# Best web search API in 2026

> We benchmarked 6 web search API providers and rank the 4 we score. For the three we score highest, we show each one's top scoring plan, each part of the plan's score and what 1,000 searches cost. We rank 161 plans by price. The cheapest plan is [Keenable, free, Keyless](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/keenable/free-keyless), at $0.00 per 1,000 searches.

1. [Search1API, $19 monthly, Basic: Web search API](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/search1api/19-monthly-basic-post-search-search): Overall score 72.0 (Price 79, Data 70, Cost to get started 85, Bundle 90, Performance 19), $0.76 per 1,000 searches
   - It returns 1 of the 6 key fields we check: Date.
   - We scored this provider on 20 of the 80 searches in our benchmark. We sent it those 20 on 27 October 2026.
   - We scored this plan 0.7 out of 1 in our benchmark, so its Data score is 70.
2. [Firecrawl, top-up from $5, Pay-as-you-go on Scale: Web search API](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/firecrawl/top-up-from-5-pay-as-you-go-on-scale): Overall score 71.9 (Price 52, Data 75, Cost to get started 93, Bundle 89, Performance 100), $2.00 per 1,000 searches
   - It returns 1 of the 6 key fields we check: Date.
   - On 27 October 2026, we sent this provider all 80 searches in our benchmark.
   - We scored this plan 0.75 out of 1 in our benchmark, so its Data score is 75.
3. [Valyu, $499 monthly: Web search API](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/valyu/499-monthly): Overall score 56.7 (Price 59, Data 57, Cost to get started 62, Bundle 75, Performance 23), $2.495 per 1,000 searches
   - It returns none of the 6 key fields we check: Date, Author, Text, Summary and 2 more.
   - We scored this provider on 60 of the 80 searches in our benchmark. We sent it those 60 on 27 October 2026.
   - We scored this plan 0.5667 out of 1 in our benchmark, so its Data score is 57.

The Data score on web search APIs: Out of 100: the percent of searches that returned the page we asked for. We searched for each data provider's API pricing page. The right page is the pricing page on the provider's own site. If a provider ran on fewer searches, we compare it with how the others did on those same searches. That way, easy searches can't raise its score.

## Every web search API provider we score, ranked

1. [Search1API, $19 monthly, Basic](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/search1api/19-monthly-basic-post-search-search): Overall score 72.0, Data score 70, $0.76 per 1,000 searches
2. [Firecrawl, top-up from $5, Pay-as-you-go on Scale](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/firecrawl/top-up-from-5-pay-as-you-go-on-scale): Overall score 71.9, Data score 75, $2.00 per 1,000 searches
3. [Valyu, $499 monthly](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/valyu/499-monthly): Overall score 56.7, Data score 57, $2.495 per 1,000 searches
4. [Nimble, pay as you go, Pay as you go](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/nimble/pay-as-you-go-pay-as-you-go-post-v2-search-search-standard): Overall score 52.0, Data score 75, $5.00 per 1,000 searches

Last updated: October 27, 2026. The page: https://datacircle.dev/best-web-search-api. Every plan: https://datacircle.dev/web-search-api-pricing. The benchmark: https://datacircle.dev/web-search-api-pricing/benchmark.csv.