OpenSerp vs SerpBear (2026): which should you pick?

Pick OpenSerp if

• Fits if you want to pay only for the rank checks you run, with no subscription
• Works for people who need Bing, Yahoo or Brave positions next to Google

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you want to try it first, as there's no free plan, trial or starting credit
• Skip it if local packs or AI Overviews matter to you, as it doesn't track them yet
• Watch out: top-up amounts only show after signing in, and unused balance expires after 12 months without paid usage
• Tight if you might want money back, as refunds cover card top-ups only within 24 hours and with under 10% used
• Watch out: traffic estimates need search volumes you import from Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or Semrush

Pick SerpBear if

• Fits if you're comfortable running a Docker app and want unlimited Google keywords for the price of a scraper
• Works for small sites that want Google positions next to their Search Console visits

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you don't want to run a server, as there's no hosted version from the developer, only paid one-click hosts
• Skip it if you need Bing, other engines or AI answers tracked, as it tracks Google only
• Watch out: past ScrapingRobot's free 5,000 searches it's $1.80 per 1,000, and deeper positions take several requests per keyword
• Tight if you want email alerts or keyword research, which need your own SMTP settings and a Google Ads test account

OpenSerp

• There are no plans: rank checks cost $0.0005 per results page from a prepaid balance; OpenSerp puts 250 keywords checked daily on Google at about $3.75 a month.
• Bulk scraping costs $0.0001 per successful query and the SERP API $0.0005 per call; top-up amounts are only shown after signing in.
• Unused balance expires after 12 months without paid usage, and refunds cover card top-ups only within 24 hours, with under 10% used.
• It does not yet track local packs or AI Overviews, and traffic estimates need search volumes imported from Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or Semrush.

SerpBear

• You host and maintain it yourself; there is no hosted service from the developer, only paid one-click hosts such as PikaPods and Elestio.
• Positions come from a scraper: ScrapingRobot's free tier covers 5,000 searches a month, then $1.80 per 1,000; other services charge their own rates.
• Most scrapers now need several requests per keyword for deeper positions: 20 keywords near position 30, checked daily, take about 1,800 a month.
• It tracks Google only. Keyword research needs a Google Ads test account, and email alerts need your own SMTP settings.

OpenSerp

Rank tracking on four engines

Checks keywords every 3 hours, daily or weekly on Google, Bing, Yahoo and Brave, and stops paging once your domains are found.

Competitor tracking

Follows up to 4 competitors per keyword, with head-to-head results, keyword gaps and rivals you had not named.

Plain-language reports

Each report opens with what rose, what fell and who overtook you, then lists keywords close to the top 3 and pages stuck on page 2.

Cloud Scraping

Upload a TXT or CSV keyword file of up to 50 MB and get deduplicated, filtered URLs, titles and snippets back as TXT, CSV or JSON.

SERP API

One request returns one page of results as JSON from any of the four engines, with idempotent retries and no OpenSerp branding.

SerpBear

Unlimited domains and keywords

Add as many sites and keywords as you like; the only limit is how many searches your scraper or proxies allow.

Scrape strategies

Basic, Custom or Smart strategies, set globally or per domain, decide how many Google pages are checked for each keyword.

Choice of scraper

Works with ScrapingRobot, SerpApi, SearchApi, Serper, Serply, ValueSerp, ScrapingAnt, CrazySerp or your own proxy IPs.

Search Console data

Shows real visits and impressions for each tracked keyword and surfaces new keywords, top countries and top pages.

Keyword research

Linking a Google Ads test account adds monthly search volumes and keyword ideas generated from your site's content.

Alerts, API and CSV

Daily, weekly or monthly email reports of position changes, CSV export, and a built-in API for reporting tools such as Google Data Studio.

OpenSerp

Pricing could not be confirmed. See openserp.dev.

SerpBear

• Self-hosted$0

  Open-source app you run yourself with Docker or from the GitHub source, with a SQLite database and no paid edition.