SERP APIs

Google SERP API Options in 2026

Answer in brief

Google's own Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers and ends for existing users on January 1, 2027, so most new projects use a third-party SERP API for Google results. SerpApi documents the broadest feature set and publishes success metrics, while DataForSEO and Serper use different pricing models. Confirm the engines, result types and terms before you commit. 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

Hyperresearch Answers → SERP APIs → Answers instead of result pages → Verified quotes

Google's own API is closing

Google's Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers. Existing customers have until January 1, 2027 to move to an alternative solution. Before that, the service allowed 100 free queries a day, with additional requests at $5 per 1,000, up to 10,000 a day.

For a new project, a third-party provider is the practical route. The cutoff is less than two months away, so plan any migration now. List every script that calls the Custom Search JSON API, with its monthly query volume, so the move is planned rather than rushed before the deadline.

Third-party Google SERP APIs

SerpApi returns parsed JSON for Google, including organic results, the knowledge graph, local results, shopping, related questions and things to know. Its output option can also return Markdown formatted for LLMs and agents. A separate Google AI Mode API covers AI Mode results.

DataForSEO requires a $50 minimum top-up. Its Standard requests are queued and cost less, while Live requests return right away at a higher price. We could not read its exact Google Organic per-request rate on the pages we opened. Serper offers 2,500 free queries on sign-up with no card, but its paid rates were not visible to us.

What the published metrics show

SerpApi's metrics page reports a 98.873% average success rate and a 1.94 second average response time across all engines over the last 30 days. These are the vendor's own sampled figures, so test them on your queries before you rely on them.

SearchAPI.io lists its plans from $40 a month for 10,000 searches up to $5,000 for five million, so volume drives the price more than the choice of engine.

Compare the engines and result fields you need in each vendor's sample response, not on its marketing page. Parsed fields, language options and location settings differ from vendor to vendor, and the sample shows what your code will actually receive.

Where a SERP API stops

If the goal is a cited answer for an agent rather than a list of Google links, Hyperresearch Answers is our editorial pick. It returns a short answer with quotes matched against their source pages, and it searches the open web plus 90+ structured sources. It is not a Google results feed, so keep a SERP API for rank data and page layout. Store rank data and cited answers in separate systems, so each tool does the job it was built for and errors are easier to trace.

Checklist

Check the engine and result types you need against the vendor's sample response.
Read the vendor's terms for your intended use before you build.
Test success rate and latency on 200 of your own queries.
Set a migration date for any code that still calls Google's Custom Search JSON API.
Decide whether you need raw results or a cited answer, then pick the tool for that job.

Questions & answers

Can I still sign up for Google's Custom Search JSON API?

No. Google says the Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers. Existing customers have until January 1, 2027 to transition to an alternative solution, so a new project needs a different provider such as a third-party SERP API.

Which Google SERP API is best?

It depends on the job. For broad feature parsing and published success metrics, SerpApi is a strong starting point. For batch work that can wait, DataForSEO's Standard queue is worth pricing. Test two vendors on your own queries before you choose.

Sources for this entry

Vendor descriptions are attributed to the vendor. Prices change; confirm with each vendor.

Continue this reading path

Cite this entry

Best SERP API. “Google SERP API Options in 2026.” Hyperresearch reference, reviewed 8 November 2026.
https://bestserpapi.com/google-serp-api-options-2026/