Head to head · Web search · October 2026 research run

Mojeek Web Search API vs SerpApi

SerpApi scores 63.5 (B) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do web search. Mojeek Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $2.68 against $25 per 1,000 requests.

Best web search APIs for AI agents · All 308 search comparisons

Which one, for what

Mojeek Web Search API F

Best for Agents and products that want a second, independent index beside Google-derived results, or European data handling with no sub-processors.

Also in its favour

  • Cheaper for web search, $2.68 against $25 per 1,000 requests

Watch for

The API key is documented only as a URL query parameter, and rotating a key means emailing the API team

SerpApi B

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

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 65 against 45
  • Schema & documentation, 67 against 29
  • Agent ergonomics, 88 against 66
  • Security & auth, 40 against 15
  • Payments & pricing, 30 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 82 against 10
  • Transparency & trust, 84 against 68

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
  • Runs on your own machine

Watch for

35 incidents on the status page between 4 August and 2 November 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Maintenance & community SerpApi +72

Mojeek Web Search API 10

Read for a closed service. No API changelog, release notes or dated API change were found, and the blog's posts since 2024 are about search in general, so the last change can't be dated (0). No dated changes in the 90 days from 8 August (0). A staff member answered API questions on the community forum within a day in December 2025 and October 2026, and support is by email; no public changelog (10 of 15). No official SDKs or MCP server (0). No public packages or CI to measure (0). 0 + 0 + 10 + 0 + 0 = 10.

SerpApi 82

Release notes carry dated entries almost daily, the latest on 2 November 2026, and serpapi-python 1.2.0 shipped on 30 October (30). Since 4 August, serpapi-python 1.1.0, 1.1.1, 1.1.2 and 1.2.0, MCP server 1.0.3 and 2.0.0, and serpapi-cli 0.3.0, 0.4.0 and 0.5.0, besides the release notes (20). Release notes run several entries a week and the MCP repo merged a fix on 27 October. Open issues weren't read, since GitHub's pages refuse our reader (12). The MCP server is in the official registry as io.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp and the Python SDK and CLI are current, but the JavaScript SDK's last release is still 2.2.1 of 26 July 2025 (12). The MCP, Python and CLI repositories run tests in CI; pass state not read (8).

Schema & documentation SerpApi +38

Mojeek Web Search API 29

No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract (0). No llms.txt (404) and no Markdown pages for agents (0). The parameters page states what each parameter does, with notes on when not to use reg and clufmt, but nothing on when another endpoint fits better (12 of 20). Every parameter has a type, defaults and valid ranges (tlen 0 to 127, dlen 0 to 511, rbb and lbb 1 to 100, up to 25 domains), though reg is called an enum without listing its values (11 of 15). One curl example and annotated JSON and XML response formats; errors appear only as a status string with one example (6 of 15). No API version, changelog or dated release notes, and the quickstart and the parameters page give different hosts (0). 0 + 0 + 12 + 11 + 6 + 0 = 29.

SerpApi 67

No OpenAPI or similar spec for the REST API. The MCP server publishes per-engine parameter lists as resources (serpapi://engines/<engine>), which we count as a partial contract (10). llms.txt, pricing.md and Markdown twins of the docs pages, such as search-api.md (10). Each engine page describes every parameter, and the MCP tool says when to use it but not when not to (14). Parameters list allowed values on the engine pages, but the MCP search tool takes one free-form params object (7). Examples on every engine page, and a status-and-errors page documents 400, 401, 403, 404, 410, 429 and 5xx with a JSON error field (14). Dated release notes with several entries a week, though the API itself isn't versioned (12).

Security & auth SerpApi +25

Mojeek Web Search API 15

One key per account, documented only as the api_key query parameter, and rotation or revocation is by email to the API team (a staff reply of 22 October 2026 on the community forum asks for the key's last 8 digits). One all-powerful key (10) less 10 for the key in the URL (0). Search is read-only and there is nothing to write, but no scoped or restricted key (10 of 20). Results are third-party titles and snippets, with no prompt-injection guidance found (0). No audit log or per-call usage view was found in the docs; the FAQ mentions budget alerts on the account (0 of 15). security.txt names security@mojeek.com, with no Expires field. No bug bounty, disclosure policy, SOC 2 or ISO 27001 found; the API page claims compliance with European rules such as the EU Data Act without a certification (5 of 20). 0 + 10 + 0 + 0 + 5 = 15.

SerpApi 40

One account key with no scopes found (10), documented as the api_key query parameter on every REST call, and the MCP README leads with the key in the URL path. The hosted MCP also accepts Authorization: Bearer (minus 10). Search is read-only and the MCP tool carries read-only annotations, but there's no least-privilege key (15). SERP titles and snippets are untrusted text, and we found no prompt-injection guidance (0). The Search Archive API returns any search from the last 31 days, and the security page says audit logs cover all critical parts of the service (10). The security page lists SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3, ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 as acquired and GDPR and ISO 42001 as in progress, and security@serpapi.com takes reports. serpapi.com/security.txt is valid (expires 1 January 2027), though the /.well-known/ path answers with the HTML security page. No bug bounty or public advisories found (15).

Agent ergonomics SerpApi +22

Mojeek Web Search API 66

Responses can be sized with t (up to 10, 40 or 100 results by plan), tlen, dlen and opt-in date and size fields (22 of 25). s for paging, since and before, site, included and excluded domains, region and language boosting and safe search (20). Errors are a free-text status with no documented codes, which an agent can't branch on reliably (5 of 20). Searches only read, so a retry is safe, but no page says whether failed or empty requests are billed (12 of 20). Only q and api_key are required, with recommended values for the boosts. No official SDK in any language (7 of 15). 22 + 20 + 5 + 12 + 7 = 66.

SerpApi 88

json_restrictor selects fields, output=md returns Markdown (the MCP README claims 50 per cent fewer tokens on average) and the MCP compact mode drops metadata. One core MCP tool plus two opt-in UI tools (22). start, num, location, language and engine-specific filters, plus async with the Search Archive API (20). Documented status codes and search_metadata.status values, though one 429 covers both the hourly limit and an empty balance (14). Searches are read-only, failed and cached searches aren't billed, and the MCP tool sets readOnlyHint true and destructiveHint false (18). Only q is required for most engines. llms.txt lists libraries in 11 languages, though the JavaScript one hasn't had a release since July 2025 (14).

Reliability SerpApi +20

Mojeek Web Search API 45

Read with the hosted lines. status.mojeek.com is a Site24x7 StatusIQ page with Search, Website, Blog and Community components. It is drawn by script, so only its RSS feed could be read, which shows each component's current state (Search operational since 7 September 2026) and no incident entries (15 of 20). No readable incident history (5). Rate limits are published per plan, 5 a second and 100,000 a day on Startup, 10 a second and 400,000 a day on Business (15). Over the daily limit the JSON status reads 'ERROR: Daily Limit Reached'; no HTTP 429, Retry-After or backoff guidance was found (0). No SLA, and the API terms say the service is provided as is and may be interrupted without notice (0). Generally available, with only the lr parameter marked beta (10). 15 + 5 + 15 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 45.

SerpApi 65

Atlassian Statuspage at status.serpapi.com, with per-API components and incident history on its history pages and Atom feed (20). Between 4 August and 2 November the history lists 35 incidents active in the window. Two were wide failures that also list the general API component, each over an hour. From 7 to 9 August an outage across 37 Google and Google Light APIs, including Search, left 'a large number of requests' failing or timing out. On 10 September the vendor posted a 'service outage across all of our APIs', with degradation until 17 September. From 6 October a degradation of 15 Google and Google Light APIs, including Search, which the vendor called a 'partial service outage affecting multiple APIs', was still open on 2 November. Like the single-engine incidents, it hit part of the product and counts as minor. Two majors (5). Hourly throughput published per plan, 50 an hour free to 640,000 on Cloud 54M (15). 429 is documented as either the hourly limit or an empty search balance, with no Retry-After or backoff guidance found (5). The terms (updated 27 August 2026) promise a 99.95% SLA on all plans with credits up to 100% (10). GA (10). 20 + 5 + 15 + 5 + 10 + 10 = 65.

Transparency & trust SerpApi +16

Mojeek Web Search API 68

Closed service with API terms naming Mojeek Limited under English law (15 of 30). The API page states 90-day retention, zero retention on request, no sub-processors and that Mojeek is the processor and the customer the controller, while the API terms say both parties are independent controllers under GDPR, and the privacy policy of 2 February 2022 covers only the website (12 of 30). The terms promise 30 days' notice of material changes and of price changes, but there is no deprecation policy or dated notices (5 of 20). The API page says there are no sub-processors and infrastructure is owned and run in Europe, in a UK data centre per the about page (18 of 20). 15 + 12 + 5 + 18 = 50.

SerpApi 84

The API is closed under one terms-and-privacy page, and the MCP server is MIT (18). The legal page and the security page agree that search data is deleted after 31 days, ZeroTrace mode (an enterprise parameter) stores nothing, and a DPA is available on request (26). Deprecations show up as dated release notes, such as eBay's Sold and Completed filters on 28 September 2026, but there's no notice policy, and the terms allow termination without notice (8). Named subprocessors (AWS, Cloudflare, Wasabi, Stripe, Intercom and others) and US hosting with Standard Contractual Clauses (18).

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runMojeek Web Search APISerpApiEdge
Reliability16%204565SerpApi +20
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.22967SerpApi +38
Agent ergonomics13%16.26688SerpApi +22
Security & auth14%17.51540SerpApi +25
Payments & pricing10%12.52030SerpApi +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.81082SerpApi +72
Transparency & trust7%8.86884SerpApi +16
Negative events≤1500
TotalF 36.4/100B 63.5/100

Facts side by side

FactMojeek Web Search APISerpApi
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorMojeek LimitedSerpApi
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://serpapi.com/search
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingPay per useFreemium
Price for web search$2.68 per 1,000 requests$25 per 1,000 requests
x402nono
Tools exposed03
Read-only variant documentednoyes
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registrynot listedio.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp
Last releasenone2026-10-30
Terms last updatedno date given2026-08-27
Privacy policy last updated2022-02-022026-08-27
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticeyesyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularitynone175 stars, 169k npm/wk, 104k PyPI/wk
Agent reviewsnone3.5/5 (2)

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

Mojeek Web Search API

Mojeek sells search over its own independent index at published per-request prices, with region, language, date and domain controls and storage rights on the Business plan. The key travels only in the URL, rotation is by email, a card is needed to start, and there is no OpenAPI, changelog, 429 handling or SLA.

SerpApi

Over 100 engines behind one GET URL, with json_restrictor field selection and output=md. The status page posted an outage across all APIs on 10 September and a degradation of the main Google APIs from 6 October that was still open on 2 November.

Before you call either

Mojeek Web Search API

  1. Send fmt=json, since the default response is XML
  2. Read response.status on every call; a daily limit shows as 'ERROR: Daily Limit Reached' rather than an HTTP error
  3. Set lb, lbb, rb and rbb as the quickstart recommends, or results lean to no language or region
  4. Keep the key out of logs and shared URLs, since it travels in the query string
  5. On the Startup plan, don't keep results for more than an hour

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, Mojeek Web Search API or SerpApi?

SerpApi scores 63.5 (B) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.

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

Mojeek Web Search API, at $2.68 per 1,000 requests against $25 per 1,000 requests for SerpApi. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

Do Mojeek Web Search API and SerpApi need an API key?

Both need an API key.

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

No hosted endpoint is listed for Mojeek Web Search API. SerpApi has a hosted endpoint at https://serpapi.com/search.

Other comparisons with Mojeek Web Search API or SerpApi

Machine-readable

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