SerpApi vs SerpWow (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SerpApi grades higher than SerpWow: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
SerpApi grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
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
SerpWow
Multi-engine SERP API from Traject Data, now part of ScraperAPI
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 SerpWow if
- Fits if you need Google plus Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, Baidu or Naver from one provider
- Works for pipelines that want results pushed to a webhook or a cloud bucket
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you start small, at $155 a month billed monthly for 10,000 credits
- Tight if you want help getting set up, as premium support and onboarding start at BigData, $399
- Watch out: credits past the allowance cost $0.024 each on Starter
- Watch out: ScraperAPI bought Traject Data and says it is moving Traject's APIs onto its own infrastructure
- Not for you if you want to know the trial's size first, as its pages don't say
How we grade them
| 2.4GPASerpApiFair | 2.2GPASerpWowFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | DStarter is $125 a month on yearly billing ($155 monthly) for 10,000 credits, in this category's dearest tenth: $12.50 per 1,000, against $1 to $4 at most rivals. Traject Data's own Scale SERP starts at $29. |
| 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. | CNo free plan. There's a free trial, but its pages don't say how many searches it includes. |
| 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. | BGoogle web, AI Overviews, News, Trends, Images, Maps and Shopping on every Google domain down to postal code, plus Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, Baidu and Naver, with batches and webhook or cloud delivery. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. |
| 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: JSON, CSV or HTML by API pull, webhook or cloud bucket. No rating on record, and concierge onboarding only starts at BigData. |
| 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. | BWeb, with an API, webhooks and delivery to Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage and Azure. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | Google plus many other engines from one key | Google plus Bing, Yahoo and Baidu from one provider |
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 SerpWow. 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. SerpWow starts at $125 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and SerpApi starts $100 a month lower. Of the other SERP and SEO data APIs on the chart, none scores higher than SerpApi for less, and none scores higher than SerpWow 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
| SerpApi | SerpWow | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $25 per month for 1,000 searches, billed monthly | $125 per month for 10,000 credits, billed annually ($155 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 250 searches a month, up to 50 successful searches an hour. No U.S. Legal Shield. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | Free trial; the number of free searches is not stated |
| Web | ||
| Made by | SerpApi, LLC | Traject Data (ScraperAPI) |
| Price read from | serpapi.com | trajectdata.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 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.
SerpWow
- The cheapest plan is $155 a month billed monthly; Traject Data's Google-only Scale SERP starts at $29.
- Credits beyond a plan's allowance are charged, from $0.024 each on Starter.
- Premium technical support and concierge onboarding start at BigData; Starter has neither.
- Traject Data was acquired by ScraperAPI, which says it is moving Traject's APIs onto its own infrastructure.
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.
SerpWow
- Google verticals
- Web search, AI Overviews, News, Trends, Images, Videos, reverse image search, Maps listings and reviews, and Shopping and product data.
- Other search engines
- Its pages name Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, Baidu and Naver alongside Google, and also YouTube, Amazon and Reddit.
- Local targeting
- Every Google domain, localized by country, language, city, region or postal code, with mobile or desktop views.
- Batches
- Run hundreds or thousands of searches at once in batches; every plan allows up to 10,000 of them.
- Delivery options
- JSON, CSV or HTML by API pull, by webhook push, or straight to Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage or Azure.
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.
SerpWow
Starter$125
per month for 10,000 credits, billed annually ($155 billed monthly)
Extra credits cost $0.024 each; up to 10,000 batches.
BigData$399
per month for 50,000 credits, billed annually ($499 billed monthly)
Extra credits at $0.01996 each, premium technical support and concierge onboarding.
Volume$960
per month for 250,000 credits, billed annually ($1,200 billed monthly)
Extra credits at $0.0096 each, with premium support and onboarding.
Infrastructure$2,399
per month for 1M credits, billed annually ($2,999 billed monthly)
Extra credits at $0.005998 each, with premium support and onboarding.
Infrastructure XL$7,200
per month for 5M credits, billed annually ($9,000 billed monthly)
Extra credits at $0.0036 each, with premium support and onboarding. Larger custom plans through sales.
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.
SerpWow
- Annual discount
20% off with annual billing
SerpWow's pricing toggle takes 20% off for annual billing: Starter is $125 a month billed annually against $155 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, SerpApi or SerpWow?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SerpApi is cheaper to start with: $25 a month, against $125 a month for SerpWow. SerpApi starts at $25 per month for 1,000 searches, billed monthly, and SerpWow starts at $125 per month for 10,000 credits, billed annually ($155 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, SerpApi or SerpWow?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only SerpApi has a free plan. SerpWow 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.