# SerpApi vs SerpKite

> SerpKite scores 64.8 (B) on agent readiness against SerpApi's 62.6 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SerpApi leads on transparency & trust. Both do web search. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serpkite
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serpkite.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serpkite.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-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

SerpKite scores 64.8 (B) on agent readiness against SerpApi's 62.6 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SerpApi leads on transparency & trust. Both do web search.

- SerpApi: grade B, 62.6/100, rank #219 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serpapi.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serpapi.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

### 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:
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 77

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- No incidents deducted, where SerpKite loses 3 points for them

Watch for: 25 incidents on the status feed from July to 1 October 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September

### 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:
- Reliability, 65 against 60
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 67
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30

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 | SerpApi | SerpKite | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 65 | SerpKite +5 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 90 | SerpKite +23 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 92 | SerpKite +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 37 | SerpApi +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 40 | SerpKite +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 80 | SerpApi +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 77 | SerpApi +8 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **62.6 · B** | **64.8 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | SerpApi | SerpKite |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | SerpApi | SerpKite (Anastasia Klimova, trading as SerpKite) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://serpapi.com/search` | `https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Price for web search | $25 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| x402 | no | 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 | 3 | 14 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.serpapi/serpapi-mcp` | `io.github.SerpKite/serpkite` |
| Last release | 2026-09-22 | 2026-10-04 |
| Popularity | 175 stars, 169k npm/wk, 104k PyPI/wk | 809 npm/wk, 376 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**SerpApi.** Over 100 engines behind one GET URL, with `json_restrictor` field selection and `output=md`. 25 incidents on the status feed from July to 1 October 2026, including an outage across all APIs on 10 September.

**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

### 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

### 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, SerpApi or SerpKite?

SerpKite scores 64.8 (B) on agent readiness against SerpApi's 62.6 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SerpApi leads on transparency & trust.

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

Both need an API key.

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

Yes. SerpApi has a hosted endpoint at https://serpapi.com/search and SerpKite at https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with SerpApi or SerpKite

- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpapi.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpkite.md)
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- [Linkup vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serpkite.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 SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-serpkite.md)
- [SearchAPI.io vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serpapi.md)
- [SearchAPI.io vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serpkite.md)
- [SerpApi vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serper.md)
- [SerpApi vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-tavily-mcp.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 SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-serpkite.md)
- [SerpKite vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [SerpKite vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-valyu.md)
- [SerpKite vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-you-com-api.md)
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