Connect SerpAPI to Claude Code via MCP
Get real-time search results from 50+ engines — Google, Bing, YouTube, Amazon, Scholar, and more — as structured JSON, directly in your Claude Code sessions.
What is SerpAPI?
SerpAPI is a real-time search engine results API. It handles proxy rotation, CAPTCHA solving, browser rendering, and HTML parsing — and returns clean, structured JSON from any search engine. You call the API, you get structured data. No scraper maintenance needed.
Setup Guide
Create a SerpAPI Account
Sign up at serpapi.com — the free tier includes 250 searches per month. No credit card required.
Get Your API Key
Go to your SerpAPI dashboard and copy your API key. Store it securely in your environment:
Add the MCP Server to Claude Code
SerpAPI has an official hosted MCP server. Add it with one config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"serpapi": {
"url": "https://mcp.serpapi.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp"
}
}
}Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual SerpAPI key. The hosted server requires no local installation.
Test It
Supported Search Engines
SerpAPI supports 50+ engines. Here are the most useful ones for AI workflows:
Google Search
Standard web results, featured snippets, ads, People Also Ask
Google Scholar
Academic papers, citations, author profiles
Google Maps
Local business listings, reviews, contact info
Google Shopping
Product prices, sellers, shipping info
Google News
News articles, trending stories, topic coverage
YouTube
Video search results, channels, playlists
Amazon
Product listings, prices, reviews
Bing
Web results, images, news from Microsoft
DuckDuckGo
Privacy-focused search results
Walmart
Product search, prices, availability
Use Cases
SEO Monitoring
Track your keyword rankings, monitor competitors, analyze SERP features. Schedule daily checks and get alerts when rankings change.
Market Research
Search Google Shopping and Amazon for competitor pricing. Analyze product reviews and market trends at scale.
Academic Research
Search Google Scholar for papers, extract citations, build literature reviews. Feed results into Claude for synthesis.
Lead Generation
Find businesses on Google Maps by location and category. Extract contact info, reviews, and ratings for targeted outreach.
SerpAPI vs Apify — When to Use Which
| Feature | SerpAPI | Apify |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Real-time search results, SERP monitoring | General web scraping, custom crawlers |
| Speed | ~2.5s median | ~7-8s average |
| Cost per search | ~$0.015 | ~$0.003 |
| Free tier | 250 searches/mo | $5 credits/mo |
| MCP server | Yes (official) | Yes (official) |
| Scope | Search engines only (50+) | Any website (20,000+ Actors) |
Use SerpAPI when you need fast, structured search data (SEO, research, monitoring). Use Apify when you need to scrape specific websites or build custom crawlers. Both work as MCP servers in Claude Code — you can use them together.
SerpAPI Pricing
| Plan | Price | Searches/mo | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 250 | Testing, learning, light usage |
| Starter | $25/mo | 1,000 | Freelancers, small projects |
| Developer | $75/mo | 5,000 | Developers with regular search needs |
| Production | $150/mo | 15,000 | Teams, production applications |
Add Real-Time Search to Your AI Brain
Our Pro Brain and Lifetime packages include MCP configuration guides for SerpAPI, Apify, and 10+ other services — ready to deploy in minutes.