Cheapest Web Search API for Multi-Turn Company Search, 2026
Cheapest Web Search API for Multi-Turn Company Search: Perplexity leads 6 search APIs at $0.33 per task, benchmarked on 45 company search tasks in 2026.
What this page compares. This page ranks measured results from 2 boards: multi-turn company search (search only) and multi-turn company search (search and page fetch).
How to read the result. The ranking uses measured cost at recorded list prices. The score stays beside it. 9 configurations below 80% of the best score are left out, so nothing ranks on speed or price alone.
Multi-turn company search, search only, ranked by median cost per task
Every row ran the same 45 questions. Provider names link to the official docs for the configuration measured.
| Rank | Provider | F1 | Precision | Recall | Median task time | Median cost / task | Median task tokens | List price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perplexitysearch_context_size=low | 37.8% | 79.3% | 26.8% | 48.9 s | $0.33 | 66,928 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 2 | Parallel fastparallel-fast | 38.0% | 79.9% | 27.5% | 53.9 s | $0.46 | 119,953 | $1.00 / 1k queries |
| 3 | Parallel advancedparallel-advanced | 44.2% | 87.6% | 32.0% | 83.4 s | $0.62 | 159,733 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 4 | Exa instantexa-instant | 43.3% | 82.6% | 32.2% | 49.8 s | $0.65 | 152,622 | $7.00 / 1k queries |
| 5 | Exa deepexa-deep | 45.4% | 83.2% | 33.7% | 89.5 s | $0.72 | 153,061 | $12.00 / 1k queries |
| 6 | Youextraction_mode=highlights · knowledge=core | 38.1% | 80.9% | 27.4% | 47.6 s | $0.90 | 244,245 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 7 | Linkup fastlinkup-fast | 41.1% | 82.8% | 30.3% | 64.2 s | $0.92 | 259,642 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 8 | Linkup standardlinkup-standard | 40.6% | 84.0% | 29.7% | 72.3 s | $0.94 | 249,382 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 9 | Youextraction_mode=highlights | 38.6% | 79.3% | 28.3% | 48.2 s | $0.97 | 264,016 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 10 | Tavily advancedtavily-advanced | 41.1% | 83.7% | 29.8% | 92.2 s | $1.03 | 237,706 | $16.00 / 1k queries |
| 11 | Parallel basicparallel-basic | 46.5% | 88.7% | 34.4% | 67.6 s | $1.12 | 303,467 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
Multi-turn company search, search and page fetch, ranked by median cost per task
| Rank | Provider | F1 | Precision | Recall | Median task time | Median cost / task | Median task tokens | List price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parallel fastparallel-fast | 39.3% | 82.3% | 28.2% | 55.1 s | $0.44 | 119,278 | $1.00 / 1k queries |
| 2 | Perplexitysearch_context_size=high | 46.6% | 87.7% | 34.7% | 53.9 s | $0.50 | 121,239 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 3 | Parallel advancedparallel-advanced | 42.2% | 87.6% | 30.1% | 80.9 s | $0.60 | 152,116 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 4 | Exa instantexa-instant | 44.9% | 85.9% | 33.5% | 52.5 s | $0.65 | 156,796 | $7.00 / 1k queries |
| 5 | Exa deepexa-deep | 48.2% | 89.4% | 36.0% | 95.8 s | $0.68 | 147,079 | $12.00 / 1k queries |
| 6 | Youextraction_mode=highlights | 38.5% | 85.2% | 26.9% | 45.6 s | $0.86 | 241,834 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 7 | Tavily advancedtavily-advanced | 41.0% | 89.4% | 29.1% | 92.6 s | $0.90 | 208,974 | $16.00 / 1k queries |
| 8 | Linkup fastlinkup-fast | 39.9% | 85.3% | 28.6% | 68.0 s | $0.90 | 246,395 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 9 | Linkup standardlinkup-standard | 42.0% | 90.7% | 30.5% | 81.0 s | $0.91 | 254,078 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
| 10 | Parallel basicparallel-basic | 42.3% | 81.3% | 31.3% | 68.6 s | $1.09 | 304,826 | $5.00 / 1k queries |
How the ranking was measured
- A research agent searches over several turns to list every company that matches a set of constraints, on the same questions for every API.
- Answers are scored against a fixed list of correct companies: precision, recall and F1.
- Search-only rows combine search results; search-and-fetch rows can also read pages.
- Median task time, task tokens and median cost per task are reported beside the score.
- The runner and published data are open in openbenchmarks-labs/multi-turn-company-search ↗ and openbenchmarks/OB-Company-Websearch ↗. The full methodology is on the Multi-Turn Company Search Benchmark →
Questions answered by this comparison
Which provider leads cheapest Web Search API for Multi-Turn Company Search?
Perplexity leads this table at $0.33 per task, on 45 company search tasks.
How was this measured?
A research agent searches over several turns to list every company that matches a set of constraints, on the same questions for every API. Answers are scored against a fixed list of correct companies: precision, recall and F1. Search-only rows combine search results; search-and-fetch rows can also read pages. Median task time, task tokens and median cost per task are reported beside the score.
How should speed and cost be read beside the score?
Perplexity recorded 48.9 s median task time and $0.33 median cost per task. 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 2 boards: multi-turn company search (search only) and multi-turn company search (search and page fetch).
Related pages
- Multi-Turn Company Search Benchmark: full leaderboard and methodology →
- Fastest Web Search API for Company Search
- Fastest Search API for Company Search
- Most Accurate Web Search API for Company Search
- Most Accurate Search API for Company Search
- Search API with the Best Recall
- Most Accurate Web Search API for Multi-Turn Company Search
- Every multi-turn company search comparison →