ScraperAPI review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Web scraping API with Google search endpoints, priced in API credits
ScraperAPI report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 23, 2026
Best for Google results alongside shop and site scraping
ScraperAPI is a web scraping API with ready-made Google endpoints, rotating proxies and a no-code pipeline for big batches. A Google request costs 25 credits, so the $49 plan covers about 4,000 searches, and checking rankings outside the US and EU needs the $299 Business plan.
Who ScraperAPI is for
- Fits if you scrape Google alongside Amazon, Walmart or eBay on one key
- Works for large batches that need retries and scheduling, through the async API or DataPipeline
Who ScraperAPI is not for
- Watch out: a Google or Bing request costs 25 credits, so Hobby's 100,000 credits is about 4,000 searches
- Skip it if you need rankings outside the US and EU below Business at $269.10 a month
- Pricey if you need rendering, premium proxies or screenshots, which add 10 credits each
- Tight if you run out mid-month, as credits don't roll over and pay-as-you-go starts at Scaling, $427.50
- Tight if you're on Free, with 1,000 credits a month, about 40 Google searches
Why ScraperAPI gets a 2.2
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyHobby is $44.10 a month on yearly billing ($49 monthly), at the dear end of this category's usual range. A Google or Bing request is 25 credits, so 100,000 credits is about 4,000 searches, around $11 per 1,000.
- CFree plan and trialA 7-day trial of 5,000 credits with no card, then a free plan of 1,000 credits a month. At 25 credits a search, that's 40 Google searches.
- CFeaturesGoogle Search, Shopping, Maps, News and Jobs endpoints, Bing, rendering, async jobs and a no-code DataPipeline. The gap is in the listing: Hobby and Startup geotarget only the US and EU, and country targeting starts at Business, $269.10.
- CEase of useJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: SDKs, a CLI and ready Google endpoints that need no rendering turned on. No rating on record, and credit costs stack up by site and option.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, with an API, SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server, plus LangChain, LlamaIndex, n8n and Zapier. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from ScraperAPI's own pages on 23 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/scraperapi#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/scraperapi.svg" alt="ScraperAPI: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where ScraperAPI stands among SERP and SEO data APIs
ScraperAPI's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 7 of the 38 other SERP and SEO data APIs we grade, and level with 8.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 9 of 38) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $44.10 a month, against a middle price of $29.49 for the category: 18 of the 25 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 8 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 39 SERP and SEO data APIs we grade, cut by the letter each got. ScraperAPI’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 1 of 38, level with 19
- CFree plan and trialAbove 2 of 38, level with 32
- CFeaturesAbove 1 of 38, level with 24
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 38, level with 36
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 9 of 38, level with 29
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 26 SERP and SEO data APIs. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep ScraperAPI, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace ScraperAPI you would be making search results fetched at scale from many countries without being blocked. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 23 of the 38 other SERP and SEO data APIs grade higher. It costs $529.20 a year.
What you could not
- Search results fetched at scale from many countries without being blocked.
- It plugs into other products, LangChain, LlamaIndex and n8n among them, and has an API.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
What this rests on. ScraperAPI’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is ScraperAPI?
ScraperAPI fetches web pages through rotating proxies, renders JavaScript and handles CAPTCHAs, returning HTML, text, Markdown or parsed JSON. Its structured data endpoints cover Google Search, Shopping, Maps, News and Jobs alongside Amazon, Walmart, eBay and Redfin, and an asynchronous API and a no-code DataPipeline handle large batches. Plans are monthly allowances of API credits, and each request costs credits by the site and options used.
Worth knowing
- A Google or Bing request costs 25 credits, so Hobby's 100,000 credits cover about 4,000 Google searches.
- JavaScript rendering, premium proxies and screenshots each add 10 credits, and bypassing bot protection adds 10 more.
- Credits reset each billing cycle with no rollover; pay-as-you-go past the allowance starts at the Scaling plan.
- Hobby and Startup can only geotarget the US and EU; country-level targeting starts at Business.
Key features
- Google structured data endpoints
- Ready-made endpoints return Google Search, Shopping, Maps, News and Jobs results as JSON, without needing JavaScript rendering turned on.
- Proxy rotation and anti-bot handling
- Rotating proxy pools, premium residential and mobile IPs, CAPTCHA handling and automatic retries, with geotargeting by country on Business and up.
- JavaScript rendering and screenshots
- Load dynamic pages in a headless browser, follow a rendering instruction set, and capture screenshots of the result.
- Asynchronous API and DataPipeline
- Submit up to 50,000 jobs that retry until they succeed, or schedule large scraping jobs in DataPipeline without writing code.
- AI Parser and LLM-ready output
- Train a custom parser to get clean JSON from any source, or ask for pages as text or Markdown for language model pipelines.
- MCP server and integrations
- An MCP server, a CLI and SDKs, with LangChain, LlamaIndex, n8n and Zapier integrations.
ScraperAPI pricing
As of Oct 23, 2026, ScraperAPI has a free plan, and paid plans start at $44.10 per month for 100K API credits, billed annually ($49 billed monthly).
- Starts at
- $44.10 per month for 100K API credits, billed annually ($49 billed monthly)
- Free plan
- Free plan after the trial: 1,000 API credits a month and 5 concurrent threads, no credit card needed. A Google or Bing request costs 25 credits.
- Free trial
- 7-day free trial with 5,000 API credits, no credit card required
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 API credits a month and 5 concurrent threads, to keep scraping after the trial ends. |
| Hobby | $44.10per month for 100K API credits, billed annually ($49 billed monthly) | 20 concurrent threads, geotargeting in the US and EU only, and 30 days of analytics history. |
| Startup | $134.10per month for 1M API credits, billed annually ($149 billed monthly) | 50 concurrent threads, with US and EU geotargeting only. |
| Business | $269.10per month for 3M API credits, billed annually ($299 billed monthly) | 100 concurrent threads, country-level geotargeting worldwide and unlimited analytics history. |
| Scaling | $427.50per month for 5M API credits, billed annually ($475 billed monthly) | 200 concurrent threads, and the first plan with pay-as-you-go credits past the monthly allowance. |
| Professional | $877.50per month for 10.5M API credits, billed annually ($975 billed monthly) | 300 threads and priority support. Advanced is $1,777.50 a month billed annually for 21.5M credits; Enterprise is custom above 22M. |
Read from scraperapi.com on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with ScraperAPI before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discount10% off with yearly billing
ScraperAPI's pricing page lists 10% off every self-serve plan when billed yearly: Hobby is $44.10 a month instead of $49.
Stated on scraperapi.com
Works with
ScraperAPI alternatives
- ScraperAPI vs ScrapingBee
Free trial · from $19/mo
- ScraperAPI vs Scrapingdog
Free trial · from $40/mo
- ScraperAPI vs ZenRows
Free plan · from $16/mo
- ScraperAPI vs Scrapfly
Free trial · from $30/mo
- ScraperAPI vs SerpApi
Free plan · from $25/mo
Common questions
Does ScraperAPI have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. ScraperAPI is listed for Web.
Does ScraperAPI have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. ScraperAPI is listed for Web.
Is ScraperAPI open source?
ScraperAPI is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 23, 2026.
Does ScraperAPI have an API?
Yes. ScraperAPI offers a public API, according to its own site.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026.