# Diffbot, free, POST /api/v1/web_search: Web search API

> Diffbot maintains the largest independently crawled web index outside of Google and Bing (>150TB). The Web Search API allows for fast querying of this index.

Diffbot's web search API on its Free plan. It costs $0.00 per 1,000 searches. It returns 1 of the 6 key fields we check: Date.
We rank 399 plans by price. [Octen's top-up from $5](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/octen/top-up-from-5-base-post-pulse-search-pulse-search/llms.txt) is the cheapest paid plan per 1,000 searches: $0.10.
[Context.dev](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/context-dev/500-monthly/llms.txt), [Desearch](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/desearch/top-up/llms.txt) and [ContextFetch](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/contextfetch/top-up-from-10-pay-as-you-go-post-tavily-search-tavily-compatible-search-basic/llms.txt) are the best web search API providers in our benchmark.

- This page: https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/diffbot/free-free-post-api-v1-web-search
- [Best web search API in 2026](https://datacircle.dev/best-web-search-api.txt)
- Get it: https://www.diffbot.com/pricing
- Request: `POST https://llm.diffbot.com/api/v1/web_search`
- API key: with the plan, on https://www.diffbot.com/pricing
- Its API docs: https://www.diffbot.com/docs/web-search/post
- Sold by: Diffbot (https://www.diffbot.com)
- Checked: 2026-10-27

## In the answer

- Completeness: 17%
- Date: ✓

## Price

- $ per 1,000 searches: $0.00
- Per: call
- Billing: free

## Aggregators

- Aggregators: none

## Charges

- Also pays for: from the same budget: Analyze (Extract API) · Article (Extract API) · Product (Extract API) · Image (Extract API) · Video (Extract API) · Discussion (Extract API) · Event (Extract API) · List (Extract API) · Job (Extract API) · Extract with Custom API · Run a Web Search (GET) · Process Text · Search with DQL (GET) · Search with DQL (POST) · Enhance (GET) · Enhance (POST) · Combine · Create a Bulkjob

## Overage

- Units cap: hard

## Not found

- $ per 1,000: $0.00

## In their words

- Their pitch: Diffbot maintains the largest independently crawled web index outside of Google and Bing (>150TB). The Web Search API allows for fast querying of this index.

## Data

- Keep data: no limit
- Use data: USE RESTRICTIONS [...] You agree that you will not: sublicense, resell, rent, lease, transfer, assign, time share, or otherwise commercially exploit or make the Service available to any third party (However, you may display and use the facts generated by the Service as part of a commercial application.), use the Service for any unlawful purpose or for the promotion of illegal activities, use the Service to attempt to, or harass, abuse or harm another person or group, use another user’s account without permission, interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the Site or Service, modify, adapt or hack the Service to, or otherwise attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or its related systems or networks, use the API or the Data in any manner that violates the rights of any person, including but not limited to intellectual property rights, rights of privacy or rights of publicity, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of the Service, bypass any robot exclusion headers or other measures we take to restrict access to the Site or Service or use any software, technology, or device to scrape, spider, or crawl the Site or Service or harvest or manipulate data, or publish or link to malicious content intended to damage or disrupt another user’s browser, computer, or mobile device.

## Plan

- Pay: $0
- You get: 10,000 credits a month
- Enough for: 10,000 calls a month
- Expires: at the monthly refresh, no rollover

## Rate limit

- Batch: 1

## Speed

- Answer: in the call

## The call

- You send: text. Optional: size, maxTokens
- Method: POST
- Path: /api/v1/web_search

## About the plan

- Plan: Free
- Who can get it: anyone 13 or over

## The 7 fields the plan's answer can hold

query, page title, URL, highlight, relevance score, published date, search time

## Diffbot's plans (5)

- [Diffbot, free, POST /api/v1/web_search](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/diffbot/free-free-post-api-v1-web-search/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 17% complete
- [Diffbot, free, Diffbot for Students, POST /api/v1/web_search](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/diffbot/free-diffbot-for-students-post-api-v1-web-search/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 17% complete
- [Diffbot, $299 monthly, Startup, POST /api/v1/web_search](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/diffbot/299-monthly-startup-post-api-v1-web-search/llms.txt): $1.196 per 1,000, 17% complete
- [Diffbot, $899 monthly, Plus, POST /api/v1/web_search](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/diffbot/899-monthly-plus-post-api-v1-web-search/llms.txt): $0.899 per 1,000, 17% complete
- [Diffbot, contact us, Enterprise, POST /api/v1/web_search](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/diffbot/contact-us-enterprise-post-api-v1-web-search/llms.txt): 17% complete

## Diffbot's calls for this API (2)

- `GET /api/v1/web_search`: [Diffbot, free, GET /api/v1/web_search](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/diffbot/free-free-get-api-v1-web-search/llms.txt)
- `POST /api/v1/web_search`: [Diffbot, free, POST /api/v1/web_search](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/diffbot/free-free-post-api-v1-web-search/llms.txt)

## Diffbot's APIs (6)

- [Diffbot: company discovery API pricing, 5 plans](https://datacircle.dev/company-discovery-apis/diffbot/free-get-kg-v3-dql/llms.txt)
- [Diffbot: job postings API pricing, 5 plans](https://datacircle.dev/job-posting-apis/diffbot/free-get-kg-v3-dql/llms.txt)
- [Diffbot: people search API pricing, 5 plans](https://datacircle.dev/people-search-apis/diffbot/free-get-kg-v3-dql/llms.txt)
- [Diffbot: people enrichment API pricing, 5 plans, GET /kg/v3/enhance/combine](https://datacircle.dev/person-enrichment-apis/diffbot/free-get-kg-v3-enhance-combine/llms.txt)
- [Diffbot: people enrichment API pricing, 5 plans, POST /kg/v3/enhance/bulk](https://datacircle.dev/person-enrichment-apis/diffbot/free-post-kg-v3-enhance-bulk/llms.txt)
- [Diffbot: people enrichment API pricing, 5 plans, GET /kg/v3/enhance](https://datacircle.dev/person-enrichment-apis/diffbot/free-get-kg-v3-enhance/llms.txt)
- [Diffbot: company enrichment API pricing, 5 plans, POST /kg/v3/enhance/bulk](https://datacircle.dev/company-enrichment-apis/diffbot/free-post-kg-v3-enhance-bulk/llms.txt)
- [Diffbot: company enrichment API pricing, 5 plans, GET /kg/v3/enhance](https://datacircle.dev/company-enrichment-apis/diffbot/free-get-kg-v3-enhance/llms.txt)
- [Diffbot: web search API pricing, 5 plans, POST /api/v1/web_search](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/diffbot/free-free-post-api-v1-web-search/llms.txt)

## Diffbot: web search API alternatives

- [Scrapingdog, $4,000 monthly](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/scrapingdog/4000-monthly/llms.txt): $0.889 per 1,000, 0% complete
- [Spider Cloud, top-up from $2,000, Pay as you go, $2,000 or more (+12% credits), POST /search, Search](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/spider-cloud/top-up-from-2000-pay-as-you-go-2000-or-more-12-credits-post-search-search/llms.txt): $0.893 per 1,000, 17% complete, live
- [Context.dev, $90 monthly](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/context-dev/90-monthly/llms.txt): $0.90 per 1,000, 17% complete, live
- [ContextFetch, top-up from $100, Pay as you go, +10% on top-ups from $100, POST /v1/answer](https://datacircle.dev/web-search-apis/contextfetch/top-up-from-100-pay-as-you-go-10-on-top-ups-from-100-post-v1-answer/llms.txt): $0.909 per 1,000, 67% complete

## 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.

- https://www.diffbot.com
- https://www.diffbot.com/company/privacy
- https://www.diffbot.com/company/terms
- https://www.diffbot.com/docs/credits
- https://www.diffbot.com/docs/dql/concepts/origin
- https://www.diffbot.com/docs/dql/faq/data-sourcing
- https://www.diffbot.com/docs/rate-limits
- https://www.diffbot.com/docs/web-search/
- https://www.diffbot.com/docs/web-search/post
- https://www.diffbot.com/pricing
- https://www.diffbot.com/products/knowledge-graph
- https://www.diffbot.com/technology