SearchHive vs DataForSEO: Search Capabilities Compared

Choosing between SearchHive and DataForSEO for search API infrastructure comes down to pricing, simplicity, and whether you need SEO-specific features or general-purpose search and scraping. This comparison covers both services head-to-head.

Key Takeaways

• DataForSEO is an SEO platform with 15+ APIs, minimum $50 deposit, and pay-per-task pricing starting at $0.0006/task
• SearchHive is a developer-first search and scraping API with a free tier (500 credits), plans from $9/month
• SearchHive is 5-10x cheaper for typical search workloads
• DataForSEO wins on breadth if you need keyword data, backlinks, and domain analytics alongside SERP data
• SearchHive wins on simplicity -- one API key, three endpoints, no minimum spend

Comparison Table

Search Capabilities: Feature by Feature

Google Organic Search

DataForSEO offers three modes for Google SERP data:

• Standard Queue -- $0.0006 per SERP, up to 5 min turnaround
• Priority Queue -- $0.0012 per SERP, up to 1 min turnaround
• Live Mode -- $0.002 per SERP, up to 6 sec turnaround

The SERP API returns detailed data: organic results, featured snippets, knowledge panels, ads, local packs, and more. Each search engine result page (10 results) counts as one task.

SearchHive's SwiftSearch API returns clean, structured search results in under 2 seconds. No queue modes to choose from -- every request gets the fast path:

import httpx

# DataForSEO
response = httpx.post(
    "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/google/organic/live/advanced",
    json=[{"keyword": "python web scraping", "location_code": 2840}],
    auth=("login", "password")
)
data = response.json()

# SearchHive
response = httpx.get(
    "https://api.searchhive.dev/v1/search",
    params={"q": "python web scraping", "limit": 10},
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY"}
)
data = response.json()
for result in data["results"]:
    print(result["title"], result["url"])

Page Scraping

This is where the comparison shifts dramatically. DataForSEO does not offer page scraping. It's an SEO data platform, not a general-purpose web scraping service. If you need to extract content from pages that your search results point to, you need a separate tool.

SearchHive includes ScrapeForge -- a full-page extraction API that handles JavaScript rendering, anti-detection, and proxy rotation:

import httpx

response = httpx.post(
    "https://api.searchhive.dev/v1/scrape",
    json={"url": "https://example.com/article", "format": "markdown"},
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY"}
)
data = response.json()
print(data["title"])
print(data["content"])

With DataForSEO, you'd need to add a scraping service like Firecrawl ($16-599/month) or ScrapeGraphAI ($17-425/year) to get equivalent functionality. That's an entirely separate integration, separate billing, and separate API to maintain.

Deep Research

SearchHive's DeepDive API performs multi-step research across multiple sources, synthesizing findings into a single response. No equivalent exists in DataForSEO's product suite.

import httpx

response = httpx.post(
    "https://api.searchhive.dev/v1/deepdive",
    json={"query": "compare vector database pricing for 2026", "depth": 5},
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY"}
)
data = response.json()
print(data["summary"])
for source in data["sources"]:
    print(f"  - {source['title']}: {source['url']}")

SEO-Specific Features

DataForSEO's strength is breadth. Beyond SERP data, it offers:

• Keywords Data API -- search volume, CPC, competition scores
• Backlinks API -- referring domains, anchor text, link type
• Domain Analytics API -- domain rank, traffic estimates
• On-Page API -- page audit, content analysis
• Content Analysis API -- SEO scoring and recommendations

If you're building an SEO tool, DataForSEO's specialized APIs provide data that SearchHive doesn't offer. This is a legitimate use case where DataForSEO is the better choice.

If you're building an AI agent, data pipeline, or general-purpose application that needs search and scraping, SearchHive covers everything in one platform.

Pricing Deep Dive

DataForSEO

Pay-per-task with $50 minimum deposit:

These are SERP-only prices. Adding keyword data, backlinks, or other APIs increases costs. Each API has separate pricing.

SearchHive

Credit-based subscriptions with generous inclusions:

One credit = $0.0001 across all APIs. Search typically costs ~18 credits per query. Scraping costs vary by page complexity. The same credits work for everything.

Real-World Cost Comparison

For a typical AI agent making 10K searches + 5K scrapes per month:

SearchHive's $49 Builder plan covers 10K searches and 5K scrapes with credits to spare. The equivalent with DataForSEO requires a separate scraping service and potentially exceeds the $50 minimum spend before you even add scraping costs.

Code Examples: Side by Side

Searching Google

# DataForSEO (Live mode - $0.002/search)
import httpx
import json

login = "your@login.com"
password = "your_password"

resp = httpx.post(
    "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/google/organic/live/advanced",
    json=[{
        "keyword": "best python frameworks 2026",
        "location_code": 2840,
        "language_code": "en"
    }],
    auth=(login, password)
)
results = resp.json()["tasks"][0]["result"][0]["items"]
for item in results[:5]:
    print(item["title"], item["url"])

# SearchHive (~$0.0036/search on Free, ~$0.0018/search on Builder)
import httpx

resp = httpx.get(
    "https://api.searchhive.dev/v1/search",
    params={"q": "best python frameworks 2026", "limit": 10},
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY"}
)
for result in resp.json()["results"]:
    print(result["title"], result["url"])

Verdict

Choose DataForSEO if: You're building an SEO tool that needs keyword research, backlink analysis, and domain analytics alongside SERP data. The breadth of specialized APIs justifies the cost.

Choose SearchHive if: You're building an AI agent, data pipeline, or application that needs search, scraping, and research in one platform. The unified API, simpler pricing, and included scraping make it the better value for most developers.

For the majority of use cases -- AI agents, automation pipelines, data extraction workflows -- SearchHive provides more functionality per dollar. The free tier (500 credits, no card) lets you test everything before committing.

Get started at searchhive.dev with 500 free credits. See the full API docs and pricing page.

Related: /compare/serpapi | /compare/tavily | /compare/firecrawl