9 SerpApi Alternatives That Cost Less and Do More — 2026 Rankings

SerpApi has been the default search API for years, but its pricing hasn't kept up with what developers actually need. At $25/month for just 1,000 searches, the math gets ugly fast — especially when you realize you also need a separate scraping API for page content.

We tested 9 SerpApi alternatives head-to-head in April 2026. Same queries, same evaluation criteria. Here's what actually performs.

Key Takeaways

• SearchHive SwiftSearch delivers the best overall value — $49/month gets you 100K credits across search, scraping, and extraction
• DataForSEO is the cheapest per-query option at scale, but the developer experience is rough
• ValueSERP is the closest drop-in replacement if you want minimal code changes
• Google Custom Search free JSON formatter API gives you 3,000 free queries/month but covers only web search
• Most developers can save 60-80% by switching from SerpApi to a more modern alternative

Why Developers Are Leaving SerpApi

Three issues come up repeatedly:

1. Pricing escalates steeply. The jump from Free (250/mo) to Starter ($25/mo for 1,000) is a 10x price increase for only 4x more queries. At the Production tier ($150/mo for 15K searches), you're paying $0.01/search — still expensive compared to newer options.

2. No scraping capability. SerpApi returns search engine result pages. If you need the actual page content (which most AI and data applications do), you're paying for a second service.

3. Throughput caps feel artificial. Even paying $2,750/month for 500K searches only gets you 100,000 requests/hour. Modern async applications hit that ceiling fast.

9 Alternatives Ranked

1. SearchHive SwiftSearch — Best Overall Value

SearchHive isn't just a SERP API — it bundles search, scraping, and AI extraction into one platform. SwiftSearch handles Google and Bing SERP data, while ScrapeForge and DeepDive cover page content and structured extraction.

Pricing: Free (500 credits), Starter $9/mo (5K credits), Builder $49/mo (100K credits), Unicorn $199/mo (500K credits). One credit = $0.0001. Credits work across all three products.

At the Builder tier, a typical SERP query costs 2 credits ($0.0002). That's 125x cheaper per search than SerpApi's Starter plan.

from searchhive import SwiftSearch

client = SwiftSearch(api_key="sh_live_...")

# Google search — returns in under 100ms
results = client.search(
    query="best Python scraping libraries 2026",
    engine="google",
    num_results=10
)

for r in results["organic"]:
    print(f"{r['position']}. {r['title']}")
    print(f"   {r['url']}")
    print(f"   {r['snippet'][:100]}...")

The response format includes position, title, URL, snippet, site links, knowledge panels, and rich results — everything you'd get from SerpApi plus a few extra fields.

What makes it different: One API key gives you SERP data and page scraping. Most teams replacing SerpApi also need a scraper. SearchHive eliminates the second vendor.

/compare/serpapi

2. ValueSERP — Closest Drop-In Replacement

ValueSERP was built as a SerpApi alternative and it shows. The response format is nearly identical — in many cases you can swap the base URL and API key and everything works.

Pricing: Free (250/mo), $50/mo (5K), $100/mo (15K), $250/mo (50K).

import requests

resp = requests.get("https://api.valueserp.com/search", params={
    "api_key": "YOUR_KEY",
    "q": "web scraping APIs comparison",
    "num": 10
})

for r in resp.json()["organic_results"]:
    print(r["title"], "-", r["link"])

Best for: Migration from SerpApi with minimal code changes. The API contract is almost 1:1.

Downside: Same fundamental limitation as SerpApi — SERP only, no scraping. And pricing isn't meaningfully cheaper.

3. DataForSEO — Cheapest at Volume

DataForSEO targets SEO platforms and agencies. Their SERP endpoint supports Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others.

Pricing: Pay-as-you-go credit packs. SERP live requests run ~$0.001 each at volume ($500+ purchases). No monthly subscription.

import requests

resp = requests.post(
    "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/google/organic/live/advanced",
    auth=("your_login", "your_password"),
    json=[{
        "keyword": "web scraping APIs",
        "location_code": 2840,
        "language_code": "en",
        "depth": 10
    }]
)

items = resp.json()["tasks"][0]["result"][0]["items"]
for item in items[:5]:
    print(item.get("title", ""), "-", item.get("url", ""))

Best for: Processing 100K+ searches per month where per-query cost matters more than developer experience.

Downside: HTTP Basic auth, batch-oriented API design, and documentation aimed at SEO agencies rather than software engineers.

4. Google Custom Search JSON API

Google's own API. No middleman.

Pricing: Free for 100 queries/day (~3,000/month). $5 per 1,000 additional queries.

import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1",
    params={
        "key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
        "cx": "YOUR_CSE_ID",
        "q": "best web scraping API 2026",
        "num": 10
    }
)

for item in resp.json().get("items", []):
    print(item["title"], "—", item["link"])

Best for: Internal tools, prototypes, and low-volume use where free matters most.

Limitations: Only web search. No images, news, shopping, or video results in the free tier. Setup requires creating a Custom Search Engine in Google Cloud Console.

5. Bing Web Search API (Azure)

Microsoft's search API, delivered through Azure Cognitive Services.

Pricing: Free tier: 1,000 transactions/month. S1 tier: $3/1,000 queries. S3 tier: $1/1,000 queries (requires commitment).

import requests

headers = {"Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key": "YOUR_KEY"}
resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.bing.microsoft.com/v7.0/search",
    headers=headers,
    params={"q": "web scraping APIs", "count": 10}
)

for page in resp.json()["webPages"]["value"]:
    print(page["name"], page["url"])

Best for: Bing-specific use cases, or as a secondary search source alongside Google for diversity.

6. Serpstat API

Serpstat is primarily an SEO analytics platform. The API provides SERP data, keyword research, and competitor analysis.

Pricing: Plans start at $69/month for 400K "API rows" (a unit that encompasses different data types, not purely searches).

Best for: SEO teams that need keyword difficulty scores, competitor data, and search volume alongside raw SERP results.

Downside: The "row" pricing model makes cost estimation hard. Not a clean search API replacement.

7. SearchAPI.io

SearchAPI is a straightforward REST API for Google, Bing, YouTube, Amazon, and other search engines.

Pricing: Free (100/mo), Hobby $30/mo (3K), Growth $70/mo (10K), Business $150/mo (30K).

import requests

resp = requests.get("https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search", params={
    "engine": "google",
    "q": "best scraping APIs 2026",
    "api_key": "YOUR_KEY"
})

for r in resp.json()["organic_results"][:5]:
    print(r["title"])

Best for: Simple integrations where you just need search results with minimal ceremony.

8. Mojeek API

Mojeek is an independent, privacy-focused search engine with its own web index (not powered by Google or Bing).

Pricing: Free for non-commercial use. Commercial pricing on request.

import requests

resp = requests.get("https://api.mojeek.com/search", params={
    "q": "web scraping API comparison",
    "format": "json"
})

for r in resp.json()["results"]:
    print(r["title"], r["url"])

Best for: Privacy-first applications and projects that specifically want an independent index.

Limitation: Coverage is much smaller than Google/Bing. Long-tail queries often return few or no results.

9. Brave Search API

Brave Search uses its own independent index. Offers a Web Search API with JSON responses.

Pricing: Free tier: 2,000 queries/month. Data for AI plan: $3/1,000 queries. Data plan: $5/1,000 queries.

import requests

headers = {"X-Subscription-Token": "YOUR_KEY"}
resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search",
    headers=headers,
    params={"q": "web scraping APIs 2026", "count": 10}
)

for r in resp.json().get("web", {}).get("results", []):
    print(r.get("title"), r.get("url"))

Best for: AI/LLM applications that want a privacy-respecting search source. Brave has been positioning itself as the go-to search API for AI agents.

/compare/brave-search-api

Full Comparison Table

Verdict

If you're paying SerpApi more than $25/month, you should switch. The math is straightforward:

• Under 5K searches/month: SearchHive Starter ($9) replaces SerpApi Developer ($75). Same coverage, 1/8th the price.
• 5K-100K searches/month: SearchHive Builder ($49) vs SerpApi Big Data ($275) for equivalent volume. You save $226/month and get scraping included.
• 100K+ searches/month: DataForSEO's per-unit pricing wins on raw cost, but SearchHive still wins when you factor in the scraping capability you'd otherwise need a second vendor for.

The days of paying $0.01+ per search query are over. Modern alternatives deliver the same data at a fraction of the cost, often with better developer tooling.

→ Start free with 500 credits on SearchHive — no credit card, no sales call, full API access from day one.