Best by F1
- 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 ↗ · Pricing ↗
Independent comparison · 2026
Best Search API for Sales Agents (2026): Search F1, Speed & Cost
Best search API for sales agents by F1: Parallel basic, 46.5% at $5.00/1,000 queries. Fastest: SERP (RapidAPI), 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 sales agents that can search more than once and combine the evidence, ranked by F1.
Fastest search
- 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 ↗ · Pricing ↗
Cheapest search
- 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 ↗ · Pricing ↗
Compare all 20 configurations → · Open benchmark code ↗ · Public dataset sample ↗
Updated 23 September 2026. Last measured 14 September 2026.
Best search API for sales 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.
| Rank | Provider & configuration | F1 | Mean search time | Recorded $ / 1,000 queries | Median task time | Median task cost | Official docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parallel basicparallel-basicPOST /v1/search mode=basic | 46.5% | 19.77s | $5.00mode=basic · 10 results | 67.63s | $1.12 | Official docs ↗ |
| 2 | Exa deepexa-deepPOST /search type=deep | 45.4% | 44.68s | $12.00type=deep | 89.50s | $0.72 | Official docs ↗ |
| 3 | Parallel advancedparallel-advancedPOST /v1/search mode=advanced | 44.2% | 36.58s | $5.00mode=advanced · 10 results | 83.43s | $0.62 | Official docs ↗ |
| 4 | Exa instantexa-instantPOST /search type=instant | 43.3% | 6.21s | $7.00type=instant · up to 10 results | 49.83s | $0.65 | Official docs ↗ |
| 5 | Linkup fastlinkup-fastPOST /v1/search depth=fast | 41.1% | 17.52s | $5.00depth=fast · searchResults | 64.20s | $0.92 | Official docs ↗ |
| 6 | Tavily advancedtavily-advancedPOST /search search_depth=advanced | 41.1% | 46.58s | $16.002 credits · $0.008 PAYG | 92.17s | $1.03 | Official docs ↗ |
| 7 | Linkup standardlinkup-standardPOST /v1/search depth=standard | 40.6% | 25.10s | $5.00depth=standard · searchResults | 72.29s | $0.94 | Official docs ↗ |
| 8 | Youextraction_mode=highlightsPOST /v1/search | 38.6% | 7.72s | $5.00highlights included in Web Search | 48.16s | $0.97 | Official docs ↗ |
| 9 | Youextraction_mode=highlights · knowledge=corePOST /v1/search | 38.1% | 8.88s | $5.00highlights · knowledge=core · same Web Search price assumption | 47.64s | $0.90 | Official docs ↗ |
| 10 | Parallel fastparallel-fastPOST /v1/search mode=fast | 38.0% | 12.17s | $1.00mode=fast · 10 results | 53.93s | $0.46 | Official docs ↗ |
| 11 | Perplexitysearch_context_size=lowPOST /search | 37.8% | 14.11s | $5.00Search API · POST /search | 48.94s | $0.33 | Official docs ↗ |
| 12 | Tavily basictavily-basicPOST /search search_depth=basic | 36.5% | 20.09s | $8.001 credit · $0.008 PAYG | 63.04s | $0.61 | Official docs ↗ |
| 13 | Parallel turboparallel-turboPOST /v1/search mode=turbo | 34.7% | 5.08s | $1.00mode=turbo · 10 results | 46.40s | $0.42 | Official docs ↗ |
| 14 | Nimblesearch_depth=standard · full_content=false · focus=generalPOST /v2/search | 30.7% | 12.22s | $5.00search_depth=standard · full_content=false | 52.97s | $0.47 | Official docs ↗ |
| 15 | FirecrawlfirecrawlPOST /v2/search | 30.4% | 39.44s | $5.002 credits / 10 results | 74.98s | $0.28 | Official docs ↗ |
| 16 | Brave SearchbraveGET /res/v1/web/search | 28.0% | 7.60s | $5.00Recorded search-request rate; see official terms. | 43.52s | $0.27 | Official docs ↗ |
| 17 | TinyFishtinyfishGET api.search.tinyfish.ai | 26.6% | 27.34s | $0.0030 req/min cap | 64.24s | $0.21 | Official docs ↗ |
| 18 | Nimblesearch_depth=lite · full_content=false · focus=generalPOST /v2/search | 24.1% | 34.43s | $1.10search_depth=lite · full_content=false | 67.17s | $0.22 | Official docs ↗ |
| 19 | Seltzseltz-companiesPOST /v1/search scope=companies | 14.5% | 8.98s | $5.00Recorded search-request rate; see official terms. | 55.16s | $1.75 | Official docs ↗ |
| 20 | SERP (RapidAPI)serpGET google-search74.p.rapidapi.com | 0.4% | 2.93s | $3.00Pro overage $0.003/request | 31.38s | $0.10 | Official docs ↗ |
Choose the best search API for sales agents
What a sales agent search is measured on
The underlying task is company discovery with more than one constraint: find companies that match the brief, then support the set with sources from search results. A sales agent that builds an account list from public-web evidence is close to that task. This page ranks those search results by F1.
List quality is precision and recall
For a sales list, precision is how many returned accounts fit the brief and recall is how many fitting accounts were missed. F1 keeps both in view. A search API that returns a long undifferentiated list will not lead this board just because it returns more rows.
Latency and cost for a sales workflow
Mean search time is the search request. Median task time is the full research step, including follow-up searches and the model. Median task cost is the measured bill for that step. Use those figures to estimate a per-account research cost, then add your own email or CRM actions, which this benchmark does not score.
Try the API on a real sales brief
Write briefs with the same shape as the benchmark: several constraints, a finite set of fitting companies, and a requirement to cite a page. Run two providers with the same agent. Keep the winner only if the cited pages support the accounts a rep would actually open.
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 ↗ · Public dataset sample ↗ · All benchmark methods →
Common questions
What is the best search API for sales agents?
Best search API for sales agents by F1: Parallel basic, 46.5% at $5.00/1,000 queries. Fastest: SERP (RapidAPI), 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 →Best search and scrape API →Best scrape API for AI agents →Best search API for deep research agents →Best search API for company research →Best search API for coding documentation →Best web search API for grounding →Best search API for news →Web search APIs for RAG →Search APIs for coding agents →Fastest search API →