I benchmarked four Google Flights APIs on the same searches, and the fares matched to the dollar

I recently conducted a benchmark test comparing four Google Flights APIs: FlightPowers (which I developed), SerpApi, SearchApi, and HasData. The purpose was to determine how they stacked up against each other in terms of performance and pricing. The tests were run on the same three searches across the same hour on October 7, 2026.

The searches included a round trip from JFK to LHR departing on November 18 and returning on November 25, a one-way flight from TLV to BKK on December 3, and a flexible search from LHR to BCN between November 10 and 16 for three days. All tests used one adult in economy class with USD currency and three runs per search per API, conducted from a VM in GCP us-central1. The time quoted was the median of three runs, from sending the request to reading the last byte.

The results showed that all four APIs returned the same cheapest fare for each search, which was $692 for the round trip, $619 for the one-way, and $93 for the lowest price on each of the seven scan dates, ranging from $93 to $619. The only difference was a label indicating the type of pricing: SearchApi labeled some scan dates as "high," while the other three labeled them as "typical." This suggests that all four APIs were reading the same Google Flights results.

However, there were some differences in performance. SearchApi, SerpApi, and HasData answered the round trip with both legs in two separate requests, taking a total of 6.36 to 7.56 seconds. My API, on the other hand, paired both legs in one request, taking just 3.27 seconds, resulting in a cost of $4.00 per 1,000 round trips. For the one-way search, SearchApi and SerpApi provided the answers faster (1.56 and 1.50 seconds, respectively) compared to my API's 1.34 seconds. The seven-date scan took longer at 28.37 seconds for HasData and 15.99 seconds for my API.

All four APIs returned identical prices: $692 for the round trip, $619 for the one-way, and $93 for the lowest price on each of the seven scan dates. The only variation was a label indicating the pricing type: SearchApi labeled some scan dates as "high," while the other three labeled them as "typical." This implies that the four APIs were accessing the same Google Flights results, but the labeling difference doesn't necessarily indicate a better price.