SearchApi vs Serpdog (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SearchApi grades higher than Serpdog: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
SearchApi grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
SearchApi
Real-time SERP API for Google, AI answers and dozens of other sites
Serpdog
Google SERP API with a lighter half-price endpoint and scraping APIs
Which one is for you
Pick SearchApi if
- Fits if you need Google results and ChatGPT or Perplexity answers in the same format
- Works for teams watching ads in the Google, Meta, LinkedIn, Reddit and TikTok libraries
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if your jobs come in bursts, since any one hour can use only 20% of the month's searches
- Pricey if you need answers faster, as enhanced speed doubles the price of every plan
- Skip it if you need team management or the legal guarantee for $40, as both start at $100
- Not for you if you want a free plan that renews, since the 100 requests come once
Pick Serpdog if
- Fits if you want Google results and Amazon or YouTube data under one key
- Works for bulk rank checks where the half-price Lite endpoint returns enough
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: prices and plan limits couldn't be confirmed, so read its pricing page before paying
- Watch out: the documentation was last updated about two years ago, so endpoints may have changed
- Skip it if you want client libraries or ready-made integrations, as the listing names none
How we grade them
| 2.4GPASearchApiFair | 2.0GPASerpdogFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CDeveloper is $40 a month for 10,000 searches, $4 per 1,000, right at this category's middle. Enhanced speed doubles any plan, and the Legal Protection Guarantee needs Production at $100. | CNo price is on record. Serpdog's website turned our reader away, so neither its prices nor its plan limits could be confirmed; check them yourself before you pay. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan: 100 free requests on sign-up with no card, and then you're paying. | CIts documentation, last updated about two years ago, describes a free plan of 1,000 requests a month. Whether that still stands couldn't be confirmed. |
| Features | BGoogle with AI Overview, AI Mode, Maps, Shopping, Lens and Scholar, answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot, plus Bing, Baidu, YouTube, Amazon and ad libraries, targeted down to coordinates. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. | CGoogle Search with Lite and Advanced endpoints, Maps, News, Shopping, Scholar and Jobs, plus Bing, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart and a web scraper. The documentation is about two years old, so the listing can't show what's current. |
| Ease of use | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: plain GET requests, with examples in Python, Node, Ruby, Java, Go, PHP and C#. No rating on record. | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: documented endpoints, with requests retried for up to 60 seconds. No rating on record, and the docs haven't been updated in about two years. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with an API, code samples in many languages and an MCP server for AI assistants. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. | CWeb only, with a REST API and no client libraries or integrations named in the listing. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | Google and AI answer engines from one API | Google endpoints with a cheaper Lite search |
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: SearchApi and Serpdog. How we grade
Where they differ
At a glance
| SearchApi | Serpdog | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $40 per month for 10,000 searches, billed monthly | Not published |
| Free plan | None | Its documentation, last updated about two years ago, describes a free plan of 1,000 requests a month; current plan terms could not be read. |
| Free trial | 100 free requests on sign-up, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | SearchApi, LLC | Serpdog |
| Price read from | searchapi.io | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
SearchApi
- Each plan can use only 20% of its monthly searches in any one hour.
- The Legal Protection Guarantee and team management are not on the Developer plan.
- Enhanced speed doubles the price of any plan; larger plans run to Octo 2M at $2,800 and Octo 5M at $5,000 a month, with custom plans on request.
- The 100 free requests are a sign-up allowance; the pages do not describe an ongoing free plan.
Serpdog
- Serpdog's website blocks automated readers, so prices and plan limits could not be confirmed; check its pricing before buying.
- Requests are retried for up to 60 seconds, and only successful responses are charged.
- The documentation was last updated about two years ago, so some endpoints may have changed since.
Key features
SearchApi
- Google and its verticals
- Google Search, Light, AI Overview, AI Mode, Maps and reviews, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, News, Images, Lens, Jobs, Scholar, Trends and a rank tracking endpoint.
- AI answer engines
- Endpoints for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Bing Copilot answers alongside the Google AI features.
- Other engines and sites
- Bing, Baidu, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Naver, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, TikTok, app stores, and Meta, LinkedIn, Reddit and TikTok ad libraries.
- Pay per success
- Only searches that return a 200 status code are charged, and requests run through premium proxies with location targeting down to coordinates.
- Legal Protection Guarantee
- From the Production plan up, SearchApi says it takes legal responsibility for how it collects and parses public results, with up to $2 million in coverage.
- Code samples and MCP
- Plain GET requests with examples in Python, Node, Ruby, Java, Go, PHP, C# and other languages, and an MCP server for AI assistants.
Serpdog
- Google Search API
- Google results for any country and language, with location encoding, date ranges, result counts, paging, safe search and a choice of Google domain.
- Lite and Advanced search
- A Lite endpoint returns results faster with fewer SERP features at half the cost of the Advanced endpoint, which parses the full set.
- Other Google endpoints
- Maps with reviews, photos and posts, plus News, Shopping, Product, Images, Videos, Scholar, Jobs, Finance and Autocomplete.
- Other sources
- Bing search, YouTube search, Amazon and Walmart product data, Yelp search and LinkedIn job postings through their own endpoints.
- Web scraping API
- Fetch any page's HTML with headless JavaScript rendering, a wait time for heavy pages, and premium residential proxies by country.
Plans
SearchApi
Developer Plan$40
per month for 10,000 searches, billed monthly
$4 per 1,000 searches and a 99.9% SLA. Enhanced speed, with parallel threads, doubles the price to $80.
Production Plan$100
per month for 35,000 searches, billed monthly
$3 per 1,000 searches, team management and the Legal Protection Guarantee. $200 with enhanced speed.
BigData Plan$250
per month for 100,000 searches, billed monthly
$2.50 per 1,000 searches, with medium throughput. $500 with enhanced speed.
Scale Plan$500
per month for 250,000 searches, billed monthly
$2 per 1,000 searches, high throughput and search analytics. $1,000 with enhanced speed.
Octo 500K$900
per month for 500,000 searches, billed monthly
$1.80 per 1,000 searches, dedicated throughput and priority support. $1,800 with enhanced speed.
Octo 1M$1,500
per month for 1 million searches, billed monthly
$1.50 per 1,000 searches, dedicated throughput and priority support. $3,000 with enhanced speed.
Serpdog
Pricing could not be confirmed. See serpdog.io.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, SearchApi or Serpdog?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SearchApi starts at $40 per month for 10,000 searches, billed monthly, and Serpdog has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, SearchApi or Serpdog?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Serpdog has a free plan. SearchApi 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.