Comparison
SerpKite vs Serper
Both are cheap, fast Google SERP APIs. The differences are in terms, agent features, tooling and what happens to unused credits.
We make SerpKite
Summary
The short version
Serper is the incumbent budget Google API and the default in LangChain and CrewAI tutorials. SerpKite is about 20% below Serper's list price up to the 500K-credit tier, never expires credits, and adds agent features: Markdown and compact output, official SDKs and an MCP server.
Choose Serper if…
- Your stack already uses a Serper-specific framework tool and you don't want to change it.
- You value Serper's longer track record over new features.
- You buy millions of credits at once and use them within six months: Serper's 2.5M and 12.5M packs are cheaper per 1k than our self-serve list.
Choose SerpKite if…
- You don't want credits to expire. Ours never do.
-
Your agents consume results:
format=markdown,compactandfields=cut tokens. - You run rank tracking on a budget: the batch lane is 0.5 credits per page with webhooks.
- You want official SDKs (TypeScript, Python, Go) and native LangChain and CrewAI tools.
- You want spend caps, per-key limits, cost headers and a public status page.
Differences
What actually differs
Credit expiry
Serper credits expire 6 months after purchase. A team that buys 500k and uses 100k in that window pays an effective $3.75 per 1k. SerpKite credits never expire.
Price per 1k
$0.80 vs $1.00 at ~$50 and $0.60 vs $0.75 at 500k. Above that Serper lists $0.50 (2.5M) and $0.30 (12.5M); above 500K credits we quote volume on request (enterprise from $0.18 at 25M+ a month). SerpKite also has a $10 pack; Serper's minimum is $50.
Depth pricing
Serper charges 2 credits for 11–100 results, which is cheaper than SerpKite's 7-credit num=100 bundle if you always want the top 100. SerpKite bills per page of 10, so shallow queries (the usual agent case) cost 1 credit.
Agent features
SerpKite has format=markdown and compact output, fields= projection, a token-estimate header and include_content, which returns the top pages as Markdown in the same call.
Tooling
SerpKite ships official TypeScript, Python and Go SDKs, langchain-serpkite, a CrewAI tool (serpkite[crewai]) and an official remote MCP server. Serper relies on third-party wrappers and community MCP servers, though those wrappers are everywhere.
Features
Feature comparison
| SerpKite | Serper | |
|---|---|---|
| Real Google results | ||
| Google web + core verticals News, Images, Maps, Shopping, Scholar… | ||
| ChatGPT / Perplexity / Gemini answers | Planned | |
| Bing / DDG / Brave / Yandex | Planned (Q1 2027) | |
| Markdown output | ||
| Resolved final URLs (post-/goto) | Guaranteed | |
| Page content in the same call | include_content | Separate endpoint |
| Async batch + webhooks | 50% off | |
| Official SDKs TypeScript, Python, Go; LangChain and CrewAI tools | TS, Python, Go | |
| Official MCP server | ||
| Credits never expire | 6 months | |
| Spend caps and per-key limits | ||
| Failed / empty results free | Incl. empty-200 detection | |
| Public status with latency | p50 / p95 | |
| No query logs / DPA SerpKite: No query logs · results cached ≤ 24 h, no identity | Default | |
| Legal shield | No (honest policy) | |
| SOC 2 | Planned |
Check = yes, cross = no, dash = not verified. SerpKite rows marked "Planned" are on the roadmap, not live.
Price
Price per 1,000 Google searches
| SerpKite | Serper | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 2,500 on signup + 1,000/mo, no card | 2,500 once, no card |
| Entry, ~$50 pack $ per 1k searches | $0.80 | $1.00 |
| ~100k searches / month $ per 1k | $0.60 | $0.75 |
| ~1M searches / month $ per 1k | $0.60 | $0.50 |
| Best public list price $ per 1k | $0.60 | $0.30 |
| Credit expiry | Never | 6 months |
Public list prices for Google web search, verified on vendor pages on 2026-09-28. "Entry" is the ~$50 pack or plan (SerpKite also has a $10 pack at $1.00 per 1k). SerpKite's self-serve packs stop at 500K credits; larger volumes are quoted on request. Expiring credits raise the effective price if you don't use them in time. See SerpKite pricing.
Verdict
Our take
If you are happy with Serper and use credits quickly, the API works and moving is optional. If credits expire on you, or your agents want Markdown output, official SDKs and fewer tokens, SerpKite has better terms. The free tier lets you try it on your own queries before you move.
Weighing more than two options? See Serper alternatives, each compared with Serper.
Try it
One request to compare for yourself
curl https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SERPKITE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"q":"best espresso machine 2026","country":"us","format":"markdown"}'1 credit per page of 10 results, SERP features included. Run it in the playground without signing up.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
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2,500 free credits, then 1,000 every month. No credit card.