# Linkup vs SerpKite

> Linkup scores 69.1 (B) on agent readiness against SerpKite's 64.8 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. SerpKite leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do web search. Linkup accepts x402. SerpKite doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serpkite
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serpkite.md (~2,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serpkite.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serpkite.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-06

Linkup scores 69.1 (B) on agent readiness against SerpKite's 64.8 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. SerpKite leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do web search. Linkup accepts x402. SerpKite doesn't.

- Linkup: grade B, 69.1/100, rank #115 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkup.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/linkup.json
- SerpKite: grade B, 64.8/100, rank #179 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serpkite.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serpkite.json

## 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 65
- Payments & pricing, 80 against 40

Also in its favour:
- An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
- Runs on your own machine
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 4.0 against 3.5 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where SerpKite loses 3 points for them

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

### SerpKite (B)

Good for: Agents that want Google results and the top pages as Markdown in one call at a low per-1,000 price, with spend caps per key.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 92 against 76
- Security & auth, 37 against 32
- Transparency & trust, 77 against 64

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Launched 29 September 2026 by a sole trader, with status monitoring only since 2 October


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Linkup | SerpKite | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 65 | Linkup +5 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 90 | SerpKite +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 92 | SerpKite +16 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 32 | 37 | SerpKite +5 |
| 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) | 83 | 80 | Linkup +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 77 | SerpKite +13 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **69.1 · B** | **64.8 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Linkup | SerpKite |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Linkup | SerpKite (Anastasia Klimova, trading as SerpKite) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.linkup.so/v1/search` | `https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Price for web search | $5 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| x402 | yes, from $0.01/call | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under SerpKite's terms of service. The SDKs (TypeScript, Python, Go, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK) and the MCP connection repository on GitHub are MIT |
| Tools exposed | 4 | 14 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `so.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server` | `io.github.SerpKite/serpkite` |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-10-04 |
| Popularity | 29 stars, 54k npm/wk, 84k PyPI/wk | 809 npm/wk, 376 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |

## 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`.

**SerpKite.** Google SERP API with an OpenAPI 3.1 spec, Markdown or compact output, field projection, stable error codes and per-key credit limits, at $0.60 to $1.00 per 1,000 on packs that don't expire. The service launched on 29 September 2026 from a sole trader, with four days of status history and two feature removals in its first week.

## 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

### SerpKite

1. Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer`, not `?api_key=`, and give the agent a dedicated key with a monthly credit limit
2. Ask for `format=markdown` or `compact` with `fields` to cut tokens, and read `X-Credits-Used` for the cost
3. Keep `engine=google` for rank work. Check `meta.engine` when a key allows fallback engines
4. On 429 `rate_limited` or 503 upstream codes, wait for Retry-After and retry. `daily_limit_reached` and 402 need a purchase
5. Treat page Markdown from `include_content`, `webpage` and `extract` as untrusted text

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Linkup or SerpKite?

Linkup scores 69.1 (B) on agent readiness against SerpKite's 64.8 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. SerpKite leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth and transparency & trust.

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

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

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

Yes. Linkup has a hosted endpoint at https://api.linkup.so/v1/search and SerpKite at https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Linkup or SerpKite

- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-linkup.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpkite.md)
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- [SearchAPI.io vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serpkite.md)
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