# SerpApi vs SERPHouse

> SerpApi scores 63.5 (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/serpapi-vs-serphouse
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serphouse.md (~5,000 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

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.

- SerpApi: grade B, 63.5/100, rank #510 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serpapi.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serpapi.json
- SERPHouse: grade E, 42.4/100, rank #1265 of 1486. 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 308 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### SerpApi (B)

Good 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)

Good 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

### 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

| Category | Weight | SerpApi | SERPHouse | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 40 | SerpApi +25 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 66 | SerpApi +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 64 | SerpApi +24 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 11 | SerpApi +29 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 40 | SERPHouse +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 23 | SerpApi +59 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 50 | SerpApi +34 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **63.5 · B** | **42.4 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | SerpApi | SERPHouse |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | SerpApi | Patoliya Infotech LLP |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://serpapi.com/search` | `https://mcp.serphouse.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| Price for web search | $25 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| x402 | no | no |
| Tools exposed | 3 | 23 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-30 | 2026-07-06 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-27 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-27 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 175 stars, 169k npm/wk, 104k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### SerpApi

- +1.0 on 2 November 2026: correction
- -0.1 on 8 October 2026: checklist

### SERPHouse

No score change since it was listed.

## 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.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with SerpApi or SERPHouse

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

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