Web search APIs you can pay per call

What web search APIs do

A web search API takes a query and returns information about matching pages. A response can contain URLs, titles, snippets, ranking positions or a synthesized answer with citations. Search results help an agent decide what to read next. An answer product attempts an additional synthesis step. A page-fetch product retrieves content from a known URL and should not be confused with discovering that URL.

An agent might search while comparing a product claim, assembling a reading list or finding the current documentation for a tool. The caller needs to preserve the query and the time of observation, together with any engine, market, language or date settings. A search result is evidence that a provider returned a link for that request. It is not confirmation that the linked page supports the user's claim or that the ranking represents an independent measure of truth.

The useful unit is a research step, not necessarily one HTTP request. A search can be followed by a page read, another query and a final answer. Pay-per-call access makes those steps visible to a budgeted agent, but a low discovery quote does not cover the follow-up reading. Decide how many results to examine and when to stop before starting a loop that can expand into another search at each uncertainty.

The comparison therefore separates ordinary result discovery, synthesized research and narrower search products. A query correction tool can improve supplied text without consulting the web. A skill file can teach a caller how to search without returning search results itself. An internal database search can return useful records without being general web discovery. Their names should not determine their classification.

Which outputs the documented endpoints provide

Result discovery returns candidate pages or search positions for a query. Answer and research products advertise an additional synthesis or research response. Topic, image, news and structured search products need their own endpoint descriptions and output scope. An organic result list does not imply full article text, a complete site crawl or permission to redistribute the underlying pages.

A route that reads a supplied URL is a retrieval tool, even when its host also sells search. A document index search or a list of available tools is not a general web result product. The endpoint filter excludes those neighboring products and classifies the documented search response once for prices, data-type counts and task candidates.

Each price is the cheapest endpoint of that service for that kind of data: the same number wherever this page quotes it.

Preserve source URLs when the response supplies them. A synthesized answer should remain distinguishable from quoted source material. When engine or upstream information is declared, it is attributed to the provider; a named engine does not independently verify freshness, completeness or access method. Evaluate representative queries and inspect the cited pages before deciding that an answer is adequate for your application.

Compare 23 web search services

One row per service, ordered by observed paying wallets. The quote belongs to the endpoint named in that row. Primary data types determine the row quote when available; adjacent products keep their own type prices below.

$/CALL is the price of the endpoint named under it: the cheapest ranked web discovery results endpoint of the service or, for a service without one, its cheapest web search endpoint. Never the cheapest tool of a gateway. Other kinds of data have their own price in the tables below. WEB SEARCH ENDPOINTS counts the web search endpoints out of all the endpoints the service lists. BUYERS 30D counts distinct wallets that paid the whole service on-chain in 30 days, not only its web search endpoints. "Generalist" marks a gateway that sells more than three unrelated kinds of tools: it is never called the cheapest.

How to choose a web search endpoint

Define the search observation

Choose the result fields your next step needs. A URL shortlist can drive a reader tool; a dated news query may need publication times; a rank check needs the engine, locale and result depth. Test a narrow exact-name query and an ambiguous query. Save query parameters so differences in location or language are not mistaken for a change in a website's content.

Read before citing

A title or snippet is a lead. Open the supporting source when the application needs an attributed fact, inspect the relevant passage and record a source date when available. A missing date should stay missing. If the search response supplies an answer, keep the model's synthesis separate from the source passages so a reviewer can trace which part supports each statement.

Bound the research loop

Set a maximum number of discovery and retrieval calls, then define a stopping rule such as finding a primary source that answers the question. Deduplicate URLs before reading them. Decide how redirects, blocked pages and duplicate syndication affect evidence count. A larger result list can add repeated sources rather than independent confirmation, and the price of one discovery call does not measure the cost of a completed research answer.

Match the request to the output

Start with one representative input and a written acceptance criterion. A successful HTTP status is not enough: inspect the fields your application needs, the distinction between missing and negative results, and the provenance supplied with the response. Keep a small reviewed evaluation set that includes ambiguous inputs as well as straightforward examples. Changing a request parameter can change the product and its payment requirement, so preserve those parameters alongside the endpoint name.

Check the operating evidence

The table reports service monitoring, with a median uptime of 100% and a median selected endpoint price of $0.01. Monitoring latency describes our checks, rather than a benchmark of a complete paid workflow. A request that triggers a larger job may have a different duration. Compare a provider's documented limits with the concurrency, timeout and result size your caller can handle. Record errors separately from empty answers so an outage does not look like a meaningful absence.

Plan changes and retries

Cache according to the provider's terms and the freshness your task needs. Keep a versioned record of input normalization and response mapping so a later provider change can be investigated. Before an automatic retry, decide whether the previous request could have completed and whether repeating it incurs another charge. An agent should have a request budget and an explicit stopping condition, especially when one answer causes follow-up calls. Validate required fields before submitting a payment rather than discovering an invalid input through a long retry loop.

Choose by the job your caller needs to complete

Start with the result your next step can consume. The candidates below come from the same data-type classification as the comparison table. The displayed job quote is the lowest matching type price for that job, with its source endpoint retained.

Ranked web discovery results

Compare the documented input, returned fields and paid unit for this output. Preserve ambiguity and missing-result states in the caller.

Candidates today, most buyers first: Agent402.tools ($0.01/call, generalist, 276 buyers) · Exa ($0.007/call, 234 buyers) · agentstools ($0.003/call, generalist, 127 buyers) · Web Search, News & Page Reader ($0.01/call, 86 buyers) · AgentBIT ($0.015/call, generalist, 71 buyers) · You.com Search API ($0.005/call, 69 buyers) · MicroTap ($0.015/call, generalist, 59 buyers) · vaaya ($0.01/call, generalist, 57 buyers) · fetcher.sh — Twitter, TikTok, Instagram & Web Data APIs ($0.005/call, generalist, 29 buyers) · Tanod ($0.007/call, generalist, 26 buyers) · scrape402 ($0.012/call, generalist, 26 buyers) · agdata ($0.02285/call, generalist, 19 buyers) · CONNSKILL Growth Services ($0.03/call, 19 buyers) · UXUS Agent Services ($0.01/call, generalist, 12 buyers) · SwarmIO Cloud ($0.02/call, generalist, 10 buyers) · serp402 ($0.05/call, generalist, 10 buyers) · Marketplace for AI Agents ($0.003/call, generalist, 7 buyers) · ASI – Agent Search Index ($0.005/call, 6 buyers) · Citable ($0.008/call, 2 buyers) · x402.eleeth.com ($0.01/call, generalist, 1 buyer) · Tavily Search ($0.01/call) · PayForAPI resale doors — people enrichment + web search ($0.01/call, generalist)

Search with returned page text or passages

Compare the documented input, returned fields and paid unit for this output. Preserve ambiguity and missing-result states in the caller.

Candidates today, most buyers first: You.com Search API ($0.005/call, 69 buyers) · agdata ($0.022545/call, generalist, 19 buyers) · Neurobird Search ($0.005/call) · Tavily Search ($0.01/call)

Search-grounded answers and research

Compare the documented input, returned fields and paid unit for this output. Preserve ambiguity and missing-result states in the caller.

Candidates today, most buyers first: agentstools ($0.01/call, generalist, 127 buyers) · Web Search, News & Page Reader ($0.01/call, 86 buyers) · AgentBIT ($0.1/call, generalist, 71 buyers) · You.com Search API ($0.11/call, 69 buyers) · SwarmIO Cloud ($0.05/call, generalist, 10 buyers) · Tavily Search ($0.01/call)

News discovery or explicit news mode

Compare the documented input, returned fields and paid unit for this output. Preserve ambiguity and missing-result states in the caller.

Candidates today, most buyers first: agentstools ($0.003/call, generalist, 127 buyers) · You.com Search API ($0.005/call, 69 buyers) · fetcher.sh — Twitter, TikTok, Instagram & Web Data APIs ($0.005/call, generalist, 29 buyers) · agdata ($0.0239/call, generalist, 19 buyers) · CONNSKILL Growth Services ($0.03/call, 19 buyers)

Domain rank check against a search query

Compare the documented input, returned fields and paid unit for this output. Preserve ambiguity and missing-result states in the caller.

Candidates today, most buyers first: Citable ($0.012/call, 2 buyers)

Search image results

Compare the documented input, returned fields and paid unit for this output. Preserve ambiguity and missing-result states in the caller.

Candidates today, most buyers first: CONNSKILL Growth Services ($0.03/call, 19 buyers) · Tavily Search ($0.01/call)

What the providers describe

The descriptions below attribute advertised behavior and limitations to the provider. They were reviewed against its public listing and endpoint descriptions captured on October 21, 2026; operating figures and prices are generated from the page model.

agdata

AGData separates Google search results from page-reading search. Its Google discovery route costs $0.02285, while /x402/web-search costs $0.022545 and advertises search with page text. The description bounds that reading operation to a small set of pages and a per-page text limit; it is not an unrestricted crawl. A separate Google News route costs $0.0239. Choose the output before comparing the quotes: a snippet list, retrieved page text and news discovery carry different downstream evidence and request limits.

3 web search endpoints of 22 · $0.02285/call (GET /x402/google-search) · Base/POL/SOL · uptime 30d 100% · 57 ms · 19 buyers in 30 days

Tanod

Tanod describes /v1/search as independent web-index search with ranked titles, URLs and snippets at $0.007. Its advertised query controls include result count, country and freshness. That supports discovering pages for a follow-up read, while a snippet alone may omit the evidence needed for a final answer. The listing also advertises MCP access; verify the intended tool schema and payment flow in the client before treating the catalog's HTTP route as a completed MCP integration. Save query settings and returned URLs together.

1 web search endpoint of 6 · $0.007/call (GET /v1/search) · ARB/Base/POL/SOL · uptime 30d 100% · 464 ms · 26 buyers in 30 days

You.com Search API

You.com's listing separates search from a deeper finance research operation. Search results cost $0.005, and the documented research route costs $0.11. The endpoint description presents research submission as an asynchronous job with an identifier and polling URL. Submitting that job is different from receiving its final response, so the caller needs bounded progress handling and a way to associate the result with the original question. Search controls and live-crawl options can change the request shape; inspect the exact payment requirement rather than multiplying a reference quote for a different input.

2 web search endpoints of 2 · $0.005/call (GET /v1/search) · Base/SOL · uptime 30d 99.9% · 1191 ms · 69 buyers in 30 days

agentstools

AgentsTools describes a discovery route at $0.003, a news route at $0.003 and a search-grounded answer route at $0.01. Its answer description combines searching, reading and a summary with source URLs. Those URLs support evidence review, but their presence does not establish that every sentence follows from the linked pages. Keep generated synthesis separate from retrieved material, inspect publication dates and count follow-up reads when budgeting a research task. The appropriate quote depends on whether the next step needs candidates or an answer.

3 web search endpoints of 20 · $0.003/call (GET /search) · Base · uptime 30d 100% · 156 ms · 127 buyers in 30 days

Tavily Search

The Tavily Search listing describes /search in advanced mode, with ranked results and optional generated answer, raw page content and images. Its discovery quote is $0.01. These are optional outputs of the same documented operation, so confirm the actual request flags before depending on a field. The reference price describes that route, rather than a separately tested cost for a larger research workflow. Inspect returned source URLs and distinguish a generated answer from source text before using the result as evidence.

1 web search endpoint of 1 · $0.01/call (POST /search) · Base · uptime 30d 99.8% · 2223 ms · 0 buyers in 30 days

Citable

Citable distinguishes raw search results at $0.008 from a domain rank check at $0.012. The SERP description advertises Google organic results, People Also Ask and related searches; the rank operation measures a domain's organic position for a query. Those products can share upstream search evidence while serving different decisions. A site-position result does not replace a discovery response for an arbitrary research question. Citable's broader keyword, backlink and AI-visibility products stay outside the quoted web-discovery route.

2 web search endpoints of 17 · $0.008/call (GET /v1/serp) · SOL · uptime 30d 100% · 199 ms · 2 buyers in 30 days

Cost per call and at larger volumes

The median selected endpoint costs $0.01 per call. At an unchanged request shape, 100,000 calls total $1,000.00. The table multiplies reference quotes so a prototype and a larger workload can be compared on the same basis.

Each service at the price of its main web search endpoint, the one named in the table above.

The paid unit matters. One request may return a bounded list, inspect one input, start a job or retrieve an existing result. Check that unit before multiplying a quote by your business volume. A second product, a deeper lookup or a retry can add a charge, while no-match and failure handling depend on the provider's terms. A catalog reference quote does not establish the amount for a larger batch or a changed request body.

For a production budget, measure the calls required for an accepted result. Save the endpoint, normalized request, quoted amount and outcome in the job record. This lets you distinguish a low submission price from a low effective cost. Read the payment requirement for the exact input when the provider describes variable pricing; do not substitute a gateway's cheapest unrelated tool.

What the captured 402 establishes

The catalog lists Tanod at GET /v1/search, but the stored 402 advertises POST with a JSON body containing query and count in extensions.bazaar.info.input. The catalog method and captured input schema disagree. The payload's error message also says the route takes POST with JSON and that the POST challenge quotes the exact request price. This discovery response therefore cannot substantiate a runnable GET example or the payment terms of a specific POST. Inspect the full response under Payment evidence on the service page; the table's catalog quote is a reference rather than a verified quote for the intended POST body. The catalog reference quote for this method and path is $0.007; it is not a verified quote for a different method or request body.

Read the provider's current input schema before building a request. Keep the requested resource, accepted network, asset and amount together when evaluating its challenge. Stored payment evidence does not show a tested paid answer, establish data accuracy or prove that a background job completed. Inspect the full payload on the linked service page and obtain the challenge for the exact request before authorizing payment.

How to interpret this comparison

The listing requires an online, payment-ready service, a usable description, a known price and at least 90% measured uptime over 30 days. Endpoint selection then keeps routes that describe the page's task. A candidate can match a word in its general description yet be excluded because its documented routes return a different product. These are discovery criteria rather than certification of delivered output.

Provider paragraphs attribute statements read in the public listing and endpoint descriptions captured on October 21, 2026. Source, scope and output claims belong to the provider. x402-list monitoring supplies the price and operating figures; it does not independently establish the correctness of the underlying dataset or a vendor's performance claims.

Buyer counts are distinct paying wallets observed for the service in the measurement window, with the coverage limits described on its service page. They do not count people or prove usage of a particular route. Endpoint prices, data-type counts and job candidates share one endpoint classification. If a service disappears, its generated candidates and token-dependent descriptions disappear with it. Open the methodology and linked service pages before deciding what that evidence means for a recurring workflow.

Questions

How to pay

Each service answers an unpaid call with HTTP 402 and its price; your agent signs a USDC payment on the listed network and retries. No API key, no account, no subscription. See what x402 is.