A SERP API turns a search query into structured results so your software can track rankings, feed an AI agent or monitor competitors without running its own scrapers.
This guide ranks on setup effort, real cost at your query volume, how easily you can leave, vendor independence and fit, favouring dedicated search specialists over general scraping platforms.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What SERP API providers software does
A SERP API is a hosted service that accepts a search query, retrieves results from engines such as Google or Bing, and returns them as structured data.
Our order comes from five tests, taken in turn: effort to set up, what you really pay, what happens to your data on the way out, how locked in you are, and the intended customer. Vendors outside the best-known names fill places 1 to 3 when they exist, and the big brands rank from place 4. Why those five, and why there is no score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Dedicated search-results API sold in monthly tiers by search count
Ranked #1 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
On the pricing page, plans climb from 250 searches a month through 1,000, 5,000 and 15,000 to 100,000, and on to 54,000,000 at the top. Failed and cached searches are not counted, so the meter follows delivered results.
Engines include Bing, Baidu, Yahoo, Yandex and DuckDuckGo besides Google Maps, Shopping and Scholar, and a location parameter sets the origin of the query. Enterprise volumes go through an email contact, so very large buyers negotiate.
What stands out
Search-count tiers
Full-browser requests
Long plan ladder
Where it costs you
The refund window closes early, because using over a fifth of the searches voids it.
The pages read mention no self-hosted option, so every query runs on the vendor's servers.
Right for
Teams wanting a single-purpose search API with a clear search-count ladder
Wrong for
Buyers who want pay-per-result billing with no monthly tier
United StatesFree plan of 250 searches a month, then published monthly tiers up to tens of millions
Plain HTTP search results with Google first and AI-framework integrations
Ranked #2 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Eight published tiers run from 10,000 searches to 5,000,000, with the entry rate quoted at four per 1,000. The site claims a 99.9% success rate, sub-2-second average responses and a rotating proxy network of over 100 million addresses.
Those are the vendor's own figures, and no numeric rate limit is stated. The company address is in New York. Test your own query mix before relying on the success rate.
What stands out
HTTP search API
LLM framework plugs
99.9% SLA claim
Where it costs you
The entry plan holds 10,000 searches, which is large for a team running a handful of queries.
Sign-up offers 100 requests, a short window for judging result quality before paying.
Right for
Developers wiring search into LLM agents through LangChain, Flowise or Dify
Wrong for
Hobbyists needing a permanent allowance with no payment details
United StatesPublished monthly plans by search volume, from a ten-thousand bucket to five million
Prepaid credit packs for search requests, with no monthly commitment
Ranked #3 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Pack sizes start at 2,500 credits and end at 10,000,000, and the Growth pack at 50,000 credits is marked as recommended. The rate per 1,000 requests falls from 2.00 on the smallest pack to 0.75 on the Pro pack and above.
Large volumes go to a custom Enterprise route by email. Serply, Inc. gives an Oregon address in its terms. No monthly cap is stated, so ask what happens at heavy volume.
What stands out
Prepaid packs
Credits never expire
Price per 1,000 falls
Where it costs you
Starter credits expire after 30 days, so a slow evaluation can waste them.
The pricing and terms pages read name no search engines or locations, which leaves coverage unconfirmed.
Right for
Occasional users who prefer buying a pack once over keeping a subscription
Wrong for
Teams needing a documented list of engines before they commit
United StatesPrepaid packs sold in six sizes; credits never expire; no subscription
Per-SERP billing with three delivery speeds from five minutes to seconds
Ranked #4 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
Standard results cost the least per SERP, Priority sits in the middle and Live costs the most, so the speed you need sets the bill. Google Organic returns 10 results by default and up to 700 per keyword with a depth setting.
New accounts receive a one-dollar trial credit, and a sandbox returns sample data without charge. The SERP page states no rate limits. Model the split between queues before estimating cost.
What stands out
Three speed queues
Per-SERP billing
Depth to 700 results
Where it costs you
Only two office cities appear, with no country of establishment.
No monthly tiers are described, so a budget needs a forecast of queries per queue.
Right for
SEO platforms buying results in bulk and willing to trade speed for price
Wrong for
Buyers wanting one flat monthly fee they can predict
Not stated by the vendorPay-as-you-go per SERP with three queue prices; no monthly tiers; sandbox available
Search API with six monthly plans and a small starter allowance
Ranked #5 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Six plans are listed, and the middle one holds 100,000 searches, with yearly billing 20 percent cheaper. Google coverage spans organic, image, news, maps, shopping, trends and YouTube, plus Bing and Yandex.
Email alerts fire at 90 and 100 percent of monthly use, which helps avoid surprises. The vendor claims 99.9% uptime over twelve months. Endpoints are cloud hosted, and no self-hosted option appears.
What stands out
Six monthly plans
Concurrency cap stated
AI engines listed soon
Where it costs you
The site shows no country or legal entity, only a group reference in the terms link.
AI answer engines are marked coming soon, so they are not available now.
Right for
Small teams wanting a defined monthly ladder with a starter allowance
Wrong for
Buyers who need AI answer-engine results available today
Not stated by the vendorFree plan of 50 searches, then six published monthly plans; yearly billing cheaper
Pay-as-you-go Google scrapers covering Maps and search results
Ranked #6 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
The Google Search scraper is listed at five per 1,000 searches for 11 to 100,000, dropping to three above that.
Besides search, there are Images, News, Shopping and Play Reviews scrapers, a Maps scraper with 500 businesses in its free allowance, and Amazon and B2B lead data. It is a hosted app and API only. Because nothing is billed monthly, spending follows exactly what you run.
What stands out
Pay as you go
Maps and search
Refund if retrieval fails
Where it costs you
The recurring search allowance is only the first 10 Google searches each month.
The page read gives a Texas footer address but no legal entity or country statement.
Right for
Buyers mixing occasional search pulls with Google Maps business data
Wrong for
Teams needing a monthly search tier with guaranteed concurrency
United StatesUsage-based billing with no subscription; recurring allowance; prepaid credits stay valid
General scraping API from Bilbao, metered in credits by page type
Ranked #7 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
The pricing page lists Build, Launch, Growth and Scale bands, from 45,000 credits up to 45,000,000, plus a custom Enterprise route. Concurrency rises from 5 on the ongoing free plan through 20, 50 and 100 to 200 to 400 on Scale.
Nothing mentions a parent company or an acquisition. A SERP workload would likely need rendering or premium proxies, so measure credits per query on real keywords first.
What stands out
Credit multipliers
Bilbao headquarters
Concurrency by plan
Where it costs you
Pages read describe no search-specific endpoint, so SERP fit needs testing.
Credits per page vary from 1 to 25, which makes monthly page counts hard to predict.
Right for
Developers scraping many site types who might add search pages to the mix
Wrong for
Buyers wanting a ready-made search-results format with fixed per-search pricing
SpainCredit-based monthly plans with annual discount; ongoing free plan; enterprise on request
Credit-priced scraper with managed proxies and a built-in cost estimator
Ranked #8 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Plans step from 1,000 credits on the free plan to 200,000 on Discovery, then 1,000,000 on Pro, 2,500,000 on Startup and 5,500,000 on Enterprise, with concurrency from 5 to 100.
Annual billing gives two months at no charge. Setting cost=true prices a request without executing it, so a SERP test can be sized in advance. Anything above the listed plans is custom, so large buyers negotiate.
What stands out
Cost estimate endpoint
Credit-based
Unblocker option
Where it costs you
The pages read show no search-specific product, only general scraping.
The pricing page lists no country and no legal entity.
Right for
Developers who want to price a scraping job before running it
Wrong for
Buyers wanting turnkey search-result parsing without custom extraction work
Not stated by the vendorFree plan of 1,000 credits, then published monthly plans; annual billing saves two months
Credit-metered scraping API that says it acquired Traject Data
Ranked #9 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Hobby holds 100,000 credits and Advanced 21,500,000, with Enterprise on request. The 7-day trial carries 5,000 credits and asks for no card.
The terms name ScraperAPI LLC and apply Nevada law, though no country of establishment is stated. Because credits per request depend on the target, a search page may cost more than one credit, so run a sample before choosing a plan size.
What stands out
Credits by target
Thread limits
Traject Data acquisition
Where it costs you
Geotargeting beyond the US and EU starts only on the Business plan.
The pricing page's trial and free-plan figures disagree with each other.
Right for
Teams who want broad thread counts and can use US or EU targeting
Wrong for
Buyers needing country-level targeting on the cheapest plans
Not stated by the vendorSix published monthly plans in credits, enterprise custom; annual billing lowers monthly rates
Pay-per-event Google results scraper on the Apify platform
Ranked #10 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Free tierPricing on requestElsewhere
Base pricing starts from 1.80 per 1,000 scraped results pages, in dollars, and add-ons stack on top. The five-dollar starting credit is described as covering over 1,000 results when no add-ons are used.
Only Google Search is covered on this page. It runs inside the Apify platform, so the account and its billing sit with the platform. Check which add-ons your queries trigger before projecting spend.
What stands out
Pay per event
AI Overview add-on
Platform credit
Where it costs you
Add-ons are billed as separate events, so a full-feature query costs more than the base rate.
The page lists no platform plan prices, so the discount on paid plans cannot be priced.
Right for
Teams already running Apify actors who want Google results in the same account
Wrong for
Buyers wanting one fixed monthly price for a set number of searches
Not stated by the vendorPay-per-event pricing per page of results; extra events for add-ons; platform credit to start
Per-response scraping API priced by tier, with commitments lowering rates
Ranked #11 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Pay-as-you-go runs 0.13 to 1.27 per 1,000 for HTTP and 1.01 to 16.08 rendered, depending on tier. Three monthly minimum plans, at 100, 200 and 500, each lower the HTTP rate.
No volume caps are stated, downloads reach 100MB, and some advanced features cost extra. The about page lists Austin and Dublin only as conference venues, so it gives no location for the company, and the pricing page gives no cap on volume.
What stands out
Per-response pricing
Five difficulty tiers
Browser rendering
Where it costs you
Browser-rendered responses cost up to 16.08 per 1,000, against 1.27 at most for plain HTTP.
Only the entity name Zyte Group Limited is shown, with no country or parent.
Right for
Teams scraping hard targets who want committed minimums to cut unit cost
Wrong for
Buyers wanting a fixed per-search price and a permanent allowance
Not stated by the vendorPublished per-1,000 response prices; monthly minimum plans; enterprise by sales; 30-day trial credit
SERP scraper API on a large proxy network with shared credits
Ranked #12 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Plans are Starter, Basic, Flexible and an Enterprise tier from 2,500 a month, and the Search product is priced at 1 per 1,000 searches with Enterprise from 2.5 million searches.
Welcome credits of five dollars apply to any product with no expiry stated. Taxes may apply on top of the listed prices. Count how many calls need JavaScript before comparing with other providers.
What stands out
Shared credit balance
Proxy network scale
SOC 2 named
Where it costs you
No country or legal entity shows up on the pages read.
Prices rise when JavaScript rendering is needed, and the cheapest rate sits at Enterprise volumes.
Right for
Teams wanting audited security claims and a large proxy pool behind SERP calls
Wrong for
Small buyers who want a single-product plan and a known jurisdiction
Not stated by the vendorPublished credit plans with shared balance; enterprise tier; welcome credits for trials
SERP API with a permanent request allowance and a deposit match offer
Ranked #13 of 13 in Best SERP API Providers in 2026.
Free tierPricing on requestElsewhere
Pay-as-you-go is 1.5 per 1,000 requests with monthly spend limits and unlimited concurrency, and Scale charges 1.3 per 1,000 beyond its included volume. A promotion matches a first deposit up to 500.
The page says USD pricing is binding and local currency is indicative only, and the free tier needs no card. Weigh that group history against your own wish for a small supplier.
What stands out
Free request allowance
Pay-as-you-go
Corporate history
Where it costs you
Country and legal entity are missing from the pages read.
Scale starts at a monthly commitment, a big step up from the pay-as-you-go rate.
Right for
Buyers wanting a permanent test allowance from a larger group before scaling up
Wrong for
Buyers who prefer a small single-product vendor with a plain price list
Not stated by the vendorPermanent 5,000 request allowance monthly; pay-as-you-go per 1,000; Scale plan; enterprise on request
A SERP API is a hosted service that accepts a search query, retrieves results from engines such as Google or Bing, and returns them as structured data. What separates these products is rarely a feature. Work through the steps below.
01
Work out how much a sales call is worth to you
5 vendors on this page sell by quote, while 8 publish a pricing model you can read today: SerpApi, SearchAPI, Zenserp, ZenRows, Scrapfly, ScraperAPI, Zyte, Oxylabs SERP Scraper.
02
Look at where the vendor sits
The 13 companies behind this list are established in 3 countries, by region Elsewhere 8, North America 4, Europe 1. Disclosure obligations attach to the company, so they travel with the vendor even when the servers stay at home.
SERP API providers: searches, credits or per-SERP billing
The unit on the invoice decides what a month costs, and vendors here disagree about that unit. SerpApi and Zenserp sell plans by search count, and SerpApi counts only successful, uncached searches. DataForSEO bills each SERP, at a rate that depends on the queue. ZenRows and Scrapfly meter credits, and ZenRows charges 1 credit for a plain page but 25 with rendering and premium proxies, so headline credits mislead.
Apify Google Search charges per event and adds fees for AI Mode or AI Overview. Serply sells prepaid packs. Convert every quote into cost per 1,000 of your real queries, including the rendering and add-on events they trigger, before comparing providers on a total, and keep the working sheet for renewal talks.
Turn each quote into a price for 1,000 of your own queries
Ask which events or rendering modes multiply the credit cost
Check whether failed and cached requests are billed
Speed and depth: queues, rendering and result counts
Search providers differ on how fast and how deep results arrive, and the gap shows up on the bill. DataForSEO splits delivery into three queues, from a slow cheap one to a live one, and Google Organic reaches 700 results with a depth setting. Oxylabs SERP Scraper prices Google results without JavaScript below results with it.
Zyte charges far more for browser-rendered responses than for HTTP bodies. Concurrency is a limit too: ScraperAPI scales its threads with the plan tier, and Zenserp keeps standard plans within 400 connections. Decide whether your job is a nightly rank check or a live user request, then price the matching speed and keep spare capacity for retries.
Decide whether you need real-time or next-hour results
Check the concurrency limit of the plan you would buy
Ask what depth of result pages the base price covers
Free tests, refunds and what you can try before paying
Test allowances vary widely, and they shape how fairly you can judge a provider before paying. SerpApi has 250 searches a month, and a 7-day refund that ends once over 20 percent are used. Bright Data gives 5,000 requests a month, Scrapfly 1,000 credits, Zenserp 50 searches. SearchAPI's sign-up offers only 100 requests.
Serply starts you with 2,500 credits that expire in 30 days, whereas Outscraper allows 10 Google searches a month and refunds within 3 days if retrieval fails. ScraperAPI's pricing page gives conflicting free-plan numbers, so trust its 7-day trial. Run your hardest 200 queries inside whatever allowance you get and record success rate and latency for each.
Run your hardest queries inside the allowance and log failures
Read the refund rule for conditions such as usage thresholds
Check whether allowance credits expire before you finish testing
Dedicated search APIs versus general scraping platforms
Some vendors here make search results the product, while others sell general scraping where Google is one target among many. SerpApi and SearchAPI document engines and return parsed results, and DataForSEO adds YouTube, Naver and Seznam. ZenRows, Scrapfly and Zyte describe general scraping on the pages read, with no search endpoint named, so you may need to parse results yourself.
Apify Google Search sits between the two, as one actor inside a wider platform. Bright Data and Oxylabs SERP Scraper attach search to large proxy networks. Choose a specialist when you want parsed output, and a platform when search is one of several targets and you can maintain the parsing yourself.
Confirm the provider returns parsed SERP fields, not raw HTML
List every engine and result type your product needs
Ask whether a general scraper's search support is documented
What goes wrong most often when buying SERP API providers software
Comparing a per-search plan with a credit plan on the headline number, when one credit can equal 25 page loads.
Buying a monthly tier for bursty rank tracking, when DataForSEO-style per-SERP billing would cost only what runs.
Judging result quality on a 50 or 100 request test, which is too small to show failures on hard queries.
Assuming a general scraping API returns parsed search results, when only some vendors here name an endpoint for it.
07
Frequently asked questions
6 answers
What is the best SERP API providers in 2026?
SerpApi takes first place among the 13 we reviewed. SerpApi, LLC makes the search-results API its whole business, which suits a team wanting one narrow thing from one supplier.
Each request runs in a full browser and solves CAPTCHAs, and only successful, uncached searches count against the plan. The ladder runs from a small allowance to tens of millions of searches. It is hosted only, and the 7-day refund lapses after 20 percent of searches are used.
Which SERP API providers tools publish their pricing?
Published pricing exists for 8 products on this page:
SerpApi: Free plan of 250 searches a month, then published monthly tiers up to tens of millions.
SearchAPI: Published monthly plans by search volume, from a ten-thousand bucket to five million.
Zenserp: Free plan of 50 searches, then six published monthly plans; yearly billing cheaper.
ZenRows: Credit-based monthly plans with annual discount; ongoing free plan; enterprise on request.
Scrapfly: Free plan of 1,000 credits, then published monthly plans; annual billing saves two months.
ScraperAPI: Six published monthly plans in credits, enterprise custom; annual billing lowers monthly rates.
Zyte: Published per-1,000 response prices; monthly minimum plans; enterprise by sales; 30-day trial credit.
Oxylabs SERP Scraper: Published credit plans with shared balance; enterprise tier; welcome credits for trials.
The other 5 quote per organisation.
Is there a free SERP API providers tool?
SerpApi, Zenserp, ZenRows, Scrapfly, Apify Google Search, Bright Data come with a no-cost entry point, a free plan or a self-hosted edition.
Where are these SERP API providers vendors established?
The headquarters are spread over 3 countries and 3 regions, Elsewhere 8, North America 4, Europe 1:
SerpApi: United States.
SearchAPI: United States.
Serply: United States.
DataForSEO: Not stated by the vendor.
Zenserp: Not stated by the vendor.
Outscraper: United States.
ZenRows: Spain.
Scrapfly: Not stated by the vendor.
ScraperAPI: Not stated by the vendor.
Apify Google Search: Not stated by the vendor.
Zyte: Not stated by the vendor.
Oxylabs SERP Scraper: Not stated by the vendor.
Bright Data: Not stated by the vendor.
What should you use instead of SerpApi?
SearchAPI and Serply are the next two on this page. SearchAPI is for Developers wiring search into LLM agents through LangChain, Flowise or Dify; Serply is for Occasional users who prefer buying a pack once over keeping a subscription.
Who should not buy SerpApi?
Buyers who want pay-per-result billing with no monthly tier. The refund window closes early, because using over a fifth of the searches voids it..
If a SERP API providers product of yours deserves a place among these 13, say what it is and who it serves. Inclusion rests with us alone. See software advice for the rules.
