DataForSEO vs VALUE SERP (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, and it grades higher too, 2.8 against 2.4.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
DataForSEO grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, 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
VALUE SERP
Low-cost Google results API from Traject Data, now part of ScraperAPI
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 VALUE SERP if
- Fits if you only need Google and want to pay $25 at a time rather than monthly
- Works for scheduled ranking snapshots dropped into S3 or Google Cloud Storage
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need Bing or other engines, which Traject Data sells as SerpWow
- Watch out: ScraperAPI bought Traject Data and says it is moving Traject's APIs onto its own infrastructure
- Tight if you go past a monthly plan, as extra requests cost from $1.60 per 1,000
- Not for you if you want a free plan that renews, as the 100 searches come once
How we grade them
| 2.8GPADataForSEOGood | 2.4GPAVALUE SERPFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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$25 buys 10,000 requests to use as you go, $2.50 per 1,000, inside this category's cheaper quarter. Monthly plans start at $50 for 25,000 searches on yearly billing ($56 monthly). |
| 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. | CNo free plan: 100 free searches on sign-up with no card, and then it's a $25 top-up. |
| 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. | CGoogle Search, Maps places, Shopping, News, product details and place reviews, with location and device targeting and batches of up to 15,000. Google only, though: the listing points to SerpWow for other engines. |
| 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: a Locations API to look up places, and batches that run on a schedule. No rating on record, and no client libraries named. |
| 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 and batch delivery to Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage and Alibaba Cloud OSS. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | SEO data for building your own tools | Google results paid as you go |
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 VALUE SERP. How we grade
Where they differ
- DataForSEO also covers keyword research, site audit, backlink analysis and AI search visibility.
At a glance
| DataForSEO | VALUE SERP | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $50 minimum top-up, used as you go | $25 one-time top-up for 10,000 requests, used as you go |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | $1 of trial credit for new accounts, plus a free Sandbox that returns sample responses | 100 free searches on sign-up, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | DataForSEO OU | Traject Data (ScraperAPI) |
| Price read from | dataforseo.com | trajectdata.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.
VALUE SERP
- It covers Google only; Traject Data's SerpWow is the product for other search engines.
- Plans also come at 500,000 searches and from 2 million to 20 million a month, at $575 to $10,000 billed monthly.
- Searches beyond a plan's allowance are billed per 1,000 requests, from $1.60 on the smallest plan.
- Traject Data was acquired by ScraperAPI, which says it is moving Traject's APIs onto its own infrastructure.
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.
VALUE SERP
- Google endpoints
- Search, Google Maps places, Shopping, News, product details by product ID and place reviews.
- Location and device targeting
- A Locations API finds supported Google locations to add to requests, and results can be filtered to a device type.
- Batches
- Schedule up to 15,000 requests at a time to run monthly, weekly, daily, hourly or on demand, with results back in a few minutes.
- Cloud destinations
- Batch results can be sent to Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage, Alibaba Cloud OSS or other S3-compatible storage.
- Full-browser rendering
- Pages are rendered in an in-memory browser, images on the page are extracted, and linked pages can be fetched in follow-up requests at no extra cost.
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.
VALUE SERP
Pay As You Go$25
one-time top-up of 10,000 requests, used as you go
$2.50 per 1,000 requests with no commitment, at up to 250 real-time requests a minute.
25,000 Searches$50
per month for 25,000 searches, billed annually ($56 billed monthly)
Extra requests at $1.60 per 1,000, up to 250 a minute and up to 10,000 batches.
50,000 Searches$94
per month for 50,000 searches, billed annually ($105 billed monthly)
Extra requests at $1.50 per 1,000, up to 250 a minute.
100,000 Searches$158
per month for 100,000 searches, billed annually ($175 billed monthly)
Extra requests at $1.35 per 1,000, up to 500 a minute.
200,000 Searches$216
per month for 200,000 searches, billed annually ($240 billed monthly)
Extra requests at $1.20 per 1,000, up to 1,000 a minute.
1,000,000 Searches$900
per month for 1M searches, billed annually ($1,000 billed monthly)
Extra requests at $1.00 per 1,000, up to 1,500 a minute. Larger plans run to 20 million searches.
Ways to pay less
DataForSEO
No public discounts listed.
VALUE SERP
- Annual discount
10% off with annual billing
VALUE SERP's pricing page takes 10% off for annual billing: the 100,000-search plan is $158 a month billed annually against $175 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, DataForSEO or VALUE SERP?
As of Oct 23, 2026, DataForSEO starts at $50 minimum top-up, used as you go, and VALUE SERP starts at $25 one-time top-up for 10,000 requests, used as you go.
Which has a free plan, DataForSEO or VALUE SERP?
As of Oct 23, 2026, neither DataForSEO nor VALUE SERP has a free plan. Both have 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.