TL;DR
- Serper returns Google results as JSON in one POST request. Sign up at serper.dev for 2,500 free queries, no card.
- Prepaid packs: $50 for 50,000 ($1.00 per 1,000) down to $3,750 for 12.5 million ($0.30). Credits expire after 6 months.
- Endpoints: search, images, news, maps, places, videos, shopping, scholar, patents and autocomplete. Rate limits run from 50 to 300 queries a second.
- For LLM apps that don't need Google's exact page, Keirolabs lite is $0.03–0.10 per 1,000 from its own index, with page text on the same key.
Serper is the cheapest mainstream way to get Google’s results as JSON, and it’s the default “Google search” tool in a lot of agent frameworks. If you’ve landed here because you need SERPER_API_KEY, this is everything you need, plus the fine print.
Get started in two minutes
- Sign up at serper.dev. No card needed.
- Copy your API key from the dashboard. You get 2,500 free queries.
- Make a request:
curl https://google.serper.dev/search \
-H "X-API-KEY: $SERPER_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"q": "best crm for startups", "gl": "us", "hl": "en", "num": 10}'You get back organic results plus whatever else Google showed: knowledgeGraph, peopleAlsoAsk, relatedSearches, topStories and so on.
Serper pricing
From serper.dev, November 5, 2026. Prices exclude sales tax/VAT.
| Pack | Price | Credits | Per 1,000 | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $50 | 50,000 | $1.00 | 50 queries/sec |
| Standard | $375 | 500,000 | $0.75 | 100 queries/sec |
| Scale | $1,250 | 2.5 million | $0.50 | 200 queries/sec |
| Ultimate | $3,750 | 12.5 million | $0.30 | 300 queries/sec |
Credits expire after 6 months. Buying the big pack for the low unit price only pays off if you’ll use it in time. If you’d use 2 million credits in six months, the Scale pack ($0.50) beats Ultimate, because unused Ultimate credits are money gone.
Endpoints
All at https://google.serper.dev/<endpoint>:
| Endpoint | Returns |
|---|---|
/search | Organic results, knowledge graph, People Also Ask, related searches |
/images | Image results |
/news | News results |
/maps, /places | Local businesses, ratings, addresses |
/videos | Video results |
/shopping | Products and prices |
/scholar | Google Scholar results |
/patents | Google Patents results |
/autocomplete | Search suggestions |
Useful parameters
| Parameter | What it does |
|---|---|
q | The query |
gl | Country (e.g. us, gb) |
hl | Language (e.g. en) |
location | City-level location |
num | Number of results |
page | Results page |
tbs | Time filter, e.g. qdr:d (past day), qdr:w (week) |
What Serper is good at, and what it isn’t
Good at: Google’s real results, fast and cheap. Rank tracking, SEO tools, SERP features, local data, and agents that specifically want “what Google shows”.
Not built for:
- Page content. You get snippets. To read pages, you need a second tool.
- Independence. Serper scrapes Google. If Google changes something, you’re downstream of it. More on that in what is a SERP API.
- The very cheapest search. $0.30 is cheap for Google, but not the cheapest search overall.
Serper vs the alternatives
| API | Per 1,000 | What you get | Free |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serper | $0.30–1.00 | Google SERP | 2,500 once |
| SerpApi | about $2–25 | Google + many engines, legal shield | Small free plan |
| DataForSEO | Pay as you go | Google, queued cheaper | Trial |
| Keirolabs | $0.03–0.10 lite (own index) · $1.78–5.33 Google SERP | Own index + Google SERP + page text on one key | 750 credits |
Most people using Serper inside an LLM app don’t need Google’s ranking. They need relevant pages, and then the text of those pages. Keirolabs’ lite search is 3–10× cheaper than Serper’s best rate, search with page markdown is 1.5 credits, and when you genuinely need Google, its Google SERP endpoint is on the same key. That’s one vendor instead of a SERP API plus a scraper. Black Friday: KEIRO20 takes 20% off. Pricing.
More comparisons: best SERP APIs · SERP API pricing · SerpApi alternatives.
FAQ
Is Serper free?
You get 2,500 free queries at signup with no card. After that it’s prepaid packs from $50.
Is Serper the same as SerpApi?
No. They’re different companies. Serper (serper.dev) is cheaper and Google-focused; SerpApi (serpapi.com) covers many engines and costs more.
Do Serper credits expire?
Yes, 6 months after purchase.
Is Serper an official Google API?
No. There’s no official Google results API any more. Serper fetches and parses Google’s results pages.