Brave Search API alternative

The whole migration is one line

Your code keeps its path, its parameters and its parser. The address changes, and the key.

# Before
curl -G https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: $BRAVE_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=Which US banks failed in 2026" -d count=10

# After
curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/res/v1/web/search \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=Which US banks failed in 2026" -d count=10

The reply has Brave's shape: type, query, mixed and web.results[] with title, url, description, profile, meta_url and page_age when known. Brave's own migration guide for Google users says to update how you read the response. Here there is nothing to update.

A search of up to 10 results costs $0.001

Brave charges $5 per 1,000 requests, and a request returns up to 20 results, 20 when count is not set. SpecStream charges $1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, and a call with no count returns 10, so it costs $0.001. A call for 11 to 20 results costs $0.0022, and a call stopped by a 429 charges nothing.

The most accurate web search API in the world

On November 8, 2026 the SpecStream Search API scored 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, 978 of them correct, and 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. Every score and its method are on the benchmarks page.

The answer and its rows on the same key

On the same key, GET /v1/web-search does the reading for $0.005. The reply carries the answer with its page and its read time in seen_at, rows with the facts the request asks for, and sources, the results read in rank order. num sets 1 to 100 results for one search, and page (1 to 10) continues the same ranked list. Add passages=true and the reply also holds the text of the top pages closest to the request.

SpecStream gives an answer when the values the results print agree on it. When they disagree, answer is null and every value found stays in rows with its page.

From one search to a full dataset

When a search asks for many results, the reply says how many there are and hands the request to Deep Search. SpecStream quotes the most the full run can cost, keeps working until it reaches the count, for up to four hours on the largest lists, and delivers one row per match into your sheet, your CRM, Slack or your agent. A row costs 5¢, 15¢ or $1 by how much it needs, so 10,000 rows with 5 facts cost $500. The public records SpecStream already reads every morning are at specstream.ai/data.

An agent spends inside a hard maximum

Each API key carries its own limits: a total, a limit per run, a monthly limit and the operations it allows. A Deep Search run never costs more than the maximum you approved, and what it does not use goes back to your balance. A search needs no quote: each call takes $0.001 and the request log shows what it cost.

SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. It answers Brave's own /res/v1/web/search call at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, and the same key returns the answer and rows, reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000 and delivers full datasets at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

SerpApi

A search results API sold on monthly plans: Starter is $25 a month for 1,000 searches and Developer is $75 a month for 5,000. An empty result set counts as a search. SpecStream costs $1 per 1,000 searches, a twenty-fifth of the Starter rate.

Tavily

A search API for agents, billed in credits at $0.008 each pay as you go, with 1,000 free credits a month. When the monthly credits run out, requests stop until they reset or you upgrade. SpecStream answers Tavily's call too, at https://api.specstream.ai/tavily/search, for $0.001 a search.

Exa

A search API priced by the request: search from $4 per 1,000 requests and page contents at $1 per 1,000 pages, with $10 in credits on sign-up. SpecStream answers Exa's call too, at https://api.specstream.ai/exa/search, and reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000 through the Extract API.

Firecrawl

Search and page reading billed in credits: a search costs 2 credits per 10 results, and the Standard plan is $99 a month for 100,000 credits. Its free plan covers 500 searches or 1,000 pages at 10 requests a minute. On SpecStream the pages read to find a row are not billed.