Test
10,000 searches
$7.50
$0.75/1K searches
- Try every engine on your real queries
- Same API as the biggest pack
- Credits never expire
Quick answer
What is the best web search API for AI agents in 2026?
It depends on what the agent needs. For Google's own results, rankings and AI Overview sources, use a SERP API: SerpCrypto charges $0.75/1K searches down to $0.30/1K searches, paid in crypto with no KYC. For answers from a dedicated index, Brave, Perplexity, Linkup and You.com list $5.00 per 1,000 and Exa from $4.00, as of 22 October 2026; Tavily lists $7.50 at entry.
The 9 best search APIs for AI agents in 2026
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Google and Bing results pages as JSON for agents that need what users actually see: rankings, People Also Ask, local results and AI Overview sources.
Pros
- Credits never expire
- Ready tool code for MCP, LangChain, OpenAI, n8n and OpenClaw
Cons
- No free tier
- Returns results, not page content or written answers
- No per-call x402 payment
-
A search API built for LLM agents, which returns content prepared for a model. Nebius agreed to acquire Tavily in February 2026; Tavily keeps its brand.
Pros
- 1,000 free credits a month
- Per-call crypto without an account
Cons
- Monthly credits reset
- Not Google's results page
-
3
Exa
A search engine with its own index, designed for AI applications, with two search modes priced separately.
Pros
- $10 of free usage a month
- Among the fastest indices in Proxyway's March 2026 test
Cons
- Not Google's results page
-
4
Brave Search API
Results from Brave's independent index at a flat price, with a monthly credit.
Pros
- Own independent index
- Flat price
Cons
- Card required even for the free credit
-
5
Perplexity Search API
Search results from Perplexity's index, with a cheaper fast mode.
Pros
- Among the fastest indices in Proxyway's March 2026 test
- Low-cost fast mode
Cons
- Not Google's results page
-
6
Linkup
A search API for AI with standard and deep modes, payable per request in USDC without an account.
Pros
- No account needed with x402
- Monthly free credit
Cons
- Deep mode costs 10 times standard
-
7
You.com Web Search API
A web search API returning up to 100 results per call, with machine payments in stablecoins.
Pros
- Up to 100 results per call
- $10 free credit (about 2,000 searches)
Cons
- Not Google's results page
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A low-cost Google SERP API, the usual low-price reference in published SERP API comparisons.
Pros
- Low price at volume
- 2,500 free queries, no card
Cons
- Credits expire after 6 months
-
9
Firecrawl search
Web search combined with page scraping, for agents that need the content of the pages they find.
Pros
- Returns page content
- 1,000 free credits a month
Cons
- Plan credits do not roll over
Disclosure: this page is published by SerpCrypto. Competitor details come from their public websites at the date shown above and may have changed since.
Does my agent need a SERP API or an AI search API?
Ask what the agent has to know. If it must know what Google shows, choose a SERP API. That covers rankings, ads, local results, the AI Overview and its sources, and fresh news cards: things only the engine's own page holds.
If it needs relevant text to answer a question, an AI search API is often simpler. Tavily, Exa, Brave, Perplexity, Linkup and You.com answer from their own index or retrieval, and some return text ready for the model.
Many agents use both: a SERP API to find and rank sources as people see them, and a fetch or extract step to read the pages. The AI agents guide shows how to keep the SERP part small in tokens.
Can an AI agent pay for each search in crypto?
Yes, with some AI search APIs. Linkup, You.com, Tavily and Exa accept per-request payments in USDC through x402, an HTTP payment protocol: the agent pays for a call without an account. Linkup lists $0.01 a request, Tavily $0.01 a call, and You.com $0.005 a call on x402.
SerpCrypto works differently: you top up a balance once in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, buy credits that never expire, and the agent uses an API key. That suits agents run by a team; per-call x402 suits fully autonomous agents. We do not offer x402 today.
Which search APIs are fastest for agents?
The most-cited independent test is Proxyway's report of 4 March 2026, which ran 15 services three times with 2,000 requests. It found Perplexity, Exa and Tavily the fastest of the index-based APIs, and Oxylabs and Serper the fastest live SERP APIs, at a median of about 0.6 to 0.7 seconds.
We have not published speed figures for SerpCrypto; we will add them with a method and a date once measured. For an agent, total latency also depends on how much text you pass to the model, so trimming the response matters as much as the API.
What does SerpCrypto cost for an agent?
An agent that runs 300 searches a day uses about 9,000 a month: 10,000 searches covers it for $7.50. Credits never expire, so idle weeks cost nothing.
Starter
25,000 searches
$18.75
$0.75/1K searches
- A side project or an AI agent
- About 830 searches a day for a month
- Credits never expire
Build
100,000 searches
$56.25
$0.56/1K searches
- Daily rank tracking for 3,300 keywords
- One page per keyword per day for a month
- Credits never expire
Volume
1,000,000 searches
$375
$0.38/1K searches
- Large keyword sets and datasets
- Higher concurrency on request
- Credits never expire
In every plan: Every engine at 1 credit per search · Failed requests not charged · Credits never expire · Country, language, city and device targeting
Search APIs for AI agents: common questions
Which search API do Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor agents use?
Is there a free web search API for AI agents?
Several have free allowances: Tavily 1,000 credits a month, Exa $10 a month, Brave a $5 monthly credit with a card on file, and Serper 2,500 queries once. SerpCrypto has no free tier; its smallest pack is 10,000 searches for $7.50.
Which search API works without a credit card?
Serper's free queries need no card, and Linkup, You.com, Tavily and Exa accept per-call USDC via x402. SerpCrypto never asks for a card: you pay in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC with no KYC.
What is x402?
An HTTP-based protocol for paying per request in stablecoins such as USDC, without an account. Several AI search APIs accept it for agent payments. SerpCrypto does not offer it today.
How many tokens does a search result cost an agent?
It depends on what you pass on. Sending only the title, link and snippet of 10 organic results keeps the tool output short. The AI agents guide shows a helper that trims our JSON before it reaches the model.
Sources (14)
- Search APIs 2026 report — Proxyway (2026-03-04)
- API credits docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits — Tavily (read 2026-10-22)
- Tavily on x402 tavily.com/blog/tavily-on-x402 — Tavily (read 2026-10-22)
- Nebius announces agreement to acquire Tavily — Nebius (2026-02-10)
- Pricing exa.ai/pricing — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
- x402 guide exa.ai/docs/reference/x402-guide — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
- Brave Search API brave.com/search/api — Brave (read 2026-10-22)
- Search API overview docs.perplexity.ai/docs/search/overview.md — Perplexity (read 2026-10-22)
- Pricing docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/development/pricing — Linkup (read 2026-10-22)
- x402 docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/platform/x402 — Linkup (read 2026-10-22)
- Pricing you.com/pricing — You.com (read 2026-10-22)
- Machine payments you.com/docs/administration/machine-payments — You.com (read 2026-10-22)
- Serper serper.dev — Serper (read 2026-10-22)
- Pricing firecrawl.dev/pricing — Firecrawl (read 2026-10-22)