Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

SerpApi VS SEMRush

Compare SerpApi VS SEMRush and see what are their differences

SerpApi logo SerpApi

Scrape Google search results from our fast, easy, and complete API.

SEMRush logo SEMRush

All-in-one Marketing Toolkit for digital marketing professionals.
  • SerpApi Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03
  • SerpApi SerpApi use cases
    SerpApi use cases //
    2024-11-25
  • SerpApi API List
    API List //
    2024-11-25

We help you automate gathering data from search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. What's cool about SerpApi is that it handles all the scraping complexities for you, like dealing with CAPTCHAs, managing IP addresses, and parsing data into a structured JSON. So you don't have to worry about the details.

It's super useful for developers who need to pull search results for tasks like SEO monitoring, market research, travel information, AI models, or even academic projects. Plus, it provides the data in a neat JSON format, making it really easy to use in your applications!

  • SEMRush Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-08-24

SerpApi features and specs

  • Comprehensive Data Extraction
    SerpApi provides a powerful and easy-to-use API for extracting search engine results, allowing users to access a wide variety of data types such as ads, maps, organic results, and more from multiple search engines.
  • Real-time Data
    The API is designed to retrieve real-time search results, which is crucial for applications that rely on up-to-date information, such as market research and competitive analysis.
  • Easy Integration
    SerpApi offers detailed documentation and client libraries in multiple programming languages, simplifying the integration process for developers across different platforms.
  • Scalability
    SerpApi is able to handle large volumes of requests, making it suitable for businesses of various sizes, from startups to large enterprises needing to gather extensive data.
  • Automated Billing
    The platform provides automated billing and usage management which ensures that businesses can easily manage their costs and understand their data usage.

SEMRush features and specs

  • Comprehensive SEO Toolkit
    SEMRush provides a wide range of tools for keyword research, competitive analysis, backlink analysis, site audit, and more, making it a one-stop-shop for all SEO needs.
  • Accurate Data
    Known for providing accurate and updated data which is crucial for making informed SEO decisions.
  • Competitive Analysis
    Offers extensive competitor analysis features, helping businesses understand their competitors' strategies and improve their own.
  • In-depth Reports
    Creates detailed reports that offer valuable insights into performance metrics and areas for improvement.
  • User-friendly Interface
    The platform is designed with a user-friendly interface, making it accessible even for beginners in SEO.

Possible disadvantages of SEMRush

  • Pricing
    SEMRush pricing can be relatively high, especially for small businesses and freelancers.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite being user-friendly, the sheer depth of features can present a steep learning curve for new users.
  • Data Limits
    Certain features and data exports are limited based on the subscription plan, which can be restrictive for high-volume users.
  • Customer Support
    While customer support is generally good, some users have reported slow response times during peak periods.
  • Occasional Inconsistencies
    Some users have reported occasional inconsistencies in search volume and backlink data.

SerpApi videos

OpenAI Function Calling - Connect AI to the Internet

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Scrape Google Search using Python
  • Tutorial - Scrape Google Maps reviews data using Python

SEMRush videos

SEMRush Review 2020 ☑️ Best Keyword Research Tool in 2020? 😱 SEMRush Tutorial

More videos:

  • Tutorial - SEMRush Review 2019 and Full SEMRush Tutorial on How to Use SEMRush
  • Tutorial - SEMRush Review and Tutorial: How Good Is It Really?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SerpApi and SEMRush)
SEO
4 4%
96% 96
SEO Tools
3 3%
97% 97
APIs
100 100%
0% 0
Content Marketing
4 4%
96% 96

Questions and Answers

As answered by people managing SerpApi and SEMRush.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

SerpApi's answer

We provide more search engines under one subscription.

How would you describe your primary audience?

SerpApi's answer

Developers/Companies who need data from search engines.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

SerpApi's answer

Ruby on Rails and MongoDB

What makes your product unique?

SerpApi's answer

We're the first web scraping company that focus on scraping search engines.

What's the story behind your product?

SerpApi's answer

Back in 2017, Julien Khaleghy, the founder of SerpApi, built an iOS app that can analyze data from a picture. iOS didn't have a proper machine learning framework back then. It was challenging: iPhones' RAM were limited, no GPU or no dedicated chip acceleration were available, using only CPU was painfully slow, and compiling/porting C code from machine learning framework like Tensorflow or Caffe to iOS wasn't straightforward. Oddly, all of this wasn't the most difficult part of this project. Collecting images from Google Images was.

In these projects, 80% of his time ended up being spent on scraping and parsing Google Images. And maybe only 20% on actual machine learning model training, UI design of the actual apps, and iOS programming. This is how SerpApi was born.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

SerpApi's answer

  • Airbnb
  • Nvidia
  • Meta
  • Shopify
  • Grubhub
  • and more!

User comments

Share your experience with using SerpApi and SEMRush. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare SerpApi and SEMRush

SerpApi Reviews

We have no reviews of SerpApi yet.
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SEMRush Reviews

  1. fraserstewart
    · CCO at Lyfeguard ·
    Fantastic platform but introduce a ‘starter tier’

    Can’t knock the platform - it’s great. I feel like they should have a paid-for offering at a lower price point, however. Strongly recommend!

  2. Mohit Gupta
    · Small Business Owner at SmokeHub ·
    Easy to use with limited trail but prices are high expensive - Semrush

    Semrush is very popular and next level performance tool which varies competitors, analyzes and tracking of any domain website, which provides you full information what's the position of the website, overall traffic, etc. This tool is easy to use with limited trial 7 days, after the trial ends, has limited features work on free plan. There plans are very expensive, not affordable at purchasing price plans.

    In my experience, semrush is very costly and high level of experience.

    🏁 Competitors: Ahrefs, Moz, SE Ranking, Marketing Miner
    👍 Pros:    Real-time analytics|Excellent features|Simple yet powerful and efficient tool
    👎 Cons:    Pricing is too high|Limited features with free plan.
  3. Dorian Leone
    · Webmaster at Competitive Insight ·
    Great keyword tracking platform, shame they removed the display advertising report

    SEMrush provides a great central hub for adding your websites as projects which can be tracked, audited and measured for visibility over time. I've used the platform across many roles and found the only recent drawback was the removal of their display advertising competitor reports.

    🏁 Competitors: Serpstat

The 16 Best Moz Alternatives for Every Budget 
If you run local SEO campaigns, Semrush has a whole set of tools called Semrush Local that are just for that purpose. You can add this tool kit on to a standard Semrush subscription or purchase it separately.
10 SE Ranking Alternatives in 2025 [Free and Paid]
SEMrush is ideal for users who need a comprehensive suite that goes beyond SEO, including content marketing and PPC management, making it perfect for digital marketers with diverse needs. Its extensive feature set offers a broader range of capabilities compared to SE Ranking.
10 Moz Pro Alternatives in 2025 [Free and Paid]
SEMrush is an all-in-one marketing platform that offers a broader range of tools compared to Moz Pro. SEMrush includes features such as keyword research, site audits, and backlink analysis, but it also extends into content marketing, social media management, and PPC.
Top 5 SEO Automation Tools for Agencies
By now, you’ve seen how each of these top SEO automation tools can help your agency thrive in 2025. The right choice for you depends on your agency’s focus and challenges. If you need to quickly optimize on-page elements at scale, a tool like ClickRank or Alli AI might be your best bet for automating those tasks. If you’re looking for a complete done-for-you AI assistant,...
Screaming Frog Alternative
SemRush - SemRush’s technical SEO tools will allow you to crawl your website similar to Screaming Frog. SemRush also provides comprehensive keyword research tools of course, and a powerful toolset for any SEO. Pricing starts at $139.95 per month for one user.
Source: metamonster.ai

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, SerpApi should be more popular than SEMRush. It has been mentiond 76 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

SerpApi mentions (76)

  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2025)
    SerpApi | https://serpapi.com | Junior to Senior Fullstack Engineer positions | Customer Success Engineer | Talent Acquisition Specialist | Based in Austin, TX but remote-first structure | Full-time | ONSITE or FULLY REMOTE | $150K - 180K a year 1099 for US or local avg + 20% for outside the US SerpApi is the leading API to scrape and parse search engine results. We deeply support Google, Google Maps, Google... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • How Google replaced search by image with Google Lens.
    If any of these look interesting or useful to your use case, feel free to follow up in the appropriate thread or let us know via chat at serpapi.com or through email at contact@serpapi.com. We'll do our best to implement the features as soon as possible. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (December 2024)
    SerpApi | https://serpapi.com | Junior-to-Senior Fullstack Engineer | Customer Success Engineer | Talent Acquisition Specialist | Based in Austin, TX but remote-first structure | Full-time | ONSITE or FULLY REMOTE | $150K - 180K a year 1099 for US or local avg + 20% for outside the US SerpApi is the leading API to scrape and parse search engine results. We deeply support Google, Google Maps, Google Images, Bing,... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • AI Agents: Transforming Ideas into Action, Collaboratively
    Custom Tool: The google_flights.py script interacts with the Google Flights API (via SerpAPI) to retrieve flight details. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How to Create Your Own Job Board Web App Using React.js, Node.js, SerpApi, and MUI
    Const express = require('express'); Const cors = require('cors'); Const axios = require('axios'); Require('dotenv').config(); Const app = express(); App.use(cors()); Const PORT = process.env.PORT || 5000; // Endpoint to fetch job listings App.get('/api/jobs', async (req, res) => { const { query } = req.query; try { const serpApiUrl =... - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
View more

SEMRush mentions (18)

  • SEO 101: A Fun and Easy Guide to Crushing It in Digital Marketing
    Unveiling the Advanced SEO Strategies: 1. Strategic Keyword Domination: Identify high-value, long-tail keywords relevant to your niche. Leverage keyword mapping to align content with specific stages of the customer journey. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush offer advanced keyword research capabilities. 2. Content Excellence Beyond Basics: Craft content that not only targets keywords but provides value and... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Research tools for niche/product competition?
    I use SEMRush (semrush.com/) a lot when researching a niche. I would input the URL of a competitor, and then examine "competitors of organic key words" -- to find related websites that compete with the input URL website. I would spent hours and hours in researching and documenting a list of competitors in different niches. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • The blackout isn’t just for subreddits. Users need to participate too.
    Https://www.similarweb.com/ and https://semrush.com they are not 100% accurate but they are a good indicator. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • How is your content production workflow?
    Each day that I write, I create the post directly in Wordpress. I use Surfer for Content optimization and sometimes SEMrush to help with keyword research, but I’m not super strict about following the suggestions. I try to keep it as natural as possible. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Need to up my SEO game.
    If you're looking to up your SEO game, there are several strategies you can try. One approach is to conduct thorough keyword research to identify the phrases and terms your target audience is using to search for businesses like yours. Tools like SEMrush and SurferSEO can be helpful. From there, you can optimize your website content, including titles, meta descriptions, and body copy, to incorporate these keywords... Source: about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing SerpApi and SEMRush, you can also consider the following products

Zenserp - Zenserp is a Google Search API that enables you to scrape Google search result pages in real-time.

Ahrefs - Ahrefs is a toolset for SEO and marketing. We have tools for backlink research, organic traffic research, keyword research, content marketing & more. Give Ahrefs a try!

Aves API - Aves API is the insanely fast SERP API that enables you to scrape Google search results without blocking.

Moz - Backed by industry-leading data and the largest community of SEOs on the planet, Moz builds tools that make inbound marketing easy.

DataForSEO - DataForSEO offers API data for SEO companies that deliver results of tasks for Rank tracking, SERP, Keyword data and On-page APIs.

SE Ranking - All-in-One cloud-based SEO software for agencies, marketing teams and webmasters