Parallel pricing and alternatives: cached web search API, POST /v1/search, Search (basic)

33% complete: 2 of the 6 key fields we checkSee the 6 fields

$0.00per 1,000 searchesThe cheapest of the 35 plans we rank by price is Parallel, top-up, Pay as you go, POST /v1/search, Search (fast), at $1.00 per 1,000 searches.

Plan: $5 in free credits per month one of Parallel's 3 plans

Call: POST /v1/search, Search (basic) one of Parallel's 4 calls for this API

POST /v1/search, Search (advanced)Free, $5 in free credits per month$0.00 per 1,000
POST /v1/search, Search (basic)Free, $5 in free credits per month$0.00 per 1,000
POST /v1/search, Search (fast)Free, $5 in free credits per month$0.00 per 1,000
POST /v1/search, Search (turbo)Free, $5 in free credits per month$0.00 per 1,000

API: Cached web search API one of Parallel's 4 APIs

About this item

Stored. You get pages from Parallel's index. Parallel doesn't say how old its data is.
2 of the 6 key fields we check. Date, Text.
Nothing to pay. You get $5 of credit a month, enough for 1,000 calls. Unused credit expires at the end of the month.
One call. You send search_queries to POST /v1/search. You set mode to "basic". You can also send objective, max_chars_total, session_id, client_model and advanced_settings. The call returns the matching web pages.
Who can get it: with conditions. Keep data: with conditions. Use data: with conditions.

Parallel: cached web search API alternatives

The table starts with Parallel's cheapest paid plan. Next come plans from other providers with the price per 1,000 searches closest to Parallel's. Each plan in the table gives stored data.

	Parallel, top-up, Pay as you go, POST /v1/search, Search (basic)	Exa, $1,000 pack, Developer (pay as you go), $1,000 in credits within 30 days: 25 QPS for 90 days, POST /search, Search, instant
$ per 1,000 searches	$5.00	$4.00
Completeness	33%	100%
Billing	pay first	pay first
Pay	any amount	$1,000
Enough for	as many as you pay for	250,000 calls
Freshness	stored	stored
Who can get it	anyone outside the jurisdictions export law bars	anyone not in a U.S.-embargoed country or on a U.S. restricted-party list

Cached web search API pricing: plans compared

Sources

From each provider's own pricing page and docs, and from what providers tell us. We read this row from these pages on 2026-10-27.

Product details

The key fields this plan's answer can hold, then each filled column in its row on the sheet.

Date
Author, not in the answer
Text
Summary, not in the answer
Links, not in the answer
Answer, not in the answer

Price
$ per 1,000 searches	$0.00
Per	call
Billing	free

Charges
Most per search	20
Also pays for	from the same budget: Search API · Image Search API · Extract API · Task API · Task Group API · Responses API · Monitor API · FindAll API

Not found
$ per 1,000	$0.00

In their words
Their pitch	Returns extended snippets per result for richer per-call context. Works best with 2-3 high-quality search_queries.

Data
Keep data	(i) Customer Output generated from one query shall be primarily for the use of one End Customer only, and shall not be copied, cached, stored, or made available to other End Customers or other third parties, (ii) Customer shall not copy, cache, or store any significant portion of any Customer Output to create the AI and Data Selling Services (as defined in Section 2(c) below)
Use data	Parallel hereby grants Customer a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-sublicensable license [...] to access and use the Services (purchased and paid for by the Customer) solely by Authorized Users, in accordance with the Documentation. The foregoing license includes the right for Customer to use the Parallel API to integrate the Services into the Customer Applications and to make Customer Applications available to End Customers. [...] Customer shall not, directly or indirectly: (i) reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile, decode, adapt, or otherwise attempt to derive or gain access to or attempt to discover the source code, object code or underlying structure, ideas or algorithms of the Services or any software, systems, AI/ML models, Documentation, or data related to the Services (“Software”) (provided that reverse engineering is prohibited only to the extent such prohibition is not contrary to applicable law) or Customer Outputs (except as expressly permitted under Section 2(b) above), (ii) copy, modify, translate, or create derivative works of the Services or Software, in whole or in part, (iii) use or access the Services or Software for timesharing or service bureau purposes or for any purpose other than for Customer’s business purposes as set forth in this Agreement, (iv) rent, lease, lend, sell, resell, license, sublicense, assign, distribute, publish, transfer, or otherwise make available the Services, Software, or Customer Outputs (except as expressly permitted under Section 2(b) above), (v) remove any product identification, proprietary, copyright or other notices from the Services or Software, except as expressly and specifically authorized by Parallel under a specific Online Order on a case by case basis, (vi) use the Services or any Customer Output to (A) create synthetic training data to develop or train a language model or any other machine learning model, or (B) create databases, data brokerage, data selling/reselling businesses, or related products or services, whether competitive with the Services or not (all of the foregoing collectively, the “AI and Data Selling Services”), or (C) otherwise for any competitive purposes, (vii) use or permit the use of any tools in order to probe, scan or attempt to penetrate the Services, or engage in model extraction or stealing attacks, (viii) use any method (whether through use of manual or automated means) to harvest, scrape, or extract data from the Services, other than as permitted through the Parallel APIs, (ix) intentionally or knowingly use or otherwise cause the Services to generate or develop infringing or illegal content, (x) use the Services, Software, or Customer Output in any manner or for any purpose that infringes, misappropriates, or otherwise violates any intellectual property right or other right of any person, or that violates any applicable laws or regulations (including but not limited to any privacy laws, and laws or regulations concerning intellectual property, consumer and child protection, obscenity or defamation), (xi) intentionally or knowingly diverge requests of Authorized Users away from the Services (such as by making available Customer Outputs from previous queries for future uses, or incorporating Customer Outputs into an AI and Data Selling Services), or (xii) permit any Authorized User or third party to do any of the foregoing. [...] Customer shall not use the Services and/or the Customer Outputs to make automated decisions without human oversight that have a significant adverse impact on individual rights in high-risk areas such as employment, healthcare, finance, legal, housing, insurance or social benefits. [...] Customer shall not, directly or indirectly, export, re-export, or release the Services or the underlying software or technology to, or make the Services or the underlying software or technology accessible from, any jurisdiction or country to which export, re-export, or release is prohibited by law, rule, or regulation.

Plan
Pay	$0
You get	$5 a month
Enough for	1,000 calls a month
Expires	at the end of the month

Rate limit
Per second	10

The call
You send	search_queries, mode "basic". Optional: objective, max_chars_total, session_id, client_model, advanced_settings
Path	/v1/search

About the plan
Plan	$5 in free credits per month
Who can get it	an organization with a payment card on file, one per card, not marketplace or postpaid organizations

The 8 fields the plan's answer can hold

search ID, URL, page title, published date, excerpts, warnings, usage, session ID