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

As of Oct 23, 2026, SerpApi grades higher than serpstack: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.

Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA

SerpApi 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.

SerpApi

Real-time search results API for Google and dozens of other engines

Free plan · from $25/mo
Full detailsserpapi.com

serpstack

Google search results API from apilayer, with monthly search quotas

Free plan · from $26.99/mo
Full detailsserpstack.com

Which one is for you

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

Pick serpstack if

  • Fits if you already use other apilayer APIs and want Google results on the same account
  • Works for non-commercial projects that fit in 100 free searches a month

Look elsewhere if

  • Skip it if you need Bing or any engine other than Google
  • Watch out: checkout pre-selects Platinum Support, which the FAQ prices from $479.88 a year
  • Watch out: going over the quota bills each extra search, from $0.023992 on Basic, rather than stopping
  • Not for you if your free project is commercial, since the free plan rules that out
  • Tight if you want yearly billing later, as switching from monthly needs a request to sales

How we grade them

2.4GPASerpApiFair2.0GPAserpstackFair
Value for money
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.
CBasic is $26.99 a month on yearly billing ($29.99 monthly) for 5,000 searches, about $5.40 per 1,000, so the low entry buys fewer searches than most rivals give. Each search past the quota is about $0.024.
Free plan and trial
CA free plan for good: 250 searches a month, at most 50 an hour. Enough to build against, not to run anything on.
CA free plan for good, but 100 searches a month, non-commercial use only, JSON only and no support.
Features
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.
CGoogle web, image, video, news and shopping results with ads and related questions, by device and down to the city. It covers Google only: the plans list just the Google Search API.
Ease of use
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.
CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: plain HTTP GET calls returning JSON or CSV, with alerts at 75%, 90% and 100% of the quota. No rating on record.
Platforms and integrations
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.
CWeb only, with a REST API and no client libraries or integrations named in the listing. No desktop or phone app.
Best forGoogle plus many other engines from one keyGoogle results on a fixed monthly quota

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: SerpApi and serpstack. How we grade

Price against what you get

SerpApi starts at $25 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. serpstack starts at $26.99 a month and scores 2.0.

SerpApi scores higher and starts $1.99 a month lower. Of the other SERP and SEO data APIs on the chart, none scores higher than SerpApi for less, and 9 score higher than serpstack for less.

Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged

C2.0B3.0A4.0$2$5$10$20$50$100$200$500More for lessCosts more, scores moreCosts less, scores lessCosts more, scores lessSerpApiserpstack

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
The full chart of SERP and SEO data APIs, and the best at every price

Where they differ

    In commonFree planWebPublic APISERP API

    At a glance

    SerpApiserpstack
    PricingFree planFree plan
    Starts at$25 per month for 1,000 searches, billed monthly$26.99 per month for 5,000 searches, billed yearly ($29.99 billed monthly)
    Free plan250 searches a month, up to 50 successful searches an hour. No U.S. Legal Shield.100 searches a month for non-commercial use, JSON output only and no support.
    Free trialNone listedNone listed
    Web
    Made bySerpApi, LLCapilayer
    Price read fromserpapi.comserpstack.com
    CheckedOct 23, 2026Oct 23, 2026

    Worth knowing

    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.

    serpstack

    • The free plan is for non-commercial use only, with JSON output and no support.
    • Going over the quota is billed per extra search, from $0.023992 each on Basic, rather than cut off.
    • Checkout pre-selects an optional Platinum Support add-on billed yearly, which the FAQ prices from $479.88 a year.
    • The plans list only the Google Search API; switching from monthly to yearly billing needs a request to sales.

    Key features

    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.

    serpstack

    Google result types
    Web, image, video, news and shopping results, sponsored ads, related questions, maps and answers from a full Google results page.
    Devices and locations
    Results as seen on mobile, tablet or desktop, from any city, region or country.
    JSON or CSV
    Requests are plain HTTP GET calls; paid plans can return CSV as well as JSON.
    Errors not counted
    Each lookup uses one request from the quota, and API errors do not count toward it.
    Usage alerts and overages
    Email and dashboard alerts at 75%, 90% and 100% of the monthly quota; after that, extra searches are billed per call instead of being blocked.

    Plans

    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.

    serpstack

    • Free$0

      100 searches a month, non-commercial use only, JSON only, no support.

    • Basic$26.99

      per month for 5,000 searches, billed yearly ($29.99 billed monthly)

      Commercial use, JSON and CSV, no rate limit and standard support. Extra searches cost $0.023992 each.

    • Business$87.99

      per month for 20,000 searches, billed yearly ($99.99 billed monthly)

      The same features as Basic with a larger quota. Extra searches cost $0.019998 each.

    • Business Pro$169.99

      per month for 50,000 searches, billed yearly ($199.99 billed monthly)

      The same features with 50,000 searches. Extra searches cost $0.0159992 each.

    • EnterpriseCustom

      Volume searches, a custom SLA and custom solutions, quoted on request.

    Ways to pay less

    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.

    serpstack

    • Annual discount

      Up to 15% off with yearly billing

      serpstack's FAQ says annual billing costs up to 15% less; Business Pro is $169.99 a month billed yearly against $199.99 billed monthly.

    Common questions

    Which is cheaper, SerpApi or serpstack?

    As of Oct 23, 2026, SerpApi is cheaper to start with: $25 a month, against $26.99 a month for serpstack. SerpApi starts at $25 per month for 1,000 searches, billed monthly, and serpstack starts at $26.99 per month for 5,000 searches, billed yearly ($29.99 billed monthly).

    Which has a free plan, SerpApi or serpstack?

    As of Oct 23, 2026, both SerpApi and serpstack have a free plan.

    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.
    How we review and grade