DataForSEO vs Decodo SERP Scraping API (2026): which should you pick?

As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick DataForSEO: it is first in our ranking of SERP and SEO data APIs (Decodo SERP Scraping API is second), and they share a 2.8 GPA.

Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA

DataForSEO grades higher on features. Decodo SERP Scraping API grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.

Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.

DataForSEO

Pay-as-you-go APIs for SERP, keyword, backlink and AI mention data

Free trial · from $50

Full details dataforseo.com

Decodo SERP Scraping API

SERP scraping for Google, Bing and more, inside a web data API

Free plan · from $19/mo

Full details decodo.com

Which one is for you

Pick DataForSEO if

Fits if you're building your own rank tracker, keyword tool or backlink checker and want one bill for the data
Works for batch jobs that can wait minutes for a queued result at $0.60 per 1,000

Look elsewhere if

Not for you if you want reports to look at, since it returns JSON with no SEO dashboard
Tight if you're only testing, as the $1 trial credit goes fast and the next step is a $50 top-up
Watch out: search operators multiply the price of a Google query by five
Pricey if you pull backlinks or AI mentions in bulk, at $0.024 a task plus $0.000036 a row, and $0.1 a task plus $0.001 a row

Pick Decodo SERP Scraping API if

Fits if you track rankings by country, language and device in your own code
Works for teams that also need to scrape or crawl the pages that rank

Look elsewhere if

Watch out: plans are money budgets, so /search, /scrape and /crawl each use them up at different rates
Watch out: /scrape uses the premium proxy pool unless told not to, at $1 per 1,000, or $1.50 with JavaScript
Tight if you need AI answers in bulk, as the ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and AI Mode templates stay at $1 per 1,000

How we grade them

	2.8GPADataForSEOGood	2.8GPADecodo SERP Scraping APIGood
Value for money	B$50 is the smallest top-up and the balance never expires, a first spend at the dear end of this category's usual $25 to $50. The rate lifts it: Google results are $0.60 per 1,000 in the standard queue and $2 live, where most rivals here charge $1 to $4.	B$19 a month is inside this category's cheaper quarter, and /search costs $0.75 per 1,000 on it, one of the lowest rates here, down to $0.40 on the $1,499 plan. Paid plans carry a 14-day money-back option.
Free plan and trial	CNo free plan. New accounts get $1 of trial credit and a Sandbox that returns sample responses, enough to wire up your code, and then it's a $50 top-up.	BA free plan for good with every endpoint and feature at 10 requests a second, up to 10K pages scraped or 5K crawls a month. A side project could run on that.
Features	ASearch results from Google, Bing, YouTube, Yahoo, Baidu, Naver and Seznam, plus keyword volumes, its own backlink index back to 2019, site crawls and brand mentions in ChatGPT and AI Overviews. No other API in this category covers that much of the SEO job from one key.	BGoogle, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Baidu, with ads, snippets, People Also Ask, local packs and AI Mode parsed out, by country, language and device, plus scrape, map and crawl on the same key. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job.
Ease of use	CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: a Sandbox, spending limits per API and connectors for Sheets, n8n and Make. No rating on record, and each API is billed per SERP, task, row or page, which takes reading before you start.	CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: TypeScript, Python and Go SDKs and a CLI. No rating on record, and plans are money budgets that each endpoint spends at its own rate, which takes working out.
Platforms and integrations	BWeb, with an API and connectors for Google Sheets, n8n, Make, Zapier, Airtable, Postman and Pabbly. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top.	BWeb, with an API, SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server, plus n8n, LangChain and OpenClaw. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top.
Best for	SEO data for building your own tools	rank checks plus scraping the pages that rank

The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: DataForSEO and Decodo SERP Scraping API. How we grade

Where they differ

DataForSEO also covers keyword research, site audit, backlink analysis and AI search visibility.

In commonWebPublic APISERP API

At a glance

	DataForSEO	Decodo SERP Scraping API
Pricing	Free trial	Free plan
Starts at	$50 minimum top-up, used as you go	$19 per month, up to 38K pages scraped or 19K crawls
Free plan	None	Up to 10K pages scraped or 5K crawls a month at 10 requests a second, with every endpoint and feature.
Free trial	$1 of trial credit for new accounts, plus a free Sandbox that returns sample responses	None listed
Web
Made by	DataForSEO OU	Decodo
Price read from	dataforseo.com	decodo.com
Checked	Oct 23, 2026	Oct 23, 2026

Worth knowing

DataForSEO

Google organic results cost $0.0006 per SERP in the standard queue, $0.0012 in the priority queue and $0.002 live; search operators multiply the price by five.
Backlinks API calls cost $0.024 per task plus $0.000036 per row, and LLM Mentions $0.1 per task plus $0.001 per row.
There is no free plan: after the $1 trial credit, the account needs a top-up of at least $50.
It is a data API with no ready-made SEO dashboard; results come back as JSON for your own code or a connector.

Decodo SERP Scraping API

Plans are monthly budgets: /search costs $0.75 per 1,000 requests on small plans, falling to $0.40 on the $1,499 plan.
/scrape uses the premium proxy pool unless told otherwise, at $1 per 1,000 requests on small plans or $1.50 with JavaScript.
The Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode templates cost $1 per 1,000 requests on every plan.
Only successful requests are charged, and paid plans carry a 14-day money-back option.

Key features

DataForSEO

SERP API: Search results from Google (organic, Maps, AI Mode, News, Images, Jobs and more), Bing, YouTube, Yahoo, Baidu, Naver and Seznam, in queued or live modes.
Keyword data: Search volume and keyword metrics from Google Ads, Bing Ads, Google Trends and clickstream sources, plus the Labs API for keyword and competitor research.
Backlinks API: Backlink profiles, referring domains, anchors and link history back to 2019 from DataForSEO's own continuously crawled index, with bulk endpoints for up to 1,000 targets.
On-Page and Lighthouse: Crawls websites, audits pages, parses content and takes screenshots, priced from $0.00015 a page.
AI Optimization API: LLM Mentions draws on a database of over 280 million prompts and answers from ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews; other endpoints return LLM responses and AI search volume.
Spending controls: The dashboard tracks usage and cost, sets daily spending limits per account, API or endpoint, and can top up the balance automatically.

Decodo SERP Scraping API

Several search engines: Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Baidu, with Google templates for Search, Ads, AI Mode, Lens, News, Hotels, Jobs, Trends, Play and Autocomplete.
Parsed SERP features: Organic results, paid ads, featured snippets, People Also Ask, local packs, AI Mode answers, sitelinks and news results come back as separate fields.
Local and device targeting: Set the country, language and device per request across 195+ locations to see local rankings, with optional JavaScript rendering.
Scrape, map and crawl on one key: Send ranking URLs to /scrape, list up to 147K of a site's URLs with /map, or crawl up to 10K pages of a competitor with /crawl.
Real-time or asynchronous: Get results in the same response or send a task and collect it later, as HTML, Markdown or XHR, with JSON, CSV and PNG where supported.
AI and developer tools: An MCP server, agent skills, a CLI and TypeScript, Python and Go SDKs, plus n8n, LangChain and OpenClaw integrations.

Plans

DataForSEO

Pay as you go$50
one-time top-up, used as you go
No subscription: the balance never expires and each API is billed at its own rate per SERP, task, row or page.

Decodo SERP Scraping API

Free$0
10 requests a second and up to 10K pages scraped or 5K crawls a month; /search runs at $0.75 per 1,000 requests.
$19 plan$19
per month, up to 38K pages scraped or 19K crawls
10 requests a second, with /search at $0.75 per 1,000 requests and every endpoint and feature included.
$49 plan$49
per month, up to 122K pages scraped or 65K crawls
25 requests a second; /search drops to $0.65 per 1,000 requests.
$99 plan$99
per month, up to 330K pages scraped or 141K crawls
50 requests a second; /search at $0.60 per 1,000 requests.
$249 plan$249
per month, up to 1.2M pages scraped or 383K crawls
100 requests a second; /search at $0.55 per 1,000 requests.
Enterprise$499
per month, up to 2.7M pages scraped or 831K crawls
150 requests a second at $499; the $999 and $1,499 tiers reach 200 a second, with /search down to $0.40 per 1,000. Larger volumes through sales.

Common questions

Which is cheaper, DataForSEO or Decodo SERP Scraping API?

As of Oct 23, 2026, DataForSEO starts at $50 minimum top-up, used as you go, and Decodo SERP Scraping API starts at $19 per month, up to 38K pages scraped or 19K crawls.

Which has a free plan, DataForSEO or Decodo SERP Scraping API?

As of Oct 23, 2026, only Decodo SERP Scraping API has a free plan. DataForSEO does not, though it has a free trial.

More comparisons

How this page was made

The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.

How we review and grade