Serper vs Serpshot (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, Serper and Serpshot share a 2.4 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on which features you need.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Oct 24, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Serper
Google search results API sold in prepaid credit packs
Serpshot
Google SERP API sold in one-time credit packs, no subscription
Which one is for you
Pick Serper if
- Fits if you only need Google and would rather pay per query than per month
- Works for AI agents on LangChain or CrewAI that need current Google results
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need Bing, Yahoo or any engine other than Google
- Watch out: credits expire 6 months after purchase, so a big pack you don't use up is money lost
- Tight if you're testing, as the 2,500 free queries come once and there's no monthly free plan
- Watch out: refunds run 7 days from the first payment, and only with under 20% of the credits used
Pick Serpshot if
- Fits if you need Google rankings for many keywords in many countries
- Works for irregular workloads that suit prepaid packs over a subscription
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need Google News, Shopping, Maps or another engine, as only web and image search work today
- Watch out: a credit covers 10 results, so a 100-result search is 10 credits, times every keyword in a batch
- Tight if you buy big and use slowly, since credits expire 6 months after purchase and used ones aren't refunded
- Watch out: the pricing page's table lists different packs, Advanced at $175 and Ultimate at $500, from its pack cards
How we grade them
| 2.4GPASerperFair | 2.4GPASerpshotFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$50 buys 50,000 Google queries, $1 per 1,000, one of the lowest rates in this category, and bigger packs fall to $0.30. The first spend is at the dear end of the usual $25 to $50, though, and the credits lapse after 6 months. | B$19 buys 25,000 credits, valid 6 months, inside this category's cheaper quarter, at about $0.76 per 1,000 queries of 10 results; bigger packs fall to $0.20. A 100-result search costs 10 credits, though. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but 2,500 free queries with no card. They're a one-off, not a monthly allowance. | CNo free plan: 2,000 credits on sign-up with no card. They're a one-off, not a monthly allowance. |
| Features | CTen Google result types, from web and maps to Scholar, patents and autocomplete, fetched live with country and language set. Google only, though: no Bing, Yahoo or other engine, which the listing itself points out. | CLive Google web and image results by country and language in 200+ markets, up to 100 results a keyword and 100 keywords a request. The gap is in the listing: news, shopping and maps are only planned, and no other engine is covered. |
| Ease of use | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: most results in 1 to 2 seconds and 2,500 free queries to test with. No rating on record, and no client libraries named. | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: an open-source Python SDK, docs in four languages and a public status page. No rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with an API and listed integrations with LangChain, CrewAI, Haystack and Jan AI. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. | BWeb, with an API, a Python SDK, and an MCP server and agent skill for Cursor, Claude Code and OpenClaw. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | live Google results on prepaid credits | Google web results in prepaid packs |
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: Serper and Serpshot. How we grade
Where they differ
At a glance
| Serper | Serpshot | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $50 one-time for 50,000 credits ($1.00 per 1,000 queries) | $19 one-time for 25,000 credits, valid 6 months |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 2,500 free queries, no credit card required | 2,000 free credits on sign-up, no card needed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Serper.dev | Serpshot |
| Price read from | serper.dev | serpshot.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Serper
- Its site lists Google endpoints only, with no Bing, Yahoo or other search engines.
- Credits expire 6 months after purchase, so a large pack bought for a lower rate can go unused.
- Refunds are given within 7 days of the first payment only if less than 20% of the credits are used.
- The 2,500 free queries are a one-time allowance, not a monthly free plan.
Serpshot
- A credit covers 10 results, so a 100-result search costs 10 credits; a batch request multiplies that by its number of keywords.
- Only Google web and image search are supported; news, shopping and maps are listed as planned.
- Credits expire 6 months after purchase and are not refunded once used; failed requests are not charged.
- The pricing page's comparison table lists different packs (Advanced at $175 for 350,000 credits, Ultimate at $500) from the pack cards.
Key features
Serper
- Ten Google result types
- Endpoints for Google web search, images, news, maps, places, videos, shopping, Scholar, patents and autocomplete.
- Live results
- Each call queries Google directly and nothing is cached; most results return in 1 to 2 seconds, sometimes 2 to 4 when a request is retried.
- Location and language
- Every pack lets you set the country and language a search is run from.
- Rate limits by pack
- From 50 queries a second on Starter to 300 on Ultimate, which Serper says is roughly 15,000 to 18,000 searches a minute.
- Charged on success
- Credits are deducted only for successful responses, and the API stops taking queries when the balance reaches zero.
- AI framework integrations
- Listed integrations with LangChain, CrewAI, Haystack and Jan AI for feeding search results to AI agents and chatbots.
Serpshot
- Google web and image search
- Each request fetches live Google results with no caching, typically in one to two seconds, and returns them as JSON.
- Localized results
- Set country and language for more than 200 countries and regions to see results as searchers there would.
- Batch keywords
- Send up to 100 keywords in one request and run up to 10 requests at once, for up to 1,000 keywords in parallel.
- Results per query
- Ask for up to 100 results per keyword; each 10 results requested, rounded up, uses one credit.
- MCP server and AI skill
- An MCP server and an agent skill let Cursor, Claude Code, OpenClaw and other MCP clients call Google search through Serpshot.
- Python SDK
- An open-source Python SDK on GitHub, plus a REST API documented in four languages and a public status page.
Plans
Serper
Starter$50
one-time for 50,000 credits, valid for 6 months
50,000 queries at $1.00 per 1,000, up to 50 queries a second. Prices exclude sales tax or VAT.
Standard$375
one-time for 500,000 credits, valid for 6 months
500,000 queries at $0.75 per 1,000, up to 100 queries a second.
Scale$1,250
one-time for 2.5 million credits, valid for 6 months
2.5 million queries at $0.50 per 1,000, up to 200 queries a second.
Ultimate$3,750
one-time for 12.5 million credits, valid for 6 months
12.5 million queries at $0.30 per 1,000, up to 300 queries a second; a higher limit can be arranged.
Serpshot
Starter$19
one-time for 25,000 credits, valid 6 months
About $0.76 per 1,000 queries, 10 concurrent requests, up to 100 keywords per request and auto-refill.
Standard$65
one-time for 100,000 credits, valid 6 months
$0.65 per 1,000 queries, with email technical support.
Premium$199
one-time for 500,000 credits, valid 6 months
$0.40 per 1,000 queries, with priority support.
Ultimate$499
one-time for 2,500,000 credits, valid 6 months
$0.20 per 1,000 queries, with dedicated technical support. Larger volumes are quoted by email.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Serper or Serpshot?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Serper starts at $50 one-time for 50,000 credits ($1.00 per 1,000 queries), and Serpshot starts at $19 one-time for 25,000 credits, valid 6 months.
Which has a free plan, Serper or Serpshot?
As of Oct 23, 2026, neither Serper nor Serpshot has a free plan. Both have 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.