SERP guide · buyer's scorecard
Best SERP API 2026: A Buyer's Scorecard
There is no single winner, so this is not a top-ten list. It is a scorecard: six criteria you weigh for your own workload, with named providers compared using their published documentation, checked November 6, 2026. This is a documentation review, not a live performance benchmark.
Baidu and Ecosia endpoints opening soon.
Published · Updated
Four providers for a Google organic workload
Reviewed November 6, 2026. We publish SpideyData, so this is not an independent ranking. These are documented commercial terms, not measured reliability or speed.
SerpApi
Documented offer: Starter: $25/month for 1,000 searches; Developer: $75 for 5,000
Fits when: You want monthly plans with a successful-search meter
Check before choosing: Cached and failed searches are excluded; empty successful searches count
Serper
Documented offer: Google search and verticals; $50 prepaid for 50,000 credits
Fits when: You can use a prepaid balance within six months
Check before choosing: The low consumed-credit cost still requires $50 upfront; verify each vertical
SearchApi
Documented offer: Developer: $40/month for 10,000 searches, standard speed
Fits when: Your workload can use a monthly 10,000-search allowance
Check before choosing: Unused allowance and speed requirements affect the plan choice
SpideyData
Documented offer: 2 Credits per successful search; Google tasks use polling
Fits when: You need the same account for search and other web-data APIs
Check before choosing: No SERP SLA or callback delivery; verify engine availability
- SerpApi official pricing and billing rules
- Serper official prepaid pricing
- SearchApi official monthly plans
- SpideyData current pricing
For a small monthly workload, compare the amount you must pay, not only the cost per 1,000 searches. For a sustained Google-only workload, Serper's prepaid model deserves evaluation; for monthly allocation, compare SerpApi and SearchApi. Choose SpideyData when its endpoint coverage and shared account fit your application, not on an unmeasured speed claim.
Before production, run the same query, country and language set on your shortlist. Record timestamps, returned ranks and URLs, empty/error outcomes and actual charged units. We have not run this cross-provider benchmark, so no success-rate winner is asserted here.
Scorecard criteria
Score each provider you shortlist against your own needs; we do not score competitors.
Engines
Question to ask: Which engines return organic results, under which paths?
Why it matters: Multi-engine checks need one response shape across engines
Verticals
Question to ask: Which result types beyond organic (news, images, others)?
Why it matters: Missing verticals mean a second vendor
Async model
Question to ask: Polling, callbacks, or batches, and for which engines?
Why it matters: Decides how you queue large keyword lists
Output format
Question to ask: Parsed JSON only, or other formats too?
Why it matters: Changes how much parsing you keep in-house
Pricing unit
Question to ask: Per search, per credit or per request; what is billable?
Why it matters: Unit and billing rules matter more than the headline number
Trial shape
Question to ask: Free allowance, paid trial or none?
Why it matters: Decides how you test before you commit
Our row, including what we don't do
Engines
SpideyData /v1/serp: Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Baidu and Ecosia organic
Verticals
SpideyData /v1/serp: Google News and Google Images
Async model
SpideyData /v1/serp: Polling tasks for Google organic, news and images
Output format
SpideyData /v1/serp: Parsed JSON rows
Pricing unit
SpideyData /v1/serp: Display rate 2 Credits per successful search; failed searches are not charged
Trial shape
SpideyData /v1/serp: No free API allowance; free browser tools are available.
What we don't do
SpideyData /v1/serp: No webhooks, no HTML output, no SLA commitment, not GA
Provider comparisons
Each comparison page lists only facts checked on that provider's own pages.
LLM web search is a different category
Tools that return synthesized context for a language model answer a different question from a SERP API, which returns ranked rows. If your shortlist mixes both, split it first.
Launch status for this page
Check engine availability before choosing an endpoint. Google also supports News, Images and asynchronous tasks.
- GoogleGoogle is callable today with a Bearer API key.
- BingBing is callable today with a Bearer API key.
- YahooYahoo is callable today with a Bearer API key.
- DuckDuckGoDuckDuckGo is callable today with a Bearer API key.
- BaiduBaidu endpoints opening soon: until they open, requests return 503 service_unavailable and are not charged.
- EcosiaEcosia endpoints opening soon: until they open, requests return 503 service_unavailable and are not charged.
SERP searches are charged per successful search at a display rate of 2 Credits per search; failed searches are not charged. Polling task status is free. The current rate is on Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Which engines does SpideyData cover?
Organic results from Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Baidu and Ecosia, plus Google News and Google Images.
Is async available for every engine?
No. Tasks with polling exist for Google organic, news and images only; the other engines are synchronous.
Can I use it today?
Google, Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo are callable today with a Bearer API key. Baidu and Ecosia endpoints opening soon: until they open, requests return 503 service_unavailable and are not charged. The SERP API as a whole is not GA.
Score us on your workload
Try one query per engine you need and fill in the scorecard with your own results.
Baidu and Ecosia endpoints opening soon.