--- title: "SerpApi Alternative — Google SERP API + Web Scraping" description: "A SerpApi alternative: parsed Google results as JSON for 15 credits per search, plus scraping and AI extraction of any page — one API, one bill. From $29/mo." url: https://webscraping.ai/serpapi-alternative markdown_index: https://webscraping.ai/llms.txt --- 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. [Start Free Trial](https://webscraping.ai/auth/sign_up)[View Documentation](https://webscraping.ai/docs) 2,000 free API credits · No credit card required ## 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`](https://webscraping.ai/google-serp-api)) — 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](https://serpapi.com/pricing) · [WebScraping.AI pricing](https://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`](https://webscraping.ai/google-serp-api), parsed JSON) 15 credits per search Structured site data ([`/data`](https://webscraping.ai/docs#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](https://webscraping.ai/#pricing). ### Google results as JSON, then the pages behind them [`/serp`](https://webscraping.ai/google-serp-api) 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** ```bash 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. ``` **Python** ```python # 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. ``` **JavaScript** ```javascript // 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} — ${r.link}`); } // Response: JSON with organic_results (position, title, link, // domain, displayed_link, snippet, date), related_searches, // search_information, and pagination. 15 credits per search. ``` **PHP** ```php serp(q: 'coffee machines', gl: 'us', hl: 'en', page: 1); foreach ($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. ``` **Ruby** ```ruby # 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** ```go // 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. ``` **Java** ```java // 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. ``` **C#** ```csharp // 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 [Oxylabs Alternative](https://webscraping.ai/oxylabs-alternative): See how WebScraping.AI compares to Oxylabs. [Zyte Alternative](https://webscraping.ai/zyte-alternative): See how WebScraping.AI compares to Zyte. [ZenRows Alternative](https://webscraping.ai/zenrows-alternative): See how WebScraping.AI compares to ZenRows. [Scrapingdog Alternative](https://webscraping.ai/scrapingdog-alternative): See how WebScraping.AI compares to Scrapingdog. [Octoparse Alternative](https://webscraping.ai/octoparse-alternative): See how WebScraping.AI compares to Octoparse. [All comparisons](https://webscraping.ai/alternatives): Browse every WebScraping.AI alternative comparison. ## Try WebScraping.AI as your SerpApi alternative Get started with 2,000 free API credits. No credit card required. [Start Free Trial](https://webscraping.ai/auth/sign_up)[View API Documentation](https://webscraping.ai/docs)