OpenRush is now a verified connector in Claude's connector directory, one of three verified SEO connectors along with Semrush and Ahrefs. The other two require a paid plan before your agent can ask its first question, while an OpenRush account opens free with no card on file.
The three verified SEO connectors
Claude's directory lists three verified SEO connectors: Semrush, Ahrefs, and OpenRush. Verification means Anthropic reviewed and published the server, so adding it takes one click from inside Claude rather than a hand-edited config file with a server URL in it.
All three reach comparable data. The difference is what you have to buy first.
The Semrush MCP server requires an eligible Semrush subscription, and queries through it draw down API units tied to that account. Ahrefs includes its MCP server with paid plans from Lite up to Enterprise. Either way you are starting from a monthly bill.
OpenRush has no plan attached. Opening an account costs nothing and takes no card, and your agent can run its first query minutes later.
Bring your first-party data into Claude
Another major difference is that OpenRush can connect your first-party data. Authorize a GA4 property through the Google Analytics MCP and a Search Console property through the Google Search Console MCP, then Claude can analyze your sessions, engagement, clicks, impressions, and rankings through the same OpenRush connection.
That puts owned performance beside OpenRush's market and competitor data. Claude can move from “organic sessions dropped” to the queries that lost clicks, the live results that changed, and the competitors that gained ground without making you export reports or switch between tools.
What OpenRush costs to run
OpenRush bills prepaid credits. $10 buys 1,000 credits, which puts one credit at $0.01, and a credit leaves your balance only when a tool actually runs. Here is what the common calls cost:
| Tool | What it pulls | Credits | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dataset export | Any dataset, exported in full | 1 | $0.01 |
| SERP lookup | Live search results for a query | 2 | $0.02 |
| Keyword research | Keyword ideas and search volumes | 3 | $0.03 |
| Page audit | On-page SEO for a single URL | 3 | $0.03 |
| AI visibility | How often a domain is cited in AI Overviews vs competitors | 20 | $0.20 |
| Backlink gap | Sites that link to your competitors but not you | 40 | $0.40 |
Listing your sites and the available tools costs nothing, so your agent can survey what it has before spending anything. The full table lives on the pricing page. Every account is capped at 60 requests per minute, 1,000 per hour, and 10,000 per day.
Paying for the months you actually work
SEO work arrives in bursts. A launch or a migration burns through hundreds of queries in a week, and then the site sits quiet while you write and wait for rankings to move. A subscription charges the same in both months.
A credit balance behaves differently. It carries over untouched through the quiet stretch, because credits never expire and nothing renews on your behalf. When the next project starts, you top up from the dashboard and keep going.
The same math applies while you are still deciding. Open an account, point Claude at it, and run the queries you would run in week one of a real engagement. If the data holds up, buy credits.
Add the connector
Adding OpenRush takes three steps inside Claude:
- Open Settings, then Connectors, and search the directory for OpenRush
- Click Add and authorize the connection to your OpenRush account
- Ask Claude a question about a domain you own or compete with
A first query worth running:
Find the five sites outranking openrush.com for keyword research terms,
then show me which keywords they cover that we don't.Claude picks the tools, pulls live search results, and returns a cited answer. Each fact carries its source, method, confidence, and observation time, so you can check the claim rather than trust it. The MCP setup guide covers Cursor, Codex, ChatGPT, and other clients, and the SEO MCP page lists every tool your agent can reach.
Start without spending anything
Verification takes setup down to one click, and the credit model means the card stays in your wallet while you make up your mind. A Claude agent can be reading live SERP, keyword, backlink, and audit data for your domain within a few minutes of adding the connector. Buy credits once the data has earned it. For the longer story on why OpenRush is built for agents instead of dashboards, read Welcome to OpenRush.