Best by F1
- F1
- 48.2%
- Mean search time
- 47.08s
- Search price / 1,000 queries
- $12.00
Recorded search API price. Model and scrape costs are separate. Official docs ↗ · Pricing ↗
Independent comparison · 2026
Best Search API for Company Research (2026): Search and Scrape F1, Speed & Cost
Best search API for company research by F1: Exa deep, 48.2% at $12.00/1,000 queries. Fastest: SERP (RapidAPI), 3.50s. Cheapest: TinyFish, $0.00/1,000 queries within free-tier limits.
Compare 12 providers, including Exa, Tavily, Brave, Parallel and Firecrawl, across 20 configurations on 45 questions. Compare search APIs for company research, with search and page scrape, scored by F1 on company questions with more than one constraint.
Fastest search
- F1
- 0.0%
- Mean search time
- 3.50s
- Search price / 1,000 queries
- $3.00
Recorded search API price. Model and scrape costs are separate. Official docs ↗ · Pricing ↗
Cheapest search
- F1
- 30.2%
- Mean search time
- 26.59s
- Search price / 1,000 queries
- $0.00
Free-tier limits apply. Model and scrape costs are separate. Official docs ↗ · Pricing ↗
Compare all 20 configurations → · Open benchmark code ↗ · Public dataset sample ↗
Updated 23 September 2026. Last measured 14 September 2026.
Best search API for company research
Mean F1 on 45 company-discovery questions with multiple constraints. The same agent can search more than once and scrape the page. F1 balances precision and recall. Search latency and total task latency are shown separately. Prices are the benchmark-recorded rate basis, with the same configurations used for the quality results.
| Rank | Provider & configuration | F1 | Mean search time | Recorded $ / 1,000 queries | Median task time | Median task cost | Official docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exa deepexa-deepPOST /search type=deep | 48.2% | 47.08s | $12.00type=deepScrape $0.0010 per page. | 95.80s | $0.68 | Official docs ↗ |
| 2 | Perplexitysearch_context_size=highPOST /search | 46.6% | 13.98s | $5.00Search API · POST /searchScrape included in the measured task cost when the provider billed it. | 53.89s | $0.50 | Official docs ↗ |
| 3 | Exa instantexa-instantPOST /search type=instant | 44.9% | 5.90s | $7.00type=instant · up to 10 resultsScrape $0.0010 per page. | 52.51s | $0.65 | Official docs ↗ |
| 4 | Parallel basicparallel-basicPOST /v1/search mode=basic | 42.3% | 21.58s | $5.00mode=basic · 10 resultsScrape $0.0010 per page. | 68.62s | $1.09 | Official docs ↗ |
| 5 | Parallel advancedparallel-advancedPOST /v1/search mode=advanced | 42.2% | 36.66s | $5.00mode=advanced · 10 resultsScrape $0.0010 per page. | 80.87s | $0.60 | Official docs ↗ |
| 6 | Linkup standardlinkup-standardPOST /v1/search depth=standard | 42.0% | 27.77s | $5.00depth=standard · searchResultsScrape $0.0010 per page. | 81.01s | $0.91 | Official docs ↗ |
| 7 | Tavily advancedtavily-advancedPOST /search search_depth=advanced | 41.0% | 44.65s | $16.002 credits · $0.008 PAYGScrape $0.0032 per page. | 92.63s | $0.90 | Official docs ↗ |
| 8 | Linkup fastlinkup-fastPOST /v1/search depth=fast | 39.9% | 17.28s | $5.00depth=fast · searchResultsScrape $0.0010 per page. | 68.02s | $0.90 | Official docs ↗ |
| 9 | Parallel fastparallel-fastPOST /v1/search mode=fast | 39.3% | 12.27s | $1.00mode=fast · 10 resultsScrape $0.0010 per page. | 55.08s | $0.44 | Official docs ↗ |
| 10 | Youextraction_mode=highlightsPOST /v1/search | 38.5% | 7.55s | $5.00highlights included in Web SearchScrape $0.0010 per page. | 45.63s | $0.86 | Official docs ↗ |
| 11 | Youextraction_mode=highlights · knowledge=corePOST /v1/search | 38.5% | 9.18s | $5.00highlights · knowledge=core · same Web Search price assumptionScrape $0.0010 per page. | 48.52s | $0.89 | Official docs ↗ |
| 12 | Tavily basictavily-basicPOST /search search_depth=basic | 38.1% | 20.30s | $8.001 credit · $0.008 PAYGScrape $0.0032 per page. | 61.97s | $0.61 | Official docs ↗ |
| 13 | Parallel turboparallel-turboPOST /v1/search mode=turbo | 36.0% | 5.38s | $1.00mode=turbo · 10 resultsScrape $0.0010 per page. | 48.07s | $0.41 | Official docs ↗ |
| 14 | FirecrawlfirecrawlPOST /v2/search | 33.2% | 40.23s | $5.002 credits / 10 resultsScrape $0.0025 per page. | 82.06s | $0.29 | Official docs ↗ |
| 15 | Nimblesearch_depth=standard · full_content=false · focus=general · extract formats=[markdown]POST /v2/search | 31.3% | 23.00s | $5.00search_depth=standard · full_content=falseScrape included in the measured task cost when the provider billed it. | 59.23s | — | Official docs ↗ |
| 16 | TinyFishtinyfishGET api.search.tinyfish.ai | 30.2% | 26.59s | $0.0030 req/min capScrape $0.0000 per page. | 63.37s | $0.22 | Official docs ↗ |
| 17 | Brave SearchbraveGET /res/v1/web/search | 29.4% | 7.15s | $5.00Recorded search-request rate; see official terms.Scrape included in the measured task cost when the provider billed it. | 45.13s | $0.28 | Official docs ↗ |
| 18 | Nimblesearch_depth=lite · full_content=false · focus=general · extract formats=[markdown]POST /v2/search | 25.8% | 53.50s | $1.10search_depth=lite · full_content=falseScrape included in the measured task cost when the provider billed it. | 72.36s | — | Official docs ↗ |
| 19 | Seltzseltz-companiesPOST /v1/search scope=companies | 16.3% | 9.30s | $5.00Recorded search-request rate; see official terms.Scrape included in the measured task cost when the provider billed it. | 60.10s | $1.74 | Official docs ↗ |
| 20 | SERP (RapidAPI)serpGET google-search74.p.rapidapi.com | 0.0% | 3.50s | $3.00Pro overage $0.003/requestScrape included in the measured task cost when the provider billed it. | 33.44s | $0.10 | Official docs ↗ |
Choose the best search API for company research
Company research in this benchmark
Questions ask for a set of companies matching more than one constraint, such as investor, geography, accelerator or funding stage. The agent can search and scrape pages. F1 is the rank. That is the measured evidence for a search API for company research on this page.
Precision and recall for a company set
A company-research answer is a set, so an extra wrong company lowers precision and a missed company lowers recall. F1 falls when either side is weak. Use the table to see which search and scrape configuration recovers the set with fewer misses and fewer extras.
What the cost columns include
Recorded search price is the search call per 1,000 queries. Scraping the company page can add a second charge. Median task cost includes model tokens and the vendor spend measured on the run. A cheap search call can still be an expensive research task if the agent searches many times.
Check coverage on your own company questions
This set is held-out company discovery, public in sample form, with scoring questions kept aside. Rebuild a short list from your market, run the same agent against two configurations, and compare the companies and the URLs. Official docs in the table document the request that was measured.
Benchmark method and source data
Mean F1 on 45 company-discovery questions with multiple constraints. The same agent can search more than once and scrape the page. F1 balances precision and recall. Search latency and total task latency are shown separately. Each row is one measured configuration. Missing measurements appear as a dash.
Open benchmark code ↗ · Public dataset sample ↗ · All benchmark methods →
Common questions
What is the best search API for company research?
Best search API for company research by F1: Exa deep, 48.2% at $12.00/1,000 queries. Fastest: SERP (RapidAPI), 3.50s. Cheapest: TinyFish, $0.00/1,000 queries within free-tier limits.
Which benchmark does the main ranking use?
Mean F1 on 45 company-discovery questions with multiple constraints. The same agent can search more than once and scrape the page. F1 balances precision and recall. Search latency and total task latency are shown separately.
What does the price per 1,000 queries include?
The recorded search endpoint’s request price. Model-token spend, page scrape and plan conditions are separate. Rows with a task measurement show median task cost in its own column. Check the linked provider terms for current pricing.
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