SERPAPI ALTERNATIVE

A SerpApi alternative for search and the pages behind it

Get parsed Google results as JSON for a flat 15 credits per search, then scrape and AI-extract the pages behind them — one API, one bill, from $29/mo. SerpApi still leads on engine breadth and SERP-feature depth.

2,000 free API credits · No credit card required

Abstract illustration comparing WebScraping.AI and SerpApi

WebScraping.AI vs SerpApi at a glance

An honest, side-by-side comparison. Verify the numbers — this is a market where you should.

WebScraping.AI SerpApi
Google search results as JSON Yes (/serp) — organic results, related searches, pagination Yes
Entry plan $29/mo — 250k credits, up to 16,666 Google searches at 15 credits each $25/mo (Starter) — 1,000 searches
Failed searches Not charged Not counted
SERP features (People Also Ask, knowledge graph, ads, local packs, AI Overviews) — Yes
Search engines Google only 70+ engines and verticals
Scraping beyond search Any URL (HTML, text, AI fields, Q&A) Search & marketplace APIs, not arbitrary URLs
AI extraction on any page Yes (/ai/fields, /ai/question) Parses AI features within SERPs only
JS (Chromium) rendering Yes (page endpoints) N/A (search APIs)
MCP server for AI agents Yes (includes a Google search tool) Yes
Free tier 2,000 credits (133 searches) 250 searches/mo
Pay-as-you-go Yes — prepaid credits from $20, no subscription No published pay-as-you-go option

Pricing and credit costs last checked September 2026. Sources: SerpApi pricing · WebScraping.AI pricing.

What SerpApi does well

No tool is right for everyone. SerpApi is a capable product, and these are the areas where it genuinely shines — worth weighing before you switch.

The deepest SERP parsing available — People Also Ask, knowledge graph, local packs, ads, and AI Overviews returned as clean, structured fields.
70+ search engines and verticals — Google, Bing, Maps, Scholar, News, Shopping, YouTube, plus marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
Consistent, well-documented JSON schemas per engine, with high reliability and fast responses.
A U.S. Legal Shield on higher tiers, where SerpApi assumes legal liability for the lawful collection of public search data.

Why developers look for a SerpApi alternative

The most common reasons teams evaluate a switch.

Search quotas get expensive

SerpApi's Starter plan is $25/mo for 1,000 searches. On WebScraping.AI a parsed Google search is a flat 15 credits, so the $29/mo plan's 250,000 credits cover up to 16,666 searches — or any mix of searches and page scrapes.

It's built for search, not arbitrary pages

SerpApi is designed for search-engine and marketplace APIs — you can't point it at an arbitrary product page, article, or dashboard and get its content. WebScraping.AI scrapes any URL and returns HTML, clean text, or AI-extracted fields.

AI extraction is limited to search features

SerpApi parses AI Overviews and other SERP features into structured fields, but it doesn't extract arbitrary data from a page you choose. WebScraping.AI's /ai/fields and /ai/question pull structured fields or plain-English answers from any URL.

Often a second tool alongside a scraper

Because SerpApi only covers search, teams usually pair it with a separate scraper for the pages behind the results. WebScraping.AI returns Google results from /serp and scrapes the destination pages from the same API — one integration, one bill.

Transparent, published pricing

Every request type has a fixed, published credit cost — no surprises, and you only pay for successful requests.

Request type
No JS
+ JS render
Datacenter proxies
1 credit
5 credits
Residential proxies
10 credits
25 credits
Stealth proxies
50 credits
50 credits
AI extraction add-on
+5 credits
Google SERP (/serp, parsed JSON)
15 credits per search
Structured site data (/data, e.g. YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit)
15 credits per page (50 for Reddit), incl. empty parses

Plans from $29/mo (250k credits) · $99/mo (1M) · $249/mo (3M) · or pay-as-you-go from $20 (100k credits, no subscription, valid 12 months). Failed requests are always free. See full pricing.

Google results as JSON, then the pages behind them

/serp takes a query — q, plus gl for country, hl for language, and page from 1 to 100 — and returns Google's organic results as JSON: position, title, link, domain, displayed_link, snippet, and date, with related searches and pagination. It uses the common SerpApi-style naming (organic_results, position restarting at 1 on each page), so the core of an existing parser carries over; paging uses page rather than start.

Every search is a flat 15 credits, and failed searches aren't charged. The same credits then pay for scraping the result pages — raw HTML, clean LLM-ready text, CSS-selected elements, or AI-extracted fields and answers — so a search-then-scrape pipeline is one integration and one bill.

Where SerpApi is still the specialist

WebScraping.AI has one search endpoint, and it covers Google web results: organic results, related searches, and pagination. It does not return People Also Ask, knowledge graph, ads, local packs, or AI Overviews, and there's no Bing, Maps, Scholar, News, Shopping, or YouTube.

SerpApi parses all of those, across 70+ engines and verticals, with a consistent schema per engine. If your product depends on SERP features or on engines beyond Google, SerpApi is the better tool. If you need organic Google rankings plus the pages behind them, WebScraping.AI covers both for less.

Switching is one API call

Point your requests at WebScraping.AI — here's the equivalent call in your language.

curl -G "https://api.webscraping.ai/serp" \
  --data-urlencode "api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=coffee machines" \
  --data-urlencode "gl=us" \
  --data-urlencode "hl=en" \
  --data-urlencode "page=1"
# Response: JSON with organic_results (position, title, link,
# domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches,
# search_information, and pagination. 15 credits per search.
# pip install webscraping_ai
# https://pypi.org/project/webscraping-ai/
from webscraping_ai import Client

client = Client(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
results = client.serp("coffee machines", gl="us", hl="en", page=1)
for r in results["organic_results"]:
    print(r["position"], r["title"], r["link"])
# Response: JSON with organic_results (position, title, link,
# domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches,
# search_information, and pagination. 15 credits per search.
// npm install webscraping-ai
// https://www.npmjs.com/package/webscraping-ai
import { WebScrapingAI } from 'webscraping-ai';

const client = new WebScrapingAI({ apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY' });
const serp = await client.serp({ q: 'coffee machines', gl: 'us', hl: 'en', page: 1 });
for (const r of serp.organic_results) {
  console.log(`${r.position}. ${r.title} — ${r.link}`);
}
// Response: JSON with organic_results (position, title, link,
// domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches,
// search_information, and pagination. 15 credits per search.
<?php
// composer require webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-php
// https://packagist.org/packages/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use WebScrapingAI\Client;

$client = new Client('YOUR_API_KEY');
$serp = $client->serp(q: 'coffee machines', gl: 'us', hl: 'en', page: 1);
foreach ($serp['organic_results'] as $r) {
    printf("%d. %s — %s\n", $r['position'], $r['title'], $r['link']);
}
// Response: JSON with organic_results (position, title, link,
// domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches,
// search_information, and pagination. 15 credits per search.
# gem install webscraping_ai
# https://rubygems.org/gems/webscraping_ai
require 'webscraping_ai'

client = WebScrapingAI::Client.new(api_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY')
results = client.serp(q: 'coffee machines', gl: 'us', hl: 'en', page: 1)
results['organic_results'].each do |r|
  puts "#{r['position']}. #{r['title']} — #{r['link']}"
end
# Response: JSON with organic_results (position, title, link,
# domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches,
# search_information, and pagination. 15 credits per search.
// go get github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-go/v4
// https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-go/v4
package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"

    webscrapingai "github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-go/v4"
)

func main() {
    client, _ := webscrapingai.NewClient(&webscrapingai.Config{APIKey: "YOUR_API_KEY"})
    page := 1
    serp, _ := client.Serp(context.Background(), &webscrapingai.SerpOptions{
        Q:    "coffee machines",
        GL:   "us",
        HL:   "en",
        Page: &page,
    })
    for _, r := range serp.OrganicResults {
        fmt.Println(r.Position, r.Title, r.Link)
    }
}
// Response: JSON with organic_results (position, title, link,
// domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches,
// search_information, and pagination. 15 credits per search.
// Maven: ai.webscraping:webscraping-ai:4.2.0
// https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/ai.webscraping/webscraping-ai
import ai.webscraping.Client;
import ai.webscraping.Config;
import ai.webscraping.option.SerpOptions;
import ai.webscraping.result.SerpResult;

Client client = new Client(Config.builder().apiKey("YOUR_API_KEY").build());
SerpResult serp = client.serp(SerpOptions.builder()
    .q("coffee machines")
    .gl("us")
    .hl("en")
    .page(1)
    .build());
for (SerpResult.OrganicResult r : serp.getOrganicResults()) {
    System.out.println(r.getPosition() + ". " + r.getTitle() + " — " + r.getLink());
}
// Response: JSON with organic_results (position, title, link,
// domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches,
// search_information, and pagination. 15 credits per search.
// dotnet add package WebScrapingAI
// https://www.nuget.org/packages/WebScrapingAI
using WebScrapingAI;

var client = new WebScrapingAIClient(new WebScrapingAIClientOptions { ApiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY" });
var serp = await client.SerpAsync(new SerpRequest {
    Q = "coffee machines",
    Gl = "us",
    Hl = "en",
    Page = 1,
});
foreach (var r in serp.OrganicResults) {
    Console.WriteLine($"{r.Position}. {r.Title} — {r.Link}");
}
// Response: JSON with organic_results (position, title, link,
// domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches,
// search_information, and pagination. 15 credits per search.

Switch to WebScraping.AI if…

You need Google organic results as JSON and the pages behind them — search and scraping in one API, one bill.
You want per-search costs that scale: a flat 15 credits per Google search, so $29/mo covers up to 16,666 searches.
You need to scrape more than search results — product pages, articles, dashboards, any URL.
You want AI extraction that pulls structured fields or answers from any page, not just SERP features.

Stick with SerpApi if…

You need SERP features — People Also Ask, knowledge graph, local packs, ads, AI Overviews — as ready-made JSON. WebScraping.AI returns organic results, related searches, and pagination only.
You search engines and verticals beyond Google (Bing, Maps, Scholar, News, Shopping) and want one consistent schema.
You want SerpApi's U.S. Legal Shield on higher tiers for public search-data collection.
Your use case is search data specifically, and SERP-feature depth matters more than general scraping.

Frequently asked questions

Is WebScraping.AI a good SerpApi alternative?

Yes, if you need Google organic results as JSON and also scrape the pages behind them: /serp returns parsed Google results for a flat 15 credits per search, and the same API scrapes and AI-extracts any URL. If you need SERP features like People Also Ask, knowledge graph, ads, or AI Overviews, or engines beyond Google, SerpApi is purpose-built for that.

Can WebScraping.AI return Google search results as JSON like SerpApi?

Yes. /serp takes a query and returns parsed Google results: organic_results (position, title, link, domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches, search_information, and pagination. Set gl for country, hl for language, and page (1–100, 10 results per page; position restarts at 1 on each page). It doesn't return People Also Ask, knowledge graph, ads, local packs, or AI Overviews, and Google is the only engine today.

How much does a Google search cost compared with SerpApi?

A /serp search is a flat 15 credits, and failed searches aren't charged (SerpApi doesn't count failed searches either). The $29/mo plan's 250,000 credits cover up to 16,666 searches, and the same credits also pay for page scraping and AI extraction. SerpApi sells monthly search quotas — its Starter plan is $25/mo for 1,000 searches — usable only on its search and marketplace APIs.

Does WebScraping.AI offer pay-as-you-go pricing?

Yes — prepaid credits with no subscription required, from a $20 minimum top-up ($0.0002 per credit, so $20 buys 100,000 credits). SerpApi has no published subscription-free pay-as-you-go option. Credits stay valid for 12 months and each new top-up extends the entire balance another 12 months; if you also have a monthly plan, pay-as-you-go credits are only consumed after that month's quota runs out.

Does WebScraping.AI support AI and MCP?

Yes — /ai/question and /ai/fields extract answers and structured data from any page, and it ships an MCP server (with a webscraping_ai_serp tool for Google search) and a CLI. SerpApi also offers an MCP server for its search APIs.

Compare other alternatives

Try WebScraping.AI as your SerpApi alternative

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