TL;DR
- ScaleSERP (Traject Data) costs $2.40–6.60 per 1,000 on yearly plans, with 125 free searches a month.
- serpstack (APILayer) costs $4.00–6.00 per 1,000; its free 100 searches a month are for non-commercial use only.
- Cheaper Google SERP APIs: Serper $0.30–1.00, Zenserp $0.90–2.00, ValueSERP $1.00–2.00 (ScaleSERP's sister product), SearchApi $1.40–4.00.
- If you don't need Google's exact ranking, Keirolabs lite search is $0.03–0.10 per 1,000, with a Google SERP endpoint on the same key at $1.78–5.33.
Quick answer: ScaleSERP and serpstack are both older Google SERP APIs priced at $2.40–6.60 per 1,000 searches. Several newer SERP APIs return the same Google results for less: Serper from $0.30 per 1,000, Zenserp from $0.90, and Traject Data’s own ValueSERP from $1.00. Our pick to replace either one: Keirolabs, whose single key covers Google SERP, an own-index search at $0.03–0.10 per 1,000, and page text. All prices below are from each vendor’s pricing page, November 2026.
What ScaleSERP and serpstack cost
ScaleSERP
ScaleSERP is run by Traject Data, which also runs ValueSERP. Yearly billing saves 20%.
| Plan (yearly) | Searches a month | Price | Per 1,000 | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | 10,000 | $66/mo | $6.60 | $0.0118 each |
| Mid | 50,000 | $199/mo | $3.98 | $0.00796 each |
| Top self-serve | 250,000 | $599/mo | $2.40 | $0.004792 each |
The free plan gives 125 searches a month with no card, and every plan supports batch jobs.
serpstack
serpstack is an APILayer product. Yearly billing saves about 10%.
| Plan | Searches a month | Monthly | Yearly (per month) | Per 1,000 (monthly) | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 100 | $0 | $0 | — | Non-commercial only |
| Basic | 5,000 | $29.99 | $26.99 | $6.00 | $0.024 each |
| Business | 20,000 | $99.99 | $87.99 | $5.00 | $0.020 each |
| Business Pro | 50,000 | $199.99 | $169.99 | $4.00 | $0.016 each |
Cheaper alternatives, by price per 1,000
| API | Per 1,000 Google searches | Free tier | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serper | $0.30–1.00 | Signup credits | Prepaid credits, valid 6 months |
| Zenserp | $0.90–2.00 | 50 a month | Monthly plans |
| ValueSERP | $1.00–2.00 (yearly) | Trial | Monthly or yearly credits |
| SearchApi | $1.40–4.00 | Trial | Monthly plans |
| Keirolabs Google SERP | $1.78–5.33 | 750 credits | Monthly plans or packs |
| SerpApi | $1.96–25 | Small free plan | Monthly plans |
| ScaleSERP | $2.40–6.60 | 125 a month | Monthly or yearly |
| serpstack | $4.00–6.00 | 100 a month, non-commercial | Monthly or yearly |
Ranges run from the biggest plan to the smallest. The full list is in the price index.
Serper: the cheapest Google results
Prepaid credits from $1.00 per 1,000 on the $50 pack down to $0.30 on the largest, with no subscription. Credits expire after 6 months. It’s the default pick when Google’s ranking is what you need. Serper guide.
Zenserp: monthly plans with a free tier
$49.99 for 25,000 searches ($2.00 per 1,000) down to $899 for 1,000,000 ($0.90). It covers Google, Bing, Yandex and DuckDuckGo, only charges for successful requests, and yearly billing saves 20%.
ValueSERP: the same company, lower price
ValueSERP is Traject Data’s lower-priced SERP API, from about $2.00 per 1,000 on its smallest yearly plan to $1.00 on 1,000,000 credits. If you’re on ScaleSERP for Traject’s batch features, ValueSERP is the shortest migration.
SearchApi: many engines, pay per success
$4.00 per 1,000 on the $40 Developer plan down to $1.40 on 2 million searches, with only successful searches billed. Good if you also need Maps, Shopping, YouTube or other engines.
Keirolabs: Google plus a cheaper index
Keirolabs has a Google SERP endpoint at 2 credits a call ($1.78 per 1,000 on Startup, $5.33 on Essential), with results in about 0.2–0.4 seconds and failed Google calls refunded automatically. Location targeting maps across from ScaleSERP and serpstack directly:
| You use (ScaleSERP / serpstack style) | Keirolabs /api/v2/search/google |
|---|---|
q | query |
gl (country) | country (bias) or cr (hard restrict) |
hl (language) | lang |
num | maxResults (up to 20) |
curl -X POST https://api.keirolabs.cloud/api/v2/search/google \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $KEIRO_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"query": "running shoes", "country": "gb", "lang": "en", "maxResults": 10}'The bigger saving is for apps that don’t need Google’s exact ranking. Keirolabs’ own-index lite search is $0.03–0.10 per 1,000, and search/content returns the pages’ text too, from $1.33 per 1,000. One key covers all three, so you can send rank-tracking queries to Google and everything else to lite.
What 50,000 searches a month cost
| API | Monthly bill for 50,000 Google searches |
|---|---|
| Serper | $50 (one $50 pack of 50,000 credits) |
| Keirolabs Google SERP | $99.99 (Startup, 100,000 credits needed) |
| Zenserp | $149.99 (Medium plan, 100,000 searches) |
| ScaleSERP | $199 (yearly plan, 50,000 searches) |
| serpstack | $199.99 (Business Pro, 50,000 searches) |
| ValueSERP | $240 (yearly plan, 200,000 credits) |
| SearchApi | $250 (BigData plan, 100,000 searches) |
For plain Google results at this volume, Serper is the clear price winner. But the best overall replacement for most teams is Keirolabs: the same Startup plan also covers lite search at $0.03–0.10 per 1,000 and page text on one key, so the bill stops growing the moment your app needs anything beyond Google.
The take: ScaleSERP and serpstack still work, but you pay 2–20× more per search than Serper or Zenserp for the same Google results. If you’re on ScaleSERP, check ValueSERP first; it’s the same company. For rank tracking that needs exact Google positions, Serper. For everything else an LLM app does, Keirolabs is the best value in this whole list: lite search at $0.03–0.10 per 1,000 and page text on the same key.
Black Friday: KEIRO20 takes 20% off Keirolabs plans; 750 free credits at signup. Keirolabs pricing.
FAQ
How much does ScaleSERP cost?
On yearly billing, $66 a month for 10,000 searches ($6.60 per 1,000), $199 for 50,000 ($3.98) and $599 for 250,000 ($2.40). It has 125 free searches a month.
How much does serpstack cost?
$29.99 a month for 5,000 searches, $99.99 for 20,000 and $199.99 for 50,000, or about 10% less yearly. The free plan’s 100 searches a month are for non-commercial use.
Who owns ScaleSERP and ValueSERP?
Both are run by Traject Data. serpstack belongs to APILayer.
What is the cheapest alternative to ScaleSERP?
Serper, at $0.30–1.00 per 1,000 Google searches in prepaid credits. Zenserp ($0.90–2.00) is the cheapest with monthly plans and a free tier.
Do I need a SERP API for an LLM app?
Only if you need Google’s exact results. For finding relevant pages, a search API with its own index, such as Keirolabs lite at $0.03–0.10 per 1,000, is far cheaper.
More: Best SERP API · SERP API pricing · SerpApi alternatives · What is a SERP API?