRIX Visibility Index and want it, with the rankings behind it, inside their own dashboards. The weekly series is the reason to buy: eleven years of it on Professional, one call per domain, cheap in credits. Teams working German-speaking markets are the natural fit, because that is where practitioners describe SISTRIX as the standard tool.

It suits a steady weekly rhythm and fights a single big monthly export. It also needs care before building anything client-facing, because the fair-use policy bars sharing API data with third parties without written authorisation. And if all you want is to ask questions of the data from Claude or ChatGPT, the MCP server may be enough on its own.

Strengths and limits

What it does well

  • The Visibility Index as a weekly time series with 11 years of history on Professional, retrievable for a domain, host, path or single URL.
  • Every function prints its credit cost and most charge per entry returned, so a job can be costed from the documentation before it runs.
  • MCP access that SISTRIX documents as consuming no API credits, listed in its datasheet with full access on every package including Start.
  • Public euro prices, identical on the English and German sites, with monthly cancellation and immediate pro-rated upgrades.
  • Backlink lists cap at 250 credits however many of the up to 10,000 rows come back, which makes link pulls predictable.
  • AI functions returning stored answers from AI Mode, AI Overviews and ChatGPT, drawn from the same credit balance.
  • Rate-limit headers readable from a free credits call, so a client can pace itself without spending anything.

Where it falls short

  • Full API access starts at Professional, €419 a month. Plus at €239 returns Visibility Index data only, and Start has no API.
  • Credits reset every Monday and do not roll over, so a monthly batch job has to be spread across weeks or it stalls mid-run.
  • One weekly pool pays for API calls, interface exports and shortlinks, so a colleague's CSV download spends the integration's budget.
  • The fair-use policy forbids sharing API data, functions or results with third parties without explicit written authorisation.
  • Responses default to XML, and the minimum 300 ms gap between requests means a strictly sequential client tops out at 200 a minute.
  • An index rather than live SERPs: keyword rankings come from SISTRIX's database, and the backlink index includes Majestic and other partners.
  • SISTRIX's own trial pages disagree. The sign-up and pricing pages say 14 days, while an English FAQ from 2018 still says 7 days with no exports.

SISTRIX API pricing

Four packages, priced in euros plus tax and cancellable monthly: Start €119, Plus €239, Professional €419 and Premium €799 a month. A 12-month term lowers those to €99, €199, €349 and €599. The German Preise page shows the same figures. Enterprise adds custom quotas, custom invoicing schedules and billing in dollars, pounds, Swiss francs or yen, on request.

API rights climb with the package rather than being sold on their own. Start has no API, Plus has a limited level covering Visibility Index data only, and Professional and Premium have full access. Weekly credits follow the same ladder at 1,000, 10,000, 30,000 and 100,000, shared between API calls, interface exports and shortlinks. Another 10,000 a week costs €75 a month from Plus upward.

Most functions charge one credit per entry returned, a few charge a flat amount, and functions with no listed cost are free. That makes link pulls easy to budget: links.list returns up to 10,000 backlinks for at most 250 credits, so a Professional week covers 120 full lists before a top-up. A decade of weekly Visibility Index values for one domain runs to more than 500 credits.

Requests through the official MCP server sit outside that ledger. SISTRIX's documentation says MCP requests do not consume API credits, with one page adding 'at this time', and the MCP datasheet lists full access on all four packages. Since 31 August 2026 it accepts OAuth 2.0 only, and the docs say requests carrying a raw API key are no longer answered.

Plus

€239 / mo

Monthly, or €199 / mo on a 12-month term

  • Limited API: Visibility Index data only
  • 10,000 export and API credits a week
  • Extra 10,000 credits a week for €75 a month
  • Start at €119 has no API level at all

Professional

€419 / mo

Monthly, or €349 / mo on a 12-month term

  • Full API access to every function group
  • 30,000 credits a week, refilled each Monday
  • Full data history of 11 years
  • Telephone and premium-priority support

Premium and Enterprise

€799 / mo or custom

€599 / mo on a 12-month term

  • Full API with 100,000 credits a week
  • Roles, rights management and an audit log
  • Enterprise sets custom quotas and billing
  • Invoices in USD, GBP, CHF or JPY on Enterprise only
Check current SISTRIX API pricing

Request example

A minimal call against the live endpoint, with credentials read from the environment rather than pasted inline.

A year of weekly Visibility Index values · bash
curl -s -G "https://api.sistrix.com/domain.visibilityindex" \
  --data-urlencode "api_key=$SISTRIX_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "domain=example.de" \
  --data-urlencode "country=de" \
  --data-urlencode "history=true" \
  --data-urlencode "limit=52" \
  --data-urlencode "format=json"

# 1 credit per entry returned, so 52 weekly values cost 52 credits.
# Visibility Index data is what Plus's limited API level covers. The
# address key can be domain, host, path or url, and without
# format=json the answer comes back as XML.
#
# The credits function is free. Its headers carry X-RateLimit-Limit
# and X-RateLimit-Remaining, so pace from those:
# curl -I "https://api.sistrix.com/credits?api_key=$SISTRIX_API_KEY"

Rate limits and quotas

  • 300 requests a minute per Toolbox account, with at least 300 ms between requests. Repeated breaches return HTTP 429.
  • Weekly credits by package: Start 1,000, Plus 10,000, Professional 30,000, Premium 100,000.
  • Credits refill to the maximum every Monday and do not carry over to the next week.
  • The same credits cover API requests, interface downloads and shortlink creation.
  • Additional credits: 10,000 a week for €75 a month, available from Plus upward.
  • API level by package: Start none, Plus limited to Visibility Index data, Professional and Premium full.
  • Functions with no credit cost in the documentation are free; most others charge per entry returned.
  • API data may not be shared with third parties without SISTRIX's explicit written authorisation.
  • The MCP server accepts OAuth 2.0 only from 31 August 2026; raw API keys are no longer answered there.
  • Output is XML unless format=json is set, and parameters work the same by GET or POST.

What practitioners say on Reddit

Mostly positiveOur read of public threads, not a review score.

Reddit discussion of SISTRIX is thin, and a 2015 r/SEO post was titled after finding only three results for the name. What exists comes mostly from people working German-speaking markets, who describe it as the default tool there and run it beside Semrush or Ahrefs rather than instead of them. The Visibility Index is the part people single out.

Criticism is about fit rather than quality. Practitioners note that the index is a snapshot that does not accumulate, so year-to-date questions need exporting, and that keyword filtering needs the rank tracker rather than the main database.

The one API-specific thread is instructive: an agency user found keyword.domain.seo returning only a slice of a domain's keywords per date, and worried that pulling every date would burn the agency's credits on duplicates. It went unanswered, which is its own signal about how few people discuss the API in public.

  • “Sistrix is the standard SEO tool in Germany. Second place is probably split between Searchmetrics and SEMrush.”
    r/SEO on Reddit
  • “I am using Sistrix as well as SEMrush. SEMrush has a lot more data but I really like the visibility data from Sistrix which is I know SEMrush has as well but they want more money for it.”
    r/SEO on Reddit
  • “As for the /a-certain-string/ option, you can see their visibility index by path, even by URL. If you get API access you could compile the visibility index for any set of URLs you define.”
    r/bigseo on Reddit
  • “The issue I've run into however is that this method requires a date parameter to return the keywords, and for each date there's only a fraction of the total list of keywords I find when searching directly in the Sistrix.”
    r/bigseo on Reddit

Verdict

Buy it for the Visibility Index. If your clients or stakeholders already read that line, the API is the cleanest way to put eleven years of it inside your dashboards, and at one credit per weekly value the series itself is cheap. The keyword, link, AI and Amazon functions are useful company for it rather than the headline.

Plan in weeks, and price from Professional. Plus looks like an API package on the comparison table but returns Visibility Index data only, and the Monday reset punishes a job designed around a monthly allowance. Split big exports across the month, keep interface downloads from draining the pool, and budget €75 a month for each extra 10,000 weekly credits.

Try the MCP server before you upgrade. It is official, documented as using no API credits and listed with full access on every package, so a team that mainly wants answers inside Claude or ChatGPT may never need the full API. If you are building something other people will use, read the clause on sharing data with third parties first.

Visit SISTRIX API

SISTRIX API FAQ

  • What is the SISTRIX price for each package?
    Four packages, all in euros plus tax: Start €119, Plus €239, Professional €419 and Premium €799 a month, cancellable monthly. On a 12-month term they drop to €99, €199, €349 and €599. The German Preise page lists identical figures. For API work the realistic entry is Professional, because Plus only returns Visibility Index data.
  • Is there a SISTRIX trial, and what happens when it ends?
    Yes, 14 days, and it ends on its own. SISTRIX's German FAQ says the trial never converts into a paid contract, and billing or payment details are asked for only if you actively book. It can be used once and ended early by emailing support. One older English FAQ still says 7 days; the current sign-up and pricing pages say 14.
  • Which package includes the SISTRIX API?
    Professional and Premium get full access. Plus gets a limited level that returns Visibility Index data only, and Start has no API at all. SISTRIX's own quick-start guide tells new API users to create a Professional account. The MCP server is a separate matter: its datasheet lists full access on all four packages.
  • How do API credits work?
    They arrive weekly and refill to your package's maximum every Monday: 1,000, 10,000, 30,000 or 100,000. Unused credits do not carry over, and the same pool pays for interface exports and shortlinks. Most functions charge per entry returned, a few charge a flat amount and some are free. Another 10,000 a week costs €75 a month.
  • What is the SISTRIX API rate limit?
    300 requests a minute per Toolbox account, with at least 300 ms between requests, and HTTP 429 when the limit is repeatedly exceeded. Strictly sequential, that gap caps you at 200 a minute. A header request to the free credits function returns X-RateLimit-Limit and X-RateLimit-Remaining without spending a credit.
  • Does SISTRIX have an MCP server?
    SISTRIX runs an official one at api.sistrix.com/mcp/ and publishes step-by-step connection guides for Claude and ChatGPT. The documentation says MCP requests consume no API credits, and the datasheet lists full access on Start, Plus, Professional and Premium alike. Since 31 August 2026 it accepts OAuth 2.0 only, so a client still configured with a raw API key needs re-adding.
  • What are the alternatives to SISTRIX for API access?
    Three in this directory, as read from those vendors' pages on 3 September 2026. SE Ranking's Wallet charges $50 a month for 250,000 non-expiring credits and Ahrefs starts at $129 a month with 200,000 API units (US prices, re-read 17 September 2026), while Semrush needs its $549 Advanced plan plus unit packages with no published price. None carries the Visibility Index, the usual reason to choose SISTRIX.
  • Is SISTRIX worth it outside Germany?
    It depends on whether anyone in your reporting chain reads the Visibility Index. Practitioners describe SISTRIX as the standard tool in Germany, built for the DACH market, and use it beside Semrush or Ahrefs. The API's country parameter lists 53 countries, so coverage is broad, but a team with no attachment to the index gets less from it than the price implies.

This is an independent review. We have no affiliate relationship with SISTRIX 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.