SerpApi Google Maps API vs Outscraper for AI agents
SerpApi Google Maps API is a third-party API that scrapes Google Maps search results and returns them as structured JSON. Outscraper is a third-party service and API that scrapes Google Maps places in bulk and returns them as structured records.
The short answer
- SerpApi Google Maps API: Getting Google Maps listing data (phone, website, hours, ratings) as JSON without Google's billing or display rules. Legal risk from the scraping model sits partly with you.
- Outscraper: Bulk extraction of Google Maps business lists, such as lead lists.
Side by side
| SerpApi Google Maps API | Outscraper | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Whatever Google Maps returns for a query and location (ll parameter), including local businesses, place details and reviews. | Google Maps places by query (for example "restaurants brooklyn usa") or by place ID, plus reviews and photos. |
| Returns | JSON local_results with fields such as title, address, phone, website, hours, rating, reviews and description, plus place IDs. | JSON (exports also in CSV, Excel and Parquet) with fields such as name, site, phone, address, rating, hours and, with enrichments, emails and social links. |
| Before the first call | A SerpApi account and API key. | An Outscraper account and API key. |
| Free | Free plan: 250 searches a month (50 an hour throughput). Cached, errored and failed searches are not counted. | Not stated on its pages |
| Paid | Starter costs $25 a month for 1,000 searches. Developer costs $75 a month for 5,000. Production costs $150 a month for 15,000. | Not stated on its pages |
| Acting on a result | Results include the business phone and website as shown on Google Maps. There is no messaging. | Records include the business phone and website from Google Maps, and enrichments can add emails. There is no messaging through Outscraper. |
| Coverage | Follows Google Maps. SerpApi warns that results are not guaranteed to fall within the location given. | Not stated on its pages |
| MCP server | SerpApi MCP Server, hosted at https://mcp.serpapi.com/mcp (API key) and open source at https://github.com/serpapi/serpapi-mcp | outscraper/outscraper-mcp-server on GitHub (https://github.com/outscraper/outscraper-mcp-server), run with npx -y outscraper-mcp and OUTSCRAPER_API_KEY. |
Where Openpath fits
If the agent needs a local business to message in Austin, Texas, Openpath returns the listings themselves, free and with no key. See Openpath vs SerpApi Google Maps API and Openpath vs Outscraper.
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use SerpApi Google Maps API?
A SerpApi account and API key.
Is SerpApi Google Maps API free?
Free plan: 250 searches a month (50 an hour throughput). Cached, errored and failed searches are not counted.
What do I need before I can use Outscraper?
An Outscraper account and API key.
Is Outscraper free?
Its pages listed no free use when we read them on October 15, 2026.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
SerpApi Google Maps API, read on October 15, 2026:
- serpapi.com/google-maps-api: “Scrape Google Maps data with our Google Maps API.”
- serpapi.com/google-maps-api: “Results are not guaranteed to be within the geographic location provided in the ll parameter.”
- serpapi.com/google-maps-api: “"phone": "(646) 559-4878", "website": "http://joespizzanyc.com/"”
- serpapi.com/pricing: “Free $ 0 / month Get Started 250 searches per month 50 throughput per hour”
- serpapi.com/pricing: “Starter $ 25 / month Get Started 1,000 searches per month”
- serpapi.com/pricing: “Only successful searches are counted toward your monthly searches. Cached, errored, and failed searches are not.”
- serpapi.com/legal: “SerpApi assumes liability for the lawful collection of public search data ... but not for how that data is ultimately used.”
- github.com/serpapi/serpapi-mcp: “SerpApi MCP Server is available as a hosted service at mcp.serpapi.com”
Outscraper, read on October 15, 2026:
- github.com/outscraper/outscraper-python: “client = OutscraperClient(api_key='SECRET_API_KEY')”
- github.com/outscraper/outscraper-python: “"site": "http://www.colonienyc.com/", "phone": "+1 718-855-7500"”
- github.com/outscraper/outscraper-mcp-server: “Official Outscraper MCP server for AI agents: Google Maps scraping, business data enrichment, lead generation”