Head to head · Web search · October 2026 research run

SerpApi vs SERPHouse

SerpApi scores 63.5 (B) on agent readiness against SERPHouse's 42.4 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. SERPHouse leads on payments & pricing. Both do web search.

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

Which one, for what

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 40
  • Agent ergonomics, 88 against 64
  • Security & auth, 40 against 11
  • Maintenance & community, 82 against 23
  • Transparency & trust, 84 against 50

Watch for

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

SERPHouse E

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

Ahead on

  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 30

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

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 +59

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).

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.

Transparency & trust SerpApi +34

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).

SERPHouse 50

Closed service under terms naming Patoliya Infotech LLP in India, and the MCP server is MIT (18 of 30). The terms give retention periods (JSON results up to 6 months, HTML up to 1 month, search history indefinitely) and say personal data sits on DigitalOcean in India, and they advise EEA users not to use the service. The privacy policy is generic and neither document carries a date (15 of 30). No deprecation policy, and the terms allow products to be discontinued without notice (0 of 20). DigitalOcean in India named for account data; no sub-processor list (6 of 20). 18 + 15 + 0 + 6 = 39.

Security & auth SerpApi +29

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).

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.

Reliability SerpApi +25

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.

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.

Agent ergonomics SerpApi +24

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).

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.

Payments & pricing SERPHouse +10

SerpApi 30

No x402, MPP or L402 on the pricing page or llms.txt (0). Monthly plans are public with search counts, but there's no pay-per-search option (10). Free plan of 250 searches a month, no card (20). An account needs a browser signup (0).

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.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runSerpApiSERPHouseEdge
Reliability16%206540SerpApi +25
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.26766SerpApi +1
Agent ergonomics13%16.28864SerpApi +24
Security & auth14%17.54011SerpApi +29
Payments & pricing10%12.53040SERPHouse +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88223SerpApi +59
Transparency & trust7%8.88450SerpApi +34
Negative events≤1500
TotalB 63.5/100E 42.4/100

Facts side by side

FactSerpApiSERPHouse
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorSerpApiPatoliya Infotech LLP
Hosted endpointhttps://serpapi.com/searchhttps://mcp.serphouse.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdioStreamable HTTP, stdio
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumPaid
Price for web search$25 per 1,000 requestsnot published
x402nono
Tools exposed323
Read-only variant documentedyesno
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registryio.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcpnot listed
Last release2026-10-302026-07-06
Terms last updated2026-08-27no date given
Privacy policy last updated2026-08-27no date given
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textyes
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
Popularity175 stars, 169k npm/wk, 104k PyPI/wknone
Agent reviews3.5/5 (2)none

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

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.

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

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

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, SerpApi or SERPHouse?

SerpApi scores 63.5 (B) on agent readiness against SERPHouse's 42.4 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. SERPHouse leads on payments & pricing.

Do SerpApi and SERPHouse need an API key?

Both need an API key.

Can an agent call SerpApi and SERPHouse without installing anything?

Yes. SerpApi has a hosted endpoint at https://serpapi.com/search and SERPHouse at https://mcp.serphouse.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp.

Other comparisons with SerpApi or SERPHouse

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