Is there a cheaper alternative to SearchApi for Google Flights?

Cheaper to start, yes. SearchApi's smallest plan is $40 a month for 10,000 searches (searchapi.io/pricing, read 2026-10-06). FlightPowers PRO is $10 for 2,500. Per search the two are the same, $4 per 1,000. At SearchApi's volume, our ULTRA plan is $25 for 10,000 searches.

Does SearchApi charge for failed searches?

No. Their pricing page says "Only successful searches with a 200 status code incur charges" (read 2026-10-06). On RapidAPI every request that reaches our listing is counted, including errors, so on that one row SearchApi bills more kindly than we do.

How many requests is a round trip on SearchApi?

The first call lists outbound flights, each with a price. To see the return flights you send a second call with the departure_token from the outbound you picked; their docs describe the token as "used to select a flight and view return flights (for round trips)". On FlightPowers one POST /v1/flights/roundtrip returns both legs, the total and one booking link.

Can FlightPowers price a whole range of dates like the SearchApi calendar?

Not in one REST call. Our REST API takes one date pair per request, so a month of departure dates is about 30 requests, which PRO's 150 requests a minute runs in parallel. Our MCP servers do take a date range and a list of destinations in one tool call, and each date and destination still counts as one search. SearchApi's calendar endpoint returns a date grid in one request.

Does SearchApi have hotels too?

Yes: Google Hotels, Booking.com Search and Airbnb Search are sold on the same plans. Our Hotels API is Booking.com only, $10 for 2,000 searches, with a proxy_country parameter that prices a stay as seen from another country.

Comparison · SearchApi pages read 2026-10-06

A SearchApi alternative for Google Flights

FlightPowers is a SearchApi alternative for Google Flights: the same Google fares and price band, both legs of a round trip in one request where SearchApi needs a second call for the return flight, and a $10 plan for 2,500 searches against SearchApi's $40 for 10,000. Best for small flight workloads; SearchApi for its date-grid calendar.

SearchApi figures are quoted from searchapi.io on 2026-10-06. Ours come from the same file as our pricing page. If their site says something different today, their site is right.

Side by side

Same price per search, different first bill

SearchApi's Developer plan and our PRO plan both work out at $4 per 1,000 searches. What differs is how much you pay before the first search, and what a round trip costs.

	SearchApi	FlightPowers
Smallest paid plan	$40 a month, 10,000 searches	$10 a month, 2,500 searches (PRO)
Per 1,000 searches, entry plan	$4 ("$4 per 1,000 searches")	$4.00 on PRO, $2.50 on ULTRA ($25 for 10,000)
Free to try	"Sign up for 100 free requests"	10 requests a month on BASIC, no card
Round trip with the return flight	Two calls: the search, then a second call with the departure_token of the outbound you picked. $8 per 1,000 priced round trips on Developer.	One call to POST /v1/flights/roundtrip: both legs, one total, one booking link. $4.00 per 1,000 on PRO.
Google price band	Yes: price_insights with typical_price_range and a price_history series.	Yes: price_insights_low / price_insights_high and a low / typical / high verdict on every result. No history series.
A range of dates in one call	Yes, on REST: the google_flights_calendar engine returns every date pair in a range, up to 200 combinations.	Not on REST (one date pair per request). Yes on our MCP servers: a date range and a destination list in one tool call, each combination counted as one search.
Hotels	Google Hotels, Booking.com Search and Airbnb Search on the same plans.	Booking.com only, on its own plan: $10 for 2,000, with proxy_country.
MCP	Their docs menu has an MCP section ("Your MCPs") behind sign-in. We did not test it.	Hosted servers at `https://flights.flightpowers.com/mcp` and `https://hotels.flightpowers.com/mcp`, on your own RapidAPI key.
Failed requests	"Only successful searches with a 200 status code incur charges."	Counted by RapidAPI like any request.
Rate limit	"up to 20% of your plan's credits each hour": 2,000 an hour on Developer.	150 a minute on PRO, 250 on ULTRA.

SearchApi cells: searchapi.io/pricing and /docs, read 2026-10-06. FlightPowers cells: src/lib/pricing.ts and the run below.

The round trip

One request on their own example route

SearchApi's Google Flights docs use New York to Madrid as the round-trip example. Here is the same route through our API, one call, run on the date shown.

request

curl -X POST https://api.flightpowers.com/v1/flights/roundtrip \
  -H "x-api-key: $FLIGHTPOWERS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "from_airport": "JFK",
    "to_airport": "MAD",
    "departure_date": "2026-11-17",
    "return_date": "2026-11-24",
    "currency": "USD",
    "limit": 10
  }'

The call returned ten itineraries with X-Search-Status: ok. The cheapest is on the right: $498 on TAP through Lisbon, which Google calls typical for this route ($350 to $530). Both legs, their stops and the total are in the one object. The nonstop Iberia and Delta options in the same answer were $660.

response · cheapest of 10 rows · captured 19:54 UTC on 2026-10-06

{
  "price_range_in_relation_to_other_periods": "typical",
  "price_insights_low": 350,
  "price_insights_high": 530,
  "from_airport": "New York (JFK)",
  "to_airport": "Madrid (MAD)",
  "departure_date": "2026-11-17",
  "return_date": "2026-11-24",
  "total_price": "$498",
  "total_price_as_number": 498,
  "total_stops": 2,
  "departure_flight_airline": "Tap Air Portugal",
  "departure_flight_duration": "10 hr 5 min",
  "departure_flight_stops": 1,
  "departure_stops_info": [
    { "stop_airport": "LIS", "stop_duration_seconds": 6000 }
  ],
  "return_flight_airline": "Tap Air Portugal",
  "return_flight_duration": "18 hr 25 min",
  "return_flight_stops": 1,
  "return_stops_info": [
    { "stop_airport": "LIS", "stop_duration_seconds": 30600 }
  ],
  "buy_link": "https://www.google.com/travel/flights?tfs=..."
}

“departure_token: Used to select a flight and view return flights (for round trips) or flights for the next leg (for multi-city trips).”
searchapi.io/docs/google-flights-api · read 2026-10-06

To be fair to them: in SearchApi's own sample response the first call already shows a price on each outbound row, marked “Round trip”, so if you only need the number, one call may be enough there too. The second call is for the return flight itself, which a fare alert or a booking link usually needs.

Their side

What SearchApi does that we do not

A date grid in one request

Their calendar engine takes an outbound range and a return range and, in their words, “will return all possible outbound-return date combinations within the specified ranges”, up to 200. If a price calendar is your product, that is one request where our REST API needs one per date pair.

Dozens of other engines on one key

Google Search, Maps, Shopping, Hotels, Booking.com, Airbnb, Tripadvisor and more are sold on the same plans. If flights are one feature among several, one vendor is simpler than two.

A legal protection clause

Their Production plan and every plan above it list a Legal Protection Guarantee: “We accept legal responsibility for how SearchApi collects and parses publicly available search results, backed by up to $2M in coverage.” We offer no indemnity.

Price history and multi-city

Their price_insights carries a price_history series, and flight_type=multi_city prices three or more legs. We return the band without history, and one-way or round trip only.

The decision

Which one to pick

Pick SearchApi when

You build a price calendar and want the grid in one REST call.
You already use their other engines and want one bill.
You need multi-city or a fare history series.
Your legal team wants a coverage clause.

Pick FlightPowers when

Your volume is under 10,000 searches a month and $40 is more than you need to spend.
Most of your searches are round trips and you need the return flight.
You want flights inside Claude or Cursor with a date range in one tool call.
You also price hotels as seen from different countries.

Questions, answered plainly

Is there a cheaper alternative to SearchApi for Google Flights?: Cheaper to start, yes. SearchApi's smallest plan is $40 a month for 10,000 searches (searchapi.io/pricing, read 2026-10-06). FlightPowers PRO is $10 for 2,500. Per search the two are the same, $4 per 1,000. At SearchApi's volume, our ULTRA plan is $25 for 10,000 searches.
Does SearchApi charge for failed searches?: No. Their pricing page says "Only successful searches with a 200 status code incur charges" (read 2026-10-06). On RapidAPI every request that reaches our listing is counted, including errors, so on that one row SearchApi bills more kindly than we do.
How many requests is a round trip on SearchApi?: The first call lists outbound flights, each with a price. To see the return flights you send a second call with the departure_token from the outbound you picked; their docs describe the token as "used to select a flight and view return flights (for round trips)". On FlightPowers one POST /v1/flights/roundtrip returns both legs, the total and one booking link.
Can FlightPowers price a whole range of dates like the SearchApi calendar?: Not in one REST call. Our REST API takes one date pair per request, so a month of departure dates is about 30 requests, which PRO's 150 requests a minute runs in parallel. Our MCP servers do take a date range and a list of destinations in one tool call, and each date and destination still counts as one search. SearchApi's calendar endpoint returns a date grid in one request.
Does SearchApi have hotels too?: Yes: Google Hotels, Booking.com Search and Airbnb Search are sold on the same plans. Our Hotels API is Booking.com only, $10 for 2,000 searches, with a proxy_country parameter that prices a stay as seen from another country.

Other alternatives

Compared on the same terms

The product side of every page: Flights API, Hotels API and the MCP servers. All comparisons are on /compare.

Run the same route on your own key

Live Google Flights fares with Google's price band on every result, and a round trip in one request.

Get a key on RapidAPI →See pricing

Free tier: 10 requests/month. No card to try.

Docs: the Flights API and the MCP servers.