Clear answers about the open-source release, provider costs, Cloud pricing and credits, data ownership, automation, and current product limits.
What bisibility does, where it fits, and which limits matter today.
I started bisibility around the time OpenSEO was taking off, with different goals. OpenSEO is an agent-first toolkit built on DataForSEO. bisibility focuses on rankings you can trust: you choose the data provider, every rank check shows where it came from, and ranking changes sit next to Search Console, deploy and index signals. Both are open source, so try both.
bisibility is an open-source SEO research and search visibility application.
Research keyword opportunities, inspect backlink data, review domain overview, track Google rankings and related SEO signals, then work with the results through the app, versioned REST API, CLI, MCP, signed webhooks, CSV exports, or PostgreSQL in a self-hosted deployment.
Available workflows include competitor benchmarking, rank alerts, Owner, Admin, Editor, and Viewer roles with an audit log, opt-in Search Console and Google Analytics 4 metrics, and a timeline for deploy and CMS signals.
bisibility is a good fit when you want to choose your own data providers, keep long-term search visibility history, automate workflows through APIs or MCP, or run the application in your own infrastructure.
A bundled SEO suite may fit better if you want one subscription that includes all data sources, managed reporting, content optimization, site auditing, and specialist Brand Visibility tracking.
bisibility does not provide a full-site crawler or content optimizer. Site Audit checks a bounded HTML sample. Brand Visibility datasets, multi-model Prompt Playground tests and recurring Prompt Tracker are available, with shared Project Context and protected Agent Reports.
bisibility is a pre-1.0 release. Core workflows are available, but you may encounter rough edges and breaking changes.
For a self-hosted production deployment, configure real authentication and email delivery, protect the database and application network, create backups, and review release notes before upgrading.
Which connected accounts unlock each capability and what they charge.
No. Cloud starts with a 7-day free trial without a card, and self-hosting does not require one either. Saving a card is your consent to the monthly subscription. During the trial, paid access starts when the trial ends; at the last minute or after the trial, it starts right away with no bonus. Checkout shows the charge date and amount before you confirm.
You still need data for rank checks and research: use your own provider account, billed by that provider directly, or credits charged at provider cost plus a 30% markup.
No. bisibility does not run its own crawler or license an index. It is a layer above SEO data providers, and the provider you connect supplies the data. Rank checks can use DataForSEO or SerpApi in the order you choose; keyword research, domain overview, backlinks and brand visibility in AI search currently use DataForSEO.
bisibility adds the workspace around that data: scheduled checks, rank history in your project, alerts, competitors, Search Console and analytics context, a REST API, CLI and MCP. Each rank check records which provider returned it, when, and what it cost, so you can switch without losing history.
It depends on the provider you connect. Suites like Ahrefs and Semrush sell access to their own databases, and index depth differs from one vendor to the next. bisibility does not build its own index, so you choose whose data you trust and can switch later.
Rank checks read live Google results at check time, and each check stores its provider and timestamp, so you or your agent can see how fresh a number is. Keyword volumes and backlink counts are provider estimates that refresh on each provider's own schedule.
The self-hosted application is released under AGPL-3.0 and has no bisibility subscription or per-keyword license fee.
You still pay for the infrastructure you operate, provider requests made with your accounts, and any optional services such as email delivery. The hosted service is a paid subscription with a free trial.
The open application and the hosted service offer the same features. Hosted pricing pays for managed hosting and operations, not unlocked features. If paid capabilities ever ship alongside the open application, features already released in the open application are not moved behind a paywall or removed.
Provider support differs by capability. Connecting SerpApi enables Google rank checks, but it does not currently enable bisibility's keyword or backlink research. Each supported capability works with your own key or, on Cloud, with credits.
| Capability | DataForSEO | SerpApi |
|---|---|---|
| Google rank tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Keyword research | Yes | Not currently |
| Backlink research | Yes | Not currently |
| Domain overview | Yes | Not currently |
Provider spend depends on the number of keywords, locations, devices, scheduled runs, result depth, provider mode, and paid research requests.
With your own provider keys, bisibility adds no markup, on Cloud or self-hosted. Cloud credits are charged at provider cost plus a 30% markup. Use the cost calculator to compare DataForSEO pay-as-you-go rank checks with SerpApi subscription allowances before enabling a schedule.
Paid research and backlink requests show a maintained estimate before the provider call. When DataForSEO returns a provider-reported cost, bisibility records it; when no dollar cost is reported, bisibility uses the configured estimate.
No. Cloud and self-hosted bisibility offer the same features: the Cloud subscription pays for managed hosting and operations, not for unlocking features. Features already released in the open application are not moved behind a paywall, and whatever gets removed instead of reworked gets removed from both versions.
Because with Cloud, running bisibility becomes our job instead of yours: the scheduler that never sleeps, upgrades, backups, monitoring, security patches. You pay to not think about any of it. It is also what keeps the project alive - every Cloud subscription funds development of the open-source version.
How credits, the Cloud subscription, refunds and tax work.
Credits are the prepaid Cloud balance for checks and research that run on bisibility's provider accounts. They are consumed at provider cost plus a separately shown 30% markup.
Packages of 500, 1,000, 5,000, or 10,000 credits, which add $5, $10, $50, or $100 of wallet value. The price shown before checkout includes an estimated processing cost, and you always receive the full credit amount. You can buy again at any time; nothing is bought automatically.
Purchased credits never expire, including after you cancel the subscription. Only the one-time $0.50 trial bonus expires, 30 days after it is granted.
No. The $3/month subscription pays for hosted access and includes no credits or monthly allowance. Credits are optional and bought separately; with your own provider keys you may never need them.
Yes. Each project chooses its data source per provider, your own key or credits, so you can mix them without changing plans. For example, use your own SerpApi key for rank checks and credits for DataForSEO research.
Yes. Cloud access includes a weekly plan usage limit for the hosted processing behind checks, research and scheduled work. It applies to every data source, your own provider keys and credits alike, because it covers our infrastructure rather than provider costs. The limit is account-wide, resets every week on the weekday your account was created and applies on top of your project limits. The app shows the share you have used and when it resets, and warns you before you reach it; until a limit is shown, none applies. We will announce any new fees at least 30 days in advance, and accounts created before we publish plan usage limits keep their current terms for 3 months.
Before a paid call, bisibility reserves its estimated cost from your balance. After the provider responds, the charge settles at the provider's cost for that call plus 30%, and the rest of the reservation returns to your balance.
Checks and research that use credits, including scheduled runs, are refused before any provider call until you add credits, so a refused call costs nothing. Nothing is bought automatically, and connections that use your own provider keys are not affected.
Yes. Each project has budgets per provider, with separate limits for the app and schedules and for the API and agents. They apply to your own keys and to credits alike.
Access continues until the end of the paid period, with no extra grace period. After that, paid checks and schedules pause, while read access, exports and your purchased credits stay available. A successful payment restores paid access.
No. Credit packages are non-refundable, including unused credits, except where the law requires a refund. Before you buy, you ask us to add the credits immediately and acknowledge that you lose the 14-day withdrawal right once they are delivered.
App Store purchases follow Apple's refund process at reportaproblem.apple.com. If you believe the law entitles you to a refund, contact contact@bisibility.com.
The project owner. The subscription and the credit wallet belong to the owner's account, and credit charges in the owner's projects draw from that wallet. Invited members are not charged.
Yes, when the project uses credits for that provider. Paid calls through the REST API, CLI and MCP are estimated first and count against the project's API and agents budget, separately from the app and schedules budget.
No. Credits run on bisibility's provider accounts and exist only on Cloud. Self-hosting is free and uses your own provider keys, billed by your provider directly.
Yes. Cloud access and credit package prices are shown before tax. Checkout asks for your billing address, and any applicable tax is calculated from it and added to the payment or the subscription invoice. Tax never reduces the credits you receive.
How to run bisibility and understand its data boundaries.
One Cloud subscription costs $3/month, whether you use your own provider keys, credits, or both. Credits are purchased separately. New accounts start with a 7-day free trial without a card.
Accounts created before the switch to paid Cloud get a one-time free Cloud trial, with no card and no automatic subscription. If you received our early-access email, you can also activate its personal code on the claim page within 7 days after paid Cloud starts, for free Cloud access until 30 days after that start. A longer free period you already have is kept.
When free access ends without a subscription, paid checks and schedules pause, while read access, exports and your credit balance stay available. You can then subscribe, self-host the application for free, or export your full history and leave.
Yes. Download a project package from the hosted app to keep its keywords and completed ranking history together, then restore that package into a self-hosted project. Provider keys, analytics tokens, and user passwords are intentionally excluded.
You can also export project rank history as CSV through the app or REST API. The API supports the same history filters as the app and streams completed checks as CSV.
Yes. bisibility Cloud hosts the application for you, so you can use it without operating PostgreSQL, Valkey, or the Temporal worker.
Cloud access costs $3/month after a 7-day free trial without a card. Use your own provider keys, credits, or both.
The hosted service keeps your data portable through full-history export and a migration path to self-hosting; you do not own or operate the managed database.
You can also self-host the open-source application and operate the full stack yourself.
The core Docker stack runs the web app, PostgreSQL and Valkey for manual checks. Add compose.worker.yaml for schedules, plus compose.temporal.yaml if you want the bundled Temporal server.
You also need an account with a supported SERP provider. Email delivery, analytics connections, and other external integrations are optional.
Projects, tracked keywords, rank history, and application settings are stored in the PostgreSQL database you operate. Provider credentials saved through the app are encrypted before storage; optional environment fallback credentials remain in your application environment.
To perform a rank check or paid research lookup, your deployment sends the required query, location, device, domain, or URL context directly to the provider account you connected. Optional analytics integrations also exchange data with the corresponding analytics service.
bisibility does not proxy self-hosted provider requests through a bisibility-owned SERP account.
Credits come in packages of 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 credits ($10, $50 or $100 of wallet value). The price shown before purchase includes estimated processing costs. Hosted operations consume credits at provider cost plus a 30% markup. Credits are optional one-off purchases, separate from the Cloud subscription, and are non-refundable except where the law requires it.
Not a permanent one. New users get 7 days of trial access without a payment card. Eligible new accounts that save a verified card during the trial get a one-time $0.50 test-credit bonus, valid for 7 days; saving the card also opts into the subscription from the trial end date. Cancelling before the first paid period removes the bonus, and any spent part can leave a negative credit balance. Self-hosting stays free forever.
How scripts and agents connect, and what the license requires.
DataForSEO's MCP server gives an agent direct access to DataForSEO API calls. bisibility's MCP works one level up, on your project: tracked keywords, stored rank history, schedules, alerts, competitors and project context.
It can use more than one provider, estimates the cost of paid calls before they run, respects the budgets you set, and comes with agent skills for common SEO workflows.
Yes. bisibility exposes a versioned REST API with OpenAPI, TypeScript, Python, and Go SDKs, signed outbound webhooks, a CLI, and an MCP endpoint.
These interfaces are available to test in the current pre-1.0 release and may change before 1.0.
Agents can authenticate with a personal access token or a project-scoped API key. Core workflows include managing projects and keywords, connecting providers, running checks, reading rank history, working with alerts, researching keywords, and exporting data. Exact operations depend on the interface and release. Paid calls that use credits count against the project's API and agents budget.
Agents work with authenticated tools and structured responses rather than controlling or scraping the dashboard.
You can use, inspect, modify, and self-host the released application under AGPL-3.0. If you run a modified version as a network service for other people, the license generally requires you to offer those users the corresponding source code.
Running an unmodified bisibility deployment for your own team or company does not require you to publish anything.
Versions already released under AGPL-3.0 remain available under those terms. The license text governs; this FAQ is a practical summary, not legal advice.