SerpBear vs Serposcope (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SerpBear and Serposcope share a 2.2 GPA, both are free, so the choice depends on whether you care more about features and platforms, where SerpBear grades higher, or value for money and the free plan, where Serposcope does.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
SerpBear
Free open-source Google rank tracker that you host yourself
Free
Serposcope
Free self-hosted rank tracker, now marked unsupported by its developer
Free
Which one is for you
Pick SerpBear if
- Fits if you're comfortable running a Docker app and want unlimited Google keywords for the price of a scraper
- Works for small sites that want Google positions next to their Search Console visits
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't want to run a server, as there's no hosted version from the developer, only paid one-click hosts
- Skip it if you need Bing, other engines or AI answers tracked, as it tracks Google only
- Watch out: past ScrapingRobot's free 5,000 searches it's $1.80 per 1,000, and deeper positions take several requests per keyword
- Tight if you want email alerts or keyword research, which need your own SMTP settings and a Google Ads test account
Pick Serposcope if
- Fits if you want ranking data kept on your own machine rather than in a vendor's cloud
- Works for technical users who already pay for proxies or a SERP API
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want software that's kept up: it's marked unsupported, may not work, and 3.5 from January 2025 is the last release
- Watch out: Google checks need paid add-ons, since Scraping Ant's free plan doesn't work with Google and captcha solvers cost money
- Not for you if setting login protection by hand in a config file sounds like hard work
- Tight if you have Serposcope 2 data, since it can't be moved into version 3
- Watch out: the Windows and Mac installers aren't signed, so both systems warn before installing
How we grade them
| 2.2GPASerpBearFair | 2.2GPASerposcopeFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe app is free under the MIT license with no paid edition, but it's only free if you host it, which needs a server or a paid one-click host. Checks run through a scraper: ScrapingRobot's free tier is 5,000 searches a month, then $1.80 per 1,000. | BThe program is free, with no paid edition. Reliable checks need paid help, though: Scraping Ant's free plan doesn't work with Google, and the captcha solvers it supports are paid services, so running it well isn't really free. |
| Free plan and trial | BNothing to pay SerpBear, with unlimited sites and keywords. ScrapingRobot's free tier covers 5,000 searches a month, but deeper positions take several requests each: 20 keywords near position 30, checked daily, use about 1,800. | AVersion 3.5 is a free download for Windows, Mac and Linux, with no account and no paid edition. Everything it does comes without paying Serposcope anything. |
| Features | CUnlimited Google tracking with a choice of how many result pages to check, Search Console visits, keyword ideas and volumes, email reports, CSV export and an API. The gap: it tracks Google only, with no other engine on record. | DRank tracking with saved result pages, a backlink watch and a local database you can query. But it needs proxies, captcha solvers or a SERP API to fetch Google reliably, and the developer says it may not work at all now. |
| Ease of use | DNo rating on record. You deploy it with Docker or on a server, add scraper keys, and set up your own SMTP for email alerts and a Google Ads test account for keyword research. | DNo rating on record. You install it yourself, set login protection by hand in a config file and wire up proxies or captcha solvers, and both Windows and Mac warn before installing it. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, as an app you host yourself. It works with ScrapingRobot, SerpApi and other scrapers or your own proxies, plus Search Console and Google Ads, and has a built-in API for reporting tools. | CA program for Windows, Mac and Linux that opens in your browser, linked only to scraping and captcha services. No phone app, and the API isn't documented. |
| Best for | free self-hosted Google rank tracking | free rank tracking on your own machine |
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: SerpBear and Serposcope. How we grade
Price against what you get
SerpBear has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Serposcope has no paid plan and scores 1.3.
SerpBear scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other rank trackers on the chart, none scores higher than SerpBear for less, and none scores higher than Serposcope 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
- SerpBear is open source, according to its own site.
- SerpBear also covers keyword research.
In commonFree planSelf-hostableRank tracking
At a glance
| SerpBear | Serposcope | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | The whole app is free under the MIT license with unlimited domains and keywords; you pay only the scraping service you connect, if it charges. | Version 3.5 is a free download for Windows, Mac and Debian or Ubuntu Linux, with no account needed and no paid edition. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Towfiq I. | Serposcope |
| Price read from | docs.serpbear.com | serposcope.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
SerpBear
- You host and maintain it yourself; there is no hosted service from the developer, only paid one-click hosts such as PikaPods and Elestio.
- Positions come from a scraper: ScrapingRobot's free tier covers 5,000 searches a month, then $1.80 per 1,000; other services charge their own rates.
- Most scrapers now need several requests per keyword for deeper positions: 20 keywords near position 30, checked daily, take about 1,800 a month.
- It tracks Google only. Keyword research needs a Google Ads test account, and email alerts need your own SMTP settings.
Serposcope
- The download section says Serposcope is no longer supported and may not work; the last release, 3.5, is dated January 2025.
- Reliable scraping needs paid add-ons: Scraping Ant's free plan does not work with Google, and captcha solvers are paid services.
- Login protection must be set by hand in a config file, and Serposcope 2 data cannot be moved into version 3.
- The Windows and Mac installers are not signed with paid certificates, so both systems warn before installing.
Key features
SerpBear
- Unlimited domains and keywords
- Add as many sites and keywords as you like; the only limit is how many searches your scraper or proxies allow.
- Scrape strategies
- Basic, Custom or Smart strategies, set globally or per domain, decide how many Google pages are checked for each keyword.
- Choice of scraper
- Works with ScrapingRobot, SerpApi, SearchApi, Serper, Serply, ValueSerp, ScrapingAnt, CrazySerp or your own proxy IPs.
- Search Console data
- Shows real visits and impressions for each tracked keyword and surfaces new keywords, top countries and top pages.
- Keyword research
- Linking a Google Ads test account adds monthly search volumes and keyword ideas generated from your site's content.
- Alerts, API and CSV
- Daily, weekly or monthly email reports of position changes, CSV export, and a built-in API for reporting tools such as Google Data Studio.
Serposcope
- Rank tracker
- Add keywords and websites, then follow each site's positions over time, with a view of the full result page for every check.
- Backlink watch
- A second module for adding backlinks and following their status, with an overview and a details page per link.
- Choice of scraping method
- Fetch result pages from your own IP, through your proxies, or through the paid Scraping Ant or Space Serp APIs.
- Captcha solver support
- When scraping through proxies, plug in capmonster.cloud, anticaptcha, 2captcha or imagetyperz; several can be set at once.
- Raw SERP storage
- Since version 3.3 it can keep the HTML or API response of each check for 1 to 7 days, purged after each run.
- Local database
- Data sits in a SQLite file in the data folder, which you can query directly; an API exists but is not documented.
Plans
SerpBear
Self-hosted$0
Open-source app you run yourself with Docker or from the GitHub source, with a SQLite database and no paid edition.
Serposcope
Self-hosted$0
Free download that you install and run yourself; rank tracking and backlink watch, with data kept in a local SQLite file.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, SerpBear or Serposcope?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both SerpBear and Serposcope are free to use.
Which has a free plan, SerpBear or Serposcope?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both SerpBear and Serposcope have a free plan.
Which platforms do SerpBear and Serposcope run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only SerpBear lists a web app and only Serposcope lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.