Most relevant web search API
In AImultiple's independent agentic-search benchmark, Brave Search scored highest on result relevance (14.89 agent score) and also had the lowest measured median latency at 669 ms, ahead of Exa and Tavily. Result quality is genuinely hard to benchmark and this leans on a single eval that does not cover every provider, so treat the agent score as one methodology's snapshot, not settled truth. A light estimate.
DefaultBrave Search API (Data for AI)relevanceBrave Search API (Data for AI)latencyBrave Search API (Data for AI)
Provider offerings
| Offering | Price ($/1000 queries) | Relevance | Latency | Free/mo | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brave Search API (Data for AI)Brave Software | 5 | 14.89 | 669 ms | 1000 | — |
| ExaExa Labs | 7 | 14.39 | 1200 ms | 20000 | LLM-ready |
| Tavily Search APITavily (acquired by Nebius, Feb 2026) | 8 | 13.67 | 998 ms | 1000 | LLM-ready |
| LinkupLinkup | 5 | — | — | 4000 | LLM-ready |
| Perplexity Sonar / Search APIPerplexity AI | 5* | 12.96 | 11000 ms | — | LLM-ready |
| SerpAPI (Google SERP API)SerpApi LLC | 25* | 12.28 | 2400 ms | 250 | — |
* token-/credit-priced — the headline understates real per-unit cost, so it is excluded from the cheapest ranking.
Sources
- Brave Search API — Pricing (provider docs)2026-06-22
- Exa — API Pricing (provider docs)2026-06-22
- Tavily — Credits & Pricing (provider docs)2026-06-22
- Linkup — Pricing (provider docs)2026-06-22
- Perplexity — API Pricing (provider docs)2026-06-22
- SerpApi — Plans and Pricing (provider docs)2026-06-22
- AImultiple — Agentic Search: Benchmark 8 Search APIs for Agents (independent eval, updated 2026-05-25)2026-06-22
- Nebius announces agreement to acquire Tavily2026-02-10