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It's a split decision.
YepAPI is a hosted, usage-billed API for SEO, SERP data, scraping, social and e-commerce data, and 285 AI models. Spider is a hosted API for scraping, crawling and searching the public web, with browser rendering and ordered crawl streaming. Pick YepAPI when one key across those data categories and AI models matters. Pick Spider when crawl depth, browser behavior or concurrency-based capacity matters. Both offer web APIs; neither publishes a self-hosting option or open-source license.
01Side by side
| YepAPI | Spider | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay per call; no subscriptions or monthly minimums | Pay per GB/CPU minute or monthly concurrency |
| Free tier | $5 signup credit; no card required | Free access; allowance not specified |
| API and SDKs | SEO, scraping, social, commerce and AI endpoints | Scrape, crawl and search APIs |
| CLI and docs | Docs, llms.txt, MCP server and agent skills | API setup prompt; no CLI listed |
| Integrations | Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and MCP | CrewAI, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Agno and more |
| Deployment model | Hosted API; one key across endpoints | Hosted API, browser and proxy services |
| Limits and scaling | No rate limits; usage billed by endpoint | Unlimited plan scales by concurrent requests |
| Platforms | Web | Web |
YepAPI Choose YepAPI if
- Choose YepAPI if one key should cover SEO, scraping and AI models.
- Choose YepAPI if per-call pricing and no monthly minimums fit your workload.
- Choose YepAPI if you want agent tooling including MCP and llms.txt.
Spider Choose Spider if
- Choose Spider if your workload needs web crawling and search together.
- Choose Spider if browser rendering must handle scripts and infinite scroll.
- Choose Spider if you want concurrency-based monthly capacity.
02Pricing at real usage
YepAPI has no free plan, but the pricing page lists a $5 signup credit with no card required. Calls are billed by endpoint or other metered unit, with no subscriptions or monthly minimums. The homepage lists Google SERP and scraping from $0.01 per call and keyword overview from $0.03; AI media prices vary by model. Failed calls are not charged.
Spider offers free access, though its pricing page does not specify an allowance. Pay as you go costs $1 per GB plus $0.0001 per CPU minute; failed requests cost $0, and prepaid balance does not expire. Higher concurrency uses a monthly Unlimited plan: it starts at $40 for two concurrent requests, while 25 cost $350. AI Studio starts at $6 per month. Optional zero data retention bills requests at 2.5x credits.
03API, SDKs and integration
YepAPI exposes endpoint calls such as POST /v1/seo/keywords/overview, POST /v1/serp/google and POST /v1/scrape. The homepage shows JSON request and response bodies and describes one key across endpoints and models. Its docs include an llms.txt file, and the homepage names Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, an MCP server and agent skills. It does not list language-specific SDKs or a CLI; plan for direct API integration unless the vendor confirms client options.
Spider provides API endpoints for scraping, crawling and search. Its homepage shows POST /crawl and says crawl pages can stream as ordered JSONL lines. Browser and proxy services use the same key. Spider lists integrations for CrewAI, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Agno, Dify, Flowise, Langflow and MCP clients, plus a setup prompt for coding agents. Neither product names specific programming-language SDKs in its listed integrations.
04Open source, self-hosting and lock-in
Neither vendor publishes an open-source license or a self-hosting option, so treat both as hosted services and confirm those requirements before choosing. YepAPI returns JSON across its endpoints, with scraping formats including markdown, HTML and screenshots. Spider returns markdown or JSON and can stream crawl results as JSONL. Those output formats give application code something concrete to parse, but they do not amount to a documented data-export or migration service.
Both products put the API between your application and the underlying service. Moving providers would mean replacing endpoint calls and adapting response handling; YepAPI spans more data categories, while Spider’s API covers web retrieval and browser services. Spider also lists optional zero data retention at 2.5x credits. Ask each vendor about retention, export and migration before sending data that must remain portable.
Questions people ask
Is YepAPI or Spider cheaper?
It depends on the workload. YepAPI bills per call, with Google SERP and scraping listed from $0.01 per call. Spider charges $1 per GB plus $0.0001 per CPU minute on pay as you go, or offers monthly concurrency plans starting at $40. Compare expected pages, data volume and compute.
Does YepAPI have a free tier?
YepAPI does not list a free plan. It offers a $5 signup credit, and its homepage says no card is required. Calls are metered after that credit; the pricing page lists no subscription or monthly minimum.
Can I self-host YepAPI or Spider?
Neither vendor publishes a self-hosting option or an open-source license. Treat both as hosted services unless the vendor confirms otherwise. If deployment control is a requirement, ask about hosting, data retention and migration before integrating.
Which has better integrations for AI agents?
YepAPI names Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, an MCP server and agent skills. Spider lists MCP clients and integrations including CrewAI, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Agno, Dify, Flowise and Langflow. Choose based on the frameworks already in your stack and the endpoint types you need.