# Best SERP APIs in 2026: 10 Google results APIs compared

> Best SERP APIs in 2026: 10 Google SERP APIs compared on price per 1,000 searches, free tier, credit expiry, crypto and KYC. Prices checked on 2026-10-22.

- URL: https://serpcrypto.com/best/serp-apis/
- Last updated: 2026-10-22
- Publisher: SerpCrypto (https://serpcrypto.com)

Ten SERP APIs that return Google results as JSON, compared on the same criteria from their own public pages. We publish SerpCrypto, which is first on this list; each entry says what the provider does better than the others.

**Quick answer — What is the best SERP API in 2026?**

There is no single best SERP API; the right one depends on volume, engines and how you pay. On 22 October 2026: **SerpCrypto** for crypto payment, no KYC and credits that never expire ($0.75/1K searches down to $0.30/1K searches); Serper for low-cost Google results at large volume ($1.00 to $0.30 per 1,000); SerpApi for the widest engine list and legal coverage; DataForSEO for delayed bulk data at $0.60 per 1,000.

## The 10 best SERP APIs in 2026

**Methodology.** Published by SerpCrypto (SerpGoat LLC). Every provider is compared on the same criteria, taken from its own public website: list price per 1,000 Google searches at entry and at high volume, free tier, credit expiry, accepted payment methods, including crypto, identity checks (KYC), engines covered, the date the prices were checked.

*Prices checked on October 22, 2026.*

### 1. SerpCrypto — Our product

A SERP API for developers and AI agents, sold as prepaid credits that never expire, paid in crypto with no KYC. One credit per successful search on 6 engines.

- Best for: Paying in crypto without uploading documents; uneven or seasonal volumes
- Price: $0.75/1K searches on 10,000 searches, $0.38/1K searches on 1,000,000 searches, $0.30/1K searches on 5,000,000 searches
- KYC: None
- Crypto payment: BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC
- Pros: Credits never expire
- Pros: Same price on every engine
- Pros: Tool definitions for MCP, LangChain and OpenAI
- Cons: No free tier
- Cons: 6 engines; no Google AI Mode
- Cons: No legal coverage offered

### 2. Serper

A Google-focused SERP API with low list prices that fall with volume, and 2,500 free queries without a card.

- Best for: Large Google volumes at a low price per search
- Price: $1.00 per 1,000 ($50 for 50,000) down to $0.30 ($3,750 for 12.5 million)
- KYC: None stated
- Crypto payment: Not mentioned
- Pros: Low price at volume
- Pros: 2,500 free queries, no card
- Pros: Among the fastest in Proxyway's March 2026 test
- Cons: Credits expire 6 months after purchase
- Cons: Cards and PayPal only

### 3. SerpApi

The best-known SERP API, with a long list of engines including Google AI Mode, hourly throughput guarantees and a U.S. Legal Shield on larger plans.

- Best for: Many engines in one API; teams that want legal coverage
- Price: $25 per 1,000 (Starter) to $3.75 at 1 million a month; $1.96 at 54 million
- KYC: None stated
- Crypto payment: Not mentioned
- Pros: Widest engine coverage
- Pros: U.S. Legal Shield up to $2 million from Production
- Pros: 250 free searches a month
- Cons: Monthly plans reset unused searches
- Cons: Highest price per search at small volumes

### 4. DataForSEO

Pay-as-you-go SERP data for SEO tools, with a low price for queued results and funds that never expire.

- Best for: Bulk SEO data where a short delay is acceptable
- Price: $0.60 per 1,000 (standard queue), $1.20 (priority), $2.00 (live); $50 minimum payment
- KYC: None stated
- Crypto payment: Bitcoin on request via support
- Pros: Low queued price
- Pros: Funds never expire
- Pros: Billing per 10 results documented since September 2025
- Cons: Live results cost $2.00 per 1,000
- Cons: $50 minimum payment

### 5. Scrapingdog

A scraping API with a Google endpoint whose price per search falls steeply on large plans.

- Best for: Very large monthly volumes
- Price: $1.00 per 1,000 on Lite ($40) with the 5-credit Light search; $0.35 at 1 million a month
- KYC: None stated
- Crypto payment: Not mentioned
- Pros: Low price at 1 million a month and above
- Pros: Credits roll over from the Standard plan up
- Cons: 5 or 10 credits per Google search, depending on the request type
- Cons: Lite plan credits end with the cycle

### 6. Decodo Web Data API

A general web data API from a proxy provider, with a `/search` endpoint for Google and self-serve crypto payment.

- Best for: Teams already on Decodo, or who want crypto from a large provider
- Price: $0.75 per 1,000 on the $19 plan down to $0.40 on the $1,499 plan
- KYC: Email verification
- Crypto payment: Yes, self-serve (coins not stated)
- Pros: Crypto accepted
- Pros: Low price on large plans
- Cons: Monthly plans
- Cons: Coins and processor not named on the pricing page

### 7. Bright Data SERP API

An enterprise-grade SERP API with pay-as-you-go pricing and a recurring free tier.

- Best for: Enterprises with procurement and compliance teams
- Price: $1.50 per 1,000 pay as you go; $1.31 on the $499 Scale plan
- KYC: Not stated for the SERP API
- Crypto payment: No
- Pros: 5,000 free requests every month
- Pros: Pay as you go
- Cons: States that it does not accept crypto

### 8. Oxylabs Web Scraper API

A large provider's scraping API with Google support and some of the fastest median response times in an independent 2026 test.

- Best for: Low latency at scale, with a vendor that verifies customers
- Price: $1.00 per 1,000 without JavaScript rendering on Starter ($30), $0.70 on Flexible ($500)
- KYC: KYC questionnaire for every customer
- Crypto payment: No
- Pros: Among the fastest in Proxyway's March 2026 test
- Pros: Clear plan ladder
- Cons: KYC for everyone
- Cons: No crypto
- Cons: $1.35 per 1,000 with JavaScript rendering on Starter

### 9. SearchApi

A SERP API with many engines and a dedicated rank tracking API since Google stopped serving 100 results per page.

- Best for: Teams that want SerpApi-style coverage at a lower price
- Price: $4.00 per 1,000 ($40 for 10,000) down to $1.00 ($5,000 for 5 million)
- KYC: None stated
- Crypto payment: Not mentioned
- Pros: Wide engine list
- Pros: Legal-liability coverage advertised on mid and upper plans
- Cons: Higher entry price than Google-only APIs

### 10. Scrapeless

A scraping platform with a pay-as-you-go Google endpoint and crypto payment.

- Best for: Small pay-as-you-go volumes paid in crypto
- Price: $1.00 per 1,000 pay as you go; $0.80 on the $399 Business plan
- KYC: None for basic packages
- Crypto payment: Yes (coins not stated)
- Pros: Crypto accepted
- Pros: No KYC on basic packages
- Cons: Unused monthly minimum is not kept
- Cons: Coins not named on the pricing page

*Disclosure: this page is published by SerpCrypto. Competitor details come from their public websites at the date shown above and may have changed since.*

## How do I choose a SERP API?

Start from the job, then compare price. Five questions settle most choices:

1. **How many searches a month, and how steady?** Steady, large volumes favour monthly plans with low unit prices. Uneven volumes favour credits that do not expire.
2. **Do you need results now or in a few minutes?** Queued results cost less: DataForSEO lists $0.60 per 1,000 queued and $2.00 live.
3. **Which engines?** Google-only APIs are cheaper. Broad catalogues such as SerpApi and SearchApi cover many more engines.
4. **How will you pay?** Most providers take cards only. Decodo, Scrapeless and SerpCrypto state crypto payment; DataForSEO takes Bitcoin on request.
5. **What checks will you accept?** Oxylabs runs a KYC questionnaire for every customer; SerpCrypto asks for no ID at all.

Whatever you pick, test your 50 most important queries for a day before moving production traffic.

## Which SERP APIs are fastest?

We do not publish our own speed figures until we have measured them on a public sample. The most-cited independent test is Proxyway's search API report of 4 March 2026: 15 services, three rounds of 2,000 requests in mid-January 2026. It found Oxylabs and Serper the fastest live SERP APIs, at a median of about 0.6 to 0.7 seconds.

Vendor-run tests disagree with each other, and most rank their own API first. Treat any speed claim, including future ones from us, as a starting point for your own test.

## What changed for SERP APIs in 2025 and 2026?

Three changes affect every provider on this list. Google stopped honouring `num=100` around 10 to 14 September 2025, so 100 results now take 10 searches. Google started routing result links through a `/goto` redirect, which it confirmed on 26 August 2026. And since about 11 September 2026, rank-tracking vendors have reported wide blocks and altered results pages; Nozzle measured 8.0% of pages affected.

The official alternatives are closing too: Microsoft retired the Bing Search APIs on 11 August 2025, and Google's Custom Search JSON API ends on 1 January 2027. Our [guide to Google's num=100 change](https://serpcrypto.com/guides/google-100-results-change/) and [legal overview](https://serpcrypto.com/guides/is-a-serp-api-legal/) give the dated details.

## What does SerpCrypto cost?

Prepaid credits, one per successful search on any of the 6 engines, never expiring. Prices set on 22 October 2026.

| Plan | Quantity | Price | Price per unit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Test | 10,000 searches | $7.50 | $0.75/1K searches |
| Build | 100,000 searches | $56.25 | $0.56/1K searches |
| Volume | 1,000,000 searches | $375 | $0.38/1K searches |
| Bulk | 5,000,000 searches | $1,500 | $0.30/1K searches |

In every plan: Every engine at 1 credit per search · Failed requests not charged · Credits never expire · Country, language, city and device targeting

**Before you pay**

- Minimum top-up $25. Top up once in crypto, then buy any plan from your balance.
- Unused balance stays on your account and never expires, and it pays for search credits. When a purchase costs less than the minimum top-up, the part added only to reach the minimum is refundable on request to support within 30 days of the payment, in USDT or USDC, as long as it has not been spent. The rest of the balance is not paid back, except where the law requires it.
- Credited once your payment is checked on the blockchain. Typical network confirmation time: BTC ≈ 20 min · USDT TRC-20 ≈ 1 min · USDT ERC-20 ≈ 5 min · USDC ERC-20 ≈ 5 min · ETH ≈ 5 min · SOL ≈ 1 min · LTC ≈ 15 min

## Best SERP API: common questions

### Which SERP API is the most affordable?

It depends on volume. On 22 October 2026, DataForSEO's standard queue listed $0.60 per 1,000 for delayed results; for live results, Serper and Scrapeless listed $1.00 at 10,000 a month and Scrapingdog $0.35 at 1 million. The [price index](https://serpcrypto.com/data/serp-api-price-index-2026/) has 19 providers.

### Which SERP API has a free tier?

Bright Data gives 5,000 requests a month, SerpApi 250 a month and Serper 2,500 once, without a card. SerpCrypto has no free tier; its smallest pack is 10,000 searches for $7.50.

### Which SERP APIs accept crypto?

Decodo and Scrapeless state self-serve crypto payment, DataForSEO takes Bitcoin on request, and SerpCrypto takes BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC. Bright Data and Oxylabs state that they do not accept crypto.

### Is this ranking independent?

No. It is published by SerpCrypto, which is ranked first. Every provider is described from its own public pages, read on 22 October 2026, with the same criteria, and each entry lists what that provider does better. Proxyway's March 2026 report is a widely cited independent test.

### Which SERP API is best for AI agents?

One that returns compact JSON and has ready tool definitions. See our separate ranking of [search APIs for AI agents](https://serpcrypto.com/best/search-apis-for-ai-agents/), which also covers AI search APIs such as Tavily, Exa and Brave.

## Sources

1. [Search APIs 2026 report](https://proxyway.com/research/search-apis-2026-report) — Proxyway (2026-03-04)
2. [SerpApi pricing](https://serpapi.com/pricing) — SerpApi (read 2026-10-22)
3. [Serper](https://serper.dev/) — Serper (read 2026-10-22)
4. [SERP API pricing](https://dataforseo.com/apis/serp-api/pricing) — DataForSEO (read 2026-10-22)
5. [Pricing](https://www.scrapingdog.com/pricing/) — Scrapingdog (read 2026-10-22)
6. [Pricing](https://decodo.com/pricing) — Decodo (read 2026-10-22)
7. [SERP API pricing](https://www.bright.cn/pricing/serp) — Bright Data (read 2026-10-22)
8. [Web Scraper API pricing](https://oxylabs.io/pricing/web-scraper-api) — Oxylabs (read 2026-10-22)
9. [KYC and safety](https://oxylabs.io/kyc-and-safety) — Oxylabs (read 2026-10-22)
10. [Pricing](https://www.searchapi.io/pricing) — SearchApi (read 2026-10-22)
11. [Pricing](https://www.scrapeless.com/en/pricing) — Scrapeless (read 2026-10-22)
12. [Google feeds rank trackers swapped results on 8% of pages, Nozzle finds](https://ppc.land/google-feeds-rank-trackers-swapped-results-on-8-of-pages-nozzle-finds/) — PPC Land (2026-10-19)

---

SerpCrypto: SerpCrypto is a SERP API for developers and AI agents that returns Google and Bing results as JSON, paid in crypto with no ID upload. Prepaid search credits from $0.30/1K searches never expire. No KYC — no ID, no selfie, no documents. Pay in crypto.