Most accurate search API
Every endpoint gets the same user query and can retrieve max 10 results. There is no single best web search API. It is a tradeoff between accuracy, latency, cost, and retrieval quality.
Exa (type=deep) leads extracted-answer accuracy at 99.2% on this run.
Most accurate for a critical path. Read Accuracy. Prefer the Deep row if the extra wait is acceptable.
Most accurate · Fastest · Cheapest · Full benchmark
Ranking, sorted by accuracy
12 endpoints. This table is Accuracy only.
| Rank | Vendor | Endpoint & configuration | Accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exaweb search | POST /searchtype=deep | 99.2% |
| 2 | Exaweb search | POST /searchtype=instant | 99.2% |
| 3 | Parallelweb search | POST /v1/searchmode=advanced | 98.3% |
| 4 | Linkupweb search | POST /v1/searchdepth=standard · outputType=searchResults | 97.5% |
| 5 | Parallelweb search | POST /v1/searchmode=basic | 97.5% |
| 6 | Linkupweb search | POST /v1/searchdepth=fast · outputType=searchResults | 96.6% |
| 7 | Brave Searchweb search | GET /res/v1/web/searchcount=10 · result_filter=web | 95.0% |
| 8 | Tavilyweb search | POST /searchsearch_depth=advanced · chunks_per_source=3 | 95.0% |
| 9 | Firecrawlweb search | POST /v2/search | 94.1% |
| 10 | SERPgoogle search | GET google-search74.p.rapidapi.comlimit=10 | 94.1% |
| 11 | Seltznews index | POST /v1/searchscope=news | 68.9% |
| 12 | PredictLeadscompany news events | GET /api/v3/companies/{domain}/news_events | 63.0% |
All metrics
Same order. Accuracy, AR@1, AR@5, speed, snippet tokens, and cost.
| Rank | Vendor | Endpoint & configuration | Accuracy | AR@1 | AR@5 | Latency | Snippet tokens | Total $ | Official docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exaweb search | POST /searchtype=deep | 99.2% | 98.3% | 99.2% | 2.95s | 1,293 | $1.51 | Official docs |
| 2 | Exaweb search | POST /searchtype=instant | 99.2% | 84.9% | 97.5% | 444ms | 2,053 | $0.96 | Official docs |
| 3 | Parallelweb search | POST /v1/searchmode=advanced | 98.3% | 63.0% | 98.3% | 3.33s | 2,143 | $0.74 | Official docs |
| 4 | Linkupweb search | POST /v1/searchdepth=standard · outputType=searchResults | 97.5% | 84.9% | 95.0% | 2.34s | 2,936 | $0.76 | Official docs |
| 5 | Parallelweb search | POST /v1/searchmode=basic | 97.5% | 68.9% | 93.3% | 1.40s | 2,413 | $0.75 | Official docs |
| 6 | Linkupweb search | POST /v1/searchdepth=fast · outputType=searchResults | 96.6% | 89.1% | 96.6% | 1.84s | 2,846 | $0.76 | Official docs |
| 7 | Brave Searchweb search | GET /res/v1/web/searchcount=10 · result_filter=web | 95.0% | 85.7% | 95.0% | 697ms | 727 | $0.67 | Official docs |
| 8 | Tavilyweb search | POST /searchsearch_depth=advanced · chunks_per_source=3 | 95.0% | 84.0% | 95.0% | 4.34s | 3,035 | $2.08 | Official docs |
| 9 | Firecrawlweb search | POST /v2/search | 94.1% | 77.3% | 93.3% | 1.10s | 672 | $0.67 | Official docs |
| 10 | SERPgoogle search | GET google-search74.p.rapidapi.comlimit=10 | 94.1% | 76.5% | 93.3% | 2.14s | 468 | $0.42 | Official docs |
| 11 | Seltznews index | POST /v1/searchscope=news | 68.9% | 31.9% | 64.7% | 321ms | 2,913 | $0.76 | Official docs |
| 12 | PredictLeadscompany news events | GET /api/v3/companies/{domain}/news_events | 63.0% | 47.9% | 63.0% | 668ms | 411 | $4.81 | Official docs |
Most accurate, fastest, and cheapest search API
What is the most accurate search API?
Exa (type=deep) leads extracted-answer accuracy at 99.2% on 119 lookup questions.
What is the fastest search API?
Seltz has the lowest mean latency at 321ms on this run.
What is the cheapest search API?
SERP (RapidAPI) has the lowest list-price search cost on this run ($0.42). Free tiers and volume discounts are not included.