Outscraper vs SerpApi (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Outscraper if

• Fits if your local SEO work or lead lists start from Google Maps listings and reviews
• Works for small, occasional Google pulls without a monthly plan

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if search is the point, at $5 per 1,000 Google searches until you pass 100,000
• Watch out: a task that costs more than your balance still runs and is invoiced
• Watch out: the pricing page gives 10 free Google searches, the Google Search API page 25 and $3 from 5,000
• Tight if something goes wrong, as refunds run 3 days and only when its tools fail to get the data
• Skip it if you need Bing or other engines, which the listing doesn't name

Pick SerpApi if

• Fits if you need Google AI Overviews, AI Mode and other engines in one response format
• Works for low volumes that fit in 250 free searches or 1,000 paid ones a month

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you search in volume, at $25 per 1,000 on Starter where Serper charges $1
• Tight if you're on Free, with 250 searches a month and at most 50 an hour
• Skip it if you want the U.S. Legal Shield on a small plan, as it starts on Production at $150 a month
• Watch out: plans are month to month, and yearly billing is only set up by request
• Watch out: Ludicrous Speed costs twice the price, and refunds stop after 7 days or 20% of a plan's searches

Outscraper

• Google searches cost $5 per 1,000 after the free 10, then $3 after 100,000; its Google Search API page shows 25 free and $3 from 5,000.
• Google Maps places cost $3 per 1,000 after the first 500 and $1 after 100,000; News and Shopping searches cost $9 per 1,000 after 50.
• Pay with prepaid credits that never expire or a card billed monthly; a task that costs more than the balance still runs and is invoiced.
• Refunds are offered only within 3 days of purchase, and only when its tools fail to retrieve the data.

SerpApi

• Plans are month to month; the FAQ says yearly billing can only be set up by request while an official yearly plan is in the works.
• The U.S. Legal Shield is not included on the Free, Starter or Developer plans.
• Bigger self-serve plans run from Searcher at $725 for 100,000 searches a month to Cloud plans of 1 million searches and up from $3,750.
• Refunds are offered within 7 days of subscribing, unless more than 20% of the plan's searches have been used.

Outscraper

Google Search API

Real-time Google results for a list of queries, with organic results, ads, shopping results and related questions, as JSON, CSV or Excel.

Google Maps places and reviews

Business listings with optional enrichments, plus reviews, photos, directions and geocoding, each with its own API.

Other Google and review sources

Google News, Images, Shopping and Play reviews, Amazon products and reviews, YouTube comments, Tripadvisor, Trustpilot and Yellow Pages.

Contacts and email checks

Find emails, phone numbers and social profiles for a list of domains, and verify email addresses or look up phone numbers.

No-code app or API

Run tasks from the web app and download files, or call the API and use a webhook to collect bulk results when they are ready.

Universal AI Scraper

A Universal AI-Powered Web Scraper, with a matching API, sits beside the site-specific scrapers for other websites.

SerpApi

Google and many other engines

Endpoints for Google Search, AI Mode, AI Overview, Maps, Shopping, Scholar, Trends, Flights and Hotels, plus Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Yandex, Baidu, Naver, YouTube, Amazon, eBay and Walmart.

Full browser and CAPTCHA solving

Each request runs immediately in a full browser through a proxy near the chosen location, and results come back as JSON or Markdown.

Only successful searches counted

Cached, errored and failed searches do not count against the monthly allowance, and a response with 100 results counts as one search.

Ludicrous Speed

An option on every paid plan that sends parallel requests for faster responses, at twice the price; Ludicrous Speed Max is four times the price.

U.S. Legal Shield

From the Production plan up, SerpApi says it takes on liability for the lawful collection of public search data, with up to $2 million in coverage.

Teams and client libraries

Unlimited team members with admin, developer, billing and viewer roles, and libraries for Python, JavaScript, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, Rust and .NET, plus an MCP server.

Outscraper

• Free Tier$0

  The monthly free allowance on every service; usage beyond it is billed per 1,000 records from prepaid credits or a card on file.

SerpApi

• Free$0

  250 searches a month with a throughput of 50 an hour.

• Starter$25

  per month for 1,000 searches, billed monthly

  Throughput of 200 successful searches an hour. No U.S. Legal Shield.

• Developer$75

  per month for 5,000 searches, billed monthly

  Throughput of 1,000 successful searches an hour. No U.S. Legal Shield.

• Production$150

  per month for 15,000 searches, billed monthly

  Throughput of 3,000 an hour, and the U.S. Legal Shield with up to $2 million in coverage.

• Big Data$275

  per month for 30,000 searches, billed monthly

  Throughput of 6,000 an hour, with the U.S. Legal Shield.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom volume and throughput, ZeroTrace mode, which stores no search data, and priority support. Sold through sales.

Outscraper

• Education

  Discount for student researchers

  Outscraper's pricing page invites student researchers to contact it for a discount; the amount is not stated.

• Nonprofit

  Discount for nonprofit organizations

  Outscraper's pricing page invites nonprofit organizations to contact it for a discount; the amount is not stated.

SerpApi

• Education

  Special pricing for students and educators

  SerpApi's FAQ says universities, students and educators can email about their project and budget to arrange special pricing.