Kagi Search API alternatives in 2026

The answer with its page, for $0.005

A Kagi request returns results for your code to read. A SpecStream search returns the value with the page it was read on and the time it was read, then every source in rank order, for $0.005 where Kagi charges $0.012.

curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=Who is the CEO of Mistral AI" \
  -d num=10 -d passages=true

With passages=true, each of the first num sources carries an excerpt of its page, up to about 3,500 characters, so your model reads the evidence without a call to Extract.

Pages at $0.80 per 1,000

Kagi's Extract costs $4 per 1,000 pages, up to 10 URLs a request. The SpecStream Extract API costs $0.80 per 1,000 pages, reads up to 20 URLs a call, web pages and PDF, Word and Excel documents, and does not charge a page with no text. It scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB.

One setting in Open WebUI

If your app runs on Open WebUI, set External Web Search URL to https://api.specstream.ai/openwebui/search and External Web Loader URL to https://api.specstream.ai/openwebui/loader, with your SpecStream key in each API key field. A search is one web search at $0.005, and a loader batch of up to 20 URLs is one Extract API call.

The most accurate web search API in the world

The SpecStream Search API scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, with 978 correct. On WideSearch it scores 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official tasks, 100 in English and 100 in Chinese. The scores and the method are at specstream.ai/benchmarks.

Fast at 1 search a second and at 20

The fast search, which every drop-in route uses, was measured on production on November 9, 2026: a median of 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second, with the 95th percentile between 1.09 and 1.73 s. It answered 718 of 720 calls. One account can send up to 8,800 fast searches a minute, and a call over that gets a 503 with Retry-After and is not charged.

Your other search code keeps working

If your agent also calls another search API, point it at SpecStream by changing the base address and the key. The reply keeps that API's JSON, so the parser stays as it is.

https://api.tavily.com       ->  https://api.specstream.ai/tavily
https://api.exa.ai           ->  https://api.specstream.ai/exa
https://google.serper.dev    ->  https://api.specstream.ai/serper
https://api.search.brave.com ->  https://api.specstream.ai
https://api.firecrawl.dev    ->  https://api.specstream.ai/firecrawl

Each call is one web search at $0.005 for up to 10 results, on the same key, limits and history as GET /v1/web-search.

One request returns the whole dataset

With a results API, a dataset is a loop your team writes: many queries, a read of every link, a check of every result and a join into one record. On SpecStream you write the request once, for companies, places, filings, tenders or products. SpecStream reads it back as the conditions every row must meet and the facts to bring back, then searches the live web, reads each page and joins what it finds into one record per match. A row with up to 5 facts costs 5¢, so 10,000 rows cost $500, and the searches and pages behind them are not billed.

Keys with their own limits and zero retention

Each API key carries its own limits: total, per run and monthly, and the operations it allows. Set zero_retention on a key and a search made with it keeps no request text and no answer after the reply. Every other charged search stays in the account's history at GET /v1/web-search/answers, with its answer and the pages it came from, and reading the history costs nothing.

SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. Its Search API returns the answer with its page for $5 per 1,000 searches and scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions. The Extract API costs $0.80 per 1,000 pages. Deep Search returns every match as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row.

Brave Search API

A search API on Brave's own index, paid with prepaid credits. The Search plan costs $5 per 1,000 requests at up to 50 queries per second, and the Answers plan $4 per 1,000 requests plus $5 per million input and output tokens. SpecStream answers Brave's call too, at https://api.specstream.ai/res/v1/web/search, in Brave's JSON.

Tavily

A search API for agents, billed in credits at $0.008 each pay as you go, with 1,000 free credits a month. A basic search costs 1 credit and an advanced search 2. SpecStream answers Tavily's call too, at https://api.specstream.ai/tavily/search, for $0.005 a search.

Serper

A Google results API sold as prepaid credits, from $1.00 per 1,000 queries on the 50k pack to $0.30 on the 12.5M pack, with 2,500 free queries. Credits are valid for 6 months. SpecStream answers Serper's own call at https://api.specstream.ai/serper/search in Serper's JSON, and a top-up never expires.

SerpApi

A results page API for Google and other search engines, sold month to month. The Starter plan costs $25 a month for 1,000 searches and the Developer plan $75 a month for 5,000. Cached, errored and failed searches are not counted. SpecStream returns the answer and the pages it came from in one call, at $5 per 1,000 searches on every plan.