Search API Pricing in 2026: Cost per 1,000 Searches
A web search API costs anywhere from about $0.14 to $25 per 1,000 searches in 2026, depending on the vendor, the plan size and what comes back in each response. The cheap end is mostly Google results page APIs bought in bulk. AI search APIs that return page text or a written answer sit around $4 to $8 per 1,000 at entry level.
Prices checked 1 October 2026, from each vendor's own pricing page (linked in the table). We make Serpex, which is one row below. Where someone else is cheaper for a job, the table says so.
The table
"Entry" is the cheapest paid way in. "Volume" is the lowest per-1,000 rate the vendor publishes. Where a plan is sold as a monthly bundle, the per-1,000 figure is the plan price divided by the searches it includes.
| Vendor | Entry, per 1,000 | Volume, per 1,000 | Free tier | One request returns | Pricing page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serpex | $0.80 | $0.50 | 200 credits on signup, no card | Results with snippets; page markdown for the top 5 or 10 on request | serpex.dev/pricing |
| Tavily | $8.00 (pay as you go) | $5.00 (Growth plan, $500/month) | 1,000 credits a month | Results with snippet chunks; optional raw page content and a generated answer | docs.tavily.com |
| Exa | $4 (Instant), $7 (Fast/Auto) | Same, pay as you go | $10 credit a month plus $10 on signup | Results; contents billed per page per content type | exa.ai/pricing |
| Brave Search API | $5.00 | $5.00 | $5 credit a month | Results plus LLM context | brave.com/search/api |
| Parallel | $1.00 to $5.00 | Same | Up to 5,000 requests a month | Ranked URLs and compressed excerpts | parallel.ai/pricing |
| Linkup | $5.00 ($6.00 with a sourced answer) | Same | $20 credit, topped back up monthly for eligible accounts | Results, or a sourced answer | docs.linkup.so |
| Perplexity Search API | $5.00 ($1.00 Fast Search) | Same | None listed | Ranked results with extracted content | docs.perplexity.ai |
| You.com Web Search API | $5.00 | Same | 100 queries a day, $100 credit | Web and news results with snippets | you.com/pricing |
| SerpApi | $25.00 (Starter, $25/month) | About $1.96 (largest listed plan) | 250 searches a month | Search engine results page as JSON | serpapi.com/pricing |
| Serper | $1.00 ($50 pack) | $0.30 ($3,750 pack) | 2,500 queries, no card | Google results page as JSON | serper.dev |
| DataForSEO (Google Organic) | $0.60 queued, $2.00 live | Same | $1 credit, unlimited trial | Google results page as JSON or HTML | dataforseo.com |
| Bright Data SERP API | $1.50 (pay as you go) | $1.00 ($1,999/month plan) | 5,000 requests a month | Search results as JSON or HTML | brightdata.com |
| Scrapingdog (Google SERP Light) | $1.00 (Lite, $40/month) | $0.136 (largest plan) | 100 credits | Google results page as JSON | scrapingdog.com |
Two older options are gone for new projects:
- Bing Search APIs were retired on August 11, 2025. Microsoft's notice says existing instances "will be decommissioned completely" (Microsoft). See Bing Search API alternative.
- Google Custom Search JSON API "is closed to new customers", and existing customers "have until January 1, 2027 to transition" (Google). See Google Custom Search API alternative.
Why per-1,000 prices aren't comparable on their own
The number in the table only means something next to the column that says what you get back. Four different things are being sold:
- Snippets. A list of results with titles, URLs and a short excerpt. Cheap, and often not enough for a model to answer from.
- Page content. The text of the pages behind the results. Some APIs put it in the same response, some sell it as a second call. Exa charges $1 per 1,000 pages per content type, You.com's Contents API is $1.00 per 1,000 pages, Parallel's Extract API is $1 per 1,000, and Linkup's Fetch runs $1 to $11 per 1,000 calls depending on mode and JavaScript rendering.
- A written answer. Linkup's sourced answer is $6 per 1,000 instead of $5. Brave's Answers plan is $4 per 1,000 plus $5 per million tokens. Tavily's
include_answeradds a generated answer to a search. - The Google results page itself. SerpApi, Serper, DataForSEO, Bright Data and Scrapingdog return a parsed copy of the results page, ads and SERP features included. That is the product rank trackers need, and it's not the same thing as page text.
Billing rules move the number too. Tavily's advanced search depth is 2 credits instead of 1. DataForSEO multiplies the price by 5 for each operator such as site:. SerpApi's faster speed modes cost 2x and 4x the base plan. Serpex search with page content is 3 credits for 5 pages or 6 for 10.
What search costs for an agent
Take an agent that runs 10,000 tasks a month and makes 3 searches per task. That's 30,000 searches.
| Vendor | Rate | Plain search, 30,000 a month |
|---|---|---|
| Serpex | $0.65 to $0.80 | $19.50 to $24.00 |
| Parallel | $1 to $5 | $30 to $150 |
| Perplexity Search API | $1 (Fast) to $5 | $30 to $150 |
| Exa | $4 (Instant) to $7 (Fast/Auto) | $120 to $210 |
| Brave Search API | $5 | $150 |
| Linkup | $5 | $150 |
| You.com | $5 | $150 |
| Tavily | $0.008 per credit | $240 |
Now give the model the text of the top 10 pages for every search, which is what most RAG setups want. That's 300,000 pages a month.
- Serpex: 6 credits per search, so 180,000 credits. At the Standard rate of $0.65 per 1,000 that's $117.
- Tavily:
include_raw_contentis a search parameter, and Tavily's credit table lists no extra charge for it, so it stays at about $240 at pay as you go. - You.com: $150 for search plus $300 for 300,000 pages through the Contents API, $450 in total.
- Linkup: $150 plus $300 for standard Fetch without JavaScript rendering, $450.
- Parallel: $30 to $150 plus $300 for Extract, $330 to $450.
- Exa: check how your content mode is billed in Exa's endpoint table. Contents are listed at $1 per 1,000 pages per content type.
These are list prices before free tiers. Tavily's 1,000 free credits and Brave's $5 monthly credit both shave a little off.
SERP APIs and AI search APIs are two different jobs
A SERP API answers "what does Google show for this query, in this place, right now?" Rank trackers, SEO tools and ad monitors need that exact page. If that's your job, buy one of the SERP APIs, and at volume the cheapest published rates are Serper ($0.30 per 1,000 at its largest pack), Scrapingdog ($0.136 per 1,000 for SERP Light at its largest plan) and DataForSEO's Standard Queue ($0.60 per 1,000, results arrive through a task queue). Serpex is the wrong tool for that. There's more on SERP APIs in Best SERP APIs in 2026.
An AI search API answers "what does the web say about this?" for a model. What matters is whether the results are relevant and whether the page text comes back in a form the model can read. That's what Tavily, Exa, Brave, Parallel, Linkup, Perplexity's Search API, You.com and Serpex sell.
Which one to pick
- Exact Google results page at volume: Serper or DataForSEO. Serper if you want live results on prepaid credits, DataForSEO if your jobs can wait for a queue.
- Many SERP verticals and engines in one account: SerpApi. It's the most expensive per search at small plans, and it covers a long list of engines and Google verticals.
- Generated answers or many request filters: Tavily. Its search takes topic, time range, domain lists and country, and can return an answer.
- Semantic, research-style queries: Exa. See Tavily vs Exa.
- Managed deep research: Parallel's Task API or Linkup's research endpoint.
- Your own independent index requirement: Brave.
- Results plus page text for a model, at $0.50 to $0.80 per 1,000 searches: Serpex. It's a web search API that routes each query automatically, with no subscription. It has no domain or date filters and no generated answers, so if you need those, look at Tavily.
FAQ
What is the cheapest search API in 2026?
For Google results pages at high volume, Scrapingdog's largest plan lists $0.136 per 1,000 SERP Light requests and Serper's largest pack is $0.30. For AI search with page content, Serpex is $0.50 to $0.80 per 1,000 searches, and 3 or 6 credits when you ask for page text.
Which search APIs have a free tier that renews every month?
Tavily (1,000 credits), Exa ($10 credit), Brave ($5 credit), Parallel (up to 5,000 requests), Linkup ($20 balance for eligible accounts), You.com (100 queries a day), SerpApi (250 searches) and Bright Data (5,000 requests). Serper, DataForSEO and Serpex give a one-time signup allowance.
Is the Perplexity Sonar API still available?
Perplexity's docs say "Sonar Chat Completions support ended on September 27, 2026" and point to its Agent API. Its Search API, which returns ranked results rather than an answer, is $5.00 per 1,000 requests or $1.00 with Fast Search.
How were these prices checked?
Every figure comes from the vendor's own pricing page or docs, fetched on 1 October 2026. Plan-based per-1,000 figures are the plan price divided by the searches it includes. Prices in this category change often, so check the vendor's page before you commit.