# serpstack review (2026): is the free plan enough?

> Google search results API from apilayer, with monthly search quotas

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

serpstack is a REST API from apilayer that scrapes Google results in real time through a proxy network and returns them as JSON or CSV. It covers web, image, video, news and shopping results, ads and questions, for desktop, tablet or mobile and from any city, region or country. Plans are monthly search quotas, with overage charges once a quota runs out.

- **Category:** SERP & SEO Data APIs
- **Made by:** apilayer
- **Website:** https://serpstack.com
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you need Bing or any engine other than Google.
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 23, 2026

## Pricing

As of Oct 23, 2026, serpstack has a free plan, and paid plans start at $26.99 per month for 5,000 searches, billed yearly ($29.99 billed monthly).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** 100 searches a month for non-commercial use, JSON output only and no support.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Volume searches, a custom SLA and custom solutions, quoted on request. |

Read from https://serpstack.com/pricing on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with serpstack before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Up to 15% off with yearly billing** (Annual discount): 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. Source: https://serpstack.com/faq

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- Developers adding Google results to an app on a fixed monthly quota
- Testing a SERP API for free in a non-commercial project
- Teams already using other apilayer APIs

## Worth knowing

- 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.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Oct 23, 2026. serpstack is apilayer's Google results API, sold as monthly search quotas that bill overages instead of cutting you off. It covers Google only, 5,000 searches cost $26.99 a month even on yearly billing, and checkout pre-selects an optional support add-on priced from $479.88 a year.

- **Value for money: C.** Basic 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: C.** A free plan for good, but 100 searches a month, non-commercial use only, JSON only and no support.
- **Features: C.** Google 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: C.** Judged 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: C.** Web only, with a REST API and no client libraries or integrations named in the listing. No desktop or phone app.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from serpstack's own pages on 23 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among SERP and SEO data APIs

- serpstack's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 1 of the 38 other SERP and SEO data APIs we grade, and level with 5.
- Its paid plans start at $26.99 a month, against a middle price of $29.49 for the category: 10 of the 25 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 9 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/seo-data-apis

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace serpstack 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: 32 of the 38 other SERP and SEO data APIs grade higher. It costs $323.88 a year.

- You could not: Search results fetched at scale from many countries without being blocked.
- You could not: An API that other software can build on.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

**Tags:** SERP API, Public API

## Alternatives

- [Zenserp](https://toolgpa.com/tools/zenserp): SERP API for Google, Bing, Yandex and DuckDuckGo with monthly plans. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/serpstack-vs-zenserp)
- [SerpApi](https://toolgpa.com/tools/serpapi): Real-time search results API for Google and dozens of other engines. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serpstack)
- [Serper](https://toolgpa.com/tools/serper): Google search results API sold in prepaid credit packs. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/serper-vs-serpstack)
- [VALUE SERP](https://toolgpa.com/tools/valueserp): Low-cost Google results API from Traject Data, now part of ScraperAPI. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/serpstack-vs-valueserp)
- [SearchApi](https://toolgpa.com/tools/searchapi): Real-time SERP API for Google, AI answers and dozens of other sites. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/searchapi-vs-serpstack)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026:

- https://serpstack.com/pricing
- https://serpstack.com/faq

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/serpstack
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).