{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "cloudflare-web-search", "name": "Cloudflare Web Search API", "vendor": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.cloudflare.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "search", "summary": "Cloudflare's web search endpoint, in open beta since 2 October 2026, routes a query through AI Gateway to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, by REST or from a Worker's AI binding.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json", "license": "Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "A Cloudflare API token as a Bearer header, with Account \u003e Workers AI \u003e Read and Account \u003e AI Gateway \u003e Read. Inside a Worker the `AI` binding needs no token. Provider keys stored on the gateway (BYOK) are selected by `byokAlias` and never sent in the request. The OpenAPI operation also accepts the legacy global API key with an email header.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Billed per search from prepaid AI Gateway credits at the provider's list price, Ceramic.ai $0.25, Linkup $5.00 and Exa $7.00 per 1,000 requests. Credits carry a 5 per cent purchase fee and need a payment method on the account. With a stored provider key the provider bills you directly. No free allowance found (https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/providers/, checked 2026-10-05).", "priceSummary": "$0.25 / 1k req", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "AI Gateway Machine Payments (x402, beta since 30 September 2026) covers only POST /ai/run for four open models, US accounts with a card on file. The Web Search API pages, the providers page and the OpenAPI operation mention no x402, MPP or L402 (https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/features/machine-payments/, checked 2026-10-05).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-05" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cloudflare/api-schemas/main/openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "web.search" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "beta", "openapi", "llms-txt", "typescript", "status-page", "bug-bounty" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-02", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 62.1, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 226, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 460, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 71, "payments": 20, "reliability": 55, "schema": 81, "security": 71, "transparency": 75 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-05" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It's an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters, and no machine payment route.", "bestFor": "Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.", "strengths": [ "Three providers behind one request shape, switched by the `provider` parameter", "Ceramic.ai at $0.25 per 1,000 searches, at the provider's list price", "Every search lands in AI Gateway logs, with per-request headers to skip storing payloads", "Typed error body with category, code and a `retryable` flag", "Providers commit to verified-bot crawling and a source link on every result" ], "weaknesses": [ "Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway", "Credits need a payment method and carry a 5 per cent purchase fee. No free allowance", "At most 10 results a call, with no pagination, domain or date filters", "No x402. Machine Payments covers only /ai/run", "The changelog and the providers page disagree on whether Exa searches have Zero Data Retention" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `options.gateway.id`. Every account has a gateway named `default`", "Pass `provider` explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result", "Set `limit` to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10", "Set `byokAlias` when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits", "Send `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 62.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 71, "payments": 20, "reliability": 55, "schema": 81, "security": 71, "transparency": 50 }, "provenanceScore": 100 }, "connect": { "http": "curl https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID/ai/websearch/ \\\n --request POST \\\n --header \"Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN\" \\\n --header \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n --data '{\n \"query\": \"What are some fun things to do in Salt Lake City as fall approaches?\",\n \"provider\": \"ceramic\",\n \"limit\": 5,\n \"options\": {\n \"gateway\": { \"id\": \"default\" }\n }\n }'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/cloudflare-web-search" }, "sameCompany": [ "cloudflare-sandbox-sdk", "cloudflare-mcp", "cloudflare-r2", "cloudflare-clef" ], "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Search, Ceramic.ai", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 0.25 }, { "item": "Search, Linkup", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5 }, { "item": "Search, Exa", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 7 } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "domain": "cloudflare.com", "domainRegistered": "2009-02-17", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://cloudflare.com/terms/", "privacy": "https://cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/", "statusPage": "https://www.cloudflarestatus.com", "changelog": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/changelog/", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-05", "notes": [ "Legal entity, domain date, terms and privacy follow the Cloudflare MCP listing's check. We didn't re-read them for this listing.", "www.cloudflare.com/.well-known/security.txt, read on 5 October 2026, names HackerOne and a disclosure policy and carries no Expires field.", "The endpoint is on api.cloudflare.com. Searches are forwarded to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup." ], "score": 100 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json", "live": { "slug": "cloudflare-web-search", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://www.cloudflarestatus.com", "indicator": "major", "summary": "Partial System Outage", "checkedAt": "2026-10-06T01:47:08.690984366Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-06T01:47:08.690984366Z" } }, "answer": "SerpApi and Cloudflare Web Search API score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.6 (B) and 62.1 (B). Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "b": { "slug": "serpapi", "name": "SerpApi", "vendor": "SerpApi", "vendorUrl": "https://serpapi.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "search", "summary": "Scrapes live results pages from Google, Bing, Baidu, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Amazon, YouTube and about 20 other engines and returns them as parsed JSON or markdown.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serpapi", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serpapi.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serpapi.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serpapi.json", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://serpapi.com/search", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "serpapi" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "serpapi" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "API key as the `api_key` query parameter on every request. The hosted MCP takes `Authorization: Bearer \u003ckey\u003e` or the key in the URL path (`/\u003ckey\u003e/mcp`) for clients that can't set headers.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free plan 250 searches a month (50 an hour). Starter $25 a month for 1,000 searches, Developer $75 for 5,000, Production $150 for 15,000, Big Data $275 for 30,000, Searcher $725 for 100,000, then Cloud tiers from $3,750 for 1M. Only successful searches count, cached and failed ones are free, and a response with 100 results is still one search. Ludicrous Speed doubles the price, Ludicrous Speed Max quadruples it (https://serpapi.com/pricing).", "priceSummary": "$25 / 1k req", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402 in llms.txt, pricing or integrations pages (checked 2026-09-30).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 3, "popularity": { "githubStars": 175, "npmWeekly": 168618, "pypiWeekly": 104227, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://serpapi.com/search-api", "llmsTxt": "https://serpapi.com/llms.txt", "registryName": "io.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp", "capabilities": [ "web.search", "search.serp", "search.news", "search.images" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "mcp", "llms-txt", "python", "typescript", "closed-source" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-22", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 62.6, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 219, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 460, "categoryRank": 9, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 88, "maintenance": 82, "payments": 30, "reliability": 60, "schema": 67, "security": 40, "transparency": 85 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Over 100 engines behind one GET URL, with `json_restrictor` field selection and `output=md`. 25 incidents on the status feed from July to 1 October 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September.", "bestFor": "An agent that needs what a specific engine shows (Google verticals, Maps, Shopping, Flights, Scholar, YouTube, Amazon) parsed to JSON.", "strengths": [ "Over 100 engines behind one GET URL, with `json_restrictor` field selection and `output=md`", "Failed, errored and cached searches aren't billed, and the cache lasts 1 hour", "Terms promise a 99.95% SLA on all plans", "SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 listed on the security page, 31-day data retention stated twice", "Hosted MCP server in the official registry, with read-only tool annotations" ], "weaknesses": [ "25 incidents on the status feed from July to 1 October 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September", "REST auth is the `api_key` query parameter, with no header option documented", "No OpenAPI spec, and the MCP `search` tool takes a free-form `params` object", "Monthly plans only, from $25 for 1,000 searches, with no pay-per-call or machine payment", "No prompt-injection guidance for the snippets it returns" ], "agentNotes": [ "Use the MCP with `Authorization: Bearer`, not the key-in-path URL the README leads with", "Read `serpapi://engines/\u003cengine\u003e` before calling a new engine, since `params` isn't typed", "Add `json_restrictor` or `output=md` to cut tokens, and `mode: compact` on the MCP", "A 429 means either the hourly limit or an empty balance. Check the account before retrying", "Repeat a search within the hour and the cached copy is free. Set `no_cache=true` only when freshness matters" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 62.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 88, "maintenance": 82, "payments": 30, "reliability": 60, "schema": 67, "security": 40, "transparency": 70 }, "provenanceScore": 100 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -G https://serpapi.com/search --data-urlencode \"q=coffee\" -d engine=google -d api_key=$SERPAPI_API_KEY", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http serpapi https://mcp.serpapi.com/mcp --header \"Authorization: Bearer $SERPAPI_API_KEY\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "serpapi": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${SERPAPI_API_KEY}" }, "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.serpapi.com/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/serpapi" }, "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Starter plan, per 1,000 searches", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 25, "note": "1,000 searches for $25 a month" }, { "item": "Starter plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 25, "note": "1,000 searches" }, { "item": "Developer plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 75, "note": "5,000 searches" }, { "item": "Production plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 150, "note": "15,000 searches, includes Legal Shield" }, { "item": "Big Data plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 275, "note": "30,000 searches" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "SerpApi, LLC", "domain": "serpapi.com", "domainRegistered": "2016-07-27", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://serpapi.com/legal", "privacy": "https://serpapi.com/legal", "statusPage": "https://status.serpapi.com", "changelog": "https://serpapi.com/release-notes", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-09-30", "notes": [ "Terms and privacy policy share one page. The entity is a Texas LLC at 1632 S 1st St, Austin" ], "score": 100 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serpapi.json", "live": { "slug": "serpapi", "probe": { "target": "https://serpapi.com/search", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-06T01:46:36.089021824Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 116, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 120, "p95ms24h": 209, "samples24h": 273, "samples30d": 1395, "days": [ { "date": "2026-09-30", "probes": 35, "ok": 35 }, { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 276, "ok": 276 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.serpapi.com", "indicator": "minor", "summary": "Partially Degraded Service", "checkedAt": "2026-10-06T01:47:29.12525535Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "mcp-registry", "name": "io.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp", "version": "2.0.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T23:55:54.568086057Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "serpapi", "version": "2.2.1", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T17:05:08.177167145Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "serpapi", "version": "1.1.2", "released": "2026-09-22", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T17:05:08.96285364Z" } ], "npmWeekly": 181578, "pypiWeekly": 98366, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://serpapi.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T15:16:36.09472003Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://serpapi.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T15:19:27.147084218Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "serpapi.com", "registered": "2016-07-27", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/serpapi.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:07:58.738158184Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://serpapi.com/release-notes", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T16:00:05.386649381Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-05T16:00:05.386649381Z", "fingerprint": "5a19513263fb" }, { "url": "https://serpapi.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T16:00:03.399805999Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "30dfa765089d" }, { "url": "https://serpapi.com/legal", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T16:00:01.35179Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-05T16:00:01.35179Z", "fingerprint": "e60e49a7ba0e" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-06T01:47:29.12525535Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "b": "SerpApi", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "https://serpapi.com/search", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "$0.25 per 1,000 requests", "b": "$25 per 1,000 requests", "name": "Price for web search" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page", "b": "none", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "3", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "not listed", "b": "io.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-10-02", "b": "2026-09-22", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "none", "b": "175 stars, 169k npm/wk, 104k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3/5 (2)", "b": "3.5/5 (2)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "SerpApi and Cloudflare Web Search API score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.6 (B) and 62.1 (B). Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Web Search API or SerpApi?" }, { "answer": "Cloudflare Web Search API, at $0.25 per 1,000 requests against $25 per 1,000 requests for SerpApi. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.", "question": "Which is cheaper for web search, Cloudflare Web Search API or SerpApi?" }, { "answer": "Both need an API key.", "question": "Do Cloudflare Web Search API and SerpApi need an API key?" }, { "answer": "No hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. SerpApi has a hosted endpoint at https://serpapi.com/search.", "question": "Can an agent call Cloudflare Web Search API and SerpApi without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 81 against 67", "Security \u0026 auth, 71 against 40" ], "also": [ "Cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $25 per 1,000 requests" ], "goodFor": "Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.", "slug": "cloudflare-web-search", "watchFor": "Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 60 against 55", "Agent ergonomics, 88 against 63", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 20", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 82 against 71", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 85 against 75" ], "also": [ "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install", "Runs on your own machine", "Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5" ], "goodFor": "An agent that needs what a specific engine shows (Google verticals, Maps, Shopping, Flights, Scholar, YouTube, Amazon) parsed to JSON.", "slug": "serpapi", "watchFor": "25 incidents on the status feed from July to 1 October 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September" } ], "job": { "capability": "web.search", "name": "Web search" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Exa API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Firecrawl MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Linkup", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SearchAPI.io", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Serper", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpKite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Tavily API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Valyu", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "Exa API + MCP vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "Firecrawl MCP vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "Linkup vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "Parallel Search and Task APIs vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "SearchAPI.io vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serper.json", "title": "SerpApi vs Serper", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serper" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serpkite.json", "title": "SerpApi vs SerpKite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serpkite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-tavily-mcp.json", "title": "SerpApi vs Tavily API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-tavily-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-valyu.json", "title": "SerpApi vs Valyu", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-valyu" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SerpApi vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 5, "cloudflare-web-search": 55, "edge": "serpapi", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "serpapi": 60, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 14, "cloudflare-web-search": 81, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "serpapi": 67, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 25, "cloudflare-web-search": 63, "edge": "serpapi", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "serpapi": 88, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 31, "cloudflare-web-search": 71, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "serpapi": 40, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 10, "cloudflare-web-search": 20, "edge": "serpapi", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "serpapi": 30, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 11, "cloudflare-web-search": 71, "edge": "serpapi", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "serpapi": 82, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 10, "cloudflare-web-search": 75, "edge": "serpapi", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "serpapi": 85, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "SerpApi and Cloudflare Web Search API score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.6 (B) and 62.1 (B). Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do web search. Cloudflare Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $25 per 1,000 requests.", "verdicts": { "cloudflare-web-search": "One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It's an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters, and no machine payment route.", "serpapi": "Over 100 engines behind one GET URL, with `json_restrictor` field selection and `output=md`. 25 incidents on the status feed from July to 1 October 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.min.md" }, "markdown": "SerpApi and Cloudflare Web Search API score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.6 (B) and 62.1 (B). Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do web search. Cloudflare Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $25 per 1,000 requests.\n\n- Cloudflare Web Search API: grade B, 62.1/100, rank #226 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json\n- SerpApi: grade B, 62.6/100, rank #219 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serpapi.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serpapi.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Cloudflare Web Search API (B)\n\nGood for: Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 81 against 67\n- Security \u0026 auth, 71 against 40\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $25 per 1,000 requests\n\nWatch for: Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway\n\n### SerpApi (B)\n\nGood for: An agent that needs what a specific engine shows (Google verticals, Maps, Shopping, Flights, Scholar, YouTube, Amazon) parsed to JSON.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 60 against 55\n- Agent ergonomics, 88 against 63\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 20\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 82 against 71\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 85 against 75\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n- Runs on your own machine\n- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5\n\nWatch for: 25 incidents on the status feed from July to 1 October 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Cloudflare Web Search API | SerpApi | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 60 | SerpApi +5 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 67 | Cloudflare Web Search API +14 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 88 | SerpApi +25 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 71 | 40 | Cloudflare Web Search API +31 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 30 | SerpApi +10 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 82 | SerpApi +11 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 85 | SerpApi +10 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **62.1 · B** | **62.6 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Cloudflare Web Search API | SerpApi |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Cloudflare, Inc. | SerpApi |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://serpapi.com/search` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |\n| Price for web search | $0.25 per 1,000 requests | $25 per 1,000 requests |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page | none |\n| Tools exposed | none | 3 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp` |\n| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-09-22 |\n| Popularity | none | 175 stars, 169k npm/wk, 104k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Cloudflare Web Search API.** One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It's an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters, and no machine payment route.\n\n**SerpApi.** Over 100 engines behind one GET URL, with `json_restrictor` field selection and `output=md`. 25 incidents on the status feed from July to 1 October 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Cloudflare Web Search API\n\n1. Set `options.gateway.id`. Every account has a gateway named `default`\n2. Pass `provider` explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result\n3. Set `limit` to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10\n4. Set `byokAlias` when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits\n5. Send `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs\n\n### SerpApi\n\n1. Use the MCP with `Authorization: Bearer`, not the key-in-path URL the README leads with\n2. Read `serpapi://engines/\u003cengine\u003e` before calling a new engine, since `params` isn't typed\n3. Add `json_restrictor` or `output=md` to cut tokens, and `mode: compact` on the MCP\n4. A 429 means either the hourly limit or an empty balance. Check the account before retrying\n5. Repeat a search within the hour and the cached copy is free. Set `no_cache=true` only when freshness matters\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Web Search API or SerpApi?\n\nSerpApi and Cloudflare Web Search API score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.6 (B) and 62.1 (B). Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.\n\n### Which is cheaper for web search, Cloudflare Web Search API or SerpApi?\n\nCloudflare Web Search API, at $0.25 per 1,000 requests against $25 per 1,000 requests for SerpApi. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.\n\n### Do Cloudflare Web Search API and SerpApi need an API key?\n\nBoth need an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Cloudflare Web Search API and SerpApi without installing anything?\n\nNo hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. SerpApi has a hosted endpoint at https://serpapi.com/search.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"cloudflare-web-search\", \"b\": \"serpapi\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cloudflare-web-search serpapi`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serpapi.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Cloudflare Web Search API or SerpApi\n\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Linkup vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [SerpApi vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serper.md)\n- [SerpApi vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serpkite.md)\n- [SerpApi vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [SerpApi vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-valyu.md)\n- [SerpApi vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-06", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.3", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpApi", "url": "" } ], "description": "SerpApi and Cloudflare Web Search API score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.6 (B) and 62.1 (B). Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do web search. Cloudflare Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $0.25…", "facts": [ "Cloudflare Web Search API B 62.1", "SerpApi B 62.6", "scores" ], "h1": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpApi", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.png", "path": "/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpApi for AI agents, B 62.1 vs B 62.6", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-06", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2400, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }