<!-- twin of https://specstream.ai/alternatives/serpstack -->
# serpstack alternatives in 2026: the same call at $5 per 1,000 searches

Compared on Nov 10, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/alternatives/serpstack

serpstack sells Google results by monthly plan: Basic is $29.99 for 5,000 searches, Business $99.99 for 20,000. Each search past Basic's allowance costs $0.023992, and the free plan's 100 searches a month are for non-commercial use.

SpecStream is the live web data engine. It answers serpstack's own `/search` call in serpstack's JSON at $5 per 1,000 searches, with no plan and credit that never expires. It scores 97.9 on [SimpleQA Verified](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpstack).

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

## SpecStream and serpstack side by side

| | SpecStream | serpstack |
|---|---|---|
| What you change | One line. `https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack/search` in place of `https://api.serpstack.com/search`, and a SpecStream key as `access_key` in the address. The request and the reply keep their shape | `GET https://api.serpstack.com/search` with a serpstack key as `access_key` in the address |
| What a call returns | On the drop-in route, serpstack's `search_information`, `organic_results[]` with `position`, `title`, `url`, `domain`, `displayed_url` and `snippet`, and `pagination`. `GET /v1/web-search` returns the answer with the page it was read on, `rows` with the facts asked for, and every source in rank order | Google results as JSON or CSV |
| Price per 1,000 searches | $5 for up to 10 results, the same rate for every call and every account, with no plan. `num=100` costs $0.059 a call | Monthly plans: Basic $29.99 for 5,000 searches ($6 per 1,000), Business $99.99 for 20,000 ($5). Yearly billing: Basic $26.99, Business $87.99 |
| Past the plan | There is no plan to pass. Calls spend from your balance, inside the spending limit you set on the key, and a top-up never expires | Basic: $0.023992 for each search over, $23.99 per 1,000. Business: $0.019998 each |
| News | `type=news` returns `news_results[]` with `source_name`, `uploaded` and `uploaded_utc`, and `sort=date` puts the newest first, at the price of one search | A `type` parameter picks the search type, on the same address |
| Volume | The fast search has no limit per key and no daily limit. A busy call gets a `429` with `Retry-After` and is not charged | Set by the plan: 5,000 searches a month on Basic, 20,000 on Business |
| Free to start | $10 of credit, no card. That is 2,000 searches, or up to 200 rows at 5¢ | 100 searches a month, for non-commercial use |
| What answers the call | The whole live web, read at the moment of the call. 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct) and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks | Google, the engine serpstack reads |
| The text of the pages | Add `passages=true` 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 snippet Google shows for each organic result |
| Data already held | Public databases read every morning at [specstream.ai/data](https://specstream.ai/data?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpstack): 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=serpstack) | Search engine results pages, fetched one query at a time |
| 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 call |
| 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 call is a new search, counted against the month's plan |
| 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 response to the code that called the API |

## Why teams move from serpstack to SpecStream

### Your serpstack call, answered at a new address

SpecStream answers `GET /search` in serpstack's own JSON at `https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack`. Only the address and the key change, so the parser that reads `organic_results` today keeps working.

```
curl -G "https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack/search" \
  -d "access_key=$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -d num=10 --data-urlencode "query=Nvidia earnings"
```

`query`, `num`, `page`, `period` (`last_hour` to `last_year`, or `custom` with `period_start` and `period_end`), `gl`, `hl`, `safe` and `type=news` keep their meaning. serpstack's own examples are plain HTTP calls, so there is no SDK setting to find.

### $5 per 1,000 searches with no plan to outgrow

On serpstack Basic, $29.99 buys 5,000 searches for the month, and the next 1,000 cost $23.99. On SpecStream $29.99 pays for 5,998 searches that never expire, and the 6,000th costs the same $0.005 as the first. A call stopped by a `429` charges nothing.

### 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, and the Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. The scores and the method are at [specstream.ai/benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpstack).

### About one second a search, with no limit per key

Every drop-in route runs the fast search unless the call asks for page text or results past the first ten. On November 9, 2026 production took 1 to 20 fast searches a second and answered 718 of 720: the median was 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second, and the 95th percentile stayed between 1.09 and 1.73 s. There is no limit per key and no daily limit; a busy call gets a `429` with `Retry-After` and is not charged.

### Zero retention on any key

Set `zero_retention` when you create a key, or later. A search made with that key keeps no request text and no answer after the reply: it is not in the history, and its answer is not reused for another call. `spend_cap_cents` is the most the key can spend.

```
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/v1/account/keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "production", "scopes": ["account:read", "finds:spend"], "spend_cap_cents": 500000, "zero_retention": true}'
```

### Search, pages and rows on one key

A product that calls serpstack still has to read the pages and build its own records. On SpecStream the same key reads up to 20 pages or documents a call with the [Extract API](https://specstream.ai/extract-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpstack) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and runs [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpstack), which returns every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. 10,000 rows with 5 facts each cost $500, and the most a run can cost is approved before it starts. Save a request and it reruns hourly to yearly, with each row labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching.

## Other serpstack alternatives

### SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. It answers serpstack's own call at `https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack/search` at $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, and Deep Search returns every match as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row.

### SerpApi

A results page API for Google and other engines on monthly plans: Starter is $25 for 1,000 searches with 200 an hour, Developer $75 for 5,000. On SpecStream $25 pays for 5,000 searches with no hourly cap, and the balance never expires.

### VALUE SERP

Traject Data's pay as you go Google results API: $2.50 per 1,000 on pay as you go, or 25,000 searches for $50 a month. SpecStream answers VALUE SERP's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/valueserp`, and the same key reads pages and returns rows.

### Serper

Google results in prepaid credit packs from $1.00 per 1,000 on the 50k pack, valid for 6 months, with 2,500 free queries. SpecStream answers Serper's own call at `https://api.specstream.ai/serper`, in Serper's JSON, and its credit never expires.

### DataForSEO

SERP data for SEO tools at $2 per 1,000 in Live Mode, with a minimum account top-up of $50. SpecStream answers DataForSEO's live organic call at `https://api.specstream.ai/dataforseo` and starts with $10 of credit, no card.

## How to switch from serpstack

Change one line. `https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack/search` answers the call your code sends to `https://api.serpstack.com/search` today, in the same JSON, so your parser stays as it is. Send a SpecStream key as `access_key`. A new account gets $10 of credit, no card, which covers 2,000 searches.

```
# Before
curl -G "https://api.serpstack.com/search" -d "access_key=$SERPSTACK_KEY" --data-urlencode "query=$QUERY"

# After
curl -G "https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack/search" -d "access_key=$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" --data-urlencode "query=$QUERY"
```

Each result keeps `position`, `title`, `url`, `domain`, `displayed_url` and `snippet`, and `pagination.next_page_url` leads to the next page. A call of up to 10 results is one search at $0.005. Every parameter and reply field is in the [serpstack migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/serpstack?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpstack). The steps:

1. Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace, and set a spending limit on it.

2. Point the address at `https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack/search`. In Python:

```
import requests

reply = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack/search",  # was https://api.serpstack.com/search
    params={"access_key": SPECSTREAM_KEY, "query": "Nvidia earnings", "num": 10},
    timeout=30,
)
reply.raise_for_status()
for result in reply.json()["organic_results"]:
    print(result["position"], result["title"], result["url"])
```

3. In JavaScript, a news search:

```
const url = new URL("https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack/search");
url.search = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: process.env.SPECSTREAM_KEY, query: "Nvidia earnings", type: "news", sort: "date" });
const data = await (await fetch(url)).json();
for (const item of data.news_results) console.log(item.uploaded_utc, item.source_name, item.title, item.url);
```

4. Follow `pagination.next_page_url` for the next page, and read `429` as a call to send again after `Retry-After`. It is not charged.

When your product needs the whole dataset in place of a results page, write the request in plain words. SpecStream reads it back as the conditions every row must meet and the facts to bring back, quotes the most it can cost, and delivers the rows after you approve.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does serpstack cost?

serpstack Basic is $29.99 a month for 5,000 searches, then $0.023992 for each search over, and Business is $99.99 for 20,000. The free plan has 100 searches a month for non-commercial use. SpecStream costs $5 per 1,000 searches with no plan.

### What is the best serpstack alternative?

SpecStream, at $5 per 1,000 searches with no plan. It answers serpstack's own `/search` call in the same JSON and scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, shown on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpstack) page. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

### How do I switch from serpstack to SpecStream?

Change one address: `https://api.serpstack.com/search` becomes `https://api.specstream.ai/serpstack/search`, and a SpecStream key goes in `access_key`. `query`, `num`, `page`, `period`, `gl`, `hl`, `safe` and `type=news` keep their meaning, and a search of up to 10 results costs $0.005.

### What happens when I use up my serpstack searches?

On Basic each search over the 5,000 a month costs $0.023992, and on Business $0.019998. SpecStream has no monthly allowance: every search costs $0.005 from a balance that never expires.

### Is there a free serpstack alternative?

SpecStream gives $10 of credit on sign up, no card, which covers 2,000 searches, and they can run in production. serpstack's free plan has 100 searches a month for non-commercial use.

### 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 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
- [serpstack pricing](https://serpstack.com/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SerpApi pricing](https://serpapi.com/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [VALUE SERP pricing](https://trajectdata.com/serp/value-serp-api/pricing/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Serper homepage and pricing](https://serper.dev/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [DataForSEO SERP API](https://dataforseo.com/apis/serp-api), read Nov 10, 2026