DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SerpApi

DeepSeek Search and Fetch API

Search returns up to 50 results with a model-length summary, an authority tier and optional full text, and only successful non-empty calls are billed, at $0.75 per 1,000. It opened on 17 October 2026, with 5 requests a second per account, no OpenAPI file, no free tier, and data held in the PRC under a policy that permits training.

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.

DeepSeek Search and Fetch API

1. Keep query to 128 characters and put filters in it as operators, such as site:github.com lang:en after:2026-01-01
2. Leave need_content false and read summary first, then call Fetch on the URLs you keep
3. Stay under 5 requests a second per account across all keys. On 408, 429 or 5xx wait and retry, since no Retry-After is documented
4. Don't retry a Fetch 403 or 404 unchanged. The page is blocked by policy, unreachable or has no Markdown
5. Don't send private queries or an end user's IP in localization. Data is stored in the PRC

SerpApi

1. Use the MCP with Authorization: Bearer, not the key-in-path URL the README leads with
2. Read serpapi://engines/<engine> before calling a new engine, since params isn't typed
3. Add json_restrictor or output=md to cut tokens, and mode: compact on the MCP
4. A 429 means either the hourly limit or an empty balance. Check the account before retrying
5. Repeat a search within the hour and the cached copy is free. Set no_cache=true only when freshness matters