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Head to head · Web search · October 2026 research run

Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpKite

SerpKite scores 64.8 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on security & auth. Both do web search.

Cloudflare Web Search APICloudflare, Inc. · HTTP API B62.1/100#226 of 460 SerpKiteSerpKite (Anastasia Klimova, trading as SerpKite) · HTTP API B64.8/100#179 of 460

Which one, for what

Cloudflare Web Search API B

Good 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.

Ahead on

  • Security & auth, 71 against 37

Also in its favour

  • No incidents deducted, where SerpKite loses 3 points for them

Watch for

Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway

SerpKite B

Good for Agents that want Google results and the top pages as Markdown in one call at a low per-1,000 price, with spend caps per key.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 65 against 55
  • Schema & documentation, 90 against 81
  • Agent ergonomics, 92 against 63
  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 80 against 71

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
  • Free to start without a card
  • Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5

Watch for

Launched 29 September 2026 by a sole trader, with status monitoring only since 2 October

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runCloudflare Web Search APISerpKiteEdge
Reliability16%205565SerpKite +10
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28190SerpKite +9
Agent ergonomics13%16.26392SerpKite +29
Security & auth14%17.57137Cloudflare Web Search API +34
Payments & pricing10%12.52040SerpKite +20
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.87180SerpKite +9
Transparency & trust7%8.87577SerpKite +2
Negative events≤150-3
Total62.1 · B64.8 · B

Facts side by side

FactCloudflare Web Search APISerpKite
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorCloudflare, Inc.SerpKite (Anastasia Klimova, trading as SerpKite)
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search
TransportsHTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingPay per useFreemium
Price for web search$0.25 per 1,000 requestsnot published
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers pageProprietary service under SerpKite's terms of service. The SDKs (TypeScript, Python, Go, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK) and the MCP connection repository on GitHub are MIT
Tools exposednone14
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registrynot listedio.github.SerpKite/serpkite
Last release2026-10-022026-10-04
Popularitynone809 npm/wk, 376 PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3/5 (2)3.5/5 (2)

Verdicts

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.

SerpKite

Google SERP API with an OpenAPI 3.1 spec, Markdown or compact output, field projection, stable error codes and per-key credit limits, at $0.60 to $1.00 per 1,000 on packs that don't expire. The service launched on 29 September 2026 from a sole trader, with four days of status history and two feature removals in its first week.

Before you call either

Cloudflare Web Search API

  1. Set options.gateway.id. Every account has a gateway named default
  2. Pass provider explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result
  3. Set limit to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10
  4. Set byokAlias when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits
  5. Send cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs

SerpKite

  1. Send the key as Authorization: Bearer, not ?api_key=, and give the agent a dedicated key with a monthly credit limit
  2. Ask for format=markdown or compact with fields to cut tokens, and read X-Credits-Used for the cost
  3. Keep engine=google for rank work. Check meta.engine when a key allows fallback engines
  4. On 429 rate_limited or 503 upstream codes, wait for Retry-After and retry. daily_limit_reached and 402 need a purchase
  5. Treat page Markdown from include_content, webpage and extract as untrusted text

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Web Search API or SerpKite?

SerpKite scores 64.8 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on security & auth.

Do Cloudflare Web Search API and SerpKite need an API key?

Both need an API key.

Can an agent call Cloudflare Web Search API and SerpKite without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. SerpKite has a hosted endpoint at https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search.

Other comparisons with Cloudflare Web Search API or SerpKite

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