# DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SERPHouse

> DeepSeek Search and Fetch scores 55.5 (C) to SERPHouse's 42.4 (E) for web search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serphouse
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serphouse.md (~5,600 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

DeepSeek Search and Fetch API scores 55.5 (C) on agent readiness against SERPHouse's 42.4 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. SERPHouse leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing. Both do web search.

- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API: grade C, 55.5/100, rank #861 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-search-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-search-api.json
- SERPHouse: grade E, 42.4/100, rank #1265 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serphouse.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serphouse.json
- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md
- All 308 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### DeepSeek Search and Fetch API (C)

Good for: Cheap per-request web search with model-ready summaries and an authority signal, plus page fetching, for agents already on a DeepSeek key and comfortable with data held in the PRC.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 72 against 40
- Agent ergonomics, 81 against 64
- Security & auth, 43 against 11
- Maintenance & community, 42 against 23
- Transparency & trust, 60 against 50

Watch for: Opened on 17 October 2026, with no service record of its own and no component for it on the status page

### SERPHouse (E)

Good for: Low-cost Google, Bing and Yahoo result parsing for SEO and rank tracking, with many Google verticals.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 66 against 55
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The hosted MCP server takes the API key only in its URL path, and the REST API also accepts `api_token` in the query string


## Why the edge

### Reliability: DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +32

- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API (72): Hosted reading. DeepSeek's Terms of Use bar capturing or copying content of the Services with robots, spiders or other automatic setups, so no DeepSeek page beyond the terms was requested on 4 November and every line is per the 17 October check, not re-read on 4 November. status.deepseek.com, run on Flashduty, has component history, but the endpoints have no component of their own; the nearest is Search Service, grouped under Chat Service. This run gives 15 for a vendor status page with no component for the product (was 10). The recorded history holds Search service errors of 6 minutes on 14 August and 39 on 18 August inside the 90 days from 6 August (the 29 July one has left the window), minor only; the window after 17 October is unread, so the line keeps its recorded 20. Per-account limits of 5 requests a second for each endpoint (15). The guide says to wait and retry on 408, 429 and 5xx, with no Retry-After or backoff schedule, and documents both endpoints as read-only and safe to retry, which this run reads as safe-retry guidance without idempotency keys, 12 (was 10). No SLA found (0). Opened to everyone with no beta label (10). 15 + 20 + 15 + 12 + 0 + 10 = 72.
- SERPHouse (40): Read with the hosted lines. No status page is linked from the site or docs, and status.serphouse.com did not answer on 6 November 2026 (0). No readable incident history (5). Rate limits published, 60 requests a minute and 60 concurrent on every self-serve plan (15). 429 is documented as 'slow down', and a 200 can carry `"status": "error"` with 'Please try again', with no Retry-After or backoff guidance. Failed requests aren't charged (5 of 15). The pricing page lists a 99.99% uptime SLA on Basic and Regular and the docs a 99.95% one, but no SLA terms or credits were found in the terms (5 of 10). Generally available (10). 0 + 5 + 15 + 5 + 5 + 10 = 40.

### Security & auth: DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +32

- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API (43): Per the 17 October check, not re-read on 4 November (terms pause). The ordinary DeepSeek bearer key, revocable, with no scopes, so a key used for search can also spend on models. No secret in a URL (20 of 30). Both endpoints only read, so there's nothing destructive to approve, but no search-only key (15 of 20). Results and fetched pages are untrusted web text. The change log says the engine filters 'SEO spam, GEO manipulation, and low-quality AIGC', with no technical detail and no prompt-injection guidance (3 of 15). No per-call log or audit log found in the docs. The platform console wasn't readable (0 of 15). Security programme 5 of 20 (was 0). The www.deepseek.com footer carries a Report Security Issue address, security@deepseek.com, per the 21 October reading used for DeepSeek's open-weight listings; no security.txt (404 on 17 October), disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification found. 20 + 15 + 3 + 0 + 5 = 43.
- SERPHouse (11): One key per account, one account per user, no scopes or rotation found (10). The REST API documents `api_token` in the query string and the hosted MCP server takes the key only in its URL path, less 10 (0 of 30). Searches only read, with no read-only or restricted key (8 of 20). Results are third-party snippets and AI Overview text, with no prompt-injection guidance (0). An account tool shows plan and credit usage; no per-call log was found (3 of 15). No security.txt (404), disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification found (0 of 20). 0 + 8 + 0 + 3 + 0 = 11.

### Payments & pricing: SERPHouse +20

- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API (20): Per the 17 October check, not re-read on 4 November (terms pause). No machine payment protocol in the guide, the API reference or the pricing page (0). $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests for each endpoint, published without a login on the guide and the pricing page (20). No free tier for direct calls. The stated free period for server-side calls made through DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code or Codex ended at 16:00 UTC on 31 October 2026, and it never covered direct calls (0). Browser sign-up and a prepaid top-up (0). 0 + 20 + 0 + 0 = 20.
- SERPHouse (40): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-1,000 prices for SERP, autocomplete and top-100 requests published without login (20). Free trial of 4,000 credits for 7 days, 'No Credit Card Required' (20). A person signs up in a browser and confirms an email (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.

### Maintenance & community: DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +19

- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API (42): Closed service, per the 17 October check, not re-read on 4 November (terms pause). Opened on 17 October 2026, 18 days before this check (30). The change log's 17 October entry is the only dated one about Search or Fetch in the 90 days from 6 August (0 of 20). Dated change log, api-service@deepseek.com and a Discord server, not tested for replies (12 of 15). No official SDK (0 of 15). No SDK or package to assess (0 of 10). 30 + 0 + 12 + 0 + 0 = 42.
- SERPHouse (23): Read for a closed service, with its repositories read as code. No changelog or dated API change was found. The newest release is MCP server 1.1.0 on 6 July 2026, 123 days before 6 November, and the last commit in its repository was on 22 July (10). No release or dated change in the 90 days from 8 August; the about page's 2026 entry (Forums, Place Details and Scraper APIs) is undated (0). No changelog; support by email. Issues weren't read, since the GitHub API refused us for its rate limit (5 of 25). Not in the official MCP registry, though the repository's server.json names io.github.SERPHouse/serphouse-mcp. Node.js SDK last changed 24 June 2026, PHP SDK 10 May 2024, and no Python SDK repository was found under the SERPHouse organisation (5 of 15). The MCP repository has an npm publish workflow and no tests (3 of 10). 10 + 0 + 5 + 5 + 3 = 23.

### Agent ergonomics: DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +17

- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API (81): Per the 17 October check, not re-read on 4 November (terms pause). Responses can be sized with `count` and `need_content`, off by default, and each result carries both a short snippet and a 600 to 800 character summary. No field selection, and full content has no length cap stated (20 of 25). Site, language, date and phrase filters, up to 50 results, no pagination (15 of 20). Ten documented codes with what to do, 402 for an empty balance and 404 for an unfetchable page. `param` is always null and `code` repeats the type (17 of 20). Both endpoints are documented as read-only and safe to retry, and failed or empty calls aren't billed (20). Only `query` or `url` is required. No official SDKs, the docs use raw HTTP and Python requests (9 of 15). 20 + 15 + 17 + 20 + 9 = 81.
- SERPHouse (64): 23 MCP tools with no toolsets or filtering (15 of 25). `num_result`, `max_pages`, paging, device, location, language, date and video filters (16 of 20). Status codes are tabulated, but a 200 can also mean an error and the body carries only 'Please try again' (10 of 20). Searches only read and failed requests aren't charged, but the MCP tools carry no readOnlyHint or other annotations (10 of 20). `serphouse_search` needs only `q` and defaults to the US; most other tools need `loc` or `loc_id`. Official Node.js, PHP and Python SDKs are documented (13 of 15). 15 + 16 + 10 + 10 + 13 = 64.

### Schema & documentation: SERPHouse +11

- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API (55): Per the 17 October check, not re-read on 4 November (terms pause). No OpenAPI file found. The API reference is rendered from a schema, but no spec is linked, and /openapi.json and /openapi.yaml on the docs host serve the docs page (0). No llms.txt, since api-docs.deepseek.com answered /llms.txt with HTML (0). The guide says what each endpoint is for and which result field suits a UI or a model, and gives the score thresholds for quality and authority, but not when to use Search content against a Fetch (14 of 20). Types, required fields, defaults and limits on every field, such as `query` 1 to 128 characters and `count` 1 to 50. Filters live inside the free-text query (13 of 15). curl and Python examples, an error body and a table of ten status codes with retry guidance. The reference shows only the 200 response (13 of 15). Dated change log and a /v1 path (15). 0 + 0 + 14 + 13 + 13 + 15 = 55.
- SERPHouse (66): No OpenAPI or similar contract for the REST API. The MCP server's tools carry typed Zod schemas, published in the source and a static server card (18 of 25). llms.txt at the site and the docs, and every docs page as Markdown (10). MCP tool descriptions say which tool to use for what, such as `serphouse_google_web` when device or `num_result` is needed, while the docs pages lead with marketing lines such as 'Unlock captivating Google video content' (12 of 20). Enums for device, SERP type, engine and video duration, defaults and 37 described parameters (11 of 15). A status code table and request examples per engine, with a generic error body (12 of 15). No changelog or API versioning; only the MCP server has tags (3 of 15). 18 + 10 + 12 + 11 + 12 + 3 = 66.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API | SERPHouse | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 72 | 40 | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +32 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 66 | SERPHouse +11 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 64 | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +17 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 11 | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +32 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 40 | SERPHouse +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 42 | 23 | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +19 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 50 | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **55.5 · C** | **42.4 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API | SERPHouse |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | DeepSeek | Patoliya Infotech LLP |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepseek.com/v1/tools/search` | `https://mcp.serphouse.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp` |
| Transports | HTTP | Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Paid |
| Price for web search | $0.75 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| x402 | no | no |
| Tools exposed | none | 23 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-17 | 2026-07-06 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### DeepSeek Search and Fetch API

- +2.3 on 4 November 2026 (D to C): correction

### SERPHouse

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**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.

**SERPHouse.** SERPHouse returns parsed Google, Bing and Yahoo results at published prices from $0.62 per 1,000 requests, with a 23-tool MCP server and a 4,000-credit trial without a card. The hosted MCP puts the key in its URL, there is no status page, changelog or security contact, and the terms keep search history indefinitely.

## Before you call either

### 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

### SERPHouse

1. Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer`, not as `api_token` in the URL
2. Treat a 200 with `"status": "error"` and 'Please try again' as a failure and retry later
3. Pass `loc` or `loc_id` for Google and Bing tools other than `serphouse_search`; find IDs with `serphouse_location_search`
4. Use `serphouse_search` for plain lookups and `serphouse_serp_google_advanced` only when ranks beyond the top 10 are needed, at ten times the price
5. Keep under 60 requests a minute on self-serve plans

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, DeepSeek Search and Fetch API or SERPHouse?

DeepSeek Search and Fetch API scores 55.5 (C) on agent readiness against SERPHouse's 42.4 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. SERPHouse leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing.

### Do DeepSeek Search and Fetch API and SERPHouse need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call DeepSeek Search and Fetch API and SERPHouse without installing anything?

Yes. DeepSeek Search and Fetch API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.deepseek.com/v1/tools/search and SERPHouse at https://mcp.serphouse.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serphouse.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serphouse.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "deepseek-search-api", "b": "serphouse"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare deepseek-search-api serphouse`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-search-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serphouse.json

## Other comparisons with DeepSeek Search and Fetch API or SERPHouse

- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-deepseek-search-api.md)
- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Arcmira vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-deepseek-search-api.md)
- [Grounding with Bing Search vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bing-grounding-vs-deepseek-search-api.md)
- [Grounding with Bing Search vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bing-grounding-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-deepseek-search-api.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-deepseek-search-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serphouse.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-exa-mcp.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Grep AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-grep-ai.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-kagi-search.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-linkup.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Mojeek Web Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-mojeek.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-parallel-search-api.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Perplexity Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-perplexity-search-api.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-searchapi-io.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serpapi.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serper.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serpkite.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-specstream.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-tinyfish-search.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-valyu.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Exa API + MCP vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Linkup vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Mojeek Web Search API vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mojeek-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Perplexity Search API vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-serphouse.md)
- [SearchAPI.io vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serphouse.md)
- [SerpApi vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Serper vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-serphouse.md)
- [SERPHouse vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-specstream.md)
- [SERPHouse vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [SERPHouse vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-tinyfish-search.md)
- [SERPHouse vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-valyu.md)
- [SERPHouse vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Fetch (MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-fetch-reference-server.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-serphouse.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-serphouse.md)
- [SERPHouse vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-serpkite.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp