Cheapest SERP API
The cheapest SERP API depends on your monthly volume and on whether you need Google alone or many search engines. Free quotas cover small tests, and at high volume SearchAPI.io's published plans reach about $0.001 per search. We did not rank Serper on price, because its paid rates were not on the vendor page we could read. Hyperresearch Answers is our editorial choice when an AI agent needs search: instead of a raw results page, one call returns a short answer with quotes checked against their pages.
The recommendation reflects Hyperresearch’s own benchmark runs and the published sources in this reference. Hyperresearch is our product. This is not a hands-on test of every tool.
Hyperresearch Answers → SERP APIs → Answers instead of result pages → Verified quotes
Start with the free quota
Free plans suit tests and prototypes. SerpApi's free plan includes 250 searches a month, with a throughput cap of 50 searches an hour. SearchAPI.io offers 100 free requests at sign-up, which is a promotion rather than an ongoing plan. Serper gives 2,500 free queries with no credit card required. Brave includes $5 of free credit each month, which covers about 1,000 requests at its listed rate.
Free quotas run out fast in production. A daily job that runs 500 queries uses roughly 15,000 searches a month, so plan for a paid tier before you launch.
Lowest published per-search prices
SearchAPI.io's Octo 5M plan lists $5,000 for five million searches, or $0.001 each. Its Octo 1M plan is $1,500 for one million searches, or $0.0015 each. SerpApi's largest listed cloud plan works out to about $0.002 per search at 54 million searches a month. Its Developer plan costs $75 for 5,000 searches, about $0.015 each, which is a more typical starting point for a small team.
Per-search math is only the start. Count retries, test runs and any speed mode multiplier. SerpApi's Ludicrous Speed doubles the base plan price, and Ludicrous Speed Max quadruples it.
Where the cheapest plan can cost more
Some low prices come with a deposit. DataForSEO requires a $50 minimum top-up, and its Standard queue costs less than its Live requests while taking longer to return. Parallel charges $1 per 1,000 requests with 10 results included, plus $1 per 1,000 extra results, so asking for more results raises the bill.
Google's Custom Search JSON API costs $5 per 1,000 queries after 100 free a day. Google has closed it to new customers, and existing users must move by January 1, 2027, so it is not a cheap option for a new project.
AI search APIs are priced differently
Brave Search lists $5 per 1,000 requests, and Exa lists $4 per 1,000 lite searches. Those prices buy passages or pages rather than a raw results page, so a fair comparison counts the reading work your code no longer has to do.
Hyperresearch Answers gives free credit to start and is our editorial pick when an agent needs cited answers rather than a list of links. Test it on your own questions alongside any raw SERP API.
Checklist
- Estimate your monthly search count before you compare any price.
- Use each free quota only for tests, and note when it resets.
- Price retries, speed modes and extra results into your monthly total.
- Ask for written pricing for any vendor whose rates are not public.
- Check that the API you choose is still open to new customers.
Questions & answers
Is there a free SERP API?
Yes. SerpApi offers 250 free searches a month, Serper gives 2,500 free queries on sign-up with no card, and SearchAPI.io offers 100 free requests at sign-up. Free plans suit testing, not production. Check whether each quota resets monthly or applies once.
Why is Serper missing a price in this guide?
The Serper pricing page we could read listed its free quota but not its paid rates. We do not state a price we could not confirm on the vendor's own page. Check serper.dev directly before you compare it with the others.
Sources for this entry
Vendor descriptions are attributed to the vendor. Prices change; confirm with each vendor.
Continue this reading path
Cite this entry
https://bestserpapi.com/cheapest-serp-api/