Apify vs SerpApi Pricing (2026)

How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.

Apify SerpApi
Starts at $29/mo $25/mo
Number of plans 4 9
Free plan
Free trial
Pricing model hybrid usage-based

Free

$0/mo
  • $0.2 per compute unit
  • Community support

Starter

$29/mo
  • $0.2 per compute unit
  • Chat support
  • Bronze Apify Store discount

Scale

Popular
$199/mo
  • $0.16 per compute unit
  • Priority chat support
  • Silver Apify Store discount

Business

$999/mo
  • $0.13 per compute unit
  • Account manager
  • Gold Apify Store discount

Starter

$25/mo
  • 1,000 searches per month
  • 200 throughput per hour

Developer

$75/mo
  • 5,000 searches per month
  • 1,000 throughput per hour

Production

Popular
$150/mo
  • 15,000 searches per month
  • 3,000 throughput per hour
  • U.S. Legal Shield

Big Data

$275/mo
  • 30,000 searches per month
  • 6,000 throughput per hour
  • U.S. Legal Shield

Searcher

$725/mo
  • 100,000 searches per month
  • 20,000 throughput per hour
  • U.S. Legal Shield

Volume

$1475/mo
  • 250,000 searches per month
  • 50,000 throughput per hour
  • U.S. Legal Shield

Infrastructure

$2750/mo
  • 500,000 searches per month
  • 100,000 throughput per hour
  • U.S. Legal Shield

Free

$0/mo
  • 250 searches per month
  • 50 throughput per hour
  • U.S. Legal Shield

Enterprise

Custom
  • Custom searches per month
  • Custom throughput per hour
  • U.S. Legal Shield
  • ZeroTrace Mode
  • Priority support

Apify vs SerpApi FAQ

Which one is cheaper?
SerpApi is the cheaper option, starting at $25/mo vs $29/mo for Apify.
Can I use either one for free?
Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
How do they charge?
Different approach here. Apify uses hybrid pricing, while SerpApi goes with usage-based. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
Which one is a better deal?
Depends on what you need. Apify: Apify sits in the mid-to-premium range for web scraping infrastructure, competing with tools like Bright Data and Oxylabs at the high end and lighter DIY setups at the low end. They're clearly targeting developers and data teams who want a managed platform rather than raw proxy/infrastructure — the actor marketplace and workflow tooling is the differentiator, not just cheap compute. SerpApi: SerpApi sits in the mid-to-premium range for SERP data APIs — not the cheapest scraping option out there, but they're selling reliability and structured data over raw DIY scraping. They're targeting devs and data teams who want clean results without maintaining their own scraper infrastructure.

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