SerpApi alternatives: 6 options compared on published price
Real-time search-engine results (Google, Bing, Maps, Shopping and more) as structured JSON. Looking for something different? These are the vendors in our data closest to SerpApi by product type and shared price metrics, compared on published prices checked . Prices only, not quality.
full verification from $25/mo MCP: Yes · SerpApi full pricing page
What to weigh about SerpApi first
Drawn from the SerpApi record on this site: its published watch-outs and the figures we could not verify.
Watch-outs
- Higher per-search price than most bulk SERP competitors at small volume.
- Fixed monthly buckets; no published pay-as-you-go.
Could not verify
- No per-search overage published; running out triggers early renewal of the plan.
Alternatives at a glance
How these were chosen: a fixed rule counts the price metrics both vendors publish plus category overlap. The order is by that score. It is not by price, popularity or commercial relationship; FetchIndex has an affiliate relationship with Firecrawl only (disclosure).
| Alternative | Category | Shared price metrics | Free tier | MCP / agent support | Verification | Head-to-head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bright Data alternatives to Bright Data | Proxies & unblockers | SERP query | Unlocker and SERP APIs: 5K requests/month free, no card (as stated on their pricing pages). Browser API page lists a 1 GB monthly free tier. | Yes | full verification | SerpApi vs Bright Data |
| Oxylabs alternatives to Oxylabs | Proxies & unblockers | SERP query | $5 welcome credit toward any product (one-time as described), no ongoing free tier stated. | Yes | full verification | no head-to-head page |
| ScraperAPI alternatives to ScraperAPI | Scraping APIs | SERP query | 1,000 free credits/month (max 5 concurrent) per the FAQ; 7-day trial with 5,000 credits. | Yes | partial verification | no head-to-head page |
| Apify alternatives to Apify | Proxies & unblockers | SERP query | $5 of prepaid usage per month, no credit card. | Yes | partial verification | no head-to-head page |
| Brave Search API alternatives to Brave Search API | Search & SERP APIs | none (different product type) | $5 in free credits each month (about 1,000 searches); card required for verification. | Yes | full verification | no head-to-head page |
| Crawl4AI alternatives to Crawl4AI | Scraping APIs | SERP query | Self-hosting is free forever (you pay your own infra). Cloud: 1,000 free credits/month, no card. | Yes | full verification | no head-to-head page |
Price comparison by use case
SERP query (structured search results)
| Vendor | Lowest published price | Plan / rate | Monthly spend needed | Compared with SerpApi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawl4AI | $0.6653 per 1,000 | Cloud Scale | $499/mo | 13.8x cheaper |
| Oxylabs | $0.70 per 1,000 | Flexible - Google non-JS | $500/mo | 13.1x cheaper |
| Bright Data | $1.31 per 1,000 | SERP Scale ($499) | $499/mo | 7.0x cheaper |
| Apify | $1.70 per 1,000 component only | Business (SERP proxy) | $999/mo | 5.4x cheaper |
| ScraperAPI | $2.38 per 1,000 | Scaling (Google = 25 credits) | $475/mo | 3.9x cheaper |
| SerpApi | $9.17 per 1,000 | Big Data | $275/mo | this vendor |
Estimated monthly cost at example volumes
SERP query (structured search results), using the cost calculator model: cheapest published plan that covers each volume, including published overage rates. Free tiers are not subtracted. Open the calculator with these inputs.
| Requests / month | SerpApi | Bright Data | Oxylabs | ScraperAPI | Apify | Crawl4AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $150 Production | $15.00 SERP PAYG | $30.00 Starter - Google non-JS | $299 Business (Google = 25 credits) | $25.00 Free/Starter (SERP proxy) component only | $10.00 Cloud Starter |
| 100,000 | not enough data | $150 SERP PAYG | $500 Flexible - Google non-JS | $299 Business (Google = 25 credits) | $250 Free/Starter (SERP proxy) component only | $99.00 Cloud Builder |
| 1,000,000 | not enough data | $1,500 SERP PAYG | not enough data | not enough data | $2,500 Free/Starter (SERP proxy) component only | not enough data |
Which alternative fits which job
- Bright Data: Large proxy networks plus Web Unlocker, SERP, Crawl and Browser APIs, datasets and scrapers. Tends to fit: Hard anti-bot targets at scale. Watch-out: Many products with separate pricing pages; check which one you need.
- Oxylabs: Proxy networks and Web Scraper/Search APIs on one subscription with volume tiers. Tends to fit: SERP + scraping + proxies under one subscription. Watch-out: Generic '/Scrape from $0.50' is a starting rate; target-specific rows differ. This site uses the conservative custom-domain rows.
- ScraperAPI: Proxy-rotating scraping API billed in API credits, with per-domain credit costs. Tends to fit: Simple 'send URL, get HTML' scraping at modest volume. Watch-out: Credit cost varies by domain: Google SERP = 25 credits, bot-protected sites 11+.
- Apify: Marketplace of ready-made scrapers ('Actors') plus a serverless platform and proxy products. Tends to fit: Pre-built scrapers for named sites (maps, social, e-commerce). Watch-out: Total cost = Actor price + compute + proxy; compare per-Actor, not per-plan.
- Brave Search API: Independent web index API for agents and RAG, with an Answers endpoint. Tends to fit: Agent grounding with an independent index. Watch-out: Card required for the free plan.
- Crawl4AI: Open-source (Apache-2.0) LLM-friendly crawler, with an optional hosted Cloud API. Tends to fit: Free, self-hosted crawling for RAG. Watch-out: Self-hosting means you handle browsers, proxies and blocks.
When SerpApi is still the better choice
- Reliable, wide-coverage SERP data (Google plus many other engines/endpoints)
- SEO tools and shopping/maps data pipelines
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest alternative to SerpApi?
For serp query (structured search results), Crawl4AI has the lowest published price among the alternatives listed: $0.6653 per 1,000 (Cloud Scale) versus $9.17 for SerpApi (Big Data). That is price only: check reliability on your own targets, and note the cheapest plan can require a larger monthly spend.
Is there a free alternative to SerpApi?
Alternatives with a recurring free tier in our data: Bright Data (Unlocker and SERP APIs: 5K requests/month free, no card (as stated on their pricing pages). Browser API page lists a 1 GB monthly free tier); ScraperAPI (1,000 free credits/month (max 5 concurrent) per the FAQ; 7-day trial with 5,000 credits); Apify ($5 of prepaid usage per month, no credit card); Brave Search API ($5 in free credits each month (about 1,000 searches); card required for verification). Free-tier limits change often; check the vendor page.
Which SerpApi alternatives support MCP?
SerpApi: yes. Alternatives with a documented MCP server in our data: Bright Data, Oxylabs, ScraperAPI, Apify, Brave Search API, Crawl4AI.
Keep exploring
Use-case guides
Corrections welcome: [email protected]. Each vendor page lists the official sources used.