--- title: "Best Search API for Deep Research Agents, Independently Benchmarked (2026): Search F1, Speed & Cost" description: "Best search API for deep research agents by F1: Parallel basic, 46.5% at $5.00/1,000 queries. Fastest: SERP, 2.93s. Cheapest: TinyFish, $0.00/1,000 queries within free-tier limits." url: https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-search-api-for-deep-research-agents --- [Openbenchmarks](https://openbenchmarks.com/) [Web Search Benchmark →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search) [Web Search](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search) / Best search API for deep research agents Independent comparison · 2026 # Best Search API for Deep Research Agents (2026): Search F1, Speed & Cost Best search API for deep research agents by F1: Parallel basic, 46.5% at $5.00/1,000 queries. Fastest: SERP, 2.93s. 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 deep research agents, where one agent plans several searches and combines the evidence. ## Best by F1 [Parallel basic](#parallel-basic) F1 46.5% Mean search time 19.77s Search price / 1,000 queries $5.00 Recorded search API price. Model and scrape costs are separate. [Official docs ↗](https://docs.parallel.ai/api-reference/search/search) · [Pricing ↗](https://docs.parallel.ai/getting-started/pricing) ## Fastest search [SERP](#serp) F1 0.4% Mean search time 2.93s Search price / 1,000 queries $3.00 Recorded search API price. Model and scrape costs are separate. [Official docs ↗](https://rapidapi.com/herosAPI/api/google-search74) · [Pricing ↗](https://rapidapi.com/herosAPI/api/google-search74/pricing) ## Cheapest search [TinyFish](#tinyfish) F1 26.6% Mean search time 27.34s Search price / 1,000 queries $0.00 Free-tier limits apply. Model and scrape costs are separate. [Official docs ↗](https://docs.tinyfish.ai/search-api) · [Pricing ↗](https://www.tinyfish.ai/pricing) [Compare all 20 configurations →](#results) · [Open benchmark code ↗](https://github.com/openbenchmarks-labs/multi-turn-company-search) · [Public dataset sample ↗](https://huggingface.co/datasets/openbenchmarks/OB-Company-Websearch) Updated 2 October 2026. Last measured 2 October 2026. [Compare results](#results) [How to choose](#choose) [Method and sources](#method) [Questions](#faq) ## Best search API for deep research agents Mean F1 on 45 company-discovery questions with multiple constraints. The same agent can search more than once and combine search results. F1 balances precision and recall. This board uses search results. 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. __45 questions · 20 configurations · ordered by F1__ | Rank | Provider & configuration | F1 | Mean search time | Recorded $ / 1,000 queries | Median task time | Median task cost | Official docs | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Parallel basic parallel-basic POST /v1/search mode=basic | **46.5%** | 19.77s | [$5.00](https://docs.parallel.ai/getting-started/pricing) mode=basic · 10 results | 67.63s | $1.12 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.parallel.ai/api-reference/search/search) | | 2 | Exa deep exa-deep POST /search type=deep | **45.4%** | 44.68s | [$12.00](https://exa.ai/pricing?tab=api) type=deep | 89.50s | $0.72 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.exa.ai/reference/search) | | 3 | Parallel advanced parallel-advanced POST /v1/search mode=advanced | **44.2%** | 36.58s | [$5.00](https://docs.parallel.ai/getting-started/pricing) mode=advanced · 10 results | 83.43s | $0.62 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.parallel.ai/api-reference/search/search) | | 4 | Exa instant exa-instant POST /search type=instant | **43.3%** | 6.21s | [$7.00](https://exa.ai/pricing?tab=api) type=instant · up to 10 results | 49.83s | $0.65 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.exa.ai/reference/search) | | 5 | Linkup fast linkup-fast POST /v1/search depth=fast | **41.1%** | 17.52s | [$5.00](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/platform/pricing) depth=fast · searchResults | 64.20s | $0.92 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/endpoints/search/overview) | | 6 | Tavily advanced tavily-advanced POST /search search\_depth=advanced | **41.1%** | 46.58s | [$16.00](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits) 2 credits · $0.008 PAYG | 92.17s | $1.03 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-reference/endpoint/search) | | 7 | Linkup standard linkup-standard POST /v1/search depth=standard | **40.6%** | 25.10s | [$5.00](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/platform/pricing) depth=standard · searchResults | 72.29s | $0.94 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/endpoints/search/overview) | | 8 | You extraction\_mode=highlights POST /v1/search | **38.6%** | 7.72s | [$5.00](https://you.com/docs/administration/billing) highlights included in Web Search | 48.16s | $0.97 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.you.com/) | | 9 | You extraction\_mode=highlights · knowledge=core POST /v1/search | **38.1%** | 8.88s | [$5.00](https://you.com/docs/administration/billing) highlights · knowledge=core · same Web Search price assumption | 47.64s | $0.90 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.you.com/) | | 10 | Parallel fast parallel-fast POST /v1/search mode=fast | **38.0%** | 12.17s | [$1.00](https://docs.parallel.ai/getting-started/pricing) mode=fast · 10 results | 53.93s | $0.46 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.parallel.ai/api-reference/search/search) | | 11 | Perplexity search\_context\_size=low POST /search | **37.8%** | 14.11s | [$5.00](https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/getting-started/pricing) Search API · POST /search | 48.94s | $0.33 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.perplexity.ai/api-reference/search-post) | | 12 | Tavily basic tavily-basic POST /search search\_depth=basic | **36.5%** | 20.09s | [$8.00](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits) 1 credit · $0.008 PAYG | 63.04s | $0.61 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-reference/endpoint/search) | | 13 | Parallel turbo parallel-turbo POST /v1/search mode=turbo | **34.7%** | 5.08s | [$1.00](https://docs.parallel.ai/getting-started/pricing) mode=turbo · 10 results | 46.40s | $0.42 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.parallel.ai/api-reference/search/search) | | 14 | Nimble search\_depth=standard · full\_content=false · focus=general POST /v2/search | **30.7%** | 12.22s | [$5.00](https://www.nimbleway.com/pricing) search\_depth=standard · full\_content=false | 52.97s | $0.47 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.nimbleway.com/api-reference/search/search) | | 15 | Firecrawl firecrawl POST /v2/search | **30.4%** | 39.44s | [$5.00](https://www.firecrawl.dev/pricing) 2 credits / 10 results | 74.98s | $0.28 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.firecrawl.dev/api-reference/endpoint/search) | | 16 | Brave Search brave GET /res/v1/web/search | **28.0%** | 7.60s | [$5.00](https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/pricing) Recorded search-request rate; see official terms. | 43.52s | $0.27 | [Official docs ↗](https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/services/web-search) | | 17 | TinyFish tinyfish GET api.search.tinyfish.ai | **26.6%** | 27.34s | [$0.00](https://www.tinyfish.ai/pricing) 30 req/min cap | 64.24s | $0.21 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.tinyfish.ai/search-api) | | 18 | Nimble search\_depth=lite · full\_content=false · focus=general POST /v2/search | **25.3%** | 35.13s | [$1.10](https://www.nimbleway.com/pricing) search\_depth=lite · full\_content=false | 67.95s | $0.23 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.nimbleway.com/api-reference/search/search) | | 19 | Seltz seltz-companies POST /v1/search scope=companies | **14.5%** | 8.98s | [$5.00](https://seltz.ai/pricing) Recorded search-request rate; see official terms. | 55.16s | $1.75 | [Official docs ↗](https://docs.seltz.ai/) | | 20 | SERP serp GET google-search74.p.rapidapi.com | **0.4%** | 2.93s | [$3.00](https://rapidapi.com/herosAPI/api/google-search74/pricing) Pro overage $0.003/request | 31.38s | $0.10 | [Official docs ↗](https://rapidapi.com/herosAPI/api/google-search74) | ## Choose the best search API for deep research agents ### Deep research agents need more than one search This ranking uses search results. The agent may refine the query and combine results before answering. F1 scores the company set, so a deep research search API is judged on finding the matching companies and limiting the ones that do not match. ### Why a one-search winner can move A configuration that returns one answer-bearing passage can rank differently when the task is a set of companies with several constraints. Use a single-question search comparison for one factual answer. Use this page when the agent is doing deep research across multiple searches. ### Search time and full research time Mean search time is one API call. Median task time is the research run, including follow-up searches and the model. A fast first call can still lead to a long run if the agent needs more evidence. Read both next to F1 and median task cost. ### How to trial a search API for deep research Hold the agent, tool budget and questions fixed. Swap only the search API. Inspect which searches the agent issued and whether the cited URLs came back in those results. Then rerun a sample of your own research briefs before choosing a provider. ## Benchmark method and source data Mean F1 on 45 company-discovery questions with multiple constraints. The same agent can search more than once and combine search results. F1 balances precision and recall. This board uses search results. Search latency and total task latency are shown separately. Each row is one measured configuration. Missing measurements appear as a dash. [Open benchmark code ↗](https://github.com/openbenchmarks-labs/multi-turn-company-search) · [Public dataset sample ↗](https://huggingface.co/datasets/openbenchmarks/OB-Company-Websearch) · [All benchmark methods →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search) [Compare search and search-and-scrape results →](https://openbenchmarks.com/multi-turn-company-search) ## Common questions ### What is the best search API for deep research agents? Best search API for deep research agents by F1: Parallel basic, 46.5% at $5.00/1,000 queries. Fastest: SERP, 2.93s. 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 combine search results. F1 balances precision and recall. This board uses search results. 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. ## Related search API comparisons [Best fast web search API →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-fast-web-search-api) [Best search and scrape API →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-search-and-scrape-api) [Best scrape API for AI agents →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-scrape-api-for-ai-agents) [Best search API for company research →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-search-api-for-company-research) [Best search API for sales agents →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-search-api-for-sales-agents) [Best search API for coding documentation →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-search-api-for-coding-documentation) [Best web search API for grounding →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-web-search-api-for-grounding) [Best search API for news →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-search-api-for-news) [Web search APIs for RAG →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-web-search-api-for-rag) [Search APIs for coding agents →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/best-search-api-for-coding-agents) [Fastest search API →](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search/fastest-search-api) [← Web Search Benchmark](https://openbenchmarks.com/web-search)