Alternatives · SEO APIs
Linkup alternatives
As of Nov 13, 2026, the best Linkup alternative for most people is DataForSEO (2.8 GPA), first in our ranking of SERP and SEO data APIs. The best free one is Firecrawl (2.6 GPA). The catch, in its listing's words: "1,000 credits a month."
Linkup compared with 7 alternatives: Tavily, Firecrawl, Brave Search API, Serper, DataForSEO and 2 more.
Linkup has a free plan. 5 of the 7 alternatives are free or have a free plan. 2 more offer a free trial.
Listings checked up to Nov 12, 2026 · Where the facts come from
Black Friday: is there a Linkup sale?
At a glance
| Tool | Price | Free plan | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| LinkupThis tool | Free plan | Yes | Web |
| Tavily | Free plan · from $30/mo | Yes | Web |
| Firecrawl | Free plan · from $16/mo | Yes | Web |
| Brave Search API | Free plan | Yes | Web |
| Serper | Free trial · from $50 one-time | Trial only | Web |
| DataForSEO | Free trial · from $50 | Trial only | Web |
| Jina AI | Free plan · from $50 one-time | Yes | Web |
| Parallel | Free plan · from $1,000/mo | Yes | Web |
How each one differs from Linkup
Tavily
Web search, extract and crawl API built for AI agents
- Tavily starts at $30 per month for 4,000 API credits.
Suits: Developers adding live web search to an AI agent or RAG app
Firecrawl
Web search, scrape and crawl API that returns LLM-ready data
- Firecrawl starts at $16 per month for 5,000 credits, billed annually ($19 billed monthly).
- Firecrawl is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Firecrawl does not cover AI search and research, which Linkup does.
Suits: Developers feeding web pages into LLM or RAG pipelines
Brave Search API
Web search API from Brave's own index, built for AI agents and apps
- Brave Search API does not cover AI search, AI agents and research, which Linkup does.
Suits: Developers grounding AI agents and chatbots in current web results
Serper
Google search results API sold in prepaid credit packs
- Serper starts at $50 one-time for 50,000 credits ($1.00 per 1,000 queries).
- Serper has no free plan, only a free trial, unlike Linkup.
- Serper does not cover AI search, AI agents and research, which Linkup does.
Suits: AI chatbots and agents that need current Google results
DataForSEO
Pay-as-you-go APIs for SERP, keyword, backlink and AI mention data
- DataForSEO starts at $50 minimum top-up, used as you go.
- DataForSEO has no free plan, only a free trial, unlike Linkup.
- DataForSEO also covers keyword research, site audit, backlink analysis and AI search visibility.
- DataForSEO does not cover AI search, AI agents and research, which Linkup does.
Suits: Developers building their own rank trackers, keyword tools or backlink checkers
Jina AI
Reader, search, embeddings and reranker APIs for AI search
- Jina AI starts at $50 for 1 billion tokens, one-time top-up.
- Jina AI does not cover AI agents, which Linkup does.
Suits: Developers grounding an LLM with page text and web search
Parallel
Web search, extract and research APIs for AI agents
- Parallel starts at $1,000 per month in credits, or $10,000 per year.
Suits: Developers who want agent web search billed per request
Limits worth knowing in Linkup
- There is no monthly plan: each successful call draws down a prepaid balance, so spend follows usage.
- The pricing page says 'Run 4,000 queries for free'; the docs describe it as $20 of credit, which covers 4,000 searches at $0.005.
- Zero-data retention is offered only on the Enterprise plan; SOC 2 Type II is stated to be on all plans.
- It is a general web search API, not an SEO tool: it has no rank tracking or keyword data.
Common questions
What are the alternatives to Linkup?
The alternatives to Linkup in this directory are Tavily, Firecrawl, Brave Search API, Serper, DataForSEO, Jina AI and Parallel. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Linkup.
Is there a free alternative to Linkup?
Yes. Tavily, Firecrawl, Brave Search API, Jina AI and Parallel have a free plan alongside paid ones.
Is there an open-source alternative to Linkup?
Firecrawl is described as open source on its own site.
When were these prices checked?
Each listing shows its own date. On this page they run from Oct 23, 2026 to Nov 12, 2026. Vendors change prices without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.