Best Search APIs for Coding Agents in 2026: Independent Benchmark
In the September 2026 independent benchmark, Exa deep leads by accuracy at 83.0% on search and fetch. Firecrawl leads by token efficiency at 4.37 accuracy points per 1,000 tokens. Compare 9 Web Search APIs, including Exa, Firecrawl, Parallel, Tavily and Brave, by accuracy, speed and cost. Independent benchmark results.
Same 100 documentation tasks for every provider. Search and fetch is the ranking. Search-only is supporting.
- Highest accuracy, search and fetch: Exa deep: 83.0%.
- Fastest search: You: 638ms average search time.
- Cheapest task: Firecrawl: $0.082 median task cost, including LLM and search API spend.
Best search API for coding agents: search and fetch
Ranked by task completion on 100 documentation tickets. The agent can search and then fetch the page. Quality, search latency, task time, and cost are shown together.
| Rank | Vendor | Endpoint & configuration | Official docs | Task completion | Median task time | Median task cost | Avg search time | Median task tokens | API list price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exa deep | POST /search type=deepPOST /contents | Exa deep official docs | 83.0 ± 1.0 | 37s | $0.127$0.057 search+fetch$0.070 token cost | 3.97s | 23,660 | $0.012 / search$0.001 / fetch |
| 2 | Exa auto | POST /search type=autoPOST /contents | Exa auto official docs | 81.7 ± 1.1 | 23s | $0.107$0.032 search+fetch$0.074 token cost | 1.19s | 27,433 | $0.007 / search$0.001 / fetch |
| 3 | TinyFish | GET api.search.tinyfish.aiGET api.fetch.tinyfish.ai format=markdown | TinyFish official docs | 79.0 ± 2.0 | 24s | $0.050$0.000 search+fetch$0.050 token cost | 1.32s | 12,844 | $0 / search$0 / fetch |
| 4 | Perplexity | POST /search search_context_size=highPOST /search search_context_size=high | Perplexity official docs | 77.7 ± 1.5 | 22s | $0.083$0.025 search+fetch$0.058 token cost | 991ms | 20,062 | $0.005 / search$0.005 / fetch |
| 5 | Parallel advanced | POST /v1/search mode=advancedPOST /v1/extract | Parallel advanced official docs | 77.0 ± 1.0 | 33s | $0.096$0.019 search+fetch$0.077 token cost | 3.11s | 27,092 | $0.005 / search$0.001 / fetch |
| 6 | Parallel basic | POST /v1/search mode=basicPOST /v1/extract | Parallel basic official docs | 76.0 ± 0.0 | 30s | $0.107$0.023 search+fetch$0.084 token cost | 1.59s | 32,809 | $0.005 / search$0.001 / fetch |
| 7 | Firecrawl | POST /v2/searchPOST /v2/scrape | Firecrawl official docs | 76.0 ± 1.0 | 34s | $0.082$0.028 search+fetch$0.055 token cost | 2.81s | 17,379 | $0.005 / search$0.0025 / fetch |
| 8 | Nimble | POST /v2/search search_depth=lite · full_content=false · focus=generalPOST /v2/extract formats=[markdown] | Nimble official docs | 60.3 ± 2.5 | 40s | $0.054$0.054 token cost | 1.93s | 16,828 | $0.0011 / search |
| 9 | Tavily advanced | POST /search search_depth=advancedPOST /extract extract_depth=advanced | Tavily advanced official docs | 60.0 ± 2.0 | 46s | $0.153$0.085 search+fetch$0.069 token cost | 3.41s | 26,269 | $0.016 / search$0.0032 / fetch |
| 10 | Tavily basic | POST /search search_depth=basicPOST /extract extract_depth=basic | Tavily basic official docs | 59.0 ± 1.7 | 32s | $0.113$0.043 search+fetch$0.070 token cost | 1.50s | 27,405 | $0.008 / search$0.0016 / fetch |
| 11 | You | POST /v1/search extraction_mode=highlightsPOST /v1/contents | You official docs | 55.0 ± 1.7 | 27s | $0.119$0.027 search+fetch$0.092 token cost | 638ms | 42,806 | $0.005 / search$0.001 / fetch |
| 12 | You | POST /v1/search extraction_mode=highlights · knowledge=corePOST /v1/contents | You official docs | 54.0 ± 2.0 | 28s | $0.117$0.026 search+fetch$0.091 token cost | 678ms | 37,453 | $0.005 / search$0.001 / fetch |
| 13 | Linkup standard | POST /v1/search depth=standardPOST /v1/fetch mode=standard | Linkup standard official docs | 48.3 ± 4.9 | 48s | $0.147$0.038 search+fetch$0.108 token cost | 2.00s | 57,791 | $0.005 / search$0.005 / fetch |
| 14 | Nimble | POST /v2/search search_depth=standard · full_content=false · focus=generalPOST /v2/extract formats=[markdown] | Nimble official docs | 45.0 ± 1.0 | 44s | $0.078$0.078 token cost | 905ms | 28,586 | $0.005 / search |
Task completion is mean ± SD of three runs; n = 100 tasks. Time and cost use those same runs. Median task cost includes LLM and search API spend.
How to choose a search API for AI coding agents in 2026
- Accuracy: start with search and fetch task completion. A pass means the patch checks out and cites a source from the run.
- Speed: compare average search time for the call and median task time for the full agent run.
- Cost: median task cost includes the model and the search API. List price is the recorded per-call rate.
- Search-only: use the supporting table when the agent will not fetch pages. Do not average it with search and fetch.
Supporting results: search only
Same 100 tasks, search results only. Perplexity leads this board at 77.3% task completion. This ranking is separate from search and fetch.
| Rank | Vendor | Endpoint & configuration | Official docs | Task completion | Median task time | Median task cost | Avg search time | Median task tokens | API list price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perplexity | POST /search search_context_size=low | Perplexity official docs | 77.3 ± 2.1 | 18s | $0.059$0.025 search$0.034 token cost | 957ms | 8,765 | $0.005 / search |
| 2 | Firecrawl | POST /v2/search | Firecrawl official docs | 70.3 ± 1.5 | 28s | $0.059$0.025 search$0.034 token cost | 2.87s | 7,456 | $0.005 / search |
| 3 | Parallel fast | POST /v1/search mode=fast | Parallel fast official docs | 66.7 ± 1.5 | 22s | $0.054$0.005 search$0.049 token cost | 953ms | 12,460 | $0.001 / search |
| 4 | Exa fast | POST /search type=fast | Exa fast official docs | 66.3 ± 1.5 | 20s | $0.103$0.035 search$0.068 token cost | 626ms | 22,344 | $0.007 / search |
| 5 | Parallel turbo | POST /v1/search mode=turbo | Parallel turbo official docs | 64.7 ± 2.1 | 19s | $0.059$0.005 search$0.054 token cost | 333ms | 14,130 | $0.001 / search |
| 6 | Exa instant | POST /search type=instant | Exa instant official docs | 61.3 ± 2.9 | 21s | $0.105$0.035 search$0.070 token cost | 447ms | 22,423 | $0.007 / search |
| 7 | TinyFish | GET api.search.tinyfish.ai | TinyFish official docs | 59.3 ± 1.5 | 28s | $0.035$0.000 search$0.035 token cost | 2.15s | 7,469 | $0 / search |
| 8 | Tavily basic | POST /search search_depth=basic | Tavily basic official docs | 51.0 ± 5.3 | 26s | $0.097$0.040 search$0.057 token cost | 1.72s | 16,299 | $0.008 / search |
| 9 | Nimble | POST /v2/search search_depth=lite · full_content=false · focus=general | Nimble official docs | 46.7 ± 3.8 | 33s | $0.043$0.005 search$0.037 token cost | 3.15s | 8,713 | $0.0011 / search |
| 10 | Linkup fast | POST /v1/search depth=fast | Linkup fast official docs | 43.3 ± 1.1 | 27s | $0.100$0.025 search$0.075 token cost | 1.39s | 24,057 | $0.005 / search |
| 11 | Nimble | POST /v2/search search_depth=standard · full_content=false · focus=general | Nimble official docs | 42.3 ± 2.5 | 25s | $0.079$0.025 search$0.054 token cost | 878ms | 14,859 | $0.005 / search |
| 12 | You | POST /v1/search extraction_mode=highlights | You official docs | 41.3 ± 3.1 | 24s | $0.097$0.025 search$0.072 token cost | 596ms | 20,333 | $0.005 / search |
| 13 | You | POST /v1/search extraction_mode=highlights · knowledge=core | You official docs | 38.3 ± 3.2 | 21s | $0.096$0.025 search$0.071 token cost | 677ms | 20,786 | $0.005 / search |
| 14 | Brave | POST /res/v1/llm/context | Brave official docs | 38.0 ± 2.6 | 20s | $0.082$0.025 search$0.057 token cost | 523ms | 14,103 | $0.005 / search |
Task completion is mean ± SD of three runs; n = 100 tasks. Search-only does not fetch the page.
Questions
What is the best search API for coding agents?
Exa deep leads this coding-agent benchmark at 83.0% task completion on search and fetch, across 100 documentation tasks. The main ranking uses search plus page fetch. Search-only is a separate supporting result.
What is the best search API for AI coding agents in 2026?
Same benchmark. An AI coding agent gets a product ticket and must patch a client against the vendor's current official docs. Search and fetch is the headline ranking. Search-only shows what changes when the agent uses search results without fetching the page.
What is the fastest search API for coding agents?
You has the lowest measured average search time at 638ms on the search and fetch board. Average search time is the search call. Median task time covers the agent's full run.
Should a coding agent use search and fetch or search only?
On search-only, Perplexity leads at 77.3% task completion. Use search and fetch when the agent needs the page, not only the search excerpt. The two boards are scored separately on the same tasks.
What does this coding-agent benchmark measure?
Task completion on 100 held-out documentation tickets. The agent, questions, and judge stay fixed. The search API changes. A pass requires a patch that checks out and cites a source from the run. Each configuration is the mean of three runs.