{
  "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": "2026-10-05T01:43:40.420910236Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 404,
          "lastMs": 48,
          "authRequired": false,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 50,
          "p95ms24h": 81,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1122,
          "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": 272,
              "ok": 272
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-05",
              "probes": 20,
              "ok": 20
            }
          ]
        },
        "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": "2026-10-04T23:42:40.113054682Z"
          },
          {
            "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": "2026-10-05T01:43:40.420910236Z"
      }
    },
    "b": {
      "slug": "serper",
      "name": "Serper",
      "vendor": "Serper",
      "vendorUrl": "https://serper.dev",
      "kind": "http-api",
      "category": "search",
      "summary": "API for retrieving Google search results.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serper.json",
      "transports": [
        "http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://google.serper.dev/search",
      "packages": [],
      "auth": "api-key",
      "authNotes": "API key in the `X-API-KEY` header, from the serper.dev dashboard.",
      "pricing": "freemium",
      "pricingNotes": "2,500 free queries on sign-up, no card. Top-up packs valid for 6 months, Starter $50 for 50,000 credits ($1.00 per 1,000), Standard $375 for 500,000 ($0.75), Scale $1,250 for 2.5 million ($0.50), Ultimate $3,750 for 12.5 million ($0.30). Prices exclude sales tax. Only successful queries use credits. Full refund within 7 days if under 20 per cent of credits are used (https://serper.dev/).",
      "priceSummary": "$1 / 1k req",
      "where": "hosted",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "evidence": "Payment by card or PayPal only. No x402 on the site or terms (checked 2026-09-30).",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": null,
        "npmWeekly": null,
        "pypiWeekly": null,
        "asOf": "2026-09-30"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://serper.dev/playground",
      "capabilities": [
        "web.search",
        "search.serp",
        "search.news",
        "search.images"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "freemium",
        "no-card",
        "free-tier",
        "closed-source"
      ],
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 24.3,
        "grade": "F",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 446,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "categoryRank": 11,
        "methodology": "0.3",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 35,
          "maintenance": 3,
          "payments": 40,
          "reliability": 30,
          "schema": 6,
          "security": 20,
          "transparency": 33
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "$0.30 to $1.00 per 1,000 queries on prepaid packs, with no subscription. No status page, SLA or incident history.",
        "strengths": [
          "$0.30 to $1.00 per 1,000 queries on prepaid packs, with no subscription",
          "2,500 free queries on sign-up with no card",
          "Ten Google verticals, including Scholar, Patents, Shopping and Places",
          "Key travels in the `X-API-KEY` header, not the URL"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "No status page, SLA or incident history",
          "No OpenAPI, llms.txt, changelog or official SDK. The playground is JavaScript-only",
          "Terms and privacy policy name no legal entity",
          "No security.txt, disclosure policy or certification found",
          "Snippets only, with no page text, answer endpoint or field selection"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "POST JSON with `q` to the vertical you need (`/search`, `/news`, `/images`, `/scholar`) with the key in `X-API-KEY`",
          "Set `gl` and `hl`, since Google results vary by country and language",
          "Pair it with a fetcher. Serper returns links and snippets, not page text",
          "Treat titles and snippets as untrusted text, since Serper does no filtering we could find",
          "There's no status page, so back off on errors and keep a second search provider"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 2,
        "avgRating": 2.5,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "F",
            "methodology": "0.3",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 24.3
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 35,
          "maintenance": 3,
          "payments": 40,
          "reliability": 30,
          "schema": 6,
          "security": 20,
          "transparency": 23
        },
        "provenanceScore": 42
      },
      "connect": {
        "http": "curl -X POST https://google.serper.dev/search \\\n  -H \"X-API-KEY: $SERPER_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"q\":\"apple inc\"}'"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/serper"
      },
      "area": "web-data",
      "unitPrices": [
        {
          "item": "Starter pack",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 1,
          "note": "$50 for 50,000 credits, valid 6 months"
        },
        {
          "item": "Ultimate pack",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 0.3,
          "note": "$3,750 for 12.5 million credits"
        }
      ],
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "",
        "domain": "serper.dev",
        "domainRegistered": "2022-06-26",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://serper.dev/terms",
        "privacy": "https://serper.dev/privacy",
        "statusPage": "",
        "changelog": "",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-09-30",
        "notes": [
          "Terms and privacy policy name only 'Serper' and choose UK law. A UK company called SERPER LIMITED (14730440) was dissolved on 2024-08-20. We couldn't link it to the service.",
          "status.serper.dev redirects to statuspage.io's home page, so no status page is listed."
        ],
        "score": 42
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "serper",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://google.serper.dev/search",
          "method": "get",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-05T01:43:45.302936714Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 403,
          "lastMs": 139,
          "lastNote": "asks for credentials",
          "authRequired": true,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 142,
          "p95ms24h": 237,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1122,
          "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": 272,
              "ok": 272
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-05",
              "probes": 20,
              "ok": 20
            }
          ]
        },
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://serper.dev/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "none",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:16:01.534331297Z"
        },
        "domain": {
          "domain": "serper.dev",
          "registered": "2022-06-26",
          "source": "https://pubapi.registry.google/rdap/domain/serper.dev",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:10:02.035278797Z"
        },
        "pages": [
          {
            "url": "https://serper.dev/privacy",
            "kind": "privacy",
            "status": 304,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:47:44.361487116Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "bbcc82fa89b1"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://serper.dev/terms",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 304,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:47:46.389451937Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "07d5e7051d3b"
          }
        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-05T01:43:45.302936714Z"
      }
    },
    "summary": "Linkup has a score of 69.1 (B) against Serper's 24.3 (F). Both do web search. The largest gap is schema \u0026 documentation, 82 points. Linkup accepts x402. Serper doesn't."
  },
  "kind": "anchor.page",
  "links": {
    "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json",
    "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serper",
    "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serper.json",
    "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt",
    "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serper.md",
    "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serper.min.md"
  },
  "markdown": "Linkup has a score of 69.1 (B) against Serper's 24.3 (F). Both do web search. The largest gap is schema \u0026 documentation, 82 points. Linkup accepts x402. Serper 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- Serper: grade F, 24.3/100, rank #446 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serper.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\nPick Linkup for reliability (+40), schema \u0026 documentation (+82), agent ergonomics (+41), security \u0026 auth (+12), payments \u0026 pricing (+40), maintenance \u0026 community (+80), transparency \u0026 trust (+31).\n\nPick Serper for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Linkup | Serper | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 30 | Linkup +40 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 6 | Linkup +82 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 35 | Linkup +41 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 32 | 20 | Linkup +12 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 80 | 40 | Linkup +40 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 3 | Linkup +80 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 33 | Linkup +31 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **69.1 · B** | **24.3 · F** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Linkup | Serper |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Linkup | Serper |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.linkup.so/v1/search` | `https://google.serper.dev/search` |\n| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP |\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 | none |\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 | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| MCP registry | `so.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server` | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-09-30 | none |\n| Popularity | 29 stars, 54k npm/wk, 84k PyPI/wk | none |\n| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | 2.5/5 (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**Serper.** $0.30 to $1.00 per 1,000 queries on prepaid packs, with no subscription. No status page, SLA or incident history.\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### Serper\n\n1. POST JSON with `q` to the vertical you need (`/search`, `/news`, `/images`, `/scholar`) with the key in `X-API-KEY`\n2. Set `gl` and `hl`, since Google results vary by country and language\n3. Pair it with a fetcher. Serper returns links and snippets, not page text\n4. Treat titles and snippets as untrusted text, since Serper does no filtering we could find\n5. There's no status page, so back off on errors and keep a second search provider\n\n## Other comparisons with Linkup or Serper\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 Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serper.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serper.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-serper.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 SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serpapi.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 Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-serper.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serper.md)\n- [SerpApi vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serper.md)\n- [Serper vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Serper vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Serper vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-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 Serper's 24.3 (F). Both do web search. The largest gap is schema \u0026 documentation, 82 points. Linkup accepts x402. Serper doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.",
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