Tavily vs Serper: web results with an optional answer or Google results as JSON, cheaply
Tavily is a web search API for AI agents that returns ranked results, optional page text and an optional short LLM answer. Serper is a low-cost API that returns Google search results as JSON.
The short answer
- Tavily: Quick, agent-ready web search with snippets or page text and an optional answer in one call.
- Serper: The cheapest way on this list to get raw Google results in JSON.
Side by side
| Tavily | Serper | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | The open web (general and news topics). | Google results: web, images, news, maps, places, videos, shopping, scholar, patents, autocomplete. |
| Returns | JSON: ranked results with title, URL, a content snippet and relevance score; optional cleaned full page text (raw_content), images, and a short LLM-generated answer. | JSON shaped like a Google results page: organic results with title, link and snippet, knowledge graph, People Also Ask, related searches; places with address, rating and phone. |
| Before the first call | A free account and an API key (Bearer token); no credit card for the free plan. | An account and an API key; no credit card for the free queries. |
| Free | 1,000 API credits a month, no credit card; a basic search costs 1 credit (advanced costs 2). | 2,500 free queries, no credit card (the page does not say they renew monthly). |
| Paid | Pay as you go at $0.008 a credit; a basic search is 1 credit, an advanced one 2. | $50 for 50,000 credits ($1.00 per 1,000), credits valid 6 months; down to $0.30 per 1,000 at volume. |
| Acting on a result | Through the web page each result links to | Through the web page each result links to |
| AI in its terms | Tavily and its AI providers may use your inputs and outputs to train and improve AI models; you may not use output to build models that compete with Tavily. | Not stated on its pages |
| MCP server | Official remote MCP server: https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/ (code: https://github.com/tavily-ai/tavily-mcp) | No official server listed |
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use Tavily?
A free account and an API key (Bearer token); no credit card for the free plan.
Is Tavily free?
1,000 API credits a month, no credit card; a basic search costs 1 credit (advanced costs 2).
What do I need before I can use Serper?
An account and an API key; no credit card for the free queries.
Is Serper free?
2,500 free queries, no credit card (the page does not say they renew monthly).
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
Tavily, read on October 15, 2026:
- tavily.com/pricing: “1,000 API credits / month”
- tavily.com/pricing: “No credit card required”
- tavily.com/pricing: “$0.008 / credit”
- docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits: “Each request costs 1 API credit.”
- docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits: “Each request costs 2 API credits.”
- tavily.com/terms: “may incorporate insights derived from your Customer Input and Outputs into their respective training datasets”
- tavily.com/terms: “use Output generated by the AI Functionality to develop models that compete with the Company”
- docs.tavily.com/documentation/mcp: “The easiest way to take advantage of Tavily MCP is by using the remote URL.”
- docs.tavily.com/documentation/mcp: “https://github.com/tavily-ai/tavily-mcp”
Serper, read on October 15, 2026:
- serper.dev: “Get 2,500 free queries”
- serper.dev: “No credit card required”
- serper.dev: “50k credits ($1.00/1k)”
- serper.dev: “Credits valid for 6 months”
- serper.dev: “The World's Fastest & Cheapest Google Search API”