OpenHelm vs an SEO agency
Hire an SEO agency if you need senior strategy, link building and digital PR, and can afford a monthly retainer. Choose OpenHelm if you want the steady weekly work done for a per-seat price (keyword plan, posts published to your repo, indexing checks, reporting) while you make the calls.
Facts checked . OpenHelm wins 4 rows, SEO agency wins 3.
| OpenHelm | SEO agency | Better at it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, then from $9 per seat a month billed yearly ($11 monthly) | Growing SMEs typically pay £1,500 to £3,000 a month (Whitehat). Ahrefs' survey put the average agency retainer at $3,209 a month | OpenHelm |
| Who does the work | Agents on a schedule you set; anything risky waits for your approval | A team of people, usually a mix of senior and junior staff | Tie |
| Strategy and senior judgement | A strategist agent builds the plan from Google Ads Keyword Planner data; the judgement calls stay with you | Experienced strategists who have seen many sites and will challenge your positioning | SEO agency |
| Link building and digital PR | Not part of the product growth template | Commonly offered, by people with publisher contacts | SEO agency |
| Content | Posts written against the keyword plan and checked for AI tells before publishing | Human-written pieces, usually a set number a month under the retainer | Tie |
| Publishing | Commits the post to your repository, pushes it, then checks the page is live and logs it | Varies: some publish for you, many hand over drafts or need your developer | OpenHelm |
| Indexing and Search Console | Checks index coverage and resubmits your sitemap once a fix lands | Usually covered by the technical SEO part of the retainer | Tie |
| AI visibility (GEO) | Audits llms.txt, schema and AI crawler access; tracks citations through connected answer engines | Depends on the agency; ask what is included | Tie |
| Reporting | Weekly Search Console digest written back to each post: clicks, impressions, CTR, position | Usually a monthly report and a call, with a person to explain it | Tie |
| Work beyond SEO | The same workspace fixes reported bugs, answers customer email and maps user funnels | SEO only, unless you buy other services | OpenHelm |
| Contract | Per-seat plan billed monthly or yearly, with a free tier to start | Minimum terms of 6 to 12 months are common (Whitehat) | OpenHelm |
| Accountability | You own the outcome; agents file a task when they are blocked | A named account manager who answers to you | SEO agency |
Choose SEO agency if
- You need link building, digital PR or outreach done by people with existing relationships.
- You want a senior strategist to challenge your positioning, not just carry out a plan.
- Your site lives in a CMS with no code repository for agents to publish to.
- You're in a competitive or regulated market where every piece needs an expert's review.
- You have the budget for a retainer and would rather hand the whole problem to someone else.
Choose OpenHelm if
- You run a live product with no growth team and a retainer is out of reach.
- Your site is in a git repository, so posts can be committed, pushed and checked live.
- You want the weekly routine handled without chasing anyone: plan, publish, index, measure, refresh.
- You also need bug fixing, customer email or funnel analysis, and want it all in one place.
- You want to start free and run agents on your own Claude Code or Codex subscription.
Price. As published on the day we checked.
- OpenHelm
- Free, then from $9 per seat a month billed yearly ($11 monthly). Runs on your own Claude Code or Codex subscription use no credits. Live prices
- SEO agency
- Whitehat puts UK retainers at £500 to £1,200 a month for local and startup work, £1,500 to £3,000 for growing SMEs and £2,500 to £5,000 for mid-market B2B. Ahrefs found an average agency retainer of $3,209 a month.
Agency prices come from published surveys and guides, not quotes. Yours will depend on scope.
Questions
How much does an SEO agency cost in the UK?
Whitehat's 2026 guide puts growing SMEs at £1,500 to £3,000 a month, local and startup work at £500 to £1,200, and mid-market B2B at £2,500 to £5,000. Ahrefs surveyed 439 providers and found agencies average $3,209 a month.
Can OpenHelm replace an SEO agency?
It can handle the repeatable work: the keyword plan, publishing, indexing checks, GEO audits and weekly reporting. It won't do link building, PR or senior strategy. A sensible mix is OpenHelm for the weekly work and a consultant for occasional strategy reviews.
Who approves what gets published?
You do. Anything risky waits for your approval, and the Reviews view collects the posts, PRs and deploys waiting on you. Each run is also checked by a separate evaluator against the outcome its job promised.
How long until SEO results show?
SEO usually takes months to show, whoever does it, and nobody can honestly promise rankings. OpenHelm's weekly digest reads Search Console, so you can see what each post earns instead of waiting for a monthly report.
Give your product a team that never clocks off.
Start free in the browser, or run it on your Mac with your own Claude Code or Codex plan.