Fastest Company News API for AI Agents, 2026
Fastest Company News API for AI Agents: Exa instant leads 11 web search APIs at 386 ms median search time, benchmarked on 300 company-news questions in 2026.
What this page compares. This page ranks measured results from company-news factual lookup (web search APIs and news indexes).
How to read the result. The ranking uses measured time. The score stays beside it. 6 configurations below 80% of the best score are left out, so nothing ranks on speed or price alone.
Company-news factual lookup, web search APIs and news indexes, ranked by median search time
Every row ran the same 300 questions. Provider names link to the official docs for the configuration measured.
| Rank | Provider | Type | Accuracy | Answer recall @5 | Median search time | $ / 1k queries | $ / 1k correct | Result tokens | Accuracy / 1k tokens | List price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exa instanttype=instant | Web search | 97.7% | 97.3% | 386 ms | $7.00 | $7.17 | 2,128 | 45.9 | $7.00 / 1k queries |
| 2 | Firecrawlfirecrawl-search | Web search | 95.3% | 96.7% | 471 ms | $5.00 | $5.24 | 678 | 141 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 3 | Exa fasttype=fast | Web search | 99.3% | 99.3% | 569 ms | $7.00 | $7.05 | 1,987 | 50.0 | $7.00 / 1k queries |
| 4 | SERPlimit=10 | Web search | 96.0% | 95.0% | 578 ms | $3.00 | $3.13 | 497 | 193 | $3.00 / 1k queries |
| 5 | Brave Search llm-contextcount=10 | Web search | 94.0% | 94.7% | 590 ms | $5.00 | $5.32 | 2,064 | 45.6 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 6 | Brave Search webcount=10 · result_filter=web | Web search | 93.3% | 91.7% | 613 ms | $5.00 | $5.36 | 817 | 114 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 7 | You highlightsextraction_mode=highlights | Web search | 90.7% | 89.7% | 614 ms | $5.00 | $5.51 | 2,837 | 32.0 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 8 | You highlights coreextraction_mode=highlights · knowledge=core | Web search | 92.0% | 89.7% | 815 ms | $5.00 | $5.43 | 2,862 | 32.1 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 9 | Nimble standardsearch_depth=standard · full_content=false · focus=general | Web search | 93.0% | 94.3% | 822 ms | $5.00 | $5.38 | 2,730 | 34.1 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 10 | Parallel fastmode=fast | Web search | 86.0% | 79.0% | 861 ms | $1.00 | $1.16 | 1,839 | 46.8 | $1.00 / 1k queries |
| 11 | Linkup fastdepth=fast · outputType=searchResults | Web search | 96.7% | 94.7% | 1.2 s | $5.00 | $5.17 | 3,022 | 32.0 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 12 | Perplexity lowsearch_context_size=low | Web search | 97.3% | 98.3% | 1.6 s | $5.00 | $5.14 | 476 | 205 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 13 | Tavily basicsearch_depth=basic | Web search | 87.7% | 87.7% | 1.7 s | $8.00 | $9.13 | 1,639 | 53.5 | $8.00 / 1k queries |
| 14 | Parallel basicmode=basic | Web search | 93.3% | 92.0% | 1.8 s | $5.00 | $5.36 | 2,330 | 40.1 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 15 | Linkup standarddepth=standard · outputType=searchResults | Web search | 92.0% | 90.3% | 2.1 s | $5.00 | $5.43 | 2,983 | 30.8 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 16 | TinyFishfree · 30 req/min cap | Web search | 92.0% | 90.7% | 2.3 s | $0 | $0 | 441 | 208 | $0 / 1k queries |
| 17 | Tavily advancedsearch_depth=advanced | Web search | 93.0% | 92.7% | 4.2 s | $16.00 | $17.20 | 2,210 | 42.1 | $16.00 / 1k queries |
How the ranking was measured
- Every API received the same natural-language question about a recent company event, one search per question, up to 10 results.
- Each answer is a single verifiable value pinned to an official wire or newsroom URL, fixed before any vendor ran.
- Accuracy is whether the returned results let the same answering model extract the correct value.
- Latency is the search request time. Cost is the recorded list price for the calls made, per 1,000 queries and per 1,000 correct answers.
- The runner and published data are open in openbenchmarks-labs/company-news ↗ and openbenchmarks/OB-News-Websearch ↗. The full methodology is on the Company News Search Benchmark →
Questions answered by this comparison
Which provider leads fastest Company News API for AI Agents?
Exa instant leads this table at 386 ms median search time, on 300 company-news questions.
How was this measured?
Every API received the same natural-language question about a recent company event, one search per question, up to 10 results. Each answer is a single verifiable value pinned to an official wire or newsroom URL, fixed before any vendor ran. Accuracy is whether the returned results let the same answering model extract the correct value. Latency is the search request time. Cost is the recorded list price for the calls made, per 1,000 queries and per 1,000 correct answers.
How should speed and cost be read beside the score?
Exa instant recorded 386 ms median search time and $7.00 per 1,000 queries. The most accurate configuration is rarely the fastest or the cheapest, so each is reported in its own column.
Do vendors pay to be ranked?
No. Inclusion and rank do not depend on vendor payments. Every API used the same questions, answering model and scoring.
What does this page not test?
This page ranks measured results from company-news factual lookup (web search APIs and news indexes).