The affordable Tavily alternative
Serpex is a web search API for AI agents that returns search results and the full page content behind them as LLM-ready markdown in a single request. Tavily is a search API aimed at RAG pipelines, billed in credits rather than per request. Tavily lists $5.00 – $8.00 per 1,000 searches; Serpex lists $0.50 – $0.65 — about 10× lower.
Pricing verified against Tavily’s public pricing page on 2026-08-16. Source. Prices change — check theirs before deciding.
Pricing compared
| Serpex | Tavily | |
|---|---|---|
| Search, per 1,000 | $0.50 – $0.65 | $5.00 – $8.00 |
| Page content | Included on the same request | Extraction is a separate /extract endpoint: 1 credit per 5 URLs on basic, 2 credits per 5 on advanced — roughly $1.60 per 1,000 pages at pay-as-you-go rates |
| Search + content, 10 results, per 1,000 | $2.50 – $3.25 | $15 – $24 |
| Free tier | Free credits on signup, no card required | 1,000 credits per month on the free Researcher plan, no card required |
Where Serpex is different
- Around 12× lower cost per search at list price
- Content returned inline with results rather than through a second extract call
- Pay-as-you-go credits with no monthly plan to size in advance
Where Tavily is the better choice
- Purpose-built RAG helpers — answer synthesis and follow-up question generation out of the box
- Very well-trodden LangChain and LlamaIndex integrations
- Advanced search depth option that does more work per query when you want it
Pick Tavily if you want the search API to synthesise an answer for you, or your stack is already wired to their LangChain integration and the bill is not your problem yet.
What the Serpex request looks like
One call returns the results and the page content behind them. There is no second request to orchestrate.
curl -X POST https://api.serpex.dev/api/search \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SERPEX_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"query": "how does retrieval augmented generation work",
"include_content": true,
"content_results": 5
}'Frequently asked questions
Is Serpex cheaper than Tavily?
Yes. Tavily lists $5.00 – $8.00 per 1,000 search requests. Serpex lists $0.50 – $0.65 per 1,000 — roughly 10× lower at list price. Verified against their public pricing page on 2026-08-16.
What is the main difference between Serpex and Tavily?
Tavily is a search API aimed at RAG pipelines, billed in credits rather than per request. Serpex returns search results and the full page content behind them as LLM-ready markdown in a single API call, which is the difference that matters for most retrieval pipelines.
When should I use Tavily instead of Serpex?
You want the search API to synthesise an answer for you, or your stack is already wired to their LangChain integration and the bill is not your problem yet.
Can I get both search results and page content in one request?
With Serpex, yes — set include_content on a normal search call and each result comes back with the page converted to markdown. That costs $2.50 – $3.25 per 1,000 requests for 10 results with content, against roughly $15 – $24 for the equivalent on Tavily.
Try it against your own queries
Free credits on signup, no card required. Compare the output with Tavily on the queries you actually run.