Quick answer
Should I use the Perplexity Search API or Tavily?
As of October 2026, the Perplexity Search API costs $5 per 1,000 requests, or $1 with Fast Search, and returns extracted snippets from its own index. Tavily costs $7.50 to $5.00 per 1,000 basic searches on monthly plans and can return the raw page and a written answer. Perplexity suits cheap, fast excerpts; Tavily suits agents that need whole pages or answers.
Perplexity Search API vs Tavily, side by side
| Perplexity Search API | Tavily | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1,000 | $5 per request; $1 with Fast Search; no token charges | $7.50 (Project) to $5.00 (Growth) basic; $8.00 pay-as-you-go; advanced 2× |
| Queries per request | Up to 5, billed as one request | One |
| Results per call | 1 to 20, default 10 | 0 to 20 |
| Page content | Snippet of extracted page content, sized by max_tokens_per_page | Snippet or chunks, plus the cleaned raw page on request |
| Written answer | Not in the Search API (Agent API has models with search) | Optional answer field |
| Index | Own index of hundreds of billions of pages (vendor claim) | Not stated |
| Filters | Up to 20 domains (include or exclude), language, recency, dates, country | Topic, time range, dates, up to 300 included domains, country, language |
| Failed requests | Not billed | Failed extractions free; search failures not stated |
| Free tier | Not stated | 1,000 credits a month, no card |
| Payment | Card through the billing page; AWS Marketplace | Cards, debit cards, bank transfers; x402 USDC per advanced search |
| Data | Zero-day retention of prompts by default, never used for training | Terms §6.5 allow training on input and output; FAQ says zero data retention |
| Rate limit | 50 query units per second, all tiers | 1,000 per minute on a production key |
Prices checked on
From docs.perplexity.ai (Search API overview, pricing, changelog, FAQ) and docs.tavily.com and tavily.com/terms, read on 2026-10-22.
What changed at Perplexity in 2026?
Perplexity rebuilt its developer offer around two products. The Search API, launched on 2025-09-25, returns ranked results at $5 per 1,000 requests. In September 2026 it added Fast Search at $1 per 1,000.
On the model side, the Agent API became generally available in February 2026. In July 2026 Perplexity's changelog announced that Sonar Chat Completions is now the Agent API. Inside the Agent API, the web_search tool costs $2.50 per 1,000 invocations, $1 in fast mode, and fetch_url costs $0.50, with search context billed as tokens. If you built on Sonar, check the migration guide before choosing between the Search API and Tavily.
Which is cheaper, Perplexity or Tavily?
Per request, Perplexity: $5 per 1,000 flat, $1 with Fast Search, and up to 5 queries in one billed request. Tavily's basic search costs $5.00 per 1,000 only on its $500 Growth plan; smaller plans run $5.79 to $7.50, and pay-as-you-go $8.
The comparison changes once you need whole pages. Perplexity's snippet is extracted content sized by a token budget; its docs do not say it can hold the whole page. Tavily returns the cleaned raw page with include_raw_content and lists no surcharge. An agent that must read full documents may spend less overall with Tavily, or with an API that reads the pages for it.
When should I choose each one?
Choose Perplexity's Search API for high-volume grounding with short excerpts: Fast Search at $1 per 1,000 sits at the bottom of the per-request range we found, failed requests are free, and several queries share one billed request. Its own index scored 80 for the medium setting in Artificial Analysis's search index dated 2026-10-19.
Choose Tavily for a free tier, raw pages, a written answer in the same call, research and crawl endpoints, and wide framework support. Tavily also offers x402 payment per call; Perplexity does not mention crypto.
Where does LLMWebSearch fit?
LLMWebSearch sits between the two. Like Tavily, it returns whole pages: the top 3 as Markdown in one credit. Like Perplexity, it bills one flat unit per search, with no tokens. It costs $1.85/1K searches on the smallest pack and $1.20/1K searches at 1 million searches; credits never expire.
It has no free tier, no written answer and no own index: Results come from a live web search run at the moment of your call, in the order the search engine ranks them; nothing is served from an old index. You pay in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, with no card and no documents. See the price table for 12 providers on the same unit.
Perplexity vs Tavily: common questions
How much does the Perplexity Search API cost?
$5 per 1,000 successful requests, or $1 per 1,000 with Fast Search, with no token charges, according to Perplexity's docs read on 2026-10-22. Invalid, rate-limited and failed requests are not billed.
Is Sonar still available?
Perplexity's changelog says Sonar Chat Completions became the Agent API in July 2026. A pricing-page notice captured by a tracker said Sonar would be supported until 2026-09-27. Check Perplexity's migration guide for current status.
Does Perplexity's Search API return whole pages?
It returns a snippet of extracted page content per result, sized by max_tokens_per_page. Its docs do not state that the snippet can hold a whole page. Tavily and LLMWebSearch return the page's main content.
Can I pay either of them in crypto?
Tavily accepts USDC per advanced search through x402. Perplexity lists cards and AWS Marketplace, with no crypto option on the pages we read. LLMWebSearch takes BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC for prepaid credits.
Sources (9)
- Perplexity Search API overview docs.perplexity.ai/docs/search/overview.md — Perplexity (read 2026-10-22)
- Perplexity API pricing docs.perplexity.ai/docs/getting-started/pricing — Perplexity (read 2026-10-22)
- Perplexity changelog docs.perplexity.ai/changelog — Perplexity (read 2026-10-22)
- Introducing the Perplexity Search API perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-the-perplexity-search-api — Perplexity (2025-09-25)
- Perplexity Sonar deprecation notice (tracker capture) — UsagePricing (2026-08-14)
- Tavily API credits docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits — Tavily (read 2026-10-22)
- Tavily search endpoint reference docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-reference/endpoint/search — Tavily (read 2026-10-22)
- Tavily terms of service tavily.com/terms — Tavily (read 2026-10-22)
- Search API index — Artificial Analysis (data 2026-10-19)