ScrapingBee vs SerpApi (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, ScrapingBee and SerpApi share a 2.4 GPA, and only SerpApi has a free plan.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
ScrapingBee grades higher on value for money. SerpApi grades higher on features. They get the same grade on 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.
ScrapingBee
Web scraping API with a Google search endpoint, priced by credits
SerpApi
Real-time search results API for Google and dozens of other engines
Which one is for you
Pick ScrapingBee if
- Fits if you need to scrape the pages behind the results as well as Google itself
- Works for feeding web pages to AI agents as Markdown or JSON
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: JavaScript rendering is on by default and makes a request cost 5 credits instead of 1
- Watch out: a Google search costs 10 to 15 credits, so Hobby's 75,000 credits is 5,000 to 7,500 searches
- Skip it if you need Bing or other engines, as Google is the only search engine it lists
- Tight if your usage swings, since credits last a month and don't roll over
- Pricey if you need priority support or team management, which start at $249 a month
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
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAScrapingBeeFair | 2.4GPASerpApiFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BHobby is $19 a month for 75,000 credits, inside this category's cheaper quarter. A Google search costs 10 to 15 credits, so that's 5,000 to 7,500 searches, about $2.50 to $3.80 per 1,000. | CStarter is $25 a month, on the line of this category's cheaper quarter, but it buys 1,000 searches: $25 per 1,000, where most rivals here charge $1 to $4. Developer is $75 for 5,000, still $15 per 1,000. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan: 1,000 API credits on sign-up with no card, around 70 to 100 Google searches. | CA free plan for good: 250 searches a month, at most 50 an hour. Enough to build against, not to run anything on. |
| Features | CHeadless Chrome, rotating proxies in more than 200 countries, CSS and AI extraction, and endpoints for Amazon, YouTube, ChatGPT and Gemini. For search data, though, Google is the only engine it lists. | BGoogle Search, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Maps, Shopping, Scholar and Trends, plus Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Baidu, YouTube, Amazon and Walmart, each run in a full browser near the location you set. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. |
| Ease of use | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: Python and Node.js SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server. No rating on record, and what a request costs changes with its options, with JavaScript rendering on by default. | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: client libraries in eight languages, and cached or failed searches don't count against you. No rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with an API, a CLI, SDKs and an MCP server, plus Make, n8n, Zapier and coding agents such as Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. | BWeb, with an API, libraries for Python, JavaScript, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, Rust and .NET, and an MCP server. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | scraping pages and Google results on one key | Google plus many other engines from one key |
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: ScrapingBee and SerpApi. How we grade
Price against what you get
ScrapingBee starts at $19 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SerpApi starts at $25 a month and scores 2.7.
SerpApi scores higher, and starts $6 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other SERP and SEO data APIs on the chart, 1 scores higher than ScrapingBee for less, and none scores higher than SerpApi for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| ScrapingBee | SerpApi | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19 per month for 75,000 API credits | $25 per month for 1,000 searches, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | 250 searches a month, up to 50 successful searches an hour. No U.S. Legal Shield. |
| Free trial | 1,000 free API credits on sign-up, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | VostokInc | SerpApi, LLC |
| Price read from | scrapingbee.com | serpapi.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
ScrapingBee
- A request costs 1 credit at its simplest, 5 with JavaScript rendering (on by default), and 10 or 25 with premium proxies.
- A Google search costs 10 credits with Light Request enabled and 15 otherwise.
- Credits last one month and do not roll over; only successful requests are charged.
- Priority support, an account manager and team management start at the $249 Business plan.
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.
Key features
ScrapingBee
- Headless browser rendering
- Pages load in headless Chrome, with waits for selectors, set viewports and headers, and scripted clicks, scrolls and form fills before the scrape.
- Proxy rotation and geotargeting
- Proxies rotate on every request, with premium and stealth proxies for harder sites and routing through more than 200 countries and territories.
- Google Search API
- A dedicated endpoint returns Google results as JSON, with organic results, ads, local results, related questions and related searches.
- AI and rule-based extraction
- Pull fields out with CSS or XPath rules, describe them in plain language with an AI query, or get any page back as clean Markdown.
- Ready-made scraper APIs
- Separate endpoints for Amazon, Walmart, YouTube, ChatGPT and Gemini answers, a sub-second search API and an employee search API.
- CLI, MCP server and SDKs
- A command-line tool, an MCP server and Python and Node.js SDKs connect the API to coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Cursor.
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.
Plans
ScrapingBee
Hobby$19
per month for 75,000 API credits
25 concurrent requests, with JavaScript rendering, premium proxies, geotargeting, screenshots and the dedicated scraper APIs included.
Freelance$49
per month for 250,000 API credits
50 concurrent requests and the same features as Hobby.
Startup$99
per month for 1,000,000 API credits
100 concurrent requests and the same features as Hobby.
Business$249
per month for 3,000,000 API credits
200 concurrent requests, and adds priority email support, a dedicated account manager and team management.
Business +$599
per month for 8,000,000 API credits
400 concurrent requests with everything in Business.
Enterprise 14$999
per month for 14,000,000 API credits
500 concurrent requests. Larger Enterprise tiers run up to $5,799 a month for 120 million credits and 900 concurrent requests.
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.
Ways to pay less
ScrapingBee
No public discounts listed.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ScrapingBee or SerpApi?
As of Oct 23, 2026, ScrapingBee is cheaper to start with: $19 a month, against $25 a month for SerpApi. ScrapingBee starts at $19 per month for 75,000 API credits, and SerpApi starts at $25 per month for 1,000 searches, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, ScrapingBee or SerpApi?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only SerpApi has a free plan. ScrapingBee 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.