# Does Google have a search API in 2026?

> Does Google have a search API in 2026? Custom Search JSON API closed to new customers, full-web search ends 1 January 2027. Every option, price and date.

- URL: https://serpcrypto.com/guides/does-google-have-a-search-api/
- Last updated: 2026-10-22
- Publisher: SerpCrypto (https://serpcrypto.com)

Google's developer search products have narrowed fast since January 2026. Here is what each one still offers, who can use it, what it costs and when it ends.

**Quick answer — Does Google have an official search API in 2026?**

Not one that a new developer can sign up for to search the whole web. As of 22 October 2026, Google's Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers and ends on 1 January 2027, and new Programmable Search Engines are limited to 50 domains. Full-web access is partner-only. Third-party SERP APIs such as **SerpCrypto** fill the gap, from $0.30/1K searches, paid in crypto, no KYC.

## Which Google search options exist, and who can use them?

Read on Google's own pages and in Search Engine Journal on 22 October 2026. A dash means the source does not give the figure.

| Option | Who can use it | Searches the whole web? | Price | End date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Custom Search JSON API | Existing customers only | Only through an engine still set to the entire web | 100 queries a day free, then $5 per 1,000, up to 10,000 a day | 1 January 2027 |
| Programmable Search Engine | Anyone, for new engines with sites to search | New engines: no, up to 50 domains. Existing full-web engines: until 1 January 2027 | — | Full-web option ends 1 January 2027 |
| Vertex AI Search | Google Cloud customers | Google presents it for searching up to 50 domains | Google Cloud pricing | — |
| Web Search Service API | Partners with a partner client ID | Yes | No public price | — |
| Third-party SERP API (e.g. SerpCrypto) | Anyone | Yes: the page Google shows a searcher | Per 1,000 searches; SerpCrypto from $0.30/1K searches | — |

*Prices checked on October 22, 2026.*

## What happened to the Custom Search JSON API?

Google closed it to new customers and set an end date. Its overview page, read on 22 October 2026, states that "The Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers" and that existing customers "have until January 1, 2027 to transition to an alternative solution".

Until then, existing customers keep the same terms: 100 queries a day at no cost, then $5 per 1,000 queries, with a ceiling of 10,000 queries a day. The API queries a Programmable Search Engine, so what it can search depends on how that engine is configured (see below).

## Can Programmable Search Engine still search the entire web?

Only engines created before the change, and only until 1 January 2027. Google's help page says that as of 20 January 2026, Programmable Search Engine "is transitioning to more focused solutions": new engines must list the sites to search, up to 50 domains.

Existing engines set to "Search the entire web" can keep that setting until 1 January 2027. The same page warns that once the option is switched off, it cannot be switched back on. Google announced the change on its Programmable Search Engine blog on 20 January 2026.

## What does Google recommend instead?

For site search, Google points to Vertex AI Search, which its Custom Search page describes as "a favorable alternative for searching up to 50 domains". For needs that cover the whole web, the same page asks developers to contact Google rather than naming a self-service product.

In practice, this suits a company that wants search over its own sites and a few partners. It does not give a rank tracker, an SEO tool or an AI agent the results page that a person sees on google.com.

## What is Google's Web Search Service API?

It is a full-web results API that Google documents for partners only. Search Engine Journal reported on 11 September 2026 that Google had updated its documentation on 9 September 2026.

According to that report, access needs a Google Cloud project, an API key and a partner client ID, and each request must include the end user's IP address. A request returns up to 20 results, 10 by default. No public price was given, and the overview page at developers.google.com returned an error when we tried to read it on 22 October 2026.

## What can developers use for full Google results now?

A third-party SERP API. It runs the search for the country, language, city and device you choose, and returns the results page as JSON, including blocks no official API ever returned, such as People Also Ask, the local pack and the AI Overview.

**SerpCrypto** is one of them: `GET https://serpcrypto.com/api/v1/search?engine=google&q=…`, 1 credit = 1 successful search request, which returns one page of results on any supported engine. A request that fails is not charged. 10,000 searches cost $7.50 and 100,000 searches cost $56.25, as of October 2026, and credits never expire. If you are leaving the Custom Search JSON API, our [migration page](https://serpcrypto.com/alternatives/google-custom-search-api/) maps its parameters to ours.

Automated access to Google results is contested in US courts in 2026; our page [Is using a SERP API legal?](https://serpcrypto.com/guides/is-a-serp-api-legal/) gives the dated facts.

## And what about Bing?

Bing no longer has a results API either. Microsoft retired the Bing Search APIs on 11 August 2025 and decommissioned existing instances. Its suggested replacement, Grounding with Bing Search for Azure AI Agents, gives a model grounded answers rather than a results page, and Microsoft lists it at $14 per 1,000 transactions. Details are on our [Bing Search API replacement](https://serpcrypto.com/alternatives/bing-search-api/) page.

## Google search API: common questions

### Is the Google Custom Search API deprecated?

Yes, in effect. Google closed it to new customers and gave existing customers until 1 January 2027 to move to another solution. Until that date it still works for them at $5 per 1,000 queries after 100 free queries a day.

### Is there a free Google search API?

Only for existing Custom Search JSON API customers, who get 100 queries a day at no cost until 1 January 2027. New developers cannot sign up. Third-party SERP APIs charge per search.

### What are the Custom Search JSON API limits?

Existing customers can run up to 10,000 queries a day: the first 100 are free and the rest cost $5 per 1,000. What the queries cover depends on the Programmable Search Engine behind them.

### Can I still create a Programmable Search Engine that searches the entire web?

No. Since 20 January 2026, new engines must list the sites to search, up to 50 domains. Only engines that already had the full-web option can keep it, until 1 January 2027.

### Does SerpCrypto need a Google account or an API key from Google?

No. You use a SerpCrypto API key only. You top up from $25 in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, buy a credit pack, and call the endpoint; no Google Cloud project is involved.

## Sources

1. [Custom Search JSON API overview](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview) — Google for Developers (read 2026-10-22)
2. [Programmable Search Engine: search the entire web](https://support.google.com/programmable-search/answer/12397162?hl=en) — Google Help (read 2026-10-22)
3. [Updates to our Web Search Products & Programmable Search Engine Capabilities](https://programmablesearchengine.googleblog.com/2026/01/updates-to-our-web-search-products.html) — Programmable Search Engine Blog (2026-01-20)
4. [Google documents partner-only API for full web search results](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-documents-partner-only-api-for-full-web-search-results/) — Search Engine Journal (2026-09-11)
5. [Bing Search API retirement](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement) — Microsoft Learn (read 2026-10-22)
6. [Grounding with Bing Search pricing](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/apis/grounding-pricing) — Microsoft (read 2026-10-22)

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SerpCrypto: SerpCrypto is a SERP API for developers and AI agents that returns Google and Bing results as JSON, paid in crypto with no ID upload. Prepaid search credits from $0.30/1K searches never expire. No KYC — no ID, no selfie, no documents. Pay in crypto.