# DataForSEO SERP API pricing: $2 per 1,000 live, $1 on SpecStream Compared on Nov 12, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/dataforseo-serp-api-pricing DataForSEO bills each Google SERP of up to 10 results: $0.60 per 1,000 in the Standard queue, about 5 minutes on average, $1.20 in the Priority queue and $2.00 in Live mode. The first top-up is at least $50. SpecStream answers the same live call in DataForSEO's JSON for $1 per 1,000, with a median of 0.82 s. Change the host to `https://api.specstream.ai/dataforseo` and start with $10 of credit, no card. [Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-dataforseo-serp-api-pricing&utm_source=alternatives-md&utm_campaign=dataforseo-serp-api-pricing&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fagents%3Ftab%3Dkeys) New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. It covers 10,000 searches. ## What a Google SERP costs on DataForSEO and on SpecStream | | SpecStream | DataForSEO SERP API | |---|---|---| | Price per 1,000 SERPs of up to 10 results | $1 for a live task, $0.001 each | $0.60 in the Standard queue, $1.20 in the Priority queue, $2.00 in Live mode | | Time to results | One call. Median 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second | About 5 minutes on average in the Standard queue, with a target of 45 minutes. Up to 1 minute in Priority and up to 6 seconds in Live, on average | | 100 results in one task | $0.0118: each started block of 10 more results adds $0.0012 | One more base price for each 10 results: $0.02 in Live mode | | Search operators | No surcharge. A task is priced by the results it returns | x5 base price for each operator in the keyword, such as `site:` or `intitle:` | | Free to start | $10 of credit, no card, which covers 10,000 searches | A $1 trial credit for new accounts | | Smallest payment | A top-up from $10 | The minimum account top-up is $50 | | Balance | Credit you buy never expires | Funds added do not expire | | Busy or short calls | A busy call gets DataForSEO's own `40202` with `Retry-After` and is not charged | Depth above what Google returns is refunded to the balance | | What the key also buys | The Search API on the whole live web, the Extract API at $0.80 per 1,000 pages and Deep Search at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row | SERP endpoints for Google, Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, Naver, Seznam and YouTube, each from $0.0006 per SERP | ## Why a live SERP costs half on SpecStream ### Live mode at half the price DataForSEO's Live mode costs $2.00 per 1,000 SERPs and answers in up to 6 seconds on average. SpecStream answers the same `live/regular` or `live/advanced` task for $1 per 1,000, with a median of 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second, measured on production on November 9, 2026. Deeper tasks keep the gap. A `depth` of 100 costs $0.02 in Live mode and $0.0118 on SpecStream, and the reply's `cost` field shows what each call cost. ### No queue to wait on The Standard queue is DataForSEO's lowest rate, $0.60 per 1,000. Its tasks take about 5 minutes on average with a target of 45, and you read them back with a second call. On SpecStream every task is one live call that answers in about a second, with no task to post and fetch later. ### The call, before and after ``` # Before curl https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/google/organic/live/regular \ -u "$DATAFORSEO_LOGIN:$DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '[{"keyword": "web scraping api", "location_code": 2840, "language_code": "en"}]' # After curl https://api.specstream.ai/dataforseo/v3/serp/google/organic/live/regular \ -u "login:$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '[{"keyword": "web scraping api", "location_code": 2840, "language_code": "en"}]' ``` The task array and the parser stay. `keyword`, `location_code` or `location_name`, `language_code` or `language_name`, `depth` up to 200, `target`, `tag` and `se_domain` keep their meaning. Every field is listed on the [DataForSEO compatible](https://specstream.ai/migrate/dataforseo?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=dataforseo-serp-api-pricing) page. ### Start with $10, not $50 DataForSEO gives a $1 trial credit and asks for a first top-up of at least $50. A new SpecStream account gets $10 of credit with no card, enough for 10,000 live tasks, and a top-up starts at $10. Credit you buy never expires. ### The most accurate web search API On SimpleQA Verified the SpecStream Search API scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official questions, 978 of them correct. On WideSearch it scores 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official tasks. Every score and its method is on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=dataforseo-serp-api-pricing) page. ### Search, pages and rows on one key 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=dataforseo-serp-api-pricing) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and a page with no text is not charged. [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=dataforseo-serp-api-pricing) returns every match for a request in plain words as structured rows, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. ## What other SERP APIs cost ### SerpApi Monthly plans: Starter at $25 for 1,000 searches and Developer at $75 for 5,000. SpecStream answers SerpApi's own call at `https://api.specstream.ai/serpapi` for $1 per 1,000, with no plan. See [SerpApi vs DataForSEO](https://specstream.ai/compare/serpapi-vs-dataforseo?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=dataforseo-serp-api-pricing). ### Serper Credit packs, from $1.00 per 1,000 at the 50k pack, with 2,500 free queries. SpecStream charges $1 per 1,000 from the first search, with no pack to buy, and answers Serper's own call at `https://api.specstream.ai/serper`. ### VALUE SERP $2.50 per 1,000 requests as you go, or 25,000 searches a month for $50 billed yearly. SpecStream answers VALUE SERP's own call at `https://api.specstream.ai/valueserp` for $1 per 1,000. ## How to pay $1 per 1,000 live SERPs 1. Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace. A new account gets $10 of credit, no card, which covers 10,000 searches. 2. Set the host to `https://api.specstream.ai/dataforseo` where your code has `https://api.dataforseo.com`, and send the SpecStream key as the Basic auth password. In Python: ``` import requests URL = "https://api.specstream.ai/dataforseo/v3/serp/google/organic/live/advanced" # was https://api.dataforseo.com/... task = [{"keyword": "web scraping api", "location_code": 2840, "language_code": "en", "depth": 10}] reply = requests.post(URL, json=task, auth=("login", SPECSTREAM_KEY), timeout=30) reply.raise_for_status() for item in reply.json()["tasks"][0]["result"][0]["items"]: print(item["rank_absolute"], item["title"], item["url"]) ``` 3. With DataForSEO's Python client, set `Configuration(username="any", password=SPECSTREAM_KEY, host="https://api.specstream.ai/dataforseo")`. Read `status_code` 20000 as success, as before, and `40202` as a call to send again after `Retry-After`. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much does the DataForSEO SERP API cost? $0.60 per 1,000 Google SERPs in the Standard queue, $1.20 in the Priority queue and $2.00 in Live mode, each SERP up to 10 results. There is no monthly fee, and the minimum account top-up is $50. ### Does DataForSEO have a free trial? New accounts get a $1 trial credit. A new SpecStream account gets $10 of credit, no card, which covers 10,000 live searches. ### What does `depth` cost on DataForSEO? One more base price for each 10 results, rounded up, so `depth` 100 is 10 SERPs: $0.02 in Live mode. On SpecStream 100 results cost $0.0118. ### Do search operators cost more on DataForSEO? Yes. Each operator such as `site:` or `intitle:` in the keyword multiplies the base price by 5. SpecStream prices a task by the results it returns. ### Does a DataForSEO balance expire? No. Funds added to a DataForSEO account do not expire, and SpecStream credit you buy never expires either. ### What is the cheapest live SERP API? SpecStream answers DataForSEO's live Google organic task for $1 per 1,000, half of DataForSEO's $2.00 Live price, in the same JSON, with a median of 0.82 s. ## Sources SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure about DataForSEO and other providers comes from that company's own page, read on the date shown. - [DataForSEO, Google Organic SERP API pricing](https://dataforseo.com/pricing/google-serp/google-organic-serp-api), read Nov 12, 2026 - [DataForSEO, SERP API pricing](https://dataforseo.com/pricing/serp/serp-api), read Nov 12, 2026 - [DataForSEO pricing](https://dataforseo.com/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026 - [SpecStream DataForSEO pass table](https://specstream.ai/specstream/dialects/dataforseo.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [SerpApi pricing](https://serpapi.com/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Serper](https://serper.dev/), read Nov 12, 2026 - [VALUE SERP pricing](https://trajectdata.com/serp/value-serp-api/pricing/), read Nov 12, 2026 - [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 12, 2026 - [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 12, 2026