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# Bright Data SERP API alternatives in 2026: answers at $5 per 1,000

Compared on Nov 10, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/alternatives/bright-data-serp

Bright Data's SERP API costs $1.5 per 1,000 requests pay as you go, or $499 a month for 380K requests. Each request sends a Google URL to a zone and returns that results page as JSON, for your code to read.

SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. One call with a question in plain words returns the answer, the page it was read on and the ranked sources. It scores 97.9 on SimpleQA Verified, at $5 per 1,000 searches.

[Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-bright-data-serp&utm_source=alternatives-md&utm_campaign=bright-data-serp&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fsearch%3Froute%3Dgoogle) New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. It covers 2,000 searches.

## SpecStream and Bright Data SERP API side by side

| | SpecStream | Bright Data SERP API |
|---|---|---|
| What you send | A question in everyday words, in any language, up to 2,000 characters: `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search?q=<the question>` with your key as a Bearer token | `POST https://api.brightdata.com/request` with a Bearer key, the `zone` you set up and a Google results URL. Add `brd_json=1` for JSON |
| What comes back | `answer` with the value, the page it was read on and the time it was read. `rows` with each result and the facts the request asks for. `sources` in rank order, each with its `url`, `title`, `snippet` and `published` date when the result gives one | The results page as JSON: `engine`, `query` and `results`, each result with its `type`, `position` and `title`. A Markdown output is offered too |
| Price per 1,000 searches | $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, the same rate on every plan. `num=100` costs $0.059 a call | $1.5 per 1,000 requests pay as you go. Scale is $499 a month with 380K requests included and $1.3 per 1,000 more |
| Free to start | $10 of credit, no card. That is 2,000 searches, or up to 200 rows at 5¢ | 5K requests a month on the free tier, no credit card |
| Failed calls | A top-up never expires. A call stopped by a `429` charges nothing, and an `Idempotency-Key` makes a retry safe: a call is charged once per key | Failed and errored requests are not billed. In a zone set with custom headers or cookies, every request is billed, failed ones included |
| Search accuracy | 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct). 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. Scores and method on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bright-data-serp) page | The product page calls the results "100% accurate" and gives no test, question set or date beside the claim |
| Buying through a cloud marketplace | Pay as you go from one balance, on a card. The same rate for 1 search or 1 million | On AWS Marketplace: Starter at $500 a month and Production at $1,000 a month, on a 1-month contract |
| The text of the pages | Add `passages=true` to the search and each source carries an excerpt of its page, up to about 3,500 characters. The Extract API returns the main text of up to 20 pages or documents (PDF, Word, Excel) a call, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages | The results page in JSON or Markdown, with the text Google shows for each result |
| Other search APIs on the same key | Calls written for Tavily, Exa, Serper, Brave, Bing v7, Google Custom Search, Firecrawl and SearXNG are answered in their own JSON at `api.specstream.ai`. Change the base address and the key | Requests go through Bright Data's own `/request` address and zone |
| Every match as structured rows | Deep Search: a request in plain words returns every match on the live web as rows that meet each condition you wrote, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, plus 5¢ for an email and 15¢ for a phone. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts, and nothing runs until you approve it | One results page per request |
| Data already held | Public databases read every morning at [specstream.ai/data](https://specstream.ai/data?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bright-data-serp): every company that filed a Form D since 2023 with its filing history, nearly 2 million US nonprofits, every US bank failure since 1934, federal rules, open federal contracts and grants, and local businesses. Signals such as funding rounds, new executives and layoffs at [specstream.ai/signals](https://specstream.ai/signals?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bright-data-serp) | No database of records. Each request reads a results page |
| Reruns and change labels | Hourly to yearly. Each row comes back labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching. A changed or new row costs half its rate, an unchanged row 1¢ | Each request is a new results page at the full rate |
| Where the data goes | Google Sheets, Excel, Airtable, Notion, monday.com, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio, Slack, Teams, Zapier, Make, n8n and signed webhooks. Agents use the MCP server, the REST API, the Python and TypeScript SDKs, a CLI and A2A | A JSON or Markdown response to the code that called the API |

## Why teams move from Bright Data SERP API to SpecStream

### One call returns the answer and its page

A Bright Data request returns Google's results page, and your code picks the result, opens the page and reads the fact. A SpecStream search returns the value with the page it was read on and the time it was read, then every source in rank order.

```
curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=Who is the CEO of Mistral AI" \
  -d num=10 -d passages=true
```

With `passages=true`, each of the first `num` sources carries an excerpt of its page, up to about 3,500 characters, so your model reads the evidence without a second call. A search of up to 10 results costs $0.005.

### The most accurate web search API in the world

The SpecStream Search API scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, with 978 correct. On WideSearch it scores 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official tasks, 100 in English and 100 in Chinese, in our run of November 8, 2026. The scores and the method are at [specstream.ai/benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bright-data-serp).

### Fast at 1 search a second and at 20

The fast search, which every drop-in route uses, was measured on production on November 9, 2026: a median of 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second, with the 95th percentile between 1.09 and 1.73 s. It answered 718 of 720 calls. One account can send up to 8,800 fast searches a minute, and a call over that gets a `429` with `Retry-After` and is not charged.

### Your other search code keeps working

If your agent also calls another search API, point it at SpecStream by changing the base address and the key. The reply keeps that API's JSON, so the parser stays as it is.

```
https://api.tavily.com       ->  https://api.specstream.ai/tavily
https://api.exa.ai           ->  https://api.specstream.ai/exa
https://google.serper.dev    ->  https://api.specstream.ai/serper
https://api.search.brave.com ->  https://api.specstream.ai
https://api.firecrawl.dev    ->  https://api.specstream.ai/firecrawl
```

Each call is one web search at $0.005 for up to 10 results, on the same key, limits and history as `GET /v1/web-search`.

### One request returns the whole dataset

With a results API, a dataset is a loop your team writes: many queries, a read of every link, a check of every result and a join into one record. On SpecStream you write the request once, for companies, places, filings, tenders or products. SpecStream reads it back as the conditions every row must meet and the facts to bring back, then searches the live web, reads each page and joins what it finds into one record per match. A row with up to 5 facts costs 5¢, so 10,000 rows cost $500, and the searches and pages behind them are not billed.

### Keys with their own limits and zero retention

Each API key carries its own limits: total, per run and monthly, and the operations it allows. Set `zero_retention` on a key and a search made with it keeps no request text and no answer after the reply. Every other charged search stays in the account's history at `GET /v1/web-search/answers`, with its answer and the pages it came from, and reading the history costs nothing.

## Other Bright Data SERP API alternatives

### SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. Its Search API returns the answer with its page for $5 per 1,000 searches and scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions. The Extract API costs $0.80 per 1,000 pages. Deep Search returns every match as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row.

### SerpApi

A results page API for Google and other search engines, sold month to month. The Starter plan costs $25 a month for 1,000 searches and the Developer plan $75 a month for 5,000. Cached, errored and failed searches are not counted. SpecStream returns the answer and the pages it came from in one call, at $5 per 1,000 searches on every plan.

### SearchApi

A results page API for Google and other engines, sold by monthly plan. The Developer plan costs $40 a month for 10,000 searches, $4 per 1,000, and only searches with a `200` status are charged. SpecStream costs $5 per 1,000 searches with no monthly plan, and the reply carries the answer with its page.

### Serper

A Google results API sold as prepaid credits, from $1.00 per 1,000 queries on the 50k pack to $0.30 on the 12.5M pack, with 2,500 free queries. Credits are valid for 6 months. SpecStream answers Serper's own call at `https://api.specstream.ai/serper/search` in Serper's JSON, and a top-up never expires.

### Tavily

A search API for agents, billed in credits at $0.008 each pay as you go, with 1,000 free credits a month. A basic search costs 1 credit and an advanced search 2. SpecStream answers Tavily's call too, at `https://api.specstream.ai/tavily/search`, for $0.005 a search.

## How to switch from Bright Data SERP API

1. Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace. A new account gets $10 of credit, no card, which covers 2,000 searches. Give the key a spending limit, and set `zero_retention` on it if your product must keep no query text.

2. Replace the `POST https://api.brightdata.com/request` call, its zone and its Google URL with one `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search` carrying the question in `q` and the key as a Bearer token.

```
import requests

reply = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {SPECSTREAM_KEY}"},
    params={"q": "Who is the CEO of Mistral AI", "num": 10, "passages": "true"},
).json()["data"]

print(reply["answer"])  # value, page and seen_at, or None
for source in reply["sources"]:
    print(source["url"], source["title"], source.get("excerpt") or source["snippet"])
```

3. Read `data.answer` for the value and the page it came from, and `data.sources` for the pages in rank order. In JavaScript the same call is one `fetch`.

```
const params = new URLSearchParams({ q: "Who is the CEO of Mistral AI", num: "10", passages: "true" });
const { data } = await fetch(`https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search?${params}`, {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.SPECSTREAM_API_KEY}` },
}).then((r) => r.json());

console.log(data.answer, data.sources.map((s) => s.url));
```

4. Connect an agent through the MCP server at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`. Its `search_web` tool runs the same search for $0.005, from the same balance and inside the limits of its key.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does the Bright Data SERP API cost?

$1.5 per 1,000 requests pay as you go, or $499 a month on Scale with 380K requests included and $1.3 per 1,000 more. The free tier gives 5K requests a month. Failed requests are not billed, except in a zone set with custom headers or cookies.

### What is the best Bright Data SERP API alternative?

SpecStream, at $5 per 1,000 searches. One call returns the answer with the page it was read on and the ranked sources, and the Search API scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

### Is the Bright Data SERP API on AWS Marketplace?

Yes, at $500 a month for Starter and $1,000 a month for Production, on a 1-month contract. SpecStream bills each search from one balance at $0.005, and a top-up never expires.

### How accurate is the SpecStream Search API?

It scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, with 978 correct, and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. The scores and the method are on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bright-data-serp) page.

### Does SpecStream have an API?

Yes, three. The Search API is `GET /v1/web-search` at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results. The Extract API is `POST /v1/extract` at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. Deep Search takes a request in plain words and returns structured rows. Python and TypeScript SDKs, a CLI and A2A cover the same calls.

### Does SpecStream have an MCP server?

Yes, at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp` over Streamable HTTP, with OAuth or an API key. The `search_web` tool runs a search for $0.005, and connecting an agent is free on every plan. The agent spends from the same balance as your team, inside the limits you set on its key.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each rival figure comes from that company's own page.

- [SpecStream pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream data](https://specstream.ai/data), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream signals](https://specstream.ai/signals), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Bright Data SERP API pricing](https://brightdata.com/pricing/serp), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Bright Data SERP API introduction](https://docs.brightdata.com/scraping-automation/serp-api/introduction), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Bright Data SERP API pricing and billing](https://docs.brightdata.com/products/serp-api/pricing-and-billing), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Bright Data SERP API product page](https://brightdata.com/products/serp-api), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Bright Data Serp API on AWS Marketplace](https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-oc3e6frtcvcja), read Nov 9, 2026
- [SerpApi pricing](https://serpapi.com/pricing), read Nov 9, 2026
- [SearchApi pricing](https://www.searchapi.io/pricing), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Serper homepage, pricing and questions](https://serper.dev/), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Tavily credits and pricing](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits.md), read Nov 9, 2026