# Web search API pricing compared: what 10K, 100K and 1M searches cost

> Web search API pricing compared on 2026-10-22: the monthly bill for 10K, 100K and 1M searches with page content at 11 APIs, plus the costs pricing pages skip.

- URL: https://llmwebsearch.com/compare/web-search-api-pricing/
- Last updated: 2026-10-22
- Publisher: LLMWebSearch (https://llmwebsearch.com)

A price per call is only half the story when an agent also needs the pages. This page turns public list prices into the monthly bill for three volumes of searches that return the full text of the top 3 pages, then lists the costs that pricing pages leave out.

**Quick answer — How do web search API prices compare in 2026?**

On 2026-10-22, 100,000 searches a month with the full text of the top 3 pages cost $299 at Valyu, $300 at DeepSeek, $400 at Parallel, $500 at Tavily and $700 at Exa. Search-only prices start near $1 per 1,000. **LLMWebSearch** charges $145 for 100,000 searches with 3 pages each, paid in crypto with no KYC.

## What does a month of searches cost at each API?

Monthly bill for 10,000, 100,000 and 1,000,000 searches, each returning the full text of the top 3 pages, using the least expensive published plan, top-up or pay-as-you-go rate.

| API | 10,000 searches | 100,000 searches | 1,000,000 searches |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LLMWebSearch | $18.50 (2 × 5,000 searches) | $145 | $1,200 |
| Tavily | $78.00 | $500.00 | $7,700 |
| Exa | $70.00 | $700.00 | $7,000 |
| Parallel | $40.00 | $400.00 | $4,000 |
| Linkup | $80.00 | $800.00 | $8,000 |
| You.com | $80.00 | $800.00 | $8,000 |
| Firecrawl | $99.00 | $399.00 | $4,750 |
| Valyu | $29.00 | $299.00 | $3,000 |
| Desearch | $25.00 | $250.00 | $2,500 |
| DeepSeek Search + Fetch | $30.00 | $300.00 | $3,000 |
| s1.dev | $34.00 | $349.00 | $3,500 |

*Prices checked on October 22, 2026.*

List prices in USD, read on 2026-10-22. DeepSeek bills from November 1, 2026. Brave and Perplexity return excerpts, not full pages, at $5 per 1,000. Method and all 14 APIs: [AI search API price index 2026](https://llmwebsearch.com/data/ai-search-api-price-index-2026/).

## Which costs do pricing pages leave out?

1. **The second call.** Many APIs return links and excerpts; the page text comes from a separate fetch or extract endpoint, billed per page.
2. **Search depth.** "Advanced" or "deep" modes cost 2 to 10 times a basic search at Tavily, Linkup and Exa.
3. **Monthly resets.** Tavily and Firecrawl plan credits reset each month, so unused searches are lost.
4. **Tokens.** Built-in model tools add the retrieved text as input tokens, often more than the search itself; see [built-in tools compared](https://llmwebsearch.com/compare/built-in-web-search-tools/).
5. **Live versus cached pages.** You.com bills only pages crawled live, and Exa lite serves cached content only; your bill depends on what is cached.
6. **Errors.** Check whether failed calls are billed. LLMWebSearch charges nothing for calls that end in an error.

## Where does LLMWebSearch sit?

At the prices on this page, set on 2026-10-22, LLMWebSearch charges $1.85/1K searches per search on the smallest pack, $1.45/1K searches on the 100,000 pack and $1.20/1K searches on the 1 million pack, with the top 3 pages included. Credits are prepaid, never expire and are paid in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC with no KYC.

We do not claim to cost less than everyone in every case: Jina's token billing and LangSearch's free tier can cost less for some workloads. Our reader also respects robots.txt and never works around a refusal, so a few pages that other tools return will come back without content.

## What does LLMWebSearch cost?

Prepaid packs; one credit per search with the top 3 pages read; credits never expire. Prices set on 2026-10-22.

| Plan | Quantity | Price | Price per unit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Try | 5,000 searches | $9.25 | $1.85/1K searches |
| Builder | 25,000 searches | $41.25 | $1.65/1K searches |
| Production | 100,000 searches | $145 | $1.45/1K searches |
| Volume | 1,000,000 searches | $1,200 | $1.20/1K searches |

In every plan: Top 3 pages read as Markdown · Country, language, time and domain filters · Failed calls not charged · Credits never expire

**Before you pay**

- Minimum top-up $25. Top up once in crypto, then buy any plan from your balance.
- Money on your balance does not expire and buys search credits whenever you want. When a pack is cheaper than the minimum top-up, the part you paid only to reach that minimum comes back to you on request within 30 days of payment, in USDT or USDC, provided it is still unspent. The rest of a balance is not returned unless the law requires it.
- Credited once your payment is checked on the blockchain. Typical network confirmation time: BTC ≈ 20 min · USDT TRC-20 ≈ 1 min · USDT ERC-20 ≈ 5 min · USDC ERC-20 ≈ 5 min · ETH ≈ 5 min · SOL ≈ 1 min · LTC ≈ 15 min

## Web search API pricing: common questions

### What is the cheapest web search API for LLMs in 2026?

Without page text, DeepSeek Search + Fetch ($0.75), Parallel ($1.00) listed the lowest entry prices per 1,000 searches on 2026-10-22. With the full text of 3 pages at 100,000 a month, Desearch ($2.50), Valyu ($2.99) listed the lowest flat prices. Compare at your own volume.

### Is Tavily expensive?

At small volumes it sits at $7.50 to $8 per 1,000 basic searches. On its $500 Growth plan the price falls to $5, with raw page content and no surcharge listed. Its plan credits reset monthly.

### Do I pay for searches that fail?

It depends on the provider. Perplexity states that failed and rate-limited requests are not billed. LLMWebSearch does not charge for calls that end in an error.

### Can I pay for a search API with crypto?

Per request, yes: Tavily, Exa, Parallel, Linkup, You.com take USDC through x402 or MPP. As a prepaid account funded in crypto, LLMWebSearch takes BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC with no KYC.

## Sources

1. [Tavily: pricing](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits) — Tavily (read 2026-10-22)
2. [Exa: pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
3. [Parallel: pricing](https://parallel.ai/pricing) — Parallel (read 2026-10-22)
4. [Linkup: pricing](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/development/pricing) — Linkup (read 2026-10-22)
5. [You.com: pricing](https://you.com/pricing) — You.com (read 2026-10-22)
6. [Firecrawl: pricing](https://docs.firecrawl.dev/features/search) — Firecrawl (read 2026-10-22)
7. [Valyu: pricing](https://docs.valyu.ai/pricing) — Valyu (read 2026-10-22)
8. [Desearch: pricing](https://desearch.ai/pricing) — Desearch (read 2026-10-22)
9. [DeepSeek Search + Fetch: pricing](https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing) — DeepSeek (read 2026-10-22)
10. [s1.dev: pricing](https://s1.dev/pricing) — s1.dev (read 2026-10-22)

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LLMWebSearch: LLMWebSearch is a web search API for AI agents that returns ranked results with the content of the top pages in Markdown, paid in crypto with no ID upload. Prepaid credits from $1.20/1K searches never expire. No KYC — no ID, no selfie, no documents. Pay in crypto.