Choosing the right SERP API can be hard. There are so many factors you need to consider. Pricing can be all over the place, with some APIs charging per call/query, and others offering packages or tiered plans.
Proper documentation is also a must to make things easier to use and understand, but not all providers offer it. Support is also something that you need to consider, whether they offer 24/7 support or just chat or email during business hours. Free credits and/or trials are also super helpful so you can test it out first without spending money.
With so many variables, it is very important to evaluate each option carefully to find the best.
But don’t worry, we’ve done all the heavy lifting! Our team did all the research to identify the top 10 SERP APIs out there. We looked at various criteria, including pricing, performance, documentation, support, and features, and came up with the list below.
One key aspect that we focused on was how these APIs handle multiple requests. Some APIs may slow down or become less responsive when dealing with a high volume of requests, which will affect the results. We also looked into regular pricing and surge pricing, often the SERP API ended up in surge pricing making it 3-5x more expensive than advertised!
Scrape Network
Website: https://scrapenetwork.com
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.00018 and can go down to $0.00006
Free Credits: 5,000 per month
Surge Pricing: None – the price stays the same for all sites
Pricing Plans: Has a Free plan and then $27 to $497 per Month with a 30-day free trial for each plan
Average API Response Time: 2.75 seconds
Documentation: Simple and easy-to-follow
Support: Customer Support via email during business hours
Conclusion: Definitely the best on this list. Has the lowest cost per query and has a free plan with 5,000 credits per month. Simple and easy-to-understand documentation, and has email support. The average response time is fast at less than 3 seconds. No price surge for premium sites.
Scraping Dog
Website: https://scrapingdog.com
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.003
Free Credits: 1,000 API Calls
Surge Pricing: Yes, sites that are harder to scrape cost up to 3x more
Pricing Plans: Start at $40 per month and go to $500 per month
Average API Response Time: 2.98 seconds
Documentation: Good and well-thought-out
Support: Seems to only be the founder in support, which is both good and concerning.
Conclusion: Seems to be a pretty stable solution, with good documentation, ok pricing, and founder-led. But what happens if the founder’s hit by a bus?
Data For SEO
Website: https://dataforseo.com
Rating: ⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.002
Free Credits: $1 which doesn’t amount to much on the most expensive platform
Surge Pricing: Price gets very crazy if you want queries in a reasonable response time. Pricing differs greatly depending on what API you want to use.
Pricing Plans: Start at $2,000 Per Month
Average API Response Time: Couldn’t test because documentation was so poor
Documentation: Awful, confusing, and led us to not be able to test.
Support: Unknown
Conclusion: Documentation is not easy to understand and has one of the most expensive pricing plans out there. Response time also depends on the plan that you’re on.
Bright Data
Website: https://brightdata.com
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.003
Free Credits: None, but they have a 7-day Free Trial
Surge Pricing: Pricing only varies on the plan that you select. The higher the plan, the lower the price per query.
Pricing Plans: They have a Pay-as-you-go plan and monthly plans start @ $499
Average API Response Time: 1.9 seconds
Documentation: Clear and easy to understand
Support: “24/7 Live Support” but only through eMail
Conclusion: This is a pretty good option, with good documentation and support, but the price can go up very fast with pay-as-you-go, and their plans are expensive. One of the fastest average API response times on the list.
Scrape-It Cloud
Website: https://hasdata.com/apis/google-serp-api
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.0029
Free Credits: 1,000
Surge Pricing: Google costs 5 credits
Pricing Plans: $29 to $249
Average API Response Time: 4.7 seconds
Documentation: OK, simple but effective.
Support: New to the market, and seem to lack regular consistent updates to the platform.
Conclusion: Simple yet effective documentation and cheap rates, but has twice the average response time of the other providers. They are relatively new to the market so expect a few bumps in the road.
Scraping Bee
Website: https://scrapingbee.com
Rating: ⭐⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.0081
Free Credits: 1,000
Surge Pricing: 25 credits per Google search
Pricing Plans: $49 to $599
Average API Response Time: 5 seconds
Documentation: Effective. Example code snippets in nearly every language.
Support: We never dealt with them, but they seem to be a reliable and stable platform after being in the industry for 4+ years.
Conclusion: They have a high cost per query and use 25 credits per Google search. They have good documentation and support. The average response time is among the slowest on the list.
Serpdog
Website: https://serpdog.io
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.00375
Free Credits: No
Surge Pricing: No other platform except Google
Pricing Plans: $30 to $200
Average API Response Time: 3.2 seconds
Documentation: Good. Example code snippets for major languages like Java, NodeJS, etc.
Support: Nonexistent
Conclusion: Higher than I’d like for average API response time, and they only support Google so there’s no expansion and using your credits in other ways like a lot of the platforms listed. And I’d like to see some better support.
SerpAPI
Website: https://serpapi.com
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.01
Free Credits: 100 credits
Surge Pricing: No
Pricing Plans: $75 to $275
Average API Response Time: 3.8 seconds
Documentation: Short and sweet
Support: My response time was 1-2 days
Conclusion: High cost per query at 1 cent per. The average response time is also on the slow side. Documentation is adequate, and easy to understand. Support response time could be better.
Zenserp
Website: https://zenserp.com
Rating: ⭐⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.0099
Free Credits: 50 Searches
Surge Pricing: Google search is much more expensive than other queries
Pricing Plans: $49 to $499
Average API Response Time: 5.2 seconds
Documentation: Lackluster at best
Support: None
Conclusion: High cost per query at almost a cent per. The average response time is also on the slow side. Documentation isn’t good and they don’t have a dedicated support team.
Apify
Website: https://apify.com
Rating: ⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.003
Free Credits: $5
Surge Pricing: Google Search Results Start At $0.35 Per Query
Pricing Plans: $49 to $999
Average API Response Time: 8.2 seconds
Documentation: OK, could be better.
Support: Good not great.
Conclusion: The most expensive option, with the longest average API response time. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Serpwow
Website: https://serpwow.com
Rating: ⭐⭐
Cost Per Query: $0.012
Free Credits: 100
Surge Pricing: NA
Pricing Plans: $25 to $9000
Average API Response Time: 10 seconds & increased with load
Documentation: Simple
Support: Ranged from 1-2 business days for a response
Conclusion: Middle of the road it seems with pricing but awful API response time and expensive cost per query.
Wrapping Up
Picking the best SERP API is a difficult task. There are several things to take into account, such as the API’s performance, different pricing structures, the general quality of the documentation, the availability of support, and the perks of credits as well as free trials. It’s important that you carefully weigh each option to make sure you choose the one that best suits your needs.
With that said, the clear winner is Scrapenetwork. With the lowest cost per query, the existence of a free plan with 5,000 credits per month, decent documentation and knowledgebase, and an average response time of less than 3 seconds, Scrapenetwork is very tough to beat.
