crawlgraph now has a free API tier (15 backlink calls a month, no card)

until today the API needed the $99 lifetime license. now there is a free tier: 15 backlink calls a month, resetting on the 1st, on the same Common Crawl web graph (120M domains, 4.4B links). request a key on the docs page and it lands in your inbox.

two curl commands

# 1. get a key (it arrives by email, no signup, no card)
curl -X POST https://crawlgraph.com/api/v1/free-key \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "[email protected]"}'

# 2. look up any domain's backlinks
curl -X POST https://crawlgraph.com/api/v1/backlinks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer cg_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domain": "example.com", "limit": 10}'

responses carry X-RateLimit-* headers so you always know where you stand. one key per email, delivered by mail so nobody can farm keys for addresses they do not own.

it works in your AI agent too

the same key powers the crawlgraph-mcp server in Claude, Cursor, Cline, Zed, or Windsurf:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crawlgraph": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "crawlgraph-mcp"],
      "env": { "CRAWLGRAPH_API_KEY": "cg_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

your agent can pull the backlink profile of any domain mid-conversation. the gap_analysis and gap_outreach_targets tools - the ones that turn "research my niche" into a ranked outreach list - stay part of the $99 lifetime tier, which also raises the quota to 1,000 backlink calls plus 50 gap analyses a month. no subscription, ever.