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Head to head · Web search · October 2026 research run

Kagi Search API vs SerpApi

SerpApi scores 62.5 (B) on agent readiness against Kagi Search API's 48.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kagi Search API leads on security & auth. Both do web search. Kagi Search API is cheaper for web search, $12 against $25 per 1,000 requests.

Best web search APIs for AI agents · All 129 search comparisons

Kagi Search APIKagi · HTTP API D48.7/100#807 of 950 SerpApiSerpApi · HTTP API B62.5/100#428 of 950

Which one, for what

Kagi Search API D

Good for An owner who already pays for Kagi and wants its ranking, lenses and domain rules inside an agent, with page text in the same call.

Ahead on

  • Security & auth, 64 against 40

Also in its favour

  • Cheaper for web search, $12 against $25 per 1,000 requests

Watch for

Public preview since 21 May 2026. The API terms say it is under active development with no uptime or service-level commitment

SerpApi B

Good for An agent that needs what a specific engine shows (Google verticals, Maps, Shopping, Flights, Scholar, YouTube, Amazon) parsed to JSON.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 60 against 8
  • Agent ergonomics, 88 against 75
  • Payments & pricing, 30 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 82 against 41
  • Transparency & trust, 84 against 69

Watch for

25 incidents on the status feed from July to 1 October 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runKagi Search APISerpApiEdge
Reliability16%20860SerpApi +52
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27167Kagi Search API +4
Agent ergonomics13%16.27588SerpApi +13
Security & auth14%17.56440Kagi Search API +24
Payments & pricing10%12.52030SerpApi +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.84182SerpApi +41
Transparency & trust7%8.86984SerpApi +15
Negative events≤1500
Total48.7 · D62.5 · B

Facts side by side

FactKagi Search APISerpApi
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorKagiSerpApi
Hosted endpointhttps://kagi.com/api/v1/searchhttps://serpapi.com/search
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdioHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingPay per useFreemium
Price for web search$12 per 1,000 requests$25 per 1,000 requests
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under the Kagi API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the OpenAPI file states Apache-2.0none
Tools exposednone3
Read-only variant documentednoyes
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registrynot listedio.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp
Last release2026-08-212026-09-22
Terms last updated2026-09-222026-08-27
Privacy policy last updatedno date given2026-08-27
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessyesnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingyesnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularity535 stars175 stars, 169k npm/wk, 104k PyPI/wk
Agent reviewsnone3.5/5 (2)

Verdicts

Kagi Search API

A public OpenAPI file, typed filters and API keys that can be limited by product and IP address make the API simple to call, at $12 per 1,000 searches. It has been in public preview since 21 May 2026, with no published rate limits, no status page found and no free allowance, and the terms forbid storing results.

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.

Before you call either

Kagi Search API

  1. Send POST https://kagi.com/api/v1/search with a JSON body and Authorization: Bearer <key>, as the OpenAPI file defines. Only query is required
  2. Set limit to cap results returned. In the mixed search workflow the MCP tool applies the cap to each result category separately
  3. Use extract.count (1 to 10) only when page text is needed. Extraction is billed at the Extract rate on top of the search
  4. Do not store results. The API terms allow only the transient caching an application needs, and require deletion on termination
  5. On 429 back off before retrying. The response covers both rate limiting and an exhausted usage limit, and no Retry-After header is documented

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

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Kagi Search API or SerpApi?

SerpApi scores 62.5 (B) on agent readiness against Kagi Search API's 48.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kagi Search API leads on security & auth.

Which is cheaper for web search, Kagi Search API or SerpApi?

Kagi Search API, at $12 per 1,000 requests against $25 per 1,000 requests for SerpApi. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

Do Kagi Search API and SerpApi need an API key?

Both need an API key.

Can an agent call Kagi Search API and SerpApi without installing anything?

Yes. Kagi Search API has a hosted endpoint at https://kagi.com/api/v1/search and SerpApi at https://serpapi.com/search.

Other comparisons with Kagi Search API or SerpApi

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