Roundup
May 2, 2026 · 18 min read
Best SERP APIs in 2026: 7 Tested and Compared
Every SERP API looks similar on the surface. We ran the same query through 7 of them - real code, real JSON, real pricing - so you can pick the right one without signing up for trials.
SERP API · Google Search API · Python · API Comparison
Quick Answer: Best SERP APIs at a Glance
Disclosure: this article is published by OpenWeb Ninja. We have ranked ourselves first based on the criteria below. The data for competitors is accurate and we call out where others win.
| API | Best For | Free Tier | Starter Price | Beyond SERP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenWeb Ninja | SERP + 40+ other APIs | 100 req/mo | $25 / 10K req | Yes |
| SerpAPI | Multi-engine (80+ engines) | 100 req/mo | $25 / 1K req | Yes |
| DataForSEO | Bulk / async pipelines | 100 tasks | PAYG ~$0.60/1K | Yes |
| Serper | Cheapest Google SERP | 2,500 credits | $50 / 50K credits | No |
| Scrapingdog | Fastest response time | 100 req/mo | ~$40/mo | Yes |
| SearchAPI | Multi-engine incl. Bing | 100 req/mo | ~$40/mo | Yes |
| ScraperAPI | Proxy-heavy scraping | 5,000 credits | $49/mo | Yes |
How We Evaluated
We scored each API across five dimensions:
- Pricing model: cost per 1,000 requests at 10K, 50K, and 200K/month, plus free tier size and PAYG availability.
- Data depth: which SERP features each API returns - organic results, People Also Ask, featured snippets, AI Overviews, Knowledge Graph, Local Pack, Shopping.
- Response time: published or community-reported P50 latency for a standard Google search query.
- Developer experience: API design, documentation quality, error messages, SDK and library support.
- Data breadth: support for data beyond Google SERP - Amazon, Maps, Jobs, Finance, Real Estate, and more.
Pricing from published plans as of June 2026. Check each provider's pricing page for current rates.
OpenWeb Ninja
this siteBest for: SERP data + multi-API access under one key
OpenWeb Ninja's Real-Time Web Search API returns organic results, People Also Ask, Knowledge Graph, Local Pack, Shopping results, and AI Overviews from a single endpoint. The free plan covers 100 requests/month - no credit card required.
The real advantage is coverage. All 40+ APIs - Amazon products, Google Maps businesses, job listings, stock quotes, Zillow properties, Glassdoor reviews - share the same API key and pricing tier. Add Amazon data to a SERP pipeline without touching another account.
A notable differentiator is structured Google AI Overviews data: text parts, reference links, and a has_ai_overviews boolean at the top level of the response. Use that flag to detect which queries have shifted to AI-generated answers - critical for SEO monitoring and AI grounding pipelines.
Python example
# openwebninja_serp.py
import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://api.openwebninja.com/realtime-web-search/search",
headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"} ,
params={
"q": "python web scraping",
"num": 10,
"gl": "us"
}
)
data = response.json()
print(data["data"]["organic_results"][0]["title"])
Response (trimmed)
{
"status": "OK",
"data": {
"has_ai_overviews": true,
"organic_results": [{
"position": 1,
"rank": 1,
"title": "Beautiful Soup: Build a Web Scraper With Python",
"url": "https://realpython.com/beautiful-soup-web-scraper-python/",
"snippet": "Walk through building a web scraper with Python...",
"source": "Real Python"
}],
"ai_overviews": {
"text_parts": [{"type": "paragraph", "text": "Python web scraping uses libraries like requests..."}],
"reference_links": [{"link": "https://realpython.com/beautiful-soup-web-scraper-python/", "source": "Real Python"}]
}
}
}
Pricing
| Plan | Price/mo | Requests/mo | Per 1K req |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 | - |
| Pro | $25 | 10,000 | $2.50 |
| Ultra | $75 | 50,000 | $1.50 |
| Mega | $150 | 200,000 | $0.75 |
Pros
- +40+ APIs under one key: Amazon, Maps, Jobs, Finance, Reviews
- +$0.75/1K at Mega tier - competitive with DataForSEO live pricing
- +No separate account or key needed to add non-SERP data
Cons
- -Google only - no Bing, Baidu, Yahoo, or DuckDuckGo
- -$2.50/1K at Pro tier is higher than Serper at similar volume
- -Free tier is 100 req/mo vs Serper's 2,500
SerpAPI
Best for: multi-engine coverage (Google, Bing, Baidu, Yahoo, Yandex, and 75+ more)
SerpAPI covers more search engines than anyone else on this list - 80+, including Bing, Baidu, Yahoo, Yandex, and DuckDuckGo. The documentation is thorough, official SDKs exist for Python, Ruby, Node.js, Go, and PHP, and it's been in production long enough to handle edge cases you haven't thought of yet.
The price is the problem. The entry Starter plan is $25/1K - 10x what OpenWeb Ninja charges at the Pro tier ($2.50/1K), and over 30x the OWN Mega rate ($0.75/1K). Even SerpAPI's cheapest published tier, Production at $10/1K, sits well above every other provider here. If Google is all you need, there's no pricing argument for SerpAPI. The only reason to choose it: Bing, Baidu, or Yahoo support. No other provider here covers those engines.
Python example
# serpapi_serp.py
import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://serpapi.com/search",
params={
"q": "python web scraping",
"engine": "google",
"api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
)
data = response.json()
print(data["organic_results"][0]["title"])
Response (trimmed)
{
"search_metadata": {
"status": "Success",
"total_time_taken": 2.14
} ,
"organic_results": [{
"position": 1,
"title": "Beautiful Soup: Build a Web Scraper With Python",
"link": "https://realpython.com/beautiful-soup-web-scraper-python/",
"snippet": "Walk through building a web scraper with Python..."
}]
}
Pricing
| Plan | Price/mo | Requests/mo | Per 1K req |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $25 | 1,000 | $25.00 |
| Developer | $75 | 5,000 | $15.00 |
| Production | $150 | 15,000 | $10.00 |
Pros
- +80+ search engines including Bing, Baidu, Yahoo, Yandex, DuckDuckGo
- +Most battle-tested API with extensive documentation and SDKs
- +Covers every Google SERP feature - Shopping, Maps, Images, News, Jobs
Cons
- -Most expensive at every tier - $25/1K at Starter vs $2.50/1K on OWN
- -Credits expire monthly - unused requests are lost
- -No Amazon, Maps business, or jobs data - Google SERP only
DataForSEO
Best for: bulk data pipelines where cost at scale matters more than latency
DataForSEO runs pay-as-you-go with two modes. Live tasks return results in 2-10 seconds at ~$2/1K. Standard tasks queue asynchronously at ~$0.60/1K - the cheapest option on this list for high-volume pipelines that can tolerate wait time.
Setup is the tradeoff. Auth uses HTTP Basic with base64-encoded credentials. The request body is a JSON array (not query params), and the async workflow requires a separate polling call. If you're comfortable with that pattern, the cost is hard to beat. If you just need a rank-check script running this afternoon, start elsewhere.
Python example (live task)
# dataforseo_serp.py
import requests, base64
credentials = base64.b64encode(
b"user@example.com:YOUR_PASSWORD"
).decode()
response = requests.post(
"https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/google/organic/live/advanced",
headers={
"Authorization": f"Basic {credentials}",
"Content-Type": "application/json"
} ,
json=[{
"keyword": "python web scraping",
"language_code": "en",
"location_code": 2840
}]
)
Response (trimmed)
{
"tasks": [{
"result": [{
"items": [{
"type": "organic",
"rank_absolute": 1,
"title": "Beautiful Soup: Build a Web Scraper With Python",
"url": "https://realpython.com/beautiful-soup-web-scraper-python/"
}]
}]
}]
}
Pricing (PAYG - no monthly fee)
| Task Type | Per 1K tasks | Latency |
|---|---|---|
| Live (immediate) | ~$2.00 | 2-10 seconds |
| Priority queue | $1.20 | ~1 min average |
| Standard queue | $0.60 | ~5 min average |
Pros
- +Cheapest per task at very high volume via standard queue
- +No monthly fee - pay only for what you use
- +Detailed structured data including item type classification
Cons
- -Most complex setup - Basic auth, POST body array, async polling
- -Standard queue latency makes it unusable for real-time requests
- -No Amazon, Maps, Jobs, or other non-SERP data
Serper
Best for: the cheapest Google SERP requests at low-to-mid volume
Serper has the most generous free tier on this list - 2,500 free credits - with response times around 1-2 seconds. For Google-only SERP work at low volume, it's the easiest entry point.
The tradeoff is scope. Serper covers Google results only - no other data types, no AI Overviews. Add Amazon, Maps, or Jobs to your pipeline and you're managing a second account and a second API key.
Python example
# serper_serp.py
import requests
response = requests.post(
"https://google.serper.dev/search",
headers={
"X-API-KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY",
"Content-Type": "application/json"
} ,
json={"q": "python web scraping"}
)
data = response.json()
print(data["organic"][0]["title"])
Response (trimmed)
{
"searchParameters": {"q": "python web scraping"} ,
"organic": [{
"title": "Beautiful Soup: Build a Web Scraper With Python",
"link": "https://realpython.com/beautiful-soup-web-scraper-python/",
"snippet": "Walk through building a web scraper with Python...",
"position": 1
}]
}
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Credits | Per 1K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2,500 | - |
| Starter | $50 | 50,000 | $1.00 |
| Standard | $375 | 500,000 | $0.75 |
| Scale | $1,250 | 2,500,000 | $0.50 |
| Ultimate | $3,750 | 12,500,000 | $0.30 |
Per-credit cost drops from $1.00/1K at Starter to $0.30/1K at Ultimate. Paid credits are valid for 6 months.
Pros
- +2,500 free credits - most generous free tier on this list
- +Fast response times (1-2 seconds)
- +Simple POST-based API with clean JSON output
Cons
- -Google only - no Bing, Amazon, Maps, Jobs, or Finance data
- -Requires a second account for any non-SERP data need
- -Entry rate of $1.00/1K is higher than DataForSEO and OWN Mega at low volume
Scrapingdog
Best for: latency-sensitive applications that need the fastest SERP response times
Scrapingdog benchmarks as one of the fastest SERP APIs - average response time ~1.83 seconds. The API is well-documented, supports JavaScript rendering, and uses a simple GET-based design with the API key in query params.
Pricing starts at $40/month (Lite), and the effective per-SERP cost drops at higher tiers. Coverage is Google-only - no Amazon, Maps, Jobs, or AI Overviews.
Python example
# scrapingdog_serp.py
import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://api.scrapingdog.com/google",
params={
"api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
"query": "python web scraping",
"results": 10,
"country": "us"
}
)
data = response.json()
print(data["organic_data"][0]["title"])
Response (trimmed)
{
"organic_data": [{
"rank": 1,
"title": "Beautiful Soup: Build a Web Scraper With Python",
"link": "https://realpython.com/beautiful-soup-web-scraper-python/",
"snippet": "Walk through building a web scraper with Python..."
}]
}
Pricing
| Plan | Price/mo | Credits | SERP req | Per 1K SERP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $40 | 200,000 | 40,000 | $1.00 |
| Standard | $90 | 1,000,000 | 200,000 | $0.45 |
| Pro | $200 | 3,000,000 | 600,000 | $0.33 |
| Premium | $350 | 6,000,000 | 1,200,000 | $0.29 |
A Google SERP request costs 5 credits. SERP req and per-1K figures are derived from each plan's credit allowance.
Pros
- +Fastest average response time (~1.83s) of any provider tested
- +JavaScript rendering included
- +Simple GET-based API, easy to integrate
Cons
- -Google only - no Amazon, Maps, Jobs, or Finance data
- -Smaller community and less documentation than SerpAPI
- -No PAYG option - must pick a monthly plan
SearchAPI
Best for: reliable multi-engine coverage (Google, Bing, YouTube) with a clean developer experience
SearchAPI covers Google, Bing, and YouTube from one consistent GET endpoint - swap engines with the engine parameter. Documentation is clear and error messages are descriptive, which makes debugging faster.
Pricing starts at $40/month (Developer) and the per-search rate drops to $2/1K at the Scale tier. If you need Bing or YouTube alongside Google but can't justify SerpAPI's pricing, SearchAPI is the practical middle ground.
Python example
# searchapi_serp.py
import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search",
params={
"q": "python web scraping",
"engine": "google",
"api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
)
data = response.json()
print(data["organic_results"][0]["title"])
Response (trimmed)
{
"search_information": {"total_results": 1480000000} ,
"organic_results": [{
"position": 1,
"title": "Beautiful Soup: Build a Web Scraper With Python",
"link": "https://realpython.com/beautiful-soup-web-scraper-python/",
"snippet": "Walk through building a web scraper with Python..."
}]
}
Pricing
| Plan | Price/mo | Searches/mo | Per 1K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Developer | $40 | 10,000 | $4.00 |
| Production | $100 | 35,000 | $3.00 |
| BigData | $250 | 100,000 | $2.50 |
| Scale | $500 | 250,000 | $2.00 |
Pros
- +Multi-engine: Google, Bing, YouTube, and more via one consistent API
- +Clean API design with descriptive error messages
- +More affordable than SerpAPI for multi-engine needs
Cons
- -No Amazon, Maps, Jobs, or Finance data
- -Smaller ecosystem and community than SerpAPI
- -No PAYG option - monthly plan required
ScraperAPI
Best for: projects that need both proxy-based scraping and structured SERP data under one account
ScraperAPI is a proxy service first. The Google SERP structured endpoint returns parsed JSON - useful if you're already paying for ScraperAPI's scraping infrastructure and want SERP data without adding another account.
Pricing uses a credit model starting at $49/month - credit cost varies by endpoint and proxy tier, which makes budgeting harder than per-request pricing. For dedicated SERP work, the APIs above give you more data depth. ScraperAPI's value is in its proxy infrastructure, not its SERP coverage.
Python example
# scraperapi_serp.py
import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://api.scraperapi.com/structured/google/search",
params={
"api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
"query": "python web scraping"
}
)
data = response.json()
print(data["organic_results"][0]["title"])
Response (trimmed)
{
"organic_results": [{
"position": 1,
"title": "Beautiful Soup: Build a Web Scraper With Python",
"link": "https://realpython.com/beautiful-soup-web-scraper-python/",
"snippet": "Walk through building a web scraper with Python..."
}]
}
Pricing
| Plan | Price/mo | API credits | Threads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby | $49 | 100,000 | 20 |
| Startup | $149 | 1,000,000 | 50 |
| Business | $299 | 3,000,000 | 100 |
| Scaling | $475 | 5,000,000 | 200 |
| Professional | $975 | 10,500,000 | 300 |
Credits per request vary by endpoint and proxy tier, so effective per-SERP cost depends on configuration.
Pros
- +Strong proxy infrastructure - handles JavaScript rendering and bot detection
- +Combines general scraping and structured SERP under one account
- +Generous 5,000-credit free trial
Cons
- -Credit model makes costs harder to predict than per-request pricing
- -SERP endpoint is secondary to its proxy product - less data depth
- -No Amazon, Maps, Jobs, or Finance data
How to Choose: 3 Common Scenarios
Need a rank tracker or SEO monitoring tool?
You're polling keywords on a schedule, recording positions, and need to catch when Google switches a query to an AI Overview. Every keyword that triggers AI Overviews is one where traditional rank tracking misses the story.
Best choice: OpenWeb Ninja - AI Overviews flag included, $0.75/1K at Mega tier for high-frequency polling. For very high volume bulk jobs where you can tolerate async latency: DataForSEO standard queue at $0.60/1K.
Building an AI pipeline or RAG system?
You need structured search results to ground LLM responses in real-world data. Latency matters - every extra second in your search call adds to inference time. AI Overview content gives you the answer Google is already surfacing, not just the URLs below it.
Best choice: OpenWeb Ninja for AI Overview grounding - the text_parts and reference_links arrays give you structured AI content directly. Serper is the fastest/cheapest alternative if you only need organic results.
Need SERP data plus Amazon, Maps, or Jobs?
Your pipeline pulls SERP results, Amazon product data, Maps listings, and maybe job postings. Each separate API account means a separate key, separate pricing tier, and separate rate limit to track.
Best choice: OpenWeb Ninja only. No other provider here offers Amazon, Google Maps, JSearch, Finance, Zillow, and Glassdoor under the same key. The single-account setup removes billing overhead and simplifies auth across your entire data pipeline.
FAQ
Most common questions and answers
What is the best SERP API for Python developers?
Which SERP API is cheapest at scale?
Is using a SERP API legal?
Can I use a SERP API to track keyword rankings?
Which SERP APIs support Google AI Overviews?
What is the difference between a SERP API and Google's Custom Search API?
How do SERP APIs handle Google's anti-bot protection?
Do SERP APIs support localized search results?
About the author
Adam Ben-Ayoun
CTO @ OpenWeb Ninja
Adam leads engineering at OpenWeb Ninja, building the APIs and infrastructure that make public web data accessible to developers and AI agents.
Connect on LinkedInOne key. 40+ APIs. Start free.
100 free requests/month - no credit card required. SERP, AI Overviews, Amazon, Google Maps, Jobs, Finance, and more under one key.
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