What does a web search API cost per 1,000 queries?
A web search API costs from $0.99 per 1,000 queries (Search1API) at 100,000 queries a month, $5.00 on the middle one of the 17 with a paid bill (7 of them charge exactly $5.00). TinyFish covers that volume free, within its published limits.
Worked out from each vendor's own pricing page; each vendor page on this site shows the day its price was read. A query returns each vendor's standard results; deeper search, page contents and answers cost more where the vendor charges for them.| Web search API | 100,000 queries a month | Per 1,000 queries | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| TinyFish | Free within its limits | free | Search |
| Search1API | $99.00 | $0.99 | Professional |
| Parallel Web Systems Search API | $100.00 | $1.00 | Turbo Search |
| Perplexity Search API | $100.00 | $1.00 | Search API with Fast Search |
| Nimble | $110.00 | $1.10 | Pay as you go |
| Desearch | $179.00 | $1.79 | Starter |
| Firecrawl | $349.00 | $3.49 | Standard |
| Exa | $400.00 | $4.00 | Instant Search |
| Valyu | $449.00 | $4.49 | Serious Business |
| Brave Search API | $500.00 | $5.00 | Search |
| Linkup | $500.00 | $5.00 | Fast or Standard Search Results |
| You.com API | $500.00 | $5.00 | Web Search API |
| Scavio | $500.00 | $5.00 | Growth |
| ScrapeGraphAI | $500.00 | $5.00 | Pro |
| Hyperbrowser | $500.00 | $5.00 | Startup |
| Tavily | $500.00 | $5.00 | Growth |
| Browserbase | $713.00 | $7.13 | Developer — Search |
| Kagi Search API | $1,200.00 | $12.00 | Search API |
A web search API returns results for an AI agent or an app to read: links, snippets and, on many, the page text. The price per query hides what comes back, so compare the result count and whether page contents are included; the web search page prices any volume with deep search switched on or off.
What a web search API returns
A web search API takes a query and returns web results as data: links, titles and snippets, and on many of them the text of each page, ready for an AI agent or an app to read. It differs from a SERP API, which returns a copy of one search engine’s results page with its ads and boxes; the SERP API prices are a separate table.
Why the same price can buy different results
The price per 1,000 queries is the vendor’s standard search. What comes back for it varies: the number of results, whether page contents are included, and how fresh the index is. Deeper modes, full page text and generated answers usually cost more per query. Before comparing prices, check that the standard search returns what your agent or app needs, and price the deeper mode if it does not.
Free allowances
A few web search APIs give a monthly allowance free, and one covers a whole 100,000-query month within its daily limits. A free allowance with a daily cap suits steady traffic; a job that sends its queries in bursts can hit the cap and needs a paid plan. The web search API page prices any volume, with deep search switched on or off.