# Linkup vs SERPHouse

> Linkup scores 68 (B) 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/linkup-vs-serphouse
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serphouse.md (~5,050 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

Linkup scores 68 (B) on agent readiness against SERPHouse's 42.4 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do web search. Linkup accepts x402. SERPHouse doesn't.

- Linkup: grade B, 68/100, rank #298 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkup.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/linkup.json
- SERPHouse: grade E, 42.4/100, rank #1283 of 1510. 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 326 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Linkup (B)

Good for: Agents that want a cited answer or schema-shaped output from one search call at a fixed price, and for European buyers who want a French vendor with zero retention on request.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 40
- Schema & documentation, 88 against 66
- Agent ergonomics, 76 against 64
- Security & auth, 32 against 11
- Payments & pricing, 80 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 73 against 23
- Transparency & trust, 61 against 50

Also in its favour:
- An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account

Watch for: 429 covers both exhausted credit and rate limiting, with no `Retry-After`

### SERPHouse (E)

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

Also in its favour:
- 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

### Maintenance & community: Linkup +50

- Linkup (73): The newest release that changes code is 30 September 2026, Python linkup-sdk 0.23.1 (request deadline errors) and JavaScript linkup-sdk 3.7.1, 32 days before this check (20). Python 0.24.0 of 22 October drops Python 3.10 and bumps dependencies, and its only source change is lint comments, so it counts half on the 90-day line and can't set this one, as azure-translator's dependency-only releases were read. Python 0.19.1 to 0.23.1, JavaScript 3.4.0 to 3.7.1 and MCP server 3.4.0 fall in the 90 days to 1 November (20). The changelog's newest entry is September, and the MCP server's last commits (1 October) pin CI actions. We didn't read the GitHub issues (10). Registered as so.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server in the official MCP registry, and current Python and JavaScript SDKs (15). The MCP server's CI lints and builds but runs no tests. Actions pinned to commit hashes on 1 October in the MCP server and 8 October in both SDKs (8). 20+20+10+15+8 = 73.
- 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.

### Payments & pricing: Linkup +40

- Linkup (80): x402 on Linkup's own /v1/search and /v1/fetch at a flat $0.01 in USDC on Base, not on research or extract, so partial (30). Per-call prices published without login (20). $20 of credit topped up monthly for work-email signups. The docs don't say whether a card is needed, so half credit (10). An agent can pay by x402 with no account (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.

### Reliability: Linkup +30

- Linkup (70): openstatus page at status.linkup.so with Search API, Fetch API, MCP Server and Application components (20). Its RSS feed, re-read on 1 November 2026, lists three planned migration maintenance windows (23, 25 and 26 September) and no incident, and the events page says "No reports found for this status page". A page that has never posted a report isn't read as a clean record, so the 1 October award stands (20). 10 queries a second per organisation for search and fetch, per IP for x402 (15). 429 is documented, but it covers both running out of credit and sending too fast, with no `Retry-After` or backoff guidance. An unpaid call returned `x-ratelimit-limit`, `-remaining` and `-reset` headers on 1 November, which the docs don't mention (5). No SLA found (0). Search and fetch are GA. Extract is closed beta and isn't the core surface (10).
- 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.

### Schema & documentation: Linkup +22

- Linkup (88): OpenAPI at api.linkup.so/v1/openapi.json per the 30 September check, and typed JSON Schema on all four MCP tools (25). llms.txt and Markdown pages (10). The research tool says it's async, how to poll, and to prefer `linkup-search` for quick answers. The search tool lists what to use it for but not when not to (17). Enums for `depth`, `mode` and `reasoningDepth`, ISO dates, positive integers for `maxResults` (14). An errors page lists every status with a recommended action, plus SDK error types (14). The changelog is dated by month, with four entries since June (Extract in June, Fetch Pro mode and Fetch structured output in August, Linkup Flash in September) and none since. Versioning is the /v1 path only (8).
- 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.

### Security & auth: Linkup +21

- Linkup (32): One Bearer key per organisation. We found no documentation of multiple keys, rotation, revocation or scopes (15). The MCP README documents `?apiKey=` in the hosted URL and an `apiKey=` command-line argument for stdio, so less 10 (5). Every action is a read, but the MCP server has no tool subsets (15). Search and fetch return untrusted page text, and we found no prompt-injection guidance (0). No per-call audit log found (0). SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA and annual pen tests are claimed on the security page. No security.txt, no bug bounty, and contact@linkup.so is the only security contact (12).
- 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.

### Agent ergonomics: Linkup +12

- Linkup (76): Four tools, search, fetch, research and research polling, compact. Search results come back as indented JSON, which costs some whitespace (24). `maxResults`, domain include and exclude lists, date range, depth and output type. No result pagination (18). Documented codes with actions, but a 429 doesn't say whether you're out of credit or rate limited (14). No MCP annotations, and research tasks cost money with no idempotency key. Searches are safe to repeat (5). Only `query` is required and `depth` defaults to fast. Python and JavaScript SDKs (15).
- 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.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Linkup | SERPHouse | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 40 | Linkup +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 66 | Linkup +22 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 64 | Linkup +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 32 | 11 | Linkup +21 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 80 | 40 | Linkup +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 23 | Linkup +50 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 50 | Linkup +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **68 · B** | **42.4 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Linkup | SERPHouse |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Linkup | Patoliya Infotech LLP |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.linkup.so/v1/search` | `https://mcp.serphouse.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| Price for web search | $5 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| x402 | yes, from $0.01/call | no |
| Tools exposed | 4 | 23 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `so.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-07-06 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-08-01 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-04-01 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 29 stars, 54k npm/wk, 84k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### Linkup

- -0.9 on 1 November 2026: time
- no change on 28 October 2026: correction
- no change on 27 October 2026: checklist

### SERPHouse

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**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`.

**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

### Linkup

1. On 429, check the credit balance before backing off. The same code means out of credit
2. Pass `reasoningDepth: "S"` to research unless you need more. The MCP default is L at $1.50
3. Start with `depth=fast` and `outputType=searchResults`. Deep costs $0.05, ten times as much
4. Send the key as an `Authorization: Bearer` header, not `?apiKey=` or a command-line argument
5. Poll `linkup-get-research` with the task id. Research runs take minutes

### 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, Linkup or SERPHouse?

Linkup scores 68 (B) on agent readiness against SERPHouse's 42.4 (E), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Linkup and SERPHouse need an API key?

Linkup takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. SERPHouse needs an API key. An agent can also pay Linkup per call over x402, with no account.

### Can an agent call Linkup and SERPHouse without installing anything?

Yes. Linkup has a hosted endpoint at https://api.linkup.so/v1/search and SERPHouse at https://mcp.serphouse.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Linkup or SERPHouse

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

---

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