{
  "data": {
    "a": {
      "slug": "linkup",
      "name": "Linkup",
      "vendor": "Linkup",
      "vendorUrl": "https://www.linkup.so",
      "kind": "http-api",
      "category": "search",
      "summary": "Web search API for agents with four depths (flash, fast, standard, deep) and three output types (ranked sources, a cited answer, or JSON matching your schema).",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkup",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkup.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkup.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/linkup.json",
      "repo": "https://github.com/LinkupPlatform/linkup-mcp-server",
      "transports": [
        "http",
        "streamable-http",
        "stdio"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://api.linkup.so/v1/search",
      "packages": [
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "linkup-sdk"
        },
        {
          "registry": "pypi",
          "name": "linkup-sdk"
        },
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "linkup-mcp-server"
        }
      ],
      "auth": "mixed",
      "authNotes": "Bearer API key. x402 (USDC on Base) works without any key on `/v1/search` and `/v1/fetch`. The hosted MCP takes the key as a Bearer header or, in the documented one-click configs, as `?apiKey=` in the URL.",
      "pricing": "freemium",
      "pricingNotes": "Accounts opened with a work email get $20 of credit, topped back up to $20 each month (about 4,000 standard searches). Search $0.005 per call for flash, fast or standard with sources, $0.006 with a sourced answer or structured output, deep $0.05 or $0.055. Fetch $0.001 to $0.011 by mode and JavaScript rendering. Research $0.25 (S) to $2.50 (XL). Errors and empty results aren't charged. x402 is a flat $0.01 a request (https://www.linkup.so/pricing).",
      "priceSummary": "$0.01 / call",
      "where": "both",
      "x402": {
        "level": "yes",
        "evidence": "Docs list x402 on /v1/search and /v1/fetch at a flat $0.01 a request in USDC on Base with no account. An unauthenticated POST to /v1/search returned 402 with a payment-required header for 10000 base units on eip155:8453 (checked 2026-09-30) (https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/platform/x402).",
        "endpoints": [
          {
            "url": "https://api.linkup.so/v1/search",
            "priceUsd": 0.01,
            "network": "eip155:8453"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://api.linkup.so/v1/fetch",
            "priceUsd": 0.01,
            "network": "eip155:8453"
          }
        ]
      },
      "toolCount": 4,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": 29,
        "npmWeekly": 53872,
        "pypiWeekly": 84459,
        "asOf": "2026-09-30"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://docs.linkup.so",
      "llmsTxt": "https://docs.linkup.so/llms.txt",
      "openapi": "https://api.linkup.so/v1/openapi.json",
      "registryName": "so.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server",
      "capabilities": [
        "web.search",
        "web.fetch",
        "search.answer",
        "search.research",
        "web.extract",
        "search.images"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "freemium",
        "mcp",
        "llms-txt",
        "openapi",
        "x402",
        "python",
        "typescript",
        "async-jobs"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-09-30",
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 69.1,
        "grade": "B",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 116,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "categoryRank": 4,
        "methodology": "0.3",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 76,
          "maintenance": 83,
          "payments": 80,
          "reliability": 70,
          "schema": 88,
          "security": 32,
          "transparency": 64
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "Per-call prices from $0.005, and no credit taken for errors, missing parameters or empty results. 429 covers both exhausted credit and rate limiting, with no `Retry-After`.",
        "strengths": [
          "Per-call prices from $0.005, and no credit taken for errors, missing parameters or empty results",
          "x402 on /v1/search and /v1/fetch at $0.01 with no account",
          "Sources, a sourced answer or structured JSON from the same search call",
          "Errors page with a recommended action for every status code",
          "SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 claimed, and zero data retention available on request"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "429 covers both exhausted credit and rate limiting, with no `Retry-After`",
          "MCP configs document `?apiKey=` in the URL and an `apiKey=` argument for stdio",
          "10 queries a second per organisation by default",
          "No deprecation policy, and the changelog is dated by month",
          "MCP tools carry no read-only or destructive annotations, and the server has no tests in CI"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "On 429, check the credit balance before backing off. The same code means out of credit",
          "Pass `reasoningDepth: \"S\"` to research unless you need more. The MCP default is L at $1.50",
          "Start with `depth=fast` and `outputType=searchResults`. Deep costs $0.05, ten times as much",
          "Send the key as an `Authorization: Bearer` header, not `?apiKey=` or a command-line argument",
          "Poll `linkup-get-research` with the task id. Research runs take minutes"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 2,
        "avgRating": 4,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "B",
            "methodology": "0.3",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 69.1
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 76,
          "maintenance": 83,
          "payments": 80,
          "reliability": 70,
          "schema": 88,
          "security": 32,
          "transparency": 45
        },
        "provenanceScore": 82
      },
      "connect": {
        "http": "curl -G https://api.linkup.so/v1/search -H \"Authorization: Bearer $LINKUP_API_KEY\" \\\n  --data-urlencode \"q=What is Microsoft's 2024 revenue?\" -d depth=standard -d outputType=sourcedAnswer",
        "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http linkup https://mcp.linkup.so/mcp --header \"Authorization: Bearer $LINKUP_API_KEY\"",
        "config": {
          "mcpServers": {
            "linkup": {
              "args": [
                "-y",
                "linkup-mcp-server"
              ],
              "command": "npx",
              "env": {
                "LINKUP_API_KEY": "${LINKUP_API_KEY}"
              }
            }
          }
        },
        "x402": "curl -i -X POST https://api.linkup.so/v1/search -H 'content-type: application/json' \\\n  -d '{\"q\":\"test\",\"depth\":\"standard\",\"outputType\":\"searchResults\"}'\n# 402 -\u003e sign USDC transfer (eip155:8453) -\u003e resend with payment-signature header"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/linkup"
      },
      "area": "web-data",
      "unitPrices": [
        {
          "item": "Search, standard depth, sources",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 5,
          "note": "$0.005 a call, $0.006 with sourcedAnswer or structured"
        },
        {
          "item": "Search, deep depth",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 50
        },
        {
          "item": "Fetch, standard without JS",
          "unit": "1k-pages",
          "usd": 1
        },
        {
          "item": "Research, reasoning depth S",
          "unit": "call",
          "usd": 0.25,
          "note": "M $0.50, L $1.50, XL $2.50"
        },
        {
          "item": "x402 request",
          "unit": "call",
          "usd": 0.01,
          "note": "search or fetch, USDC on Base"
        }
      ],
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "Linkup Technologies SAS",
        "domain": "linkup.so",
        "domainRegistered": "2024-04-30",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://www.linkup.so/terms-of-use",
        "privacy": "https://www.linkup.so/privacy-policy",
        "statusPage": "https://status.linkup.so",
        "changelog": "https://docs.linkup.so/pages/changelog",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-09-30",
        "notes": [
          "Registration date from rdap.nic.so. The registry also records a re-registration on 2025-04-01"
        ],
        "score": 82
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkup.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "linkup",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://api.linkup.so/v1/search",
          "method": "get",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-04T23:17:13.090020089Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 404,
          "lastMs": 48,
          "authRequired": false,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 50,
          "p95ms24h": 81,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1094,
          "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": 264,
              "ok": 264
            }
          ]
        },
        "vendorStatus": {
          "page": "https://status.linkup.so",
          "indicator": "unknown",
          "summary": "no machine-readable status found",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:40:13.127201435Z"
        },
        "versions": [
          {
            "registry": "github",
            "name": "LinkupPlatform/linkup-mcp-server",
            "version": "v3.4.0",
            "released": "2026-09-15",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:31:46.56202787Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "mcp-registry",
            "name": "so.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server",
            "version": "0.0.1",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-03T23:29:28.630222764Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "npm",
            "name": "linkup-mcp-server",
            "version": "3.4.0",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:31:46.358106164Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "npm",
            "name": "linkup-sdk",
            "version": "3.7.1",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:31:44.355996077Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "pypi",
            "name": "linkup-sdk",
            "version": "0.23.1",
            "released": "2026-09-30",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:31:45.211309076Z"
          }
        ],
        "githubStars": 29,
        "npmWeekly": 62596,
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://linkup.so/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "none",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:48.662075959Z"
        },
        "llmsTxt": {
          "url": "https://docs.linkup.so/llms.txt",
          "ok": true,
          "status": 200,
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:17:56.865940508Z"
        },
        "domain": {
          "domain": "linkup.so",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:09:23.917123353Z"
        },
        "pages": [
          {
            "url": "https://docs.linkup.so/pages/changelog",
            "kind": "changelog",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:43:44.512346595Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "67bf8956a956"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.linkup.so/pricing",
            "kind": "pricing",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:51:00.766733074Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-03T15:38:53.686360467Z",
            "fingerprint": "190e16c16e4d"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.linkup.so/privacy-policy",
            "kind": "privacy",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:51:02.942242379Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-03T15:38:55.83913627Z",
            "fingerprint": "7c5016bc9dd8"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.linkup.so/terms-of-use",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:51:05.121198112Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-03T15:38:58.282868656Z",
            "fingerprint": "785d2335f5ea"
          }
        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:17:13.090020089Z"
      }
    },
    "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": 216,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "categoryRank": 8,
        "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.",
        "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": "2026-10-04T23:17:17.499301955Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 401,
          "lastMs": 124,
          "lastNote": "asks for credentials",
          "authRequired": true,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 121,
          "p95ms24h": 166,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1094,
          "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": 264,
              "ok": 264
            }
          ]
        },
        "vendorStatus": {
          "page": "https://status.serpapi.com",
          "indicator": "minor",
          "summary": "Partially Degraded Service",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T23:17:53.59611934Z"
        },
        "versions": [
          {
            "registry": "mcp-registry",
            "name": "io.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp",
            "version": "2.0.0",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-03T23:29:28.630222764Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "npm",
            "name": "serpapi",
            "version": "2.2.1",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:39:46.767306834Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "pypi",
            "name": "serpapi",
            "version": "1.1.2",
            "released": "2026-09-22",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:39:47.563060356Z"
          }
        ],
        "npmWeekly": 179483,
        "pypiWeekly": 98760,
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://serpapi.com/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "valid",
          "expires": "2027-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:16:05.776295986Z"
        },
        "llmsTxt": {
          "url": "https://serpapi.com/llms.txt",
          "ok": true,
          "status": 200,
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:18:13.725747382Z"
        },
        "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": "2026-10-04T15:47:46.72146268Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-04T15:47:46.72146268Z",
            "fingerprint": "c2f31ad37222"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://serpapi.com/pricing",
            "kind": "pricing",
            "status": 304,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:47:44.749973052Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "30dfa765089d"
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          {
            "url": "https://serpapi.com/legal",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:47:42.707883837Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-04T15:47:42.707883837Z",
            "fingerprint": "60e86363a7be"
          }
        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:17:53.59611934Z"
      }
    },
    "summary": "Linkup has a score of 69.1 (B) against SerpApi's 62.6 (B). Both do web search. The largest gap is payments \u0026 pricing, 50 points. Linkup accepts x402. SerpApi doesn't."
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  "markdown": "Linkup has a score of 69.1 (B) against SerpApi's 62.6 (B). Both do web search. The largest gap is payments \u0026 pricing, 50 points. Linkup accepts x402. SerpApi doesn't.\n\n- Linkup: grade B, 69.1/100, rank #116 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkup.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/linkup.json\n- SerpApi: grade B, 62.6/100, rank #216 of 452. 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\nPick Linkup for reliability (+10), schema \u0026 documentation (+21), payments \u0026 pricing (+50).\n\nPick SerpApi for agent ergonomics (+12), security \u0026 auth (+8), transparency \u0026 trust (+21).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Linkup | SerpApi | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 60 | Linkup +10 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 67 | Linkup +21 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 88 | SerpApi +12 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 32 | 40 | SerpApi +8 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 80 | 30 | Linkup +50 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 82 | Linkup +1 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 85 | SerpApi +21 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **69.1 · B** | **62.6 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Linkup | SerpApi |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Linkup | SerpApi |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.linkup.so/v1/search` | `https://serpapi.com/search` |\n| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |\n| x402 | yes, from $0.01/call | no |\n| Licence | none | none |\n| Tools exposed | 4 | 3 |\n| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |\n| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | `so.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server` | `io.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp` |\n| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-09-22 |\n| Popularity | 29 stars, 54k npm/wk, 84k PyPI/wk | 175 stars, 169k npm/wk, 104k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Linkup.** Per-call prices from $0.005, and no credit taken for errors, missing parameters or empty results. 429 covers both exhausted credit and rate limiting, with no `Retry-After`.\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### Linkup\n\n1. On 429, check the credit balance before backing off. The same code means out of credit\n2. Pass `reasoningDepth: \"S\"` to research unless you need more. The MCP default is L at $1.50\n3. Start with `depth=fast` and `outputType=searchResults`. Deep costs $0.05, ten times as much\n4. Send the key as an `Authorization: Bearer` header, not `?apiKey=` or a command-line argument\n5. Poll `linkup-get-research` with the task id. Research runs take minutes\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## Other comparisons with Linkup or SerpApi\n\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Linkup vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-parallel-search-api.md)\n- [Linkup vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Linkup vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serper.md)\n- [Linkup vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Linkup vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Linkup vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-you-com-api.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 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- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-linkup.md)\n",
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    "description": "Linkup has a score of 69.1 (B) against SerpApi's 62.6 (B). Both do web search. The largest gap is payments \u0026 pricing, 50 points. Linkup accepts x402. SerpApi doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.",
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