Google does not offer a single official API that returns the full public web search results page. The closest option, the Custom Search JSON API, is narrow and is being shut down on January 1, 2027. This guide covers what Google officially provides in 2026, why it is going away, and the practical alternatives.
Does Google have an official search API?
Not really, at least not one that returns the general Google results page. Google offers two official APIs that touch search, but both are limited:
- The Custom Search JSON API, built for searching a defined set of sites through a Programmable Search Engine, not the open web at scale, and now closing.
- The Search Console API, which returns your own website’s search analytics, not other pages’ results.
For the full public SERP, including organic results, ads, People Also Ask, and AI Overviews, most teams use a third-party SERP API like Octoparse instead, which returns the full public results page the Custom Search API never did. We map all the routes in our guide to getting Google search data.
Google Custom Search JSON API: pricing, limits, and the 2027 shutdown
The Custom Search JSON API gives 100 free queries per day. Beyond that it costs about $5 per 1,000 queries, with a hard cap of 10,000 queries per day. It was designed to search specific sites you configure, so it never returned the full open-web results page the way people expect.
More importantly, it is closing. Google closed it to new customers in 2025, and announced in January 2026 that the API will be discontinued on January 1, 2027. Existing users can run it until then; new projects cannot sign up at all.
What about Vertex AI Search?
Google now points developers toward Vertex AI Search as the successor. It is worth understanding that this is a different product, not a drop-in replacement. Vertex AI Search is an enterprise offering for building semantic search over your own content, with pricing that starts around $2 per 1,000 queries and climbs with add-ons. It does not return the public Google web results that the Custom Search API did. If your goal is public SERP data, Vertex AI Search will not give it to you.
Google Search Console API
The Search Console API is free, but its scope is narrow: it returns performance data for a site you own and have verified, things like your clicks, impressions, and average position. It cannot query the general web or return other sites’ rankings. It is useful for your own analytics, not for collecting SERP data.
What to use instead of Google’s official API
With the official path narrowing, teams that need Google search data in 2026 have two practical routes:
- A third-party SERP API returns the full public results page as structured JSON. We compare the main options on price and features in best SERP APIs.
- A no-code or hosted tool gets the same data without an integration, which suits non-coders and one-off jobs.
Octoparse covers both. It is a data platform for developers, non-coders, and AI agents, with a Google SERP API, a CLI, and an MCP server for the technical side, and a no-code Google Search template that exports organic results, People Also Ask, and AI Overview text to a spreadsheet for everyone else. Unlike the Custom Search API, it returns the full public results page, and its Google Search template is free to run, with 2,000 records a week on the free plan via API or MCP. For image results specifically, see our Google image scraper guide.
https://www.octoparse.com/template/google-search-scraper
Frequently asked questions
- Does Google have a search API?
Google has no single official API that returns the full public web results page. It offers the Custom Search JSON API, built for searching specific sites and now closing on January 1, 2027, and the Search Console API, which only returns your own site’s analytics. For general Google results, most teams use a third-party SERP API such as Octoparse, which returns the full public results page the Custom Search API never did.
- How much does the Google Custom Search JSON API cost?
The Custom Search JSON API includes 100 free queries per day. Above that it costs about $5 per 1,000 queries, capped at 10,000 queries per day. It is also closed to new customers and will be discontinued on January 1, 2027, so it is not a long-term option for new projects.
- When is the Google Custom Search API shutting down?
Google announced in January 2026 that the Custom Search JSON API will be discontinued on January 1, 2027. It is already closed to new customers. Existing users can continue until the shutdown date, then must migrate to another solution.
- Is Vertex AI Search a replacement for the Custom Search API?
Not for public web results. Vertex AI Search is an enterprise product for semantic search over your own content, priced from about $2 per 1,000 queries. It does not return the public Google SERP that the Custom Search API returned, so it is not a like-for-like replacement for most use cases.
- What is the best alternative to the Google Custom Search API?
For public SERP data, a third-party SERP API or a no-code scraper is the practical alternative, since they return the full results page the Custom Search API never did. Compare the main paid options in our best SERP APIs guide; for a no-code path that also serves developers and AI agents, Octoparse covers a template, API, CLI, and MCP.
Details reflect Google’s public documentation and reporting as of August 2026. Verify current pricing and timelines on Google’s developer pages before relying on them.
