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Openai/696f38b8-6790-8012-9bef-936da99e1c4e


This conversation was exported from ChatGPT[1]

gpt-5-2 edit

User: Cheapest web search api 2026 edit

Cheapest web search api 2026

Assistant: Here are the most cost-effective web search APIs available in 2026 if your priority is lowest price per query, along wi… edit

Here are the most cost-effective web search APIs available in 2026 if your priority is lowest price per query, along with typical costs and when they make sense for your project: Medium[2]

🏷️ Top Cheapest Web Search API Options edit

🥇 Keirolabs edit
  • Effective cost: ~$0.02–$0.30 per 1,000 searches (with caching and batch)
  • Pricing: Plans ~ $5.99 / $14.99 / $24.99 monthly
  • Best for: AI agents & repetitive queries where cache hits are high
  • Notes: Very low effective cost if cache usage is significant. Medium[3]
🪶 Serper edit
  • Cost: ~$0.30 per 1,000 calls at higher volume
  • Free tier: ~2,500 free credits to start
  • Best for: Budget Google-scraped search results
  • Notes: One of the cheapest per-query providers that still scrapes Google SERPs. Medium[4]
🆓 Brave Search API edit
  • Free tier: ~2,000 calls/month
  • Paid: ~$5 per 1,000 calls
  • Best for: Prototyping, small apps, privacy-focused search
  • Notes: Uses its own index, not Google. Medium[5]
🧠 DataForSEO edit
  • Cost: ~$0.60 per 1,000 calls
  • Best for: High-volume production projects when you plan to pay from day one
  • Notes: Very low price for raw Google-scraped data at scale. Medium[6]
📊 SearchAPI (varies) edit
  • Cost: ~$2–$4 per 1,000 calls
  • Free tier: ~100 free queries initially
  • Best for: Mid-scale needs that require Google data cheaper than SerpApi. Medium[7]

📌 Comparative Price Summary (Typical Range) edit

| Provider | Approx Cost / 1,000 Calls | Free Tier | Notes | | ------------ | ------------------------- | -------------- | --------------------------- | | Keirolabs | $0.02–$0.30* | No | Cheapest if cache effective | | Serper | ~$0.30 | ~2,500 credits | Very low budget option | | Brave Search | ~$5 | ~2,000/mo | Good free baseline | | DataForSEO | ~$0.60 | None | Low cost at scale | | SearchAPI | ~$2–$4 | ~100 | Mid-tier cheap |

  • Effective cost depends heavily on caching & how many unique queries your application performs. Medium[8]

🧠 Tips for Keeping Costs Low edit

✅ Use caching aggressively — APIs like Keirolabs that discount repeated searches can dramatically cut costs. Medium[9] ✅ Leverage free tiers first for prototyping (e.g., Brave + Serper credits). Medium[10] ✅ Batch queries if supported — reduces overhead on requests. Medium[11] ✅ For full text + metadata extraction, some providers cost more but save you the cost of separate scraping. Medium[12]

⚠️ Note on Bing Search API edit

Microsoft has shut down its traditional Bing Search API and is steering developers toward AI-centric alternatives under Azure AI Agents, so classic “cheap Bing SERP API” options may no longer be available or may be costly. theverge.com[13]

If you want a budget choice for small projects, tell me your expected monthly query volume and I can recommend the absolute cheapest plan for that scale.

References edit

  1. ↑ "Cheapest Web Search APIs". ChatGPT. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  2. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  3. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  4. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  5. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  6. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  7. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  8. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  9. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  10. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  11. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  12. ↑ "Medium". medium.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  13. ↑ "theverge.com". theverge.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
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