> SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. This is the Markdown copy of https://specstream.ai/alternatives/you-com. Every page, with what SpecStream does and costs: https://specstream.ai/llms.txt

# You.com Search API alternatives in 2026 | SpecStream

Compared on Nov 9, 2026.

# You.com Search API alternatives in 2026

**The answer with its page, at the same $5 per 1,000 searches.**

The You.com Search API costs $5 per 1,000 calls on its Standard endpoint, and a new account gets $10 of free credit, which You.com counts as 2,000 searches. A call returns up to 100 web results, each a URL, a title, a description and snippets. Full page content is billed on top at $1.00 per 1,000 pages read live, so a call for 10 results with every page costs up to $0.015. Your code, or your model, still reads the results and works out the answer.

SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents, and the best alternative to the You.com Search API for a product or agent that needs the facts a search turns up. Its Search API costs the same $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results and returns the answer with the page it was read from, plus rows with the facts you asked for. It is the most accurate web search API in the world: 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct), and 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks, with every score and its method on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com) page. The same key reads pages through the Extract API at $0.80 per 1,000 and builds full datasets with Deep Search.

[Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-you-com&utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fagents%3Ftab%3Dkeys)

New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

## SpecStream and You.com Search API side by side

|  | SpecStream | You.com Search API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What you send | A question or a request in everyday words, in any language, up to 2,000 characters. For a full dataset, the data you want with the conditions every row must meet | A search query in `query`, the one required field of `POST /v1/search`, with search operators written inside it. Domain filters take up to 500 domains to include or 5,000 to exclude |
| What you get back | The answer with the page it was read from and its read time, rows with the facts you asked for, and the results read. Source URL and read time on every value | A `results.web` array with a URL, a title, a description and snippets for each result, and up to 25 knowledge results from licensed data providers |
| Where a value comes from | Every value in the answer and in each row carries the `page` it was read from and its read time in `seen_at`. `cited` marks each result a value comes from | A web result carries its URL. A knowledge result carries a credit that names the provider and has no URL |
| Results per search | Up to 100 results for one search, set with `num` (1 to 100). `page` (1 to 10) continues the same ranked list, and `next_page` names the next one | Up to 100 results a call, set with `count` (1 to 100, default 10). `offset` runs from 0 to 9. With highlights, `count` stops at 50 |
| Price | Search API $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results. Extract API $0.80 per 1,000 pages. Deep Search 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a delivered row. $10 of credit, no card | $5 per 1,000 calls on the Standard endpoint. Full page content $1.00 per 1,000 pages read live, on top of the search rate. $10 of free credit, counted as 2,000 searches. Enterprise capacity is sold by contact |
| Reading a page | `passages=true` adds the text of the top pages closest to the request to the same $0.005 search. The Extract API returns the main text of up to 20 URLs a call, from web pages, PDF, Word and Excel, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, with a status for each page that is blocked, missing or empty | `extraction` returns highlights or the full page as Markdown or HTML for each search result. Full pages read live cost $1.00 per 1,000, which puts a call for 10 results at up to $0.015. A page gets 10 seconds by default and 60 at most |
| What a call that returns nothing useful costs | A busy call returns `503` with `Retry-After` and is not charged. A page with no text is not charged. A Deep Search run that finds nothing costs nothing | One request to an endpoint is one billable call, whatever it returns. All payments are non-refundable under its terms |
| A full dataset | Deep Search: structured rows, one record per company, place or filing, with facts from many sites joined. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts, and a saved request reruns hourly to yearly with each row labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching | One call returns up to 100 results for one query, and `offset` from 0 to 9 pages through them. Joining results into records is your code's work |
| Spending limits | 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 spending cap per API key: a dollar limit on what that key can spend in a billing period. Auto top-up is offered on pay as you go |
| Keeping results private | Zero retention is set per API key: a search made with such a key keeps no request text and no answer after the reply. Without it, every charged search stays in your account's history, and reading it costs nothing | Its terms, last updated August 27, 2024, say You.com may use Content to provide, maintain, train and improve its services |
| MCP and API | MCP server, REST API, Python and TypeScript SDKs, a CLI and A2A. An agent can buy one request with no account, by card or in USDC | `POST /v1/search` with an API key, and an MCP server that searches with no API key for up to 100 queries a day. `GET /v1/search` still works and receives no new features |
| Where the data goes | Google Sheets, Excel, Airtable, Notion, monday.com, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio, Slack, Teams, Zapier, Make, n8n and signed webhooks | The API response and the MCP server |

## Why You.com Search API buyers move to SpecStream

### The same $5 returns the answer

A You.com call returns web results: a URL, a title, a description and snippets for each one. Your model reads them and works out the answer, and you pay for its tokens as well. A SpecStream search costs the same $0.005 and does that reading. 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. A question that asks several things comes back with each part answered and the page for each part.

### 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. The Extract API scored 0.908 F1 on WCXB. Every score and its method are on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com) page.

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, so your agent never passes on a guess.

### Page text comes with the search

You.com bills full page content on top of the search: $1.00 per 1,000 pages read live, so a call for 10 results costs up to $0.015 with every page. On SpecStream, add `passages=true` and the same $0.005 search returns the text of the top pages closest to the request, each with its URL and title, plus an excerpt of up to about 3,500 characters for each result. For whole pages and documents, the Extract API reads up to 20 URLs a call at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, PDF, Word and Excel included, and a page that gives no text is not charged.

### Every value has its page

You.com adds up to 25 knowledge results from licensed data providers to a call, and each one carries a credit that names the provider with no URL. On SpecStream, every value in the answer and in every row has the page it was read from and the time it was read. Your product can show the link next to the fact, and your user can open it.

### 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 request reruns on your schedule and labels each row changed, unchanged or no longer matching. The public records SpecStream already reads every morning are at [specstream.ai/data](https://specstream.ai/data?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com).

### 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 of up to 10 results takes $0.005 and reports its cost in `price_usd`. Send an `Idempotency-Key` header and a retry is charged once.

## Other You.com Search API alternatives

### SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. The Search API costs $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results and returns the answer, rows and the results read. The Extract API reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000, and Deep Search delivers full datasets at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

### Brave Search API

A search API on Brave's own index, sold as prepaid credits. The Search plan costs $5 per 1,000 requests with $5 in free credits every month, and the Answers plan costs $4 per 1,000 requests plus $5 per million input and output tokens. A SpecStream search costs the same $0.005 and returns the answer with the page it was read from.

### Exa

A search API priced by the request. Search costs $4 (lite) or $7 (auto, fast) per 1,000 requests of up to 10 results, more results cost $1 per 1,000, and page contents cost $1 per 1,000 pages. The free tier is $10 in credits. SpecStream reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000 through the Extract API, and one Deep Search request covers the search, the reading and the record.

### Kagi Search API

Search results from Kagi at $12 per 1,000 requests, invoiced when usage reaches $100. SpecStream costs $5 per 1,000 searches, less than half the rate, and each search returns the answer and the rows found along with the results.

### 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. SpecStream costs $5 per 1,000 searches, a fifth of the Starter rate, with no monthly plan to buy, and a top-up is spent only on the calls you make.

## How SpecStream scores

The same numbers as the benchmarks page, from the official tasks and scorers.

ResultsWideSearchCostSimpleQA Verified

|  | SpecStream | ![](https://specstream.ai/images/benchmarks/parallel.svg)Parallel | ![](https://specstream.ai/images/benchmarks/exa.svg)Exa | ![](https://specstream.ai/images/benchmarks/tavily.svg)Tavily | ![](https://specstream.ai/images/benchmarks/perplexity.svg)Perplexity |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Web research**WideSearch, GPT-5.6 Luna | 60.9 | 45.5 | 53.0 | 47.9 | 47.0 |
| **Factual accuracy**SimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Luna | 96 | 94 | 91 | 94 | 94 |
| **Factual accuracy**SimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Sol | 99 | 97 | 91 | 92 | 95 |

## How to switch from You.com Search API

Move your `POST /v1/search` calls to `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search` with `Authorization: Bearer <key>`. Your `query` becomes `q`, written in everyday words, in any language. `count` becomes `num`, and `offset` becomes `page`. Quoted phrases are searched as phrases. Sign up and you get $10 of credit, no card. At $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, that is 2,000 searches.

```
curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=Who leads engineering at Mistral AI, and when did they join?" \
  --data-urlencode "passages=true"
```

On MCP, your agent calls `search_web` with `{"q": ...}` and `read_pages` with `{"urls": [...]}`. The SDKs call it `web_search(q=...)` in Python and `webSearch({ q })` in TypeScript, and the CLI `specstream web-search --q`. `POST /v1/web-search/batch` sends many questions in one call.

[Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-you-com&utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fagents%3Ftab%3Dkeys)

## Frequently asked questions

Something we didn't answer? [Talk to a human](https://specstream.ai/talk-to-a-human.md)

How much does the You.com Search API cost?

$5 per 1,000 calls on the Standard endpoint, pay as you go, with no minimums, no seats and no platform fee. Full page content costs $1.00 per 1,000 pages read live on top of that, so a call for 10 results with every page costs up to $0.015. New accounts get $10 of free credit, which You.com counts as 2,000 searches, and enterprise capacity is sold by contact.

What is the best You.com Search API alternative?

SpecStream, at the same $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results. Each search returns the answer with the page it was read from, rows with the facts you asked for, and the results read. It is the most accurate web search API in the world: 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. The same account reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000 and builds full datasets that rerun on your schedule.

Is SpecStream cheaper than the You.com Search API?

A search of up to 10 results costs $0.005 on both, and page text costs less on SpecStream. `passages=true` returns the text of the top pages inside the same $0.005 search, where a You.com call for 10 results with full pages costs up to $0.015. The Extract API reads a page for $0.0008, against $0.001 for a page You.com reads live. For that price a SpecStream search also returns the answer and its rows, so your product makes no second call to a model.

Does the You.com Search API have a free tier?

Yes: $10 of free credit, which You.com counts as 2,000 searches, and its MCP server searches with no API key for up to 100 queries a day. SpecStream gives every new account $10 of credit with no card, which is 2,000 searches of up to 10 results, 12,500 pages through the Extract API or up to 200 rows from Deep Search.

How many results does one search return?

Up to 100 on both. SpecStream sets the number with `num` (1 to 100) and continues the same ranked list with `page` (1 to 10), and when the first search finds fewer than you asked for it searches further before it answers. You.com sets it with `count` (1 to 100, default 10) and pages with `offset` from 0 to 9, and `count` stops at 50 when you ask for highlights.

What does SpecStream cover?

The whole job of getting data from the web, starting at $5 per 1,000 searches. The Search API answers a question from the live web in a few seconds. The Extract API reads up to 20 pages or documents a call. Deep Search turns a request in plain words into structured rows, fills in or checks a list you bring, reruns on a schedule with every change labeled, and delivers the rows to your sheet, CRM, Slack or agent. You.com covers the search step: results for one query, billed per call.

Does SpecStream have an API and an MCP server?

Yes. The Search API is `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search` at $5 per 1,000 searches, and the MCP server is at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp` over Streamable HTTP, with OAuth or an API key. Your agent searches with `search_web`, reads pages with `read_pages`, and prices and runs a full dataset inside the limits you set on its key.

### Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each rival figure comes from that company's own page.

1.  [SpecStream pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing)specstream.ai/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026
2.  [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md)specstream.ai/agents.md, read Nov 9, 2026
3.  [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks)specstream.ai/benchmarks, read Nov 9, 2026
4.  [SpecStream data](https://specstream.ai/data)specstream.ai/data, read Nov 9, 2026
5.  [You.com API plans](https://you.com/plans?hsLang=en)you.com/plans?hsLang=en, read Nov 9, 2026
6.  [You.com pricing](https://you.com/pricing)you.com/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026
7.  [You.com Web Search API spec](https://you.com/docs/openapi/web-search.json)you.com/docs/openapi/web-search.json, read Nov 9, 2026
8.  [You.com billing](https://you.com/docs/administration/billing.md)you.com/docs/administration/billing.md, read Nov 9, 2026
9.  [You.com changelog](https://you.com/docs/changelog)you.com/docs/changelog, read Nov 9, 2026
10.  [You.com terms](https://you.com/terms)you.com/terms, read Nov 9, 2026
11.  [Brave Search API pricing](https://brave.com/search/api/)brave.com/search/api/, read Nov 9, 2026
12.  [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing)exa.ai/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026
13.  [Kagi API pricing](https://kagi.com/api/pricing)kagi.com/api/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026
14.  [Kagi API overview](https://help.kagi.com/kagi/api/overview.html)help.kagi.com/kagi/api/overview.html, read Nov 9, 2026
15.  [SerpApi pricing](https://serpapi.com/pricing)serpapi.com/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026