<!-- twin of https://specstream.ai/alternatives/bocha -->
# Bocha API alternative in 2026: keep Bocha's call, $1 per 1,000

Compared on Nov 12, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/alternatives/bocha

Bocha's Web Search API answers `POST https://api.bochaai.com/v1/web-search` with up to 50 results a call. Bocha gives 1,000 free calls, and a CSDN post of September 2025 prices its resource packs at 3.6 yuan per 1,000 calls.

SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. It answers Bocha's own call in Bocha's JSON at `https://api.specstream.ai/bocha`, at $1 per 1,000 searches in USD, page summaries included. Change the host and the key; the code stays.

[Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-bocha&utm_source=alternatives-md&utm_campaign=bocha&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fsearch%3Froute%3Dbocha) New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. It covers 10,000 searches.

## SpecStream and the Bocha Web Search API side by side

| | SpecStream | Bocha Web Search API |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1,000 searches | $1 for up to 10 results, `summary` included, paid in USD by card. Each reply carries `price_usd`, and credit you buy never expires | Resource packs at 3.6 yuan per 1,000 calls (CSDN, Sep 11, 2025), bought in yuan in Bocha's console, each pack with an expiry date |
| Free to start | $10 of credit, no card: 10,000 searches | A free pack of 1,000 calls in the console |
| Address | `POST https://api.specstream.ai/bocha/v1/web-search`, a SpecStream key as `Authorization: Bearer` | `POST https://api.bochaai.com/v1/web-search`, a Bocha key as `Authorization: Bearer` |
| Request | Bocha's own body: `query`, `count` 1 to 50, `freshness`, `summary`, `include` and `exclude` | `query`, `count` 1 to 50 (default 10), `freshness` from `oneDay` to `noLimit` or a date range, `summary` |
| What comes back | Bocha's `data.webPages.value[]` with `name`, `url`, `displayUrl`, `snippet`, `summary`, `siteName` and `datePublished`, plus a `specstream` field with the call's price | `data.webPages.value[]` with the same fields and `siteIcon`; its search also covers images and videos |
| Published accuracy | 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct). 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. [Scores and method](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha) | No accuracy score on its open platform's home page |
| Reading a page | Extract API: $0.80 per 1,000 pages, up to 20 URLs a call, on the same key. A page with no text is not charged | `summary` holds text from each result page |
| Which engines answer | `GET /v1/search-engines` lists each engine with the country it is run from, and `"engine_rule": {"deny": ["CN"]}` on a key keeps every search off engines run from China | Bocha's own engine, from nearly 100 billion pages and content sources |
| A whole dataset | Deep Search: a request in plain words returns every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, under a maximum you approve before it runs | One results page per call |

## Why Bocha users switch to SpecStream

### The call, before and after

```
# Before: Bocha Web Search API
curl -X POST https://api.bochaai.com/v1/web-search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BOCHA_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "Who founded Mistral AI and when?", "count": 10, "freshness": "oneYear", "summary": true}'

# After: SpecStream, $0.001 a call
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/bocha/v1/web-search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "Who founded Mistral AI and when?", "count": 10, "freshness": "oneYear", "summary": true}'
```

The body and the code that reads `data.webPages.value[]` stay. Every parameter and field is in the [Bocha route guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/bocha?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha), measured on production on November 10, 2026. In Cherry Studio, set the Bocha provider's API host to `https://api.specstream.ai/bocha` ([Cherry Studio web search](https://specstream.ai/web-search/cherry-studio?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha)).

### $1 per 1,000 searches, with no pack to buy

A call of up to 10 results costs $0.001, with or without `summary`. Each started block of 10 more results adds $0.0012, so `count` 50 costs $0.0058. You pay in USD by card, credit never expires, and a call stopped by a `429` charges nothing. 100,000 searches cost $100.

### The most accurate web search API, in about one second

The SpecStream Search API scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, with 978 correct, and 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. Scores and method are at [specstream.ai/benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha).

Measured on production on November 9, 2026, the fast search answered in a median of 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second, and it has no limit per key and no daily limit. Bocha's own MCP server waits 10 seconds for a reply.

### Chinese queries, and the engines a key may reach

A query written in Chinese is searched in Chinese, on the engines that answer Chinese best. `GET /v1/search-engines` lists every engine with the country it is run from, and a key made with `"engine_rule": {"deny": ["CN"]}` never reaches an engine run from China. Set `zero_retention` on a key and no request text and no answer is kept after the reply.

### Search, pages and rows on one key

The same key reads up to 20 pages or documents a call with the [Extract API](https://specstream.ai/extract-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha) returns every match for a request in plain words as structured rows, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with a source URL on every value. Agents reach all three over MCP at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp` ([MCP guide](https://specstream.ai/docs/mcp?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha)).

## Other Bocha alternatives

### SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents, and the best alternative to the Bocha Web Search API. It answers Bocha's own call at $1 per 1,000 searches, scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000 and returns every match as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row.

### Zhipu (Z.ai) Web Search API

Z.ai's Web Search costs $0.01 a use, $10 per 1,000, and on bigmodel.cn its basic engine costs 0.01 yuan a call. SpecStream searches from $1 per 1,000 for GLM and any other model. [Zhipu web search API alternative](https://specstream.ai/alternatives/zhipu-web-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha).

### Exa

A search API on Exa's own index, at $7 per 1,000 requests on `auto` and $4 on `lite`, with its own request and reply. SpecStream answers Exa's call as well, at `https://api.specstream.ai/exa`, for $1 per 1,000. [Exa compatible](https://specstream.ai/migrate/exa?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha).

### Tavily

A search API sold in credits at $0.008 each pay as you go, 1 credit for a basic search. SpecStream answers Tavily's `POST /search` at `https://api.specstream.ai/tavily` for $1 per 1,000 basic searches. [Tavily compatible](https://specstream.ai/migrate/tavily?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha).

### Brave Search API

A search API on Brave's own index at $5 per 1,000 requests. SpecStream answers Brave's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/res/v1/web/search` at $1 per 1,000, a fifth of Brave's rate. [Brave Search API alternatives](https://specstream.ai/alternatives/brave-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha).

## How to switch from the Bocha Web Search API

1. Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace. A new account gets $10 of credit, no card, which covers 10,000 searches.

2. Set the host to `https://api.specstream.ai/bocha` where your code has `https://api.bochaai.com`, and send the SpecStream key as the Bearer token.

```
import requests

BASE = "https://api.specstream.ai/bocha"  # was https://api.bochaai.com

reply = requests.post(
    f"{BASE}/v1/web-search",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {SPECSTREAM_KEY}"},
    json={"query": "Who founded Mistral AI and when?", "count": 10, "summary": True},
    timeout=30,
)
reply.raise_for_status()
for page in reply.json()["data"]["webPages"]["value"]:
    print(page["name"], page["url"], page["siteName"], page["datePublished"])
```

3. Read `402` as an empty balance and `429` as a call to send again after `Retry-After`; neither is charged.

4. When your product needs every match in place of a results page, write the request in plain words with Deep Search. It quotes the most the run can cost and delivers the rows after you approve.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does the Bocha Web Search API cost?

Bocha gives 1,000 free calls in its console, and a CSDN post of September 11, 2025 prices its resource packs at 3.6 yuan per 1,000 calls. SpecStream answers the same call for $1 per 1,000 in USD, with $10 of free credit.

### What is the best Bocha Web Search API alternative?

SpecStream, at $1 per 1,000 searches. It answers Bocha's `POST /v1/web-search` in Bocha's JSON, so the code stays, and its Search API scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions.

### Is there a Bocha compatible API?

Yes. SpecStream answers `POST https://api.specstream.ai/bocha/v1/web-search` in Bocha's JSON, checked on production on November 10, 2026. The [Bocha route guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/bocha?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=bocha) lists every parameter and field.

### What is the Bocha Web Search API endpoint?

`POST https://api.bochaai.com/v1/web-search`, with the key as a Bearer token. `count` takes 1 to 50 results, default 10, and `freshness` takes `noLimit`, `oneYear`, `oneMonth`, `oneWeek`, `oneDay` or a date range.

### Does SpecStream search in Chinese?

Yes. A query written in Chinese is searched in Chinese, on the engines that answer Chinese best, at the same $1 per 1,000 through the Bocha route.

### Can my searches stay off engines run from China?

Yes. Create the key with `"engine_rule": {"deny": ["CN"]}` and no search made with it reaches an engine run from China. `GET /v1/search-engines` lists each engine with its country.

### Does SpecStream have an API?

Yes, three. The Search API is `GET /v1/web-search` at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, or $1 with `speed=fast` and on the Bocha route. The Extract API is `POST /v1/extract` at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. Deep Search returns structured rows.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each Bocha fact comes from Bocha's open platform and its own MCP server source, the pack price from a CSDN post, and each other provider's figure from that company's own page, read on November 12, 2026.

- [Bocha open platform](https://open.bochaai.com/), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Bocha console overview](https://open.bochaai.com/overview), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Bocha MCP server source](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BochaAI/bocha-search-mcp/master/src/bocha_search_mcp/server.py), read Nov 12, 2026
- [CSDN on Bocha resource packs (Sep 11, 2025)](https://adg.csdn.net/696f3d05437a6b403369bd4b.html), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream pass table, Bocha route](https://specstream.ai/specstream/dialects/bocha.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Z.ai pricing](https://docs.z.ai/guides/overview/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [bigmodel.cn web search](https://docs.bigmodel.cn/cn/guide/tools/web-search), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily API credits](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 12, 2026