Top 7 Google SERP APIs in 2025

Finding the right Google SERP API shouldn't feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. With billions of searches happening daily, you need a tool that just works—one that pulls accurate data without getting blocked, doesn't break the bank, and actually helps you build something useful. Whether you're tracking rankings, monitoring competitors, or building the next big SEO tool, the API you choose matters more than you think.

Here's the thing: most SERP APIs look identical on paper. They all promise high success rates and fast responses. But when you're knee-deep in a project at 2 AM and your scraper stops working, you realize not all APIs are created equal. We tested seven popular options to see which ones actually deliver—and which ones just talk a good game.

TL;DR: Quick Overview

ScraperAPI leads the pack with the most comprehensive tooling to scrape Google SERP, including structured data endpoints that turn messy HTML into clean JSON with a single API call—all at the most competitive price point.

Provider

Key Benefit

Free Credits/Plan

ScraperAPI

Best for collecting structured JSON data with minimal setup

5,000 free API credits

SerpAPI

Extensive selection of search engine endpoints

100 monthly searches free

DataForSEO

Tailored for digital marketing teams building in-house SEO tools

Limited free tier

OxyLabs

Specialized proxy management system

7-day free trial (5,000 results)

SerpStack

Great option for small projects

100 free requests per month

Zenserp

Second fastest response times

50 free requests per month

Apify

Marketplace of pre-built scrapers for various extraction needs

$5 monthly credit (~1,400 results)

The Best Google SERP API of 2025: ScraperAPI

ScraperAPI is what happens when developers build a tool for developers. No fluff, no overcomplicated dashboards—just a straightforward API that handles the messy parts of web scraping so you don't have to. Setup takes minutes, not hours. You send a request, specify your target location and device, and get back clean data. No CAPTCHAs, no blocks, no headaches.

Key Features

Here's what makes ScraperAPI different:

• Massive Proxy Pool: Over 40+ million IP addresses (data center, residential, and mobile) spanning 50+ countries

• Smart IP Rotation & CAPTCHA Handling: Achieve a 99.9% success rate using machine learning that adapts to anti-scraping measures in real-time

• JavaScript Rendering: Render dynamic webpages without managing headless browsers yourself—just pass a parameter

• Structured Data Endpoints: Get organized JSON output from Google, Amazon, Walmart, and more, instead of parsing raw HTML

• Multiple Google Endpoints:

  • Google Search

  • Google Shopping

  • Google News

  • Google Jobs

All these endpoints are available on every ScraperAPI plan—including the free one—with no hidden fees. No surprise charges for geotargeting or JavaScript rendering either.

Think about what normally happens when you scrape Google. You get this massive wall of HTML with nested divs, changing class names, and data scattered everywhere. ScraperAPI turns that chaos into something you can actually work with.

Here's a real example. This messy Google search page gets transformed into clean, structured JSON:

json
"related_questions": [
{
"question": "How do I write a book with no experience?",
"position": 1
},
{
"question": "How much does it cost to wrote a book?",
"position": 2
},
{
"question": "How do you write a book in 7 days?",
"position": 3
},
{
"question": "How do you write a book from scratch?",
"position": 4
}
]

When you send requests through ScraperAPI's Google SERP endpoint, it handles everything: bypassing anti-scraping mechanisms using years of statistical analysis, parsing responses into clean JSON structures, collecting localized data through geotargeting, and saving you hundreds of development hours. You could also use the standard API to get raw HTML if you need more control.

Pricing

ScraperAPI's monthly pricing starts at $49, providing 4,000 searches plus 5,000 free credits to test the service risk-free. Plans scale up to handle millions of requests, so you only pay for what you actually need. No hidden fees. No surprise charges for basic features that should be standard.

Enterprise-Grade Tools for Scale

For teams managing large-scale projects, ScraperAPI offers two powerful additions:

DataPipeline

A low-code scheduler that streamlines your data workflows:

• Set recurring schedules using CRON or custom intervals

• Customize data delivery via Webhooks or download as JSON/CSV

• Monitor up to 10,000 queries per project with just a few clicks

Async Scraper

When you're dealing with millions of requests:

• Send bulk queries simultaneously with up to 100 concurrent threads

• Automatic timeout and retry handling for rate limits or blocks

• Webhook integration to receive data directly in your app or email

If you're serious about collecting SERP data at scale without the usual technical nightmare, 👉 check out how ScraperAPI handles Google scraping better than anyone else.

What Customers Are Saying

"Honestly, I love ScraperAPI. It makes my world easy. I have been wanting to build a search engine for years but was discouraged when my traditional crawlers were blocked. I saw Scraper and the whole story changed."

— Verified Capterra Review

Pros:

• Most affordable and scalable option available

• Provides easy-to-handle JSON data with just a search query

• Robust web scraping toolkit

• Generous free plan offering 5,000 API credits

• Additional structured data endpoints for Google Shopping, Jobs, and News

• Multi-threading and geotargeting included with every plan

Cons:

• Doesn't provide additional endpoints for other search engines (yet)

6 Other Great Google SERP APIs

2. SerpAPI (Major Selection of Endpoints)

SerpAPI lives up to its name—it's built specifically for scraping search engines and comes loaded with the widest variety of Google-related APIs. In testing, their API responded in about 2.5 seconds, which is impressively fast. They also maintain a near 100% success rate.

When it comes to variety, SerpAPI has the longest list of structured data endpoints. They also offer dedicated endpoints for Yandex, Baidu, and Bing. Their free plan gets you 100 monthly searches, which is decent for testing.

But here's where it gets tricky. Pricing starts at $75 per month for 5,000 Google searches. Compare that to ScraperAPI's $49/month plan (4,000 searches) and you're getting roughly 3,500 searches at the $50 mark with SerpAPI.

The gap widens at higher tiers. SerpAPI's second tier gives you 15,000 searches for $150 per month. ScraperAPI provides 40,000 searches at $149 per month—nearly three times more cost-effective.

One interesting extra: SerpAPI offers a "Legal Shield" covering potential legal issues within the United States, though it's only available on their more expensive plans.

Pros:

• Biggest selection of endpoints for search engine data collection

• Simple to use and implement

• Comprehensive API documentation

Cons:

• Too expensive for large projects

• Only delivers results in JSON format

3. DataForSEO (Designed for Marketing Teams)

DataForSEO is specifically designed for digital marketers who want to build their own SEO tools instead of paying monthly fees to SEMRush, Ahrefs, or MOZ. They've built custom APIs for different marketing challenges:

• Search Engine API

• Google Ads API

• Google Trends API

• Traffic Analytics API

• On-Page API

• Google Shopping API

Unlike other solutions, DataForSEO uses Pay-As-You-Go pricing, which sounds flexible until you realize there's a $50 minimum payment. Once you start, you're committed to spending at least that much.

The bigger issue is response speed. It's locked behind different price tiers—cheaper prices mean longer wait times. The guaranteed response time is 45 minutes after your request, which is painfully slow if you need real-time data. Their high-speed pack charges $0.002 per search, translating to 25,000 pages for $50, but that gets expensive fast at scale.

Pros:

• Designed specifically with marketing teams in mind

• Free trial available ($1 free usage)

• Great collection of search engine endpoints

Cons:

• Expensive if scraping at scale

• Complex documentation

• Response speeds locked behind higher pricing tiers

• Long response times overall

4. OxyLabs (Alternative Proxy Manager)

OxyLabs' SERP API promises a 100% success rate and easy-to-use implementation for extracting data from Google, Bing, Baidu, and Yandex. Like ScraperAPI, it supports geotargeted searches from 195 countries, handles CAPTCHAs automatically, and delivers data in JSON or CSV format.

The main drawback? Cost. The base plan starts at $49 per month (or $2 per 1,000 results), giving you 24,500 results. But it scales up quickly in price. OxyLabs does provide a 7-day free trial capped at 5,000 results, though there's some confusion about what counts as a "result" versus a "search."

Pros:

• 100% success rate

• High-quality proxies

• Integrated AI assistant

Cons:

• May not be ideal for smaller customers or projects

• Vague pricing model

5. SerpStack (Great Option for Small Projects)

SerpStack is a solid search engine API for users who need high-quality data without queue limitations. Their robust cloud infrastructure handles high-volume requests reliably. They can extract data from Google Search Results, Images, Videos, News, and Shopping, returning it in JSON or CSV format.

Their documentation is extensive and easy to follow. Like other tools, they offer a free tier with up to 100 monthly requests. Paid plans start at $29.99 per month. Pricing ranges from $29.99/month for 5,000 searches to $169.99/month for 50,000 searches, which can be more affordable compared to SerpAPI.

Pros:

• Good functionality and great documentation

• Solid tech support

Cons:

• Very expensive at scale

6. Zenserp (Second Fastest Response Time)

Zenserp is a strong option if speed is your top priority. It delivers an average response time of around 4 seconds without compromising data quality. The API has a full range of features for scraping all types of SERP data: organic results, paid ads, answer boxes, featured snippets, top stories, and local maps.

Their documentation is excellent, and they provide 50 free API requests monthly. Nice touches include a request builder that generates production-ready code snippets and a "playground" feature for testing searches at no extra cost.

Pricing starts at $49.99 per month for 5,000 searches. However, it gets expensive quickly—reaching $499 per month for 120,000 searches, which is $200/month more than ScraperAPI charges for the same volume.

Pros:

• High-speed API with lots of functionality

• Desktop and mobile SERP results

Cons:

• Too expensive for large projects

• Not as feature-rich as other options

• Can target most countries but not city-level

7. Apify (Store of Pre-Made Scrapers)

Apify is a marketplace where you can buy pre-made scrapers for various needs, including a full-featured Google Search scraper. Their pricing is more complex since they measure services in "Actors" and "requests" rather than straightforward API calls.

Average response time sits around 7 seconds. They offer a free plan with $5 in monthly credits, covering up to 1,400 Google results at no cost. The $49/month Starter plan fetches over 14,000 monthly Google results, counted in batches of 100 results per page.

Beyond scraping, Apify offers an actor library of pre-made automation tasks and cloud storage for collected data. Exports are available in multiple formats: JSON, Excel, CSV, XML, and RSS.

Pros:

• Wide range of pre-built scrapers

• Scalable cloud infrastructure

Cons:

• Confusing pricing structure

• Search scraper lacks some functionality compared to competitors

• Expensive at scale

Comparison: Which Google SERP API Is Right for You?

With so many SERP APIs on the market, we assessed them based on what actually matters when you're building something real:

• Price – Cost-effectiveness, free trials, and actual value for money

• Performance – Response times and success rates for reliable data

• Special Features – Advanced capabilities that differentiate each service

• Ease of Use – How developer-friendly the implementation is

• Speed – How quickly you can retrieve your desired results

Key Notes:

• OxyLabs & Apify: Some tools measure "results" instead of searches. One search can yield 10+ results (links), which inflates numbers and confuses newcomers.

• DataForSEO: Requires a $50 minimum deposit. High-speed pack demands $2,000/month minimum, making it costly for most users.

• ScraperAPI: Includes Google Shopping, News, Jobs, and Maps endpoints in all plans—no extra fees.

Why ScraperAPI Wins

• Affordability: ScraperAPI offers 4,000 searches for $50, making it one of the most cost-effective solutions available

• Speed & Reliability: Quick 2–3 second response time with a 99.99% success rate. Monitor up to 10,000 queries per project with just a few clicks

• Ease of Use: Super easy integration supporting a wide range of programming languages, backed by extensive documentation

Pricing Comparison: How Many Searches Can You Get for $50?

When comparing cost-effectiveness, understanding what you actually get for $50 is crucial. Here are the numbers:

• ScraperAPI: ~4,000 searches

• SerpAPI: ~3,500 searches

• DataForSEO: Varies (Pay-as-you-go)

• OxyLabs: ~24,500 results (not searches)

• SerpStack: ~5,000 searches

• Zenserp: ~5,000 searches

• Apify: ~14,000 results (not searches)

Important considerations:

• These are monthly rates; annual discounts excluded

• Some tools measure "results" instead of searches—one search can yield 10+ results

• If we apply the "results" metric to ScraperAPI (where each search produces ~10 results), their 4,000 searches yield around 40,000 results—still the most cost-effective option

Looking for a reliable tool that won't drain your budget while scaling? 👉 See how ScraperAPI makes Google scraping simple and affordable.

Why Do You Need an API to Scrape Google?

You could theoretically build your own scraper to extract Google search results. But here's the reality: maintaining it over time is a technical nightmare. Google actively discourages crawling its search engine results pages (ironic, considering their entire empire was built by crawler bots indexing the web).

Since Google's 2017 search update, manual data collection has become nearly impossible. You'd need to:

• Sign out of all Gmail accounts and Chrome profiles

• Delete cookies and clear history

• Change your geolocation via proxy or VPN (and Google will likely detect data center IPs anyway)

• Open a new tab or browser window for every single search

You'd constantly update your scraper to bypass roadblocks. It's time-consuming, inefficient, and frankly not worth it for production purposes.

Using an API is simply better. Here's why:

• Cost-Effective: Far more affordable than Google's official API for large-scale data collection

• Anonymity: IP rotation on each request keeps your real IP hidden, minimizing blocks

• Geo-restricted Content: Access location-specific search results from anywhere without detection

• Parsed Data Options: Get JSON, CSV, or raw HTML—whatever fits your workflow

• 24/7 Support: Round-the-clock assistance instead of troubleshooting alone at 3 AM

• Production-Grade Reliability: Engineered for high-volume scraping with minimal maintenance

Wrapping Up

Every solution in this article delivers near 100% success rates, reliable search engine endpoints, and scalable infrastructure. But price, ease of use, and transparency matter when you're collecting data from millions of search results.

At first glance, many SERP APIs look identical. But hands-on testing reveals that only two or three provide truly stable, production-grade performance. Among these, ScraperAPI stands out for its ease of use, speed, and powerful anti-scraping bypass mechanisms—making it the ideal choice for reliable, scalable, and cost-effective data extraction.

Additionally, ScraperAPI supports Google Maps, Shopping, News, and Jobs from a single subscription—a feature unmatched by many competitors. Try ScraperAPI for free and start collecting Google data in minutes.

What exactly is a Google SERP API?

A Google SERP API is a service that fetches Google search results and converts them into structured data (typically JSON), making it easier to integrate and analyze search data within your application.

Why shouldn't I use Google's own SERP API?

While Google offers various APIs for free, each comes with strict usage limits. The Custom Search API allows 100 free queries per day; exceeding this requires $5 per 1,000 requests, capped at 10,000 daily queries. This becomes expensive and impractical for larger data extraction needs.

Is It Legal to Scrape Google Search Results?

Yes, scraping Google search results is entirely legal, as this falls into the realm of publicly available data. However, to avoid getting blocked by Google's anti-scraping mechanisms, you'll need a web scraping solution like ScraperAPI.

What is the difference between SEO and SERP?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of optimizing content to improve visibility on search engine results pages. A SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is what search engines display when users enter a query. In simple terms, SEO is the strategy used to rank higher, while SERP is the outcome of that strategy.