Web Search API pricing comparison
29 official prices from Alibaba Cloud, Baidu AI Cloud, Bocha, Brave Search API, DeepSeek, Exa, Google Gemini API, Linkup, OpenAI, Perplexity, Serper, Tavily, Tencent Cloud (China), Volcengine. Start with the overview, then drill into each provider.
Prices and offers are for reference only. The provider's official page always prevails.
Overview
| Provider | Lowest | Items | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alibaba Cloud | ¥8per 1k requests | 4 | |
| Baidu AI Cloud | ¥30.6per 1k requests | 6 | |
| Bocha | ¥36per 1k requests | 2 | |
| Brave Search API | $4per 1k requests | 2 | |
| DeepSeek | ¥5per 1k requests | 1 | |
| Exa | $4per 1k requests | 3 | |
| Google Gemini API | $14per 1k requests | 1 | |
| Linkup | $5per 1k requests | 2 | |
| OpenAI | $10per 1k requests | 1 | |
| Perplexity | $1per 1k requests | 2 | |
| Serper | — | 1 | |
| Tavily | $7.5per 1k requests | 2 | |
| Tencent Cloud (China) | ¥65per 1k requests | 1 | |
| Volcengine | ¥4per 1k requests | 1 |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| iqs-cn-lite | IQS web search CN Lite (LiteBasic) | ¥8 | 15-day trial, 1,000 calls/day, 5 QPS (per search summary) |
| iqs-cn-auto | IQS web search CN Auto | ¥18 | — |
| iqs-generic | IQS web search Generic (tiered by daily volume, top tier) | ¥42 | — |
| iqs-global | IQS web search Global (GlobalAdvanced) | ¥56 | — |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baidu Search API | Standard | ¥36 | 1 |
| Baidu Search API | Enhanced | ¥40 | 1 |
| Baidu Search API | Flagship | ¥72 | — |
| Baidu Search API | Enhanced overseas | ¥72 | — |
| Baidu Search API | Prepaid pack 1M calls / 1 year = 30 | ¥30.6 | — |
| Baidu AI Search - Smart Search Generation | Smart search generation (0.06 CNY/call list; promo 0.008; LLM tokens billed separately) | ¥60 | 100 free calls/day |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests |
|---|---|---|
| web-search | Web Search API | ¥36 |
| ai-search | AI Search API (cards + LLM summary) | ¥60 |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| search | Search plan | $5 | $5 free credits/month (banner says up to $20) |
| answers | Answers plan (+ $5/M tokens) | $4 | $5 free credits/month |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests |
|---|---|---|
| search | Search API | ¥5 |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| lite | Search (lite, up to 10 results) | $4 | $10 credit, resets monthly |
| auto | Search (auto/fast, legacy) | $7 | $10 credit, resets monthly |
| deep | Search (deep) | $12 | $10 credit, resets monthly |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| grounding | Grounding with Google Search | $14 | 5,000 requests/month free (shared across Gemini 3+) |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| standard | Search (standard, searchResults) | $5 | $20 credit for professional-email signups, topped up monthly |
| deep | Search (deep) | $50 | — |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests |
|---|---|---|
| web-search-tool | Web search tool (most models) | $10 |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| search | Search API (standard) | $5 | Up to 5 queries per request = 1 billing unit |
| search-fast | Search API (fast) | $1 | — |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | Free credits | Free | 2,500 free queries, no card |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| payg | Pay As You Go (1 credit ≈ basic search) | $8 | 1,000 credits/month free |
| project | Project: $30/month for 4,000 credits | $7.5 | 1,000 credits/month free |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests |
|---|---|---|
| online-search-sogou | Online Search (Sogou) | ¥65 |
| Name | Service | Price/1k requestsper 1k requests | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ark web search | Web search (public web) | ¥4 | 20k calls/month free |
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