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

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

SerpWow's Starter plan is $125 a month billed annually, $155 billed monthly, for 10,000 credits, then $.024 per extra credit. An AI Overview takes 1 additional credit.

SpecStream is the live web data engine. It answers SerpWow's own `/live/search` call in SerpWow's JSON at $5 per 1,000 searches, AI Overview included, with no plan. It scores 97.9 on [SimpleQA Verified](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpwow).

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

## SpecStream and SerpWow side by side

| | SpecStream | SerpWow |
|---|---|---|
| What you change | One line. `https://api.specstream.ai/serpwow/live/search` in place of `https://api.serpwow.com/live/search`, and a SpecStream key as `api_key` in the address. The request and the reply keep their shape | `GET https://api.serpwow.com/live/search` with a SerpWow key as `api_key` in the address |
| What a call returns | On the drop-in route with `engine=google`, SerpWow's `request_info`, `search_information`, `organic_results[]` with `position`, `title`, `link`, `domain`, `displayed_link`, `snippet` and `date`, 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 | Results as JSON from `GET /live/search`, with `news_results` for a news search |
| 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 | Starter: $125 a month billed annually, $155 billed monthly, for 10,000 credits ($12.50 per 1,000 billed annually) |
| 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 | $.024 per extra credit, $24 per 1,000 |
| News | `search_type=news` returns `news_results[]` with each item's `source`, `date` and `date_utc`, and `sort_by=date` puts the newest first, at the price of one search | `search_type=news` on the same address |
| AI Overview | `include_ai_overview=true` returns the search's answer and its source page, at the price of one search | 1 additional credit if an AI Overview is returned |
| Failed calls | A `429` with `Retry-After` charges nothing. With an `Idempotency-Key`, a retried call is charged once | No charge for a call that does not return `200`. `402` when the account is out of credits |
| Free to start | $10 of credit, no card. That is 2,000 searches, or up to 200 rows at 5¢ | A free trial |
| 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 and the other engines SerpWow reads, one engine per call |
| 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=serpwow): 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=serpwow) | 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 credits |
| 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 SerpWow to SpecStream

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

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

```
curl -G "https://api.specstream.ai/serpwow/live/search" \
  -d engine=google -d "api_key=$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -d num=10 --data-urlencode "q=Nvidia earnings"
```

With SerpWow's Python client, `google-search-results-serpwow` 1.1.11, the change is one line before you search: `GoogleSearchResults.ENDPOINT_SEARCH = "https://api.specstream.ai/serpwow/live/search"`.

### $5 per 1,000 searches against $12.50 on Starter

SerpWow Starter costs $125 a month billed annually for 10,000 credits, and each credit past them costs $.024. On SpecStream $125 pays for 25,000 searches that never expire, each with its AI Overview if you ask for it. 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=serpwow).

### 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 SerpWow 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=serpwow) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and runs [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpwow), 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 SerpWow alternatives

### SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. It answers SerpWow's own call at `https://api.specstream.ai/serpwow/live/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.

### Scale SERP

Traject Data's Google results API: 1,000 searches for $23 a month billed annually, then $0.038 per extra request, with 125 free searches a month. SpecStream answers Scale SERP's `/search` call at `/scaleserp/search`, at $0.005 a search with no plan.

### Scrapingdog

A scraping API whose Google search costs 5 credits a request: Lite is $40 a month for 200,000 credits, 40,000 searches at $1 per 1,000, and searches return up to 10 results a page. SpecStream answers Scrapingdog's `/google` call at `/scrapingdog/google`, with up to 100 results and no plan.

### 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.

### 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.

## How to switch from SerpWow

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

```
# Before
curl -G "https://api.serpwow.com/live/search" -d engine=google -d "api_key=$VENDOR_API_KEY" --data-urlencode "q=$QUERY"

# After
curl -G "https://api.specstream.ai/serpwow/live/search" -d engine=google -d "api_key=$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" --data-urlencode "q=$QUERY"
```

`q`, `num` from 1 to 100, `page`, `time_period`, `tbs`, `gl`, `hl`, `search_type=news` and `include_ai_overview` work as before, and each result keeps `position`, `title`, `link`, `domain`, `displayed_link`, `snippet` and `date`. A call of up to 10 results is one search at $0.005. Every parameter and reply field is in the [SerpWow migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/serpwow?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=serpwow). 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/serpwow/live/search`. In Python:

```
import requests

reply = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/serpwow/live/search",  # was https://api.serpwow.com/live/search
    params={"api_key": SPECSTREAM_KEY, "engine": "google", "q": "Nvidia earnings", "num": 10},
    timeout=30,
)
reply.raise_for_status()
for result in reply.json()["organic_results"]:
    print(result["position"], result["title"], result["link"])
```

3. In JavaScript, a news search:

```
const url = new URL("https://api.specstream.ai/serpwow/live/search");
url.search = new URLSearchParams({ api_key: process.env.SPECSTREAM_KEY, engine: "google", q: "Nvidia earnings", search_type: "news", sort_by: "date" });
const data = await (await fetch(url)).json();
for (const item of data.news_results) console.log(item.date_utc, item.source, item.title, item.link);
```

4. Follow `pagination.api_pagination.next` 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 SerpWow cost?

SerpWow Starter is $125 a month billed annually or $155 billed monthly for 10,000 credits, then $.024 per extra credit, and an AI Overview takes 1 additional credit. SpecStream costs $5 per 1,000 searches with no plan.

### What is the best SerpWow alternative?

SpecStream, at $5 per 1,000 searches with no plan. It answers SerpWow's own `/live/search` call in the same JSON, AI Overview included, 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=serpwow) page. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

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

Change one address: `https://api.serpwow.com/live/search` becomes `https://api.specstream.ai/serpwow/live/search`, and a SpecStream key goes in `api_key`. `engine=google`, `q`, `num`, `page`, `time_period`, `search_type=news` and `include_ai_overview` keep their meaning, and a search of up to 10 results costs $0.005.

### Does the SerpWow Python client work with SpecStream?

Yes. `google-search-results-serpwow` 1.1.11 works once `GoogleSearchResults.ENDPOINT_SEARCH` is `https://api.specstream.ai/serpwow/live/search`, as tested on production on Nov 10, 2026.

### Is there a free SerpWow alternative?

SpecStream gives $10 of credit on sign up, no card, which covers 2,000 searches. SerpWow offers a free trial before its $125 Starter plan.

### 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
- [SerpWow pricing](https://trajectdata.com/pricing/serpwow-api), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SerpWow Google search docs](https://docs.trajectdata.com/serpwow/search-api/searches/google/search), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SerpWow error handling](https://docs.trajectdata.com/serpwow/vnbPPZiK03x6VHki5WHjR), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Scale SERP pricing](https://trajectdata.com/pricing/scaleserp-api), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Scrapingdog pricing](https://www.scrapingdog.com/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SerpApi pricing](https://serpapi.com/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Serper homepage and pricing](https://serper.dev/), read Nov 10, 2026