Search API pricing, compared
What 9 web search APIs charge per 1,000 requests, what they give away free, and how fast you may call them, each read from the vendor’s own pricing page. upAPI’s own web search is the last row.
Last checked October 22, 2026. Every vendor figure was read from that vendor’s own page on that date and links to it; a figure the page did not state is shown as “not stated”. Prices change, so confirm on the vendor’s page before you commit.
Price per 1,000 requests
| API | Per 1,000 requests | Free tier | Rate limit | Auth | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brave Search API (Search plan) | $5.00 | "$5 in free credits every month" | 50 queries per second | X-Subscription-Token header | "$5 per 1,000 requests". |
| Google Organic SERP API (Live mode) | $2.00 | $1 trial credit for new accounts | not stated | HTTP Basic auth | "$0.002 in Live mode" per SERP. Standard queue $0.60 and Priority queue $1.20 per 1,000, delivered later rather than live. Minimum top-up $50. |
| Exa Search (Auto, the default type) | $7.00 | "$10 credits per month" | 10 queries per second on the free tier | x-api-key header | "Base price, with up to 10 results (per 1k requests)": $4 Lite, $7 Auto, $12 Deep. Each result beyond 10 adds $1 per 1,000 requests. |
| Linkup Search (standard depth, search results) | $5.00 | $20 of credit, topped back up to $20 each month for eligible accounts | not stated | Authorization: Bearer header | "standard" depth, "searchResults" output: $0.005 per call. Deep search costs $0.05 per call ($50 per 1,000). |
| Perplexity Search API | $5.00 | not stated | 50 query units per second | Authorization: Bearer header | "Search API | $5.00" per 1,000 requests. Search API with Fast Search: $1.00 per 1,000 requests. Billed per successful request, no token costs. |
| SerpApi (Starter plan) | $25.00 | 250 searches per month | 200 searches per hour on Starter | api_key query parameter | Starter: $25 a month for 1,000 searches. Larger monthly plans cost less per search. Cached, errored and failed searches are not counted. |
| Serper (Starter top-up) | $1.00 | 2,500 free queries, no credit card | 50 queries per second on Starter | not stated | Starter: $50 for 50k credits ("$1.00/1k"), credits valid for 6 months. Prepaid credits, excluding sales tax/VAT/GST. |
| Tavily Search (basic, pay as you go) | $8.00 | 1,000 credits per month, no credit card | 100 requests per minute (development key), 1,000 (production key) | Authorization: Bearer header | "$0.008 per credit"; a basic search costs 1 credit. Advanced search costs 2 credits ($16 per 1,000). The monthly Project plan is 4,000 credits for $30. |
| You.com Web Search API | $5.00 | $10 credit on signup; 100 Web Search queries a day through MCP | 10 requests per second | X-API-Key header | Web Search API Standard: "$5 /1k calls". A call costs the same whether it returns 1 result or 100. |
| upAPI Web Search | $0.0998 to $0.29 Effective price, based on Scale at its listed price (USD 499 a month) and Starter at its listed price (USD 29 a month). See pricing | 1,000 weighted units a month (Free plan) | 10 to 1,000 requests per minute, by plan | X-Api-Key header | 1 weighted unit per call. Results come from DuckDuckGo, not Google's index. |
Questions
How much does a web search API cost per 1,000 requests?
Entry prices for the 9 search APIs in this table, read from each vendor's own page on October 22, 2026, run from $1.00 (Serper) to $25.00 (SerpApi) per 1,000 requests; 4 of them list $5.00. Several vendors price by search mode or depth, so check the notes column for the mode you need.
Which search APIs have a free tier?
Brave, DataForSEO, Exa, Linkup, SerpApi, Serper, Tavily, You.com each list a free allowance on their pricing page; the table quotes it. Where a vendor's page states none, the cell says so.
Why is Google's Custom Search JSON API not in the table?
Google's own overview page says the Custom Search JSON API "is not available for new customers" and will be discontinued on January 1, 2027, so a new project cannot sign up for it.
What does a web search cost on upAPI?
upAPI's web-search operation costs 1 weighted unit per call: an effective $0.0998 per 1,000 calls based on the Scale plan at its listed price, and $0.29 based on Starter (see upapi.io/pricing); the free plan includes 1,000 units a month. Its results come from DuckDuckGo, not from Google's index, so it is not a like-for-like replacement for a Google SERP API.