Buying guide

Best SERP APIs for rank tracking and reports

By Joonas Rotko, ex-agency co-owner, 10+ years spending real marketing budgets

Prices verified 2 Oct 2026 · How I choose, and how I earn from this page

If you need live Google results to build rank tracking or client reports, I'd start with SearchApi. A month of Google searches costs $40/month billed monthly there, and failed requests aren't billed. DataForSEO is cheaper per search if you can wait for queued results. Zenserp and HasData are the picks when AI Overview or AI Mode data matters. Every price below was checked 2 Oct 2026.

Every price on this page is for

10,000 Google searches a month
Results pulled by your own code

Who this is for. For developers and small agencies building their own rank tracker, client report or research script, and who need Google results delivered as data. You write the code that asks for the results, keeps them month after month and turns them into charts, and the mistake that hurts is a bill you did not forecast, because what counts as one search differs from vendor to vendor. If you want a dashboard you open in a browser, a rank tracker is the shorter road.

Looking for something else?

Different job, different guide.

I want rank tracking without writing code

I need keyword or backlink data, not just search results

Best SEO APIsKeyword, backlink and SERP data for your own tools.

I want to see what AI answers say about my brand

Best AI visibility toolsTrack ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI mentions without an API.

My picks for different needs

Find the line that sounds like you. Each pick links to the full reasoning below.

The lowest monthly bill for ordinary Google results
Failed requests aren't billed and the entry plan covers a small tracker.
Why this one
SearchApi
My default
$40/momonthly
See SearchApi plansAffiliate link
The cheapest per search, and queued results are fine
Pay as you go from a minimum payment, with queued, priority and live speeds.
Why this one
DataForSEO
See DataForSEO plansAffiliate link
A free plan to build against and a long plan ladder
The entry plan that holds this workload costs the most here, and the pricing page doesn't say what one search covers.
Why this one
SerpApi
$150/momonthly
See SerpApi plans
AI Mode results next to ordinary search
AI Mode has its own per-request price on the plan table.
Why this one
HasData
$49/moannual
See HasData plans
Google only, with simple credit plans
A short ladder of credit plans, and the page doesn't say how many credits one search uses.
Why this one
ValueSERP
$50/moannual
See ValueSERP plans
A free plan, and AI Overview requests on a paid plan
Failed requests aren't billed, but each AI Overview request uses extra searches.
Why this one
Zenserp
$39.99/moannual
See Zenserp plans

The tools side by side

Each row is the cheapest plan that holds 10,000 Google searches, with DataForSEO's pay as you go rate instead, HasData's price per 1,000 at its yearly-billing rate and ValueSERP's rate as the vendor states it.

10,000 Google searches a month: plan priced, monthly and annual cost, Monthly allowance, Price per 1,000, Free start
Tool and plan	Cost per month	Monthly allowance	Price per 1,000	Free start
SearchApiDeveloper	Not sold annually $40 monthly	10,000	$4 per 1,000 searches	Trial not published
DataForSEOPay as you go	Pay as you go. Per result, from $0.6 per 1K SERPs queued, after a $50 minimum payment.	See the note	See the note	Trial not published
SerpApiProduction	Not sold annually $150 monthly	15,000	Not published	Free plan
HasDataStartup	$49annual $59 monthly	200,000	$2.46 per 1,000 requests	Free plan
ValueSERP25,000 Credits	$50annual $56 monthly	25,000	$1.60 per 1,000 credits	Trial not published
ZenserpSmall	$39.99annual $49.99 monthly	25,000	Not published	Free plan

Six picks, in the order I'd consider them

Each one says who it is for, what it costs for 10,000 Google searches a month, and what you give up.

SearchApi

Lowest monthly bill

Hands-on

Choose it if

You want a flat monthly bill for ordinary Google results and don't want to pay for requests that fail.

Consider DataForSEO instead if

You can wait for queued results and want the lowest price per search. DataForSEO's queued rate is far below any monthly plan here.

Why it fits 10,000 Google searches a month

The Developer plan holds 10,000 searches a month, which is the whole workload, and it's the cheapest way to cover it with a published plan. Billing counts only a successful search, so a blocked or failed request doesn't eat the allowance.

The plan I priced

I priced Developer at $40/month billed monthly, which the vendor states as $4 per 1,000 searches. Production is the next step up when you pass 10,000 searches a month.

Closest alternative

Zenserp becomes the better choice when you want a free plan to test with first, or AI Overview requests on a paid plan.

10,000 Google searches a month: Developer

Billed monthly

$40/mo

Above 10,000 API requests or credits: Production (+$60/mo billed monthly).

The trade-off

There's no standing free plan, only a one-off sign-up allowance of 100 requests, and the pricing page shows monthly billing only. A rate limit also caps how much of the month's allowance you can use in one hour.

What my review says

Best for: Someone building a rank tracker or report who wants one flat monthly price for ordinary Google results.

Skip it if you only need an occasional lookup, since even the entry plan is a monthly commitment.

Strengths

You are billed only for searches that succeed, so blocked requests don't use the allowance.
The entry plan holds the whole workload: 10,000 searches a month for $40/month billed monthly.
The rate per search drops on each higher plan, from $4 per 1,000 searches on Developer to $2 per 1,000 searches on Scale.

Limits

Only a one-off sign-up allowance of 100 free requests, not a standing free plan.
A rate limit caps how much of the monthly allowance you can use in any single hour, so a tracker that checks every keyword at once has to spread its requests out.
The pricing page shows monthly billing only, with no annual discount.

See SearchApi plans My SearchApi reviewAffiliate link

DataForSEO

Pay as you go, broadest data

Hands-on

Choose it if

Your volume is uneven from month to month, you can use queued results, or you want keyword, backlink and AI data under the same account.

Consider SearchApi instead if

You want one flat monthly figure before you write any code. DataForSEO's bill depends on the speed, the depth and the parameters you call it with.

Why it fits 10,000 Google searches a month

A quiet month costs only what you pulled. Google organic results are $0.6 per 1K SERPs queued, $1.2 per 1K SERPs at priority and $2 per 1K SERPs live, so the speed you pick sets the price. It also has the lowest rate per search of anything on this page.

The plan I priced

There's no monthly plan to price, so this guide's workload total isn't calculated for DataForSEO. The minimum payment is $50. Rates are per SERP, and the FAQ below has the vendor's exact wording of what one SERP covers.

Closest alternative

SearchApi becomes the better choice when you want a fixed monthly bill and live results by default.

DataForSEO homepage, captured 2 Oct 2026

10,000 Google searches a month: billed by usage

Pay as you go. Per result, from $0.6 per 1K SERPs queued, after a $50 minimum payment.

The trade-off

You can't read one monthly total off the page: optional parameters multiply the cost of a task, and the pricing pages show no free plan, only a minimum payment to start.

What my review says

Best for: Someone building a rank tracker who wants to pay only for the results pulled, and can wait for queued results.

Skip it if you want a flat monthly bill, or a finished dashboard instead of raw data to build on.

Strengths

Per-request pricing with no monthly commitment, so a quiet month costs nothing extra.
Three speed tiers on Google organic results, from queued to live, priced separately.
SERP, keyword, backlink, on-page and AI-search endpoints under one account.

Limits

No free plan on the pricing page, only a minimum payment to start.
Optional SERP parameters multiply the cost of a task, so the real bill depends on how you call it.
Queued results arrive after a delay, and live ones cost $2 per 1K SERPs against $0.6 per 1K SERPs queued.

See DataForSEO plans My DataForSEO reviewAffiliate link

SerpApi

Free plan and a long plan ladder

Desk research

Choose it if

You want a free plan to build against first and a vendor with a long ladder of plans and speed modes.

Consider SearchApi instead if

Price decides it. For the same workload SearchApi costs a fraction of this plan.

Why it fits 10,000 Google searches a month

The free plan gives you 250 searches a month to build against with no payment, and billing is month to month. It ranks above cheaper tools here for the free plan and the range of plans, not for price.

The plan I priced

I priced Production at $150/month billed monthly. Developer holds only 5,000 searches a month, so it is too small for this workload. The prices shown are for Best Effort speed; the other speed modes cost more and I haven't priced them.

Closest alternative

ValueSERP becomes the better choice when you only need Google and want a shorter plan ladder.

10,000 Google searches a month: Production

Billed monthly

$150/mo

Above 15,000 API requests or credits: Big Data (+$125/mo billed monthly).

The trade-off

The pricing page doesn't say what one search covers or which engines are included, so the unit and the engine list are unverified here. At this workload the plan needed is also the dearest on the list.

What my review says

Best for: Someone who wants a free plan to build a first tracker against, and doesn't mind paying more once the volume grows.

Skip it if you want to know what one search covers before paying, or the lowest price at this volume.

Strengths

A free plan with a monthly search allowance and no payment needed.
Month-to-month billing, cancel anytime.
A wide ladder of plans from small to very high volume.

Limits

The pricing page doesn't define what one search covers or list the engines.
At this workload the plan that fits costs $150/month billed monthly, the highest on this page.
Speed modes change the price, and the prices shown are for Best Effort.

See SerpApi plans My SerpApi reviewNo affiliate link: plain link

HasData

AI Mode next to Google results

Hands-on

Choose it if

You want AI Mode results next to ordinary Google results and might scrape other sites from the same account.

Consider Zenserp instead if

You only want search results and a simple allowance counted in searches, not credits.

Why it fits 10,000 Google searches a month

Startup's credit balance covers 20,000 Google results requests a month, so the whole workload fits. AI Mode requests are priced on the same table at $2.95 per 1,000 requests.

The plan I priced

I priced Startup at $59/month billed monthly, or $49/month billed annually if you pay yearly. On monthly billing its Google results rate is $2.95 per 1,000 requests and the lighter results API is $1.48 per 1,000 requests. The table shows the yearly-billing rate.

Closest alternative

SearchApi becomes the better choice when you only need ordinary Google results and want a lower monthly price.

10,000 Google searches a month: Startup

Billed annually

$49/mo

Billed monthly

$59/mo

Above 200,000 API requests or credits: Basic (+$50/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

You pay in credits, and the number of requests a credit buys differs by API, so a mixed workload is harder to budget than a flat searches allowance.

What my review says

Best for: Someone who wants Google results and AI Mode data from one credit balance.

Skip it if you want one flat price per search, since the cost per request differs by API.

Strengths

A standing free plan with monthly credits and no card needed.
Google SERP, AI Mode and ChatGPT scraping on the same plan table.
A billed-annually switch lowers every monthly price.

Limits

You pay in credits, and a credit buys a different number of requests on each API, so a mixed workload is harder to budget.
The lower Google results rate needs yearly billing: $2.95 per 1,000 requests on monthly, $2.46 per 1,000 requests on yearly.
The free plan covers only a small number of Google results requests a month.

See HasData plans My HasData reviewNo affiliate link: plain link

ValueSERP

Google-only credit plans

Desk research

Choose it if

You only need Google results and like batch searches and annual billing at a lower monthly rate.

Consider SearchApi instead if

You want the unit spelled out. ValueSERP's page doesn't say how many credits one search uses.

Why it fits 10,000 Google searches a month

The smallest credit plan holds 25,000 credits a month, enough for the workload if one search costs one credit. Billing is monthly or annual, and the annual rate is lower on every plan.

The plan I priced

I priced the smallest credit plan at $56/month billed monthly, or $50/month billed annually if you pay yearly. The plan table also states $1.60 per 1,000 credits, which is lower than the plan price divided by its credits, so I priced the plan, not that rate. ValueSERP now lives at Traject Data, and the prices come from its pricing page there.

Closest alternative

Zenserp becomes the better choice when you want a free plan to test with and a stated rule for what counts as a search.

10,000 Google searches a month: 25,000 Credits

Billed annually

$50/mo

Billed monthly

$56/mo

Above 25,000 API requests or credits: 200,000 Credits (+$166/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

The page doesn't state how many credits one search uses, and its hero text and plan table give different prices per search. The hero also advertises pay as you go, but the pricing section lists subscription plans only.

What my review says

Best for: Someone who only needs Google results and wants a short credit ladder with a lower yearly rate.

Skip it if you need several engines or AI answer data, or want the cost of one search spelled out before you pay.

Strengths

Monthly or annual billing, with the annual rate lower on every plan.
Per-credit rate falls on each larger plan.
Batch searches and delivery to your own cloud storage.

Limits

The page does not say how many credits one search uses.
The hero pay-as-you-go claim and the plan table use different per-search rates.
Only a short ladder of plans is published, with larger volumes by enterprise quote.

See ValueSERP plans My ValueSERP reviewNo affiliate link: plain link

Zenserp

Free plan, success-only billing

Desk research

Choose it if

You want a free plan to start, success-only billing and AI Overview data on a paid plan.

Consider HasData instead if

AI Overview or AI Mode volume matters. An AI Overview request here uses several searches of your allowance.

Why it fits 10,000 Google searches a month

Small holds 25,000 searches a month, so the workload fits with room to spare, and the free plan lets you test with 50 searches. Failed requests aren't billed.

The plan I priced

I priced Small at $49.99/month billed monthly, or $39.99/month billed annually if you pay yearly. Small prices AI Overview requests as extra searches; the answer engine data starts on Medium.

Closest alternative

SearchApi becomes the better choice when you only need ordinary Google results and want the lowest monthly price.

10,000 Google searches a month: Small

Billed annually

$39.99/mo

Billed monthly

$49.99/mo

Above 25,000 API requests or credits: Medium (+$80/mo billed annually).

The trade-off

An AI Overview request counts as 3 searches, so AI-heavy tracking drains the allowance quickly. The pricing page states no rate limit.

What my review says

Best for: Someone who wants a free plan to test with, then Google results billed only when they succeed.

Skip it if you need Bing, images or maps on the free plan, which covers Google search only.

Strengths

A free plan, then paid plans up to a very high monthly search volume.
Yearly billing is cheaper on every paid plan.
Answer engine data and AI Overview requests on paid plans.

Limits

An AI Overview request counts as several searches, so it drains the allowance faster.
Batch requests, keyword volume and the SLA only start on Medium.
The pricing page states no rate limit.

See Zenserp plans My Zenserp reviewNo affiliate link: plain link

What 10,000 Google searches a month really costs

Each bar is the cheapest plan that holds the month of Google searches, at the yearly-billing price where the vendor sells one. SearchApi and SerpApi are sold monthly only, so their bars are monthly prices. DataForSEO has no monthly plan and is left off, and ValueSERP's bar assumes one credit per search, which its pricing page doesn't confirm.

Dollar prices, per month (billed annually where sold)

Zenserp$39.99/mo
SearchApi$40/mo monthly
HasData$49/mo
ValueSERP$50/mo
SerpApi$150/mo monthly

Pay monthly or yearly?

What yearly billing saves on the same plan.

HasData$59 monthly, $49 yearly: 17% less
ValueSERP$56 monthly, $50 yearly: 11% less
Zenserp$49.99 monthly, $39.99 yearly: 20% less

When you'll outgrow the plan

The first limit you hit, and the next plan up.

SearchApi: above 10,000 API requests or credits, Production (+$60/mo)
SerpApi: above 15,000 API requests or credits, Big Data (+$125/mo)
HasData: above 200,000 API requests or credits, Basic (+$50/mo)
ValueSERP: above 25,000 API requests or credits, 200,000 Credits (+$166/mo)
Zenserp: above 25,000 API requests or credits, Medium (+$80/mo)

How I calculated this

Workload: 10,000 Google searches a month, Results pulled by your own code.

The plan priced is the cheapest one whose monthly allowance holds the workload. Where a vendor sells credits instead of searches, I count one credit per search only if the vendor says so, and the card says when it doesn't.

Other options, and why they missed the list

I kept this list to APIs I can price from the vendor's own pricing page and that return Google results. SERP APIs differ most on what one search counts as, so where a vendor's pricing page doesn't say, the card says so. If you also want keyword and backlink data from the same account, the SEO APIs guide starts with DataForSEO instead.

cloro
One API for Google results and AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and others, priced in credits. I haven't reviewed it yet, so I can't rank it here.
Serper
A Google search API I haven't reviewed, so it has no price on this page.

How I chose, and how I earn from this page

Who is behind this guide

Joonas Rotko

I co-ran a marketing agency in Finland and spent more than ten years buying SEO and marketing software with real client budgets. I write these guides for the person who has to pay for the tool and use it.

Hands-on with 3 of these 6 tools
Prices checked 2 Oct 2026
How this page earns

More about me and how I review

Affiliate disclosure

SearchApi and DataForSEO are linked through my affiliate links, so I may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. They lead this list because SearchApi has the lowest monthly bill for this workload and DataForSEO the lowest price per search. Below them the order is not strictly by price: SerpApi sits third for its free plan and plan ladder, although it is the dearest. I have no affiliate link for SerpApi, HasData, ValueSERP or Zenserp, and they are included on merit. Neither link changes a price on this page or how I judge a tool.

How this guide was prepared

What I did

For each API I opened the vendor's own pricing page and recorded the plan prices, the monthly allowance and how the vendor defines a search or a credit, each with a link and the day I looked.
A card shows the cheapest plan whose allowance covers a month of Google searches at this workload. A vendor that sells credits only counts if its balance is at least that many, and the card says when the vendor never states what one credit buys.
DataForSEO bills per result with no monthly plan, so I show its published rates by speed and don't calculate a total.
SearchApi, DataForSEO and HasData carry a Hands-on label, which means my own use of those products backs the review. SerpApi, ValueSERP and Zenserp are desk research, built from their published pricing and documentation.

What to keep in mind

Plan names, allowances and what counts as a search change without notice, so the check date beside each source is the one to trust.
SerpApi and ValueSERP don't define one search or one credit on their pricing pages, so their cost per search is only as exact as the plan table.
SerpApi's prices are for its Best Effort speed mode. I haven't priced its faster modes.
ValueSERP's hero text and plan table state different rates per search, and the plan table's rate per 1,000 credits is lower than its plan price divided by its credits. I priced the plan.

Sources and verification dates

SearchApi pricing and limits checked 2 Oct 2026
DataForSEO pricing and limits checked 2 Oct 2026
SerpApi pricing and limits checked 2 Oct 2026
HasData pricing and limits checked 2 Oct 2026
ValueSERP pricing and limits checked 2 Oct 2026
Zenserp pricing and limits checked 2 Oct 2026

Prices and limits checked on 8 vendor pages. Oldest check: 2 Oct 2026.

2 Oct 2026: First Best V2 version: ranked from verified plan facts for a month of Google searches.

Questions people ask

How much does a SERP API cost for a small rank tracker?

For a month of Google searches at the workload this guide prices, SearchApi is $40/month billed monthly, Zenserp is $49.99/month billed monthly, HasData is $59/month billed monthly and SerpApi is $150/month billed monthly. DataForSEO has no monthly plan: its queued Google results are $0.6 per 1K SERPs after a $50 minimum payment.

What counts as one search?

It differs, and it matters more than the headline price. SearchApi: One successful search (a 200 status code) counts against the plan; failed requests are not billed. Zenserp: One successful search request; an AI Overview request uses three searches. DataForSEO: One SERP of the Google Organic SERP API is ten search engine results; the Keywords Data API bills per task of up to 1,000 keywords; LLM Mentions bills per request plus per row. HasData: Each plan holds a monthly credit balance; the pricing table lists how many requests that balance covers for each API (for example Google SERP API, Google SERP Light API, Web Scraping API). SerpApi and ValueSERP don't say on their pricing pages.

Are the results live or queued?

Mostly live, but DataForSEO sells Google results at queued, priority and live speeds: queued at $0.6 per 1K SERPs, priority at $1.2 per 1K SERPs and live at $2 per 1K SERPs. Queued results come back after a delay, which is fine for a daily rank check and not for a lookup a user is waiting on. SerpApi lists speed modes (Best Effort, Ludicrous Speed, Ludicrous Speed Max) that change the price.

Which of these gives AI Overview or AI Mode data?

HasData prices AI Mode requests at $2.95 per 1,000 requests on Startup. DataForSEO has an AI Mode API from $1,200 per 1M SERPs queued to $4,000 per 1M SERPs live. Zenserp serves AI Overviews, and each request counts as 3 searches. SearchApi, SerpApi and ValueSERP don't list AI Overview or AI Mode pricing on their pricing pages.

Can I try one before paying?

SerpApi has a free plan with 250 searches a month. Zenserp has a free plan with 50. HasData has a free plan with 1,000 credits. SearchApi gives 100 free requests at sign-up with no card. ValueSERP offers a free trial but doesn't state an amount, and DataForSEO has no free plan.

Do I need to be a developer to use a SERP API?

Someone on your side has to be. What comes back is structured data, not a chart: a person writes the request, saves the results from each day and turns them into a report. If nobody on your side writes code, a rank tracker with a dashboard is the same job as one subscription, and my SEO software guide lists them.

Best SERP APIs for rank tracking and reports

Looking for something else?

I want rank tracking without writing code

I need keyword or backlink data, not just search results

I want to see what AI answers say about my brand

My picks for different needs

The tools side by side

Six picks, in the order I'd consider them

SearchApi

DataForSEO

SerpApi

HasData

ValueSERP

Zenserp

What 10,000 Google searches a month really costs

Pay monthly or yearly?

When you'll outgrow the plan

Other options, and why they missed the list

How I chose, and how I earn from this page

Joonas Rotko

Affiliate disclosure

Questions people ask

The SEO and AI visibility software worth your money, and the ones that are not