SerpApi vs ScrapeCreators
A polished search-results API against a cheap creator-data API. Both reach YouTube search, videos, comments, transcripts and channels; the price gap between them is huge. ScrapeCreators gives you far more YouTube data for a fraction of the price; SerpApi is worth it only for search results as viewers see them.
Researched by Which Social API editorial teamLast reviewed 29 October 2026How we review
Which Social API uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative review methods, based on each provider’s documentation, published pricing and public user reviews. We never accept money in exchange for a higher ranking or a better review. Who runs this site
The quick answer
For YouTube data, ScrapeCreators, and on price it isn’t close. It has 18 YouTube endpoints, more than anyone in our YouTube ranking, including playlists, community posts, trending Shorts, paid-promotion search and an experimental sponsor endpoint. Most calls cost one credit: $1.88 per 1,000 on the $47 pack and $0.99 on the $497 pack. SerpApi charges $25 per 1,000 on its $25 Starter plan and $15 on the $75 Developer plan.
SerpApi wins when what you need is YouTube search results as a viewer sees them, with Shorts and channel shelves, from a vendor built for reliability. Its docs are the best in this category, failed searches and repeats within an hour are free, and plans from $150 a month include a U.S. Legal Shield. But it’s a search tool, not a creator-data API, and it’s defending claims from Google and Reddit over how it collects search results.
Choose SerpApi if
You need YouTube search pages as users see themYou want the best docs and a live playgroundYou want legal cover written into your planChoose ScrapeCreators if
You need creator data, not just search resultsYou make a lot of calls and want them cheapYou want sponsor and paid-promotion signalsHead to head
Six things we rate every YouTube API on. These are our ratings from published docs, prices and track record. The longer bar is better, and the winner’s bar is in its colour.
For cost, the lower number gets the longer bar. How we review
Pricing compared
SerpApi is a monthly subscription counted in searches, and every YouTube call counts as one. ScrapeCreators sells one-off credit packs, and most calls cost one credit.
Features side by side
If you’re building on the API
SerpApi has four YouTube engines: search, video (which also pages through comments and replies), transcript and, since September 2026, channel, with tabs for videos, Shorts, streams, playlists and community posts. You pass an API key in the query string, choose JSON, HTML or Markdown, and call synchronously or async. Throughput is capped per hour by plan, from 200 on Starter. The comment format isn’t documented.
ScrapeCreators has 18 YouTube endpoints, returning synchronous JSON with an API key header and no account-level rate cap. Beyond the basics it returns the “most replayed” heatmap and AI-disclosure labels on videos, filters search to paid promotions, and infers sponsors from a video’s description, links and transcript. Comment timestamps are estimates.
SerpApi API
- Engines
- 4: search, video, transcript, channel
- Auth
- API key in the query string
- Formats
- JSON, HTML, Markdown
- Throughput
- 50 to 640,000 an hour, by plan
- Docs
- Playground; Markdown copy of every page
ScrapeCreators API
- Endpoints
- 18 for YouTube
- Auth
- API key header
- Formats
- JSON
- Throughput
- No account cap; under 500 concurrent advised
- Docs
- Playground, OpenAPI, llms.txt
Where each falls short
SerpApi
Price, above all: even its largest listed plan works out at $1.96 per 1,000, more than ScrapeCreators’ $47 pack. Comments cost a search per page, and their format isn’t documented. There are no subscriber lists, contact emails or sponsorship detection. You can’t buy overage, only renew early. And Google’s case against it is still open after an amended complaint, while a New York court let Reddit’s similar claims proceed. Neither case is about YouTube.
ScrapeCreators
It’s a small team with no SOC 2 and no legal cover, and its status page shows YouTube breakages in 2026: transcripts in January and channel videos in May. Comment timestamps are estimates, and the sponsor endpoint is experimental. In October 2026 it apologised for changing Instagram error responses without notice.
Alternatives to both
See all 5 YouTube scraping APIs in our ranking
Questions
Is SerpApi or ScrapeCreators better for YouTube?
ScrapeCreators for most YouTube data: more endpoints at a fraction of the price. SerpApi when you need search results exactly as viewers see them and value its docs and legal cover over cost.
Why is SerpApi so much more expensive?
It prices every call as a “search” on a monthly plan: $25 per 1,000 on Starter, $15 on Developer and $10 on Production, falling to $1.96 on its largest listed plan. ScrapeCreators charges $1.88 per 1,000 calls on its $47 pack and $0.99 on its $497 pack.
Do both get YouTube transcripts?
Yes. SerpApi’s transcript engine costs one search per transcript. ScrapeCreators’ transcript endpoint costs one credit, and nothing when a video has no captions.
Is SerpApi being sued?
Yes. Google sued in December 2025 over SerpApi bypassing its bot protection on Google Search. A court dismissed the case in July 2026, partly with leave to amend; Google amended, and SerpApi has moved to dismiss again. Separately, a New York court let Reddit’s anti-circumvention claims against SerpApi proceed. Neither case is about YouTube.
Can ScrapeCreators find sponsored YouTube videos?
It can filter search to paid promotions, and an experimental endpoint infers a video’s sponsors from its description, links and transcript. SerpApi has no sponsorship detection.