Tools & keys · Search
Serper setup
Google results, used after Tavily's monthly quota.
Optional
Updated
Free tier
New Serper accounts get 2,500 free queries. They're one-time credits that don't renew monthly.checked September 2026
Larvabot's cap
Stops at 2,400 in total (free: 2,500). Change it in Settings → Free-quota guard.Fallback position
#7 of 9 for search. See the orderWhat it does
Serper is an API for Google search results.
- Backup web search for leads, directories and Reddit threads
Get set up
- Sign up at serper.dev and copy your API key
- Paste it in Settings → Search → Serper API key
Where it goes
In the dashboard, open Settings and find the Search section. Secret values are encrypted before they're saved and only their last four characters are ever shown again.
Settings → Search
Serper API keyencrypted
SERPER_API_KEY••••••••••••
Staying free
Because the credits don't renew, Larvabot uses Serper only after Tavily (which renews monthly), caps it at 2,400 in total, and checks Serper's balance endpoint so it stops before the credits run out.
How the quota guard works →Fallback order
For search, Larvabot tries these in order and skips any that aren't set up, are out of free quota or are busy.
- 1Tavily
- 2Linkup
- 3Exa
- 4Brave Search API
- 5SearXNG (your server)
- 6Larvabot search server
- 7Serper (Google results)
- 8Jina Search
- 9DuckDuckGo HTML
More search tools
Curious why Serper made the cut? Serper in the free stack →