Understanding SERP (Search Engine Results Page) information is crucial for any business wanting to gain visibility online. When you search on platforms like Google, the SERP displays relevant websites, highlighting trends, keywords, and content strategies that can be necessary for improving online visibility.
SERP APIs are valuable tools that enable quick extraction and analysis of this web data, providing actionable insights for businesses and individuals alike. By using SERP APIs, you can access real-time information about search results, helping you enhance marketing strategies and stay ahead in the competitive online environment.
In this blog post, we’ll review the best SERP API providers in 2024 – so you could make the best choice for your business and make your SERP analysis easier.
Disclaimer: The analysis presented in this article relies on information current as of 2024/11/05. Before depending on any comparative data, all users are advised to confirm the most recent status of products and services.
5 best Google SERP APIs
Oxylabs – best overall SERP API provider, with reliable performance metrics, additional AI features, and a very competitive price point
Smartproxy – an exceptional choice for small-medium businesses
SerpAPI – the best performance metrics on the market
Bright Data – offers a pay-as-you-go plan, making it suitable for projects of any size
Rayobyte – the most suitable option for small-medium projects with a very appealing price point
How did we compare SERP APIs?
With numerous SERP APIs available on the market, we’ve assessed them based on the criteria we believe matter most to you as a customer:
Price – We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of each API, checking the availability of free trials and money-back guarantees to make sure that you can test the service risk-free before making a commitment.
Performance – Successful and efficient scraping is essential, so we’ve reviewed the average response times and success rates to ensure you can access the accurate data you need quickly and reliably.
Features – Whether you’re seeking advanced features or a straightforward solution, we’ve outlined the key features of each API to help you determine which best suits your requirements.
With these criteria in mind, we present a comparison of the best SERP APIs for real-time data.
Oxylabs
Price:
Cheapest plan – 49$ / per month; $2.00 / 1K results.
7-day free trial
Performance:
100% Google success rate
6.04 seconds avg. response time
Oxylabs' SERP API offers robust access to search engine result pages, with pricing starting at $49 per month, making a 1000 results cost only $2, allowing users to pay only for successful requests. New users can take advantage of a free 7-day trial to explore the API's capabilities. With a 100% success rate on Google queries and an average response time of just 6.04 seconds, the API is designed for both efficiency and reliability.
The Oxylabs SERP API is part of the unified Web Scraper API platform, featuring OxyCopilot, an AI-powered assistant designed to streamline the creation of web scraping and data parsing requests. This allows users to efficiently incorporate OxyCopilot into their SERP scraping processes, saving time on creating parsers and scraping queries. Additionally, the Web Scraper API is compatible with numerous scraping queries, such as scraping the SERP ads or even Google Shopping.
Data retrieval is flexible, with support for output in HTML, JSON, or CSV formats, facilitating effortless integration into various applications. For those requiring scalability, Oxylabs offers comprehensive documentation and support to help scale your scraping needs to the enterprise level.
Compatible with Google and other major search engines, such as Baidu, Bing, and Yandex, the API also offers localized search results from 195 countries, allowing for precise targeting at the country, state, city, or even coordinate level. This high level of granularity allows users to gather region-specific insights, making it ideal for businesses seeking scalable data solutions.
Pros
The most feature-complete tool
Integrated AI assistant for enhanced efficiency
Strong performance metrics
Well-suited for scalable solutions
Cons
May not be ideal for smaller customers or projects
Get a free trial
Claim your 1-week free trial to test Web Scraper API for your SERP scraping needs.
Smartproxy
Price:
$30 per month; $2.0 / 1K results
7-day free trial, 14-day money-back guarantee
Performance:
100% success rate
6.09 seconds avg. response time
Smartproxy’s SERP API provides efficient access to search engine result pages, with pricing starting at $30 per month, making the overall cost to be just $2 per 1000 requests. Users can benefit from a 7-day free trial as well as a 14-day money-back option if you choose a paid plan from the get go, which makes the tool accessible and risk-free to test.
This Google Search API delivers a 100% success rate, with an average response time of 6.09 seconds, ensuring fast and reliable data retrieval. It is an excellent choice for small and medium-sized businesses, offering a balance of features and affordability. Additionally, it provides essential search result data in both HTML and JSON formats, to suit a variety of data processing workflows.
Smartproxy’s SERP API supports major search engines, including Google, Baidu, and Bing, delivering organic search results from 195 locations worldwide. The platform allows for geo-targeting by country, city, or specific coordinates, providing precise localized insights. Its combination of flexibility and strong performance makes it an ideal tool for small and medium-sized businesses.
Pros
Well-suited for small and medium-sized businesses
Includes a money-back guarantee
User-friendly interface
Cons
Limited scalability for larger projects
SerpAPI
Price:
Cheapest paid plan – $75 / month; 5K searches / month
Has a free plan, 100 searches / month
Performance:
100% success rate
1.67 seconds avg. response time
SerpApi provides specialized SERP scraping with plans starting at $75/month for 5000 searches, as well as offers a free plan that includes 100 searches per month. Additionally, based on a rolling 30-day performance metric displayed on their website, SerpApi maintains an average response time of just 1.67 seconds and a consistent 100% success rate.
However, the API returns data only in the JSON format. Different from its competitors who have scrapers for other use cases as well, this tool is designed specifically for SERP scraping. SerpApi offers dedicated API endpoints for Google, Yandex, Baidu, and Bing, allowing users to collect precise search engine data based on their specific needs.
Additional API tools, including the Account API, Locations API, and Search Archive API, give users greater flexibility in managing accounts, accessing location-specific data, and storing past queries. This feature set makes SerpApi one of the best Google SERP APIs and an excellent choice for businesses needing reliable, targeted SERP data, without the need of scraping other websites, such as Amazon or Ebay.
Pros
Offers a free plan
Excellent performance metrics
Cons
Higher entry cost for paid plans
Output is only available in one format
Bright Data
Price:
Has a pay-as-you-go plan – $3/1K results
Cheapest plan – $499 / per month; $2.55 / 1K results
7-day free trial
Performance:
98.42% success rate
Under 5 seconds avg. response time
Bright Data’s SERP API offers versatile search engine data extraction with a pay-as-you-go plan priced at $3 per 1,000 results, as well as a monthly subscription option, with the cheapest plan starting at $499, reducing the cost to $2.55 per 1,000 results. Users can take advantage of a 7-day free trial to explore the scaper’s capabilities before committing to a subscription.
With a 98.42% success rate and an average response time of under 5 seconds, Bright Data offers a little lower performance than its competitors. However, the API supports a broad range of various search engines, starting from Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, and ending with other search engines like Baidu, Yahoo, and Naver, making it a comprehensive solution for diverse data needs.
Bright Data’s SERP API provides location-based targeting across 195 countries, with the ability to specify data by country and city. Results can be outputted in raw HTML or as parsed JSON, offering flexibility for integration with various applications. Overall, its pay-as-you-go option makes it an attractive solution for businesses seeking flexibility and cost-effectiveness..
Pros
Flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model
Good response rate
Cons
Success rate is lower compared to some competitors
Rayobyte
Price:
No monthly commitment – 5000 free scrapes
Cheapest plan – $0.0018 / scrape
Performance:
100% success rate
6.53 seconds avg. response time
Rayobyte’s Scraping Robot offers a budget-friendly solution for basic Google SERP scraping, making it ideal for smaller-scale projects or for users with limited scraping needs. With no monthly commitment, it provides 5,000 free scrapes to get started, and its pricing starts at just $0.0018 per scrape, making it the most economical option for simple SERP data extraction on this list.
Scraping Robot delivers a consistent 100% success rate and an average response time of 6.53 seconds. Although not a dedicated SERP API, it enables users to capture Google search results efficiently, supporting both raw HTML and parsed JSON output formats.
Location targeting is available across over 100 countries, providing basic geographic flexibility. While it lacks advanced SERP features, Rayobyte’s Scraping Robot is a highly affordable option for small to medium projects that require straightforward, cost-effective SERP scraping.
Pros
Low price point
Ideal for one time or smaller projects
Cons
Limited features – basic functionality only
Best SERP APIs Compared
| Price | Success rate | Response time | Free trial | Unique feature | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxylabs | $49 / month | 100% | 6.04 s | 7-days free trial | OxyCopilot – AI web scraping assistant |
| Smartproxy | $30 / month | 100% | 6.09 s | 7-days free trial, 14 days money back guarantee | Low entry price, easy to use |
| SerpAPI | $75 / month with 5,000 searches | 100% | 1.67 s | Free plan with 100 searches / month | Free plan with great response time |
| Bright Data | Pay-as-you-go plan, $3/1K results | 98.42% | Under 5 s | 7-days free trial | Pay-as-you-go plan |
| Rayobyte | $0.0018 / scrape | 100% | 6.53 s | 5000 free scrapes | Limited but very cheap |
Why is SERP scraping important?
Ranking poorly on SERPs can significantly impact a website's exposure, leading to fewer clicks, diminished traffic, and ultimately reduced revenue. This is why so many websites invest heavily in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The higher your website ranks on SERPs, the greater the likelihood that users will visit and engage with your site.
Web scraping, more specifically SERP scraping, is extremely beneficial for businesses, as it allows them to evaluate how their website ranks in comparison to competitors. With SERP data collection, companies can analyze search results, identify trends, and adapt their SEO strategies accordingly to enhance brand recognition. Understanding where you stand relative to your competitors on Google search results page can further better decision-making and resource allocation.
To streamline this process, scraping is necessary to reduce the risk of human error and minimize the need to use manual processes. But when considering how to conduct this process, using a SERP API could be the best choice. A SERP scraper enables a quick collection of real-time information without the need for manual effort, allowing businesses to efficiently track not only their own, but also their competitor performance. Additionally, SERP APIs can monitor keyword trends seamlessly, reducing the risk of human error and minimizing resource expenditure. By utilizing an API, companies can also mitigate the risk of IP bans that often accompany scraping efforts, as these APIs also often offer an efficient proxy management solution.
Conclusion
Overall, all of the providers in this list offer strong SERP API for Google solutions, each catering to different needs and budgets.
Oxylabs stands out as the most feature-rich option, equipped for scaling and ideal for enterprise-sized projects, thanks to its comprehensive API documentation and ease of use when it comes to integrating the scraper into the web data acquisition workflow in companies of various sizes. Smartproxy, on the other hand, offers a solid SERP API scraper that is especially suited for small- to medium-sized projects. SerpApi delivers exceptionally reliable results with dedicated endpoints for major search engines, but its higher cost positions it as a premium choice.
Each provider has its strengths in specific areas, allowing businesses to select the option that best fits their project size, budget, and SERP data requirements.
Frequently asked questions
What is SERP API?
A SERP API (Search Engine Results Page API) is a specific web scraping API that allows users to automatically retrieve search engine results data, providing information on rankings, keywords, and competitor performance. It’s widely used for SEO, market research, and trend analysis, offering fast, reliable insights without manual scraping or risk of IP bans.
Why do you need SERP scraping API?
A SERP scraping API is extremely beneficial for businesses aiming to improve SEO and stay competitive without manual labor. It automates the collection of search engine data, providing instant insights into your website’s rankings and competitor performance. Additionally, a SERP API supports market research by analyzing search trends and keyword performance, helping you spot new opportunities. It requires minimal human resources and delivers real-time results – making it a cost-effective solution, saving time and reducing long-term operational costs.
Generally, if you can see it on the SERP, an API can scrape it – and based on your needs, there are specialized SERP scraping APIs available. As a user looking to scrape Google Search results, maybe it would be beneficial for you to extract data using the Google Books API, Google Events API, or Google Maps API – if those are the specific places you’re looking to get your Google search data from. Or maybe you want to discover popular search queries, using APIs made for Google Autocomplete, Google Featured Snippet, Google Related Questions, or Google Related Searches. All of the insights derived from SERP API conducted scraping jobs come with a relatively low effort, but are able to be used very efficiently.
About the author
Akvilė Lūžaitė
Junior Copywriter
Akvilė ventured from the very physical metal processing industry to a more abstract immaterial tech industry – and enjoys every second of it.
All information on Oxylabs Blog is provided on an "as is" basis and for informational purposes only. We make no representation and disclaim all liability with respect to your use of any information contained on Oxylabs Blog or any third-party websites that may be linked therein. Before engaging in scraping activities of any kind you should consult your legal advisors and carefully read the particular website's terms of service or receive a scraping license.
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