Which one is cheaper?

SerpApi starts lower at $25/mo, compared to $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.

Different approach here. SerpApi uses usage-based pricing, while Apify goes with hybrid. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.

Which one is a better deal?

Depends on what you need. SerpApi: They're positioned in the middle-to-premium range for scraping APIs — pricier than raw proxy services but justified by the convenience of structured SERP data without maintaining your own scraping infra. They're chasing devs and data teams who'd rather pay for reliability than build and babysit scrapers themselves. Apify: Apify sits mid-to-premium compared to raw scraping libraries or DIY proxy setups, but it's cheaper than enterprise data-extraction platforms that charge per-record or per-crawl. They're really competing for developers who'd otherwise stitch together Puppeteer, proxies, and cron jobs themselves and are willing to pay for the managed layer instead.

SerpApi vs Apify Pricing (2026)

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

	SerpApi	Apify
Starts at	$25/mo	$29/mo
Number of plans	6	5
Free plan
Free trial	—	—
Pricing model	usage-based	hybrid

SerpApi

Official page

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

Free

$0/mo

250 searches per month
50 throughput per hour

Enterprise

Custom

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

Apify

Official page

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

Enterprise

Custom

SerpApi vs Apify FAQ

Which one is cheaper?: SerpApi starts lower at $25/mo, compared to $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. SerpApi uses usage-based pricing, while Apify goes with hybrid. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
Which one is a better deal?: Depends on what you need. SerpApi: They're positioned in the middle-to-premium range for scraping APIs — pricier than raw proxy services but justified by the convenience of structured SERP data without maintaining your own scraping infra. They're chasing devs and data teams who'd rather pay for reliability than build and babysit scrapers themselves. Apify: Apify sits mid-to-premium compared to raw scraping libraries or DIY proxy setups, but it's cheaper than enterprise data-extraction platforms that charge per-record or per-crawl. They're really competing for developers who'd otherwise stitch together Puppeteer, proxies, and cron jobs themselves and are willing to pay for the managed layer instead.

Still deciding? See the best SerpApi alternatives or the best Apify alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.

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