SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
SerpApi Google News (3.8/5) edges ahead of Mediastack (3.8/5) overall. SerpApi Google News is the better choice for developers who specifically want Google News rankings. Mediastack is the stronger option for hobby projects and low-volume apps on a tight budget. The right pick depends on your budget, how much history you need and whether you need full text.
SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | SerpApi Google News | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2017 | 2015 |
| HQ | Austin, Texas, USA | Vienna, Austria (apilayer); owned by Idera |
| Team size | 11–50 | Part of Idera |
| Rating | 3.8 / 5 | 3.8 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Mirrors Google News results and story groupings as JSON | Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data |
| Pricing model | Monthly search plans; free allowance | Monthly request plans |
| Entry price | $25/mo | $24.99/mo |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON, Python SDK | REST API, JSON |
| Typical uses | SEO, Marketing & PR, AI & LLM apps, Media monitoring | News & content apps, Marketing & PR |
SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack: overview
SerpApi Google News
SerpApi was founded in 2017 in Austin, Texas, by Julien Khaleghy, has never raised outside funding, and has an estimated 20–50 staff. Its Google News API returns what Google News shows for a query or topic, parsed into JSON with titles, sources, dates and story groupings. Third-party pricing roundups put the free allowance at about 250 searches a month and paid plans from about $25 for 1,000 searches. Because the data is scraped from Google's pages, you get Google's selection and ranking but no article text, and SerpApi offers its own legal-protection pledge to US customers to cover the scraping risk.
Mediastack
Mediastack is one of the apilayer products, alongside ipstack and weatherstack. apilayer was founded in Vienna in 2015 by Julian and Paul Zehetmayr and acquired by the US software group Idera in January 2021. The API aggregates live and historical news from 7,500+ sources in 13 languages, filtered by country, category, language and keyword. The free plan allows 100 requests a month, and paid plans run from $24.99 for 10,000 requests to $249.99 for 250,000. Its source list is far smaller than the big crawlers here, and it adds no enrichment beyond basic metadata.
Features: SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack
| Capability | SerpApi Google News | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✗ | ✗ |
| Historical archive | ✗ | ✓ |
| NLP enrichment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Story/event clustering | ✓ | ✗ |
| Licensed publisher content | ✗ | ✗ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack
| Format / SDK | SerpApi Google News | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Python SDK | ✓ | N/A |
| Node.js SDK | ✓ | N/A |
| Webhooks | N/A | N/A |
| WebSocket | N/A | N/A |
| MCP server | N/A | N/A |
| S3/bulk delivery | N/A | N/A |
| BigQuery | N/A | N/A |
Pricing comparison: SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack
| Criterion | SerpApi Google News | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $25/mo | $24.99/mo |
| Pricing model | Monthly search plans; free allowance | Monthly request plans |
| Access models | Free tier, Monthly plans, Enterprise contract | Free tier, Monthly plans |
| Price transparency | Public price | Public price |
| Price tier | Budget | Budget |
Who each API suits: SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack
| Dimension | SerpApi Google News | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | SEO, Marketing & PR, AI & LLM apps | News & content apps, Marketing & PR |
| Example use cases | Tracking how a brand ranks in Google News. SEO and digital PR reporting. | A news ticker or category feed for a small website. A learning project that needs commercial rights cheaply. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Free tier |
SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack: pros and cons
| SerpApi Google News | |
|---|---|
| + | Google News ranking and story clusters that no licensed feed reproduces |
| + | Many official client libraries and a polished playground |
| + | The same account covers Google Search, Maps, Shopping and more |
| + | A US legal-protection pledge for scraping use |
| - | No article text, archive or sentiment |
| - | Depends on Google's page layout and policies, which the vendor does not control |
| - | Per-search pricing gets costly for broad monitoring |
| Mediastack | |
|---|---|
| + | One of the cheapest paid entries among general news APIs, at $24.99 a month |
| + | Same conventions as other apilayer APIs, which helps if you already use one |
| + | Historical news included on paid plans |
| + | Short docs with copy-paste examples |
| - | Only 7,500 sources and 13 languages |
| - | The free plan is 100 requests a month, which runs out in a day of testing |
| - | Descriptions only, with no full text, sentiment or entities |
Who should choose SerpApi Google News?
A typical fit: tracking how a brand ranks in Google News.
Mirrors Google News results and story groupings as JSON. Paid access starts at $25/mo. Typical uses: SEO, Marketing & PR, AI & LLM apps, Media monitoring.
Who should choose Mediastack?
A typical fit: a news ticker or category feed for a small website.
Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data. Paid access starts at $24.99/mo. Typical uses: News & content apps, Marketing & PR.
Decision matrix: SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want to start free before paying | Both |
| Your budget is at the lower end | Mediastack |
| You need full article text in the response | Neither returns full text |
| You need years of historical news | Mediastack |
| You need licensed premium or wire content | Neither; look at Factiva, AP or LexisNexis |
| You are wiring news into an LLM agent | SerpApi Google News |
Use case fit: SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack
| Use case | SerpApi Google News fit | Mediastack fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | Strong | Limited | SerpApi Google News |
| Marketing & PR | Strong | Strong | Both equally |
| AI & LLM apps | Strong | Limited | SerpApi Google News |
| Media monitoring | Strong | Limited | SerpApi Google News |
| News & content apps | Limited | Strong | Mediastack |
Verdict: SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack
SerpApi Google News (3.8/5) is the stronger overall choice as a news data source. Mirrors Google News results and story groupings as JSON.
Mediastack (3.8/5) is worth a look if you need a learning project that needs commercial rights cheaply. If your situation matches that, Mediastack is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
SerpApi Google News vs Mediastack FAQ
Is SerpApi Google News better than Mediastack?
SerpApi Google News (3.8/5) scores higher overall, but "better" depends on your use case. SerpApi Google News's strongest advantage: google News ranking and story clusters that no licensed feed reproduces. Mediastack's strongest advantage: one of the cheapest paid entries among general news APIs, at $24.99 a month.
How do SerpApi Google News and Mediastack differ in pricing?
SerpApi Google News: monthly search plans; free allowance, with paid access from $25/mo. Mediastack: monthly request plans, with paid access from $24.99/mo. Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: SerpApi Google News or Mediastack?
SerpApi Google News sells enterprise contracts with negotiated volume and SLA terms. Neither carries licensed publisher content, so check copyright terms before republishing anything.
What are the main differences between SerpApi Google News and Mediastack?
What sets SerpApi Google News apart: mirrors Google News results and story groupings as JSON. What sets Mediastack apart: paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data. They also differ on entry price ($25/mo vs $24.99/mo) and typical uses (SEO, Marketing & PR vs News & content apps, Marketing & PR).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.