What is SerpAPI?
SerpAPI returns structured search-engine results over an API. It is not a general web scraping API - it focuses on SERP JSON for Google and other engines, with country and locale targeting.
Public plans start with a Free tier (250 searches/month) and scale through Starter, Developer, Production, and Big Data search quotas. Pricing is search-count based, which is easier to model than credit multipliers when your job is SEO or SERP monitoring.
Use SerpAPI inside the SERP API category. Comparing it to Firecrawl or Browserbase on “pages” is the wrong frame.
Who SerpAPI is for
Best for
- +SEO tooling and SERP monitoring
- +Structured Google (and other engine) results via API
- +Teams that want search quotas instead of credit multipliers
Skip if
- -You need full-page HTML from arbitrary URLs
- -You need browser session control
- -You are building RAG crawls over whole sites
SerpAPI pricing
Monthly search quotas from SerpAPI public pricing. Counts are searches, not scraping credits.
| Plan | Billing | Price | Included | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | monthly | $0 | 250 requests | 250 searches/mo. |
| Starter | monthly | $25 | 1000 requests | 1k searches/mo. |
| Developer | monthly | $75 | 5000 requests | 5k searches/mo. |
| Production | monthly | $150 | 15000 requests | 15k searches/mo. |
| Big Data | monthly | $275 | 30000 requests | 30k searches/mo. |
Features & capabilities
Values from public docs and pricing pages. Unknown means not verified - not “no”.
Limitations
Search-quota billing, not page credits. Success rates not verified here.
FAQ
Is SerpAPI a scraping API?
It is a SERP API: structured search results. For general page fetching, use a scraping API or browser API instead.
Is there a free plan?
Public pricing lists Free at 250 searches per month. Confirm on serpapi.com/pricing.
What type of tool is SerpAPI?
SerpAPI is listed as a SERP API. Tools for structured Google search results and authorized public-page collection - SERP APIs when you need rankings JSON, scraping APIs when you need page HTML.
Is there a free plan or trial?
A free plan is indicated: Free: 250 searches per month (public pricing).
How much does SerpAPI cost?
Public paid plans start at from $25 on our snapshot. Billing units differ by vendor (credits, searches, browser hours).
Does ScraperDB invent success rates?
No. We publish sourced pricing and capability signals and mark unknowns instead of inventing benchmarks.
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