An r/crewai post documented an SDR agent migration: from real-time Selenium scraping to a Google Dorks + Serper + Llama-3 + MCP cache architecture. The migration is common: CrewAI agents need cleaner search than scraping provides. Five search APIs ranked for CrewAI agents.
Top Pick
Scavio plugs into a CrewAI Tool subclass with one wrapper file. Multi-platform output keeps the agent's research surface broad without three separate tool classes.
Full Ranking
#1Our Pick
Scavio
Multi-platform CrewAI research crews
Pros
- Multi-surface
- MCP
- LangChain-compatible tool
Cons
- BYO CrewAI Tool subclass
#2
Serper (CrewAI-native via langchain wrappers)
Cheap raw SERP for CrewAI
Pros
- Cheap
Cons
- No extract
- Single surface
#3
Tavily (LangChain-native)
LangChain-style CrewAI agents
Pros
- Native LangChain tool
Cons
- Single surface
#4
DuckDuckGo (free, for prototyping)
Prototyping
Pros
- Free
Cons
- Rate limits
- Inconsistent
#5
SerpAPI
Existing SerpAPI users
Pros
- Mature
Cons
- Pricier
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Scavio | Runner-up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per-query cost | $0.0043 | $0.30 to $1.00 per 1K | $0.008+ |
| Multi-surface | Yes | No | No |
| Native LangChain tool | Yes (langchain-scavio) | Yes | Yes |
| Cache-friendly (typed JSON) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Multi-platform crews | Cheap SERP crews | Web-only crews |
Why Scavio Wins
- CrewAI's appeal is multi-agent crews that each take on a specialized role. A research agent needs the broadest surface, not the cheapest single-surface API. Scavio's SERP + Reddit + YouTube under one credit pool fits the role exactly.
- The r/crewai SDR-agent migration pattern (Dorks → Serper → cache → MCP) is portable to Scavio with one tweak: replace Serper with Scavio for the source step and the cache layer becomes typed JSON instead of stringly-typed search results.
- Honest tradeoff: if the CrewAI crew is doing pure Google Dorks for one specific signal (PDF discovery on government portals, exactly the r/crewai post), Serper at the top tier is cheaper at $0.30/1K. For diverse research surfaces, Scavio's all-in pricing wins.
- MCP server lets a CrewAI agent skip the Tool wrapper and connect directly. CrewAI v0.50+ supports MCP servers as agent tools — attach mcp.scavio.dev/mcp and the crew gets typed search/extract tools.
- Cache + typed JSON pattern (as in the r/crewai post — SQLite cache returning JSON in 50ms) works directly with Scavio's response shape. The cache key is the query plus surface; the value is the typed JSON. Hits return in single-digit ms.