# SerpApi

16 Hacker News commenters recommended SerpApi and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for programmatic access to search results and a usable free tier; critics object to its scraping methods and Google's legal action against it.

## Why people recommend it

- Usable free tier (3 comments): "One clean API that returns real-time search data with a free tier that's actually usable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47989460)) "we offer a free tier that may serve your needs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47815708)) "They do have a decent free tier" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50146784))
- Leading API for parsing search results (2 comments): "SerpApi is the leading API to scrape and parse search engine results." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46191004)) "the leading API to scrape and parse search engine results" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48764582))
- Evades Google's scraping protections (2 comments): "SerpAPI is comically good at evading Google's scraping protections." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50142191)) "SerpAPI's team unfailingly seems to work around those restrictions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50154706))
- Easy to use and fit for purpose (2 comments): "its API seems really easy to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46539384)) "they are great for the job" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538942))

## What people warn about

- Uses proxies and fake browsers (3 comments): "That just means they have proxies in Pakistan, that's not as impressive as you're making it sound." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50146793)) "creating fake browsers using a multitude of IP addresses that Google sees as normal users" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46329523)) "SerpAPI fully relies on end-user proxies distributed like malware" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49074676))
- Deceptive scraping of Google (2 comments): "creating fake browsers using a multitude of IP addresses that Google sees as normal users" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46329523)) "just like SerpApi wouldn't have to act deceptively if they had a monopoly on search" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46329651))
- Takes Google's data without paying (2 comments): "SerpApi riding on the back of Google, abusing the infra without paying a single penny." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49623211)) "Google does, SerpApi doesn't" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46329508))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Exa](https://hackerapproved.com/p/exa.md): 33 recommend
- [Brave Search API](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brave-search-api.md): 15 recommend
- [DeepSeek search API](https://hackerapproved.com/p/deepseek-search-and-fetch.md): 15 recommend
- [Kagi Search API](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kagi-search-api.md): 10 recommend
- [Tavily](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tavily.md): 9 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://serpapi.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "SerpApi", https://hackerapproved.com/p/serpapi/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).