--- title: "Introduction" url: "https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/" date: "2026-06-06" --- # Introduction ### Welcome to DataForSEO API! This is the starting point on your journey towards building powerful SEO software, data analysis pipelines, and robust no-code automations. With DataForSEO you can get all the data you need while saving your time and budget. ### Getting started Follow our recommended learning path to master DataForSEO APIs. [1. Kickstart Guide to our APIs](https://dataforseo.com/blog/a-kickstart-guide-to-using-dataforseo-apis) [2. Dashboard Guide](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/dfs-dashboard-how-to-find-everything) [3. Test with API Playground](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/dataforseo-api-explorer) [4. Free Unlimited Trial Info](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/how-does-your-free-unlimited-trial-work) [5. Sandbox Best Practices](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/dataforseo-sandbox-best-practices) ### REST technology DataForSEO API is using the [REST](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer) technology for interchanging data between your application and our service. The data exchange is made through the widely used HTTP protocol, which allows applying our API to almost all programming languages. ### Client libraries You can create your REST class or use the following ready-made classes: [ ![PHP DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/php.svg) ![PHP DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/php-dark.svg)PHP DataForSEO Client Recommended: officially supported PHP Client. Author – Vitaliy Lyabakh – jovixv ](https://github.com/jovixv/DFSClient-v3) [ ![C# DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/c_sharp.svg) ![C# DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/c_sharp-dark.svg)C# DataForSEO Client Recommended: officially supported C# Client. Author – DataForSEO team ](https://github.com/dataforseo/CSharpClient) [ ![Java DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/java.svg) ![Java DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/java-dark.svg)Java DataForSEO Client Recommended: officially supported Java Client. Author – DataForSEO team ](https://github.com/dataforseo/JavaClient) [ ![Python DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/python.svg) ![Python DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/python-dark.svg)Python DataForSEO Client Recommended: officially supported Python Client. Author – DataForSEO team ](https://github.com/dataforseo/PythonClient) [ ![TypeScript DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ts.svg) ![TypeScript DataForSEO Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ts-dark.svg)TypeScript DataForSEO Client Recommended: officially supported TypeScript Client. Author – DataForSEO team ](https://github.com/dataforseo/TypeScriptClient) [ ![PHP Simple Rest Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/php.svg) ![PHP Simple Rest Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/php-dark.svg)PHP Simple Rest Client PHP REST Client build with cURL. Author – Fabio Agostinho Boris. ](https://cdn.dataforseo.com/v3/examples/php/php_RestClient.zip) [ ![Python Simple Rest Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/python.svg) ![Python Simple Rest Client](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/python-dark.svg)Python Simple Rest Client Python REST Client. Author – DataForSEO. ](https://cdn.dataforseo.com/v3/examples/python/python_Client.zip) ### PHP, Python, C# and Postman examples Choose your preferred programming language or API testing tool. [ ![PHP Examples](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/php.svg) ![PHP Examples](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/php-dark.svg)PHP Examples PHP code examples ](https://cdn.dataforseo.com/v3/examples/php/dataforseo_xmpl_v3_php.zip) [ ![Python Examples](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/python.svg) ![Python Examples](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/python-dark.svg)Python Examples Python code examples ](https://cdn.dataforseo.com/v3/examples/python/dataforseo_xmpl_v3_python.zip) [ ![C# Examples](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/c_sharp.svg) ![C# Examples](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/c_sharp-dark.svg)C# Examples C# code examples ](https://cdn.dataforseo.com/v3/examples/csharp/dataforseo_xmpl_v3_csharp.zip) [ ![POSTMAN Examples](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/postman.svg) ![POSTMAN Examples](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/postman-dark.svg)POSTMAN Examples POSTMAN examples ](https://cdn.dataforseo.com/v3/examples/dataforseo_xmpl_v3_postman.zip) [ ![POSTMAN Documenter](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/postman.svg) ![POSTMAN Documenter](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/postman-dark.svg)POSTMAN Documenter Online POSTMAN Documenter ](https://documenter.getpostman.com/view/2812008/UVR8qo6p) ### Data encoding All data you send to DataForSEO API should be [UTF-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTF-8) encoded. If you use one of the Clients listed in the first table, [gzip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gzip) will be the default format of data exchange. You will see `Content-Encoding: gzip` in the header. All the responses are returned in the [JSON](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON) format by default, but we also support responses in the [XML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML) format – just append `.xml` to the end of your request. In addition to that, you can request HTML results from endpoints that return HTML-encoded results by appending `.html` to the end of the request’s URL path. For example, the following requests will return response encoded in XML or HTML accordingly: `https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/appendix/user_data.xml` `https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/google/organic/task_get/html/09061543-1535-0066-0000-6240830f56ba.html` ### Rate limits Each of DataForSEO APIs has a certain rate limit, which you can find in the HTTP header of every endpoint. Rate limit HTTP headers we use: `X-RateLimit-Limit` – the rate limit ceiling per minute for the given endpoint; `X-RateLimit-Remaining` – the number of requests remaining in the current rate limit window. If your system requires rate limits to be increased, please contact our support team. ### Results storage The term for storing API results in our system depends on the API and method of data retrieval. - **Standard** method: results are stored for 30 days**\*** - **Live** method: results are not stored**\*** - **HTML** results: results are stored for 7 days **\***for SERP API in both Standard and Live methods, the results in JSON format are stored for 30 days. To learn more about the terms of results storage, [check this Help Center article](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/how-long-do-you-keep-results). ### DataForSEO Help Center Need guidance? Visit our Help Center for integration tips, troubleshooting info, and product FAQs. [• Live vs Standard method](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/live-vs-standard-method) [• What’s task ID?](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/whats-task-id) [• Task completion & lists of completed tasks](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/completed-tasks) [• Using filters in DataForSEO APIs](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/using-filters) [• Set multiple tasks in one request](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/multiple-tasks-in-one-api-request) [• Webhooks & callbacks](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/pingbacks-postbacks-with-dataforseo-api) [• SERP API best practices](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/best-practices-low-volume-serp-api-payload) [• Keyword Data API best practices](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/best-practices-for-handling-keywords-data-api-requests) [• On-Page API best practices](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/best-practices-for-handling-onpage-api-requests) [• Live endpoints best practices](https://dataforseo.com/help-center/best-practices-live-endpoints-in-dataforseo-api) ### Additional resources [LLMs.txt standard LLM-friendly docs version ](https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/llms.txt.md) [OpenAPI specification YAML-formatted specification for all APIs ](https://github.com/dataforseo/OpenApiDocumentation) [LangChain integration DataForSEO API Wrapper ](https://docs.langchain.com/oss/python/integrations/providers/dataforseo) To get detailed information about current system status, past and pending incidents, associated endpoints, incident gravity, and time to resolution, visit a dedicated [DataForSEO Status Page.](https://status.dataforseo.com/) > cURL php Node.js Python cSharp