Linkup vs Serper (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Linkup and Serper share a 2.4 GPA, and only Linkup has a free plan.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Linkup grades higher on the free plan. Serper grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Serper
Google search results API sold in prepaid credit packs
Which one is for you
Pick Linkup if
- Fits if an agent needs web search with sources attached
- Works for people who would rather pay per call than per month
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a fixed monthly bill, since spend follows usage
- Skip it if you have no work email, as the free credit asks for a professional one
- Watch out: zero data retention and the private environment are Enterprise only
- Watch out: the page says 4,000 free queries while the docs call it $20 of credit
Pick Serper if
- Fits if you only need Google and would rather pay per query than per month
- Works for AI agents on LangChain or CrewAI that need current Google results
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need Bing, Yahoo or any engine other than Google
- Watch out: credits expire 6 months after purchase, so a big pack you don't use up is money lost
- Tight if you're testing, as the 2,500 free queries come once and there's no monthly free plan
- Watch out: refunds run 7 days from the first payment, and only with under 20% of the credits used
How we grade them
| 2.4GPALinkupFair | 2.4GPASerperFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPay per call from a prepaid balance at about $0.005 a search, with no flat plan to compare with this category's $19 to $44. | B$50 buys 50,000 Google queries, $1 per 1,000, one of the lowest rates in this category, and bigger packs fall to $0.30. The first spend is at the dear end of the usual $25 to $50, though, and the credits lapse after 6 months. |
| Free plan and trial | B$20 of credit on sign-up, topped back up to $20 each month for eligible accounts, about 4,000 searches. One person could live on that. | CNo free plan, but 2,500 free queries with no card. They're a one-off, not a monthly allowance. |
| Features | CSearch, sourced answers, fetch and research endpoints. Zero data retention is only on the Enterprise plan. | CTen Google result types, from web and maps to Scholar, patents and autocomplete, fetched live with country and language set. Google only, though: no Bing, Yahoo or other engine, which the listing itself points out. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It is an API with a key and code to write. | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: most results in 1 to 2 seconds and 2,500 free queries to test with. No rating on record, and no client libraries named. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it lists LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, Vercel AI SDK, Composio, Hugging Face and Agno. | BWeb, with an API and listed integrations with LangChain, CrewAI, Haystack and Jan AI. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | web search with sources for AI agents | live Google results on prepaid credits |
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: Linkup and Serper. How we grade
Where they differ
- Linkup also covers AI search, AI agents and research.
At a glance
| Linkup | Serper | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | Not published | $50 one-time for 50,000 credits ($1.00 per 1,000 queries) |
| Free plan | New accounts with a professional email get $20 of credit, topped back up to $20 each month for eligible accounts. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 2,500 free queries, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Linkup | Serper.dev |
| Price read from | linkup.so | serper.dev |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Serper
- Its site lists Google endpoints only, with no Bing, Yahoo or other search engines.
- Credits expire 6 months after purchase, so a large pack bought for a lower rate can go unused.
- Refunds are given within 7 days of the first payment only if less than 20% of the credits are used.
- The 2,500 free queries are a one-time allowance, not a monthly free plan.
Key features
Linkup
- Search endpoint
- Web search for agent tool calls. Flash, fast and standard depths cost $0.005 a call and deep costs $0.05 for raw results.
- Sourced answers and structured output
- The search endpoint can return a sourced answer or output shaped to a schema, at $0.001 to $0.005 more than raw results.
- Fetch endpoint
- Gets a URL's content as Markdown, from $0.001 per call without JavaScript rendering up to $0.01 with pro mode and rendering.
- Research endpoint
- Asynchronous deep research billed by reasoning depth: $0.25 for S, $0.50 for M, $1.50 for L and $2.50 for XL.
- Agent integrations
- Docs cover an MCP server and guides for LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, the Vercel AI SDK and Composio.
Serper
- Ten Google result types
- Endpoints for Google web search, images, news, maps, places, videos, shopping, Scholar, patents and autocomplete.
- Live results
- Each call queries Google directly and nothing is cached; most results return in 1 to 2 seconds, sometimes 2 to 4 when a request is retried.
- Location and language
- Every pack lets you set the country and language a search is run from.
- Rate limits by pack
- From 50 queries a second on Starter to 300 on Ultimate, which Serper says is roughly 15,000 to 18,000 searches a minute.
- Charged on success
- Credits are deducted only for successful responses, and the API stops taking queries when the balance reaches zero.
- AI framework integrations
- Listed integrations with LangChain, CrewAI, Haystack and Jan AI for feeding search results to AI agents and chatbots.
Plans
Linkup
Free credit$0
$20 of credit on sign-up with a professional email; docs say eligible accounts are topped back up to $20 monthly.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom pricing, private environment, SOC 2 Type II, zero-data retention, SLA and dedicated support.
Serper
Starter$50
one-time for 50,000 credits, valid for 6 months
50,000 queries at $1.00 per 1,000, up to 50 queries a second. Prices exclude sales tax or VAT.
Standard$375
one-time for 500,000 credits, valid for 6 months
500,000 queries at $0.75 per 1,000, up to 100 queries a second.
Scale$1,250
one-time for 2.5 million credits, valid for 6 months
2.5 million queries at $0.50 per 1,000, up to 200 queries a second.
Ultimate$3,750
one-time for 12.5 million credits, valid for 6 months
12.5 million queries at $0.30 per 1,000, up to 300 queries a second; a higher limit can be arranged.
Ways to pay less
Linkup
- Startups
$5,000 in free credits for startups
The pricing page invites startups to apply for $5,000 in free credits.
Serper
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Linkup or Serper?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Linkup publishes no starting price, and Serper starts at $50 one-time for 50,000 credits ($1.00 per 1,000 queries).
Which has a free plan, Linkup or Serper?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Linkup has a free plan. Serper 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.