Bing Search API alternative: move to SpecStream's Search API
Microsoft retired the Bing Search APIs on August 11, 2025, decommissioned every existing instance and closed new sign-ups. SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. Its Search API takes the same q parameter at GET /v1/web-search for $5 per 1,000 searches, returns ranked results with URL, title and snippet, and adds an answer with the page it was read from. It is the most accurate web search API in the world. SpecStream leads WideSearch (60.9, on the low-cost model; the best other API scores 57.6 even on the larger model) and SimpleQA Verified (99), with every score and its cost on the benchmarks page.
New accounts get $10 of credit for their first 30 days, no card.
SpecStream and the Bing Search APIs
| SpecStream | Bing Search APIs | Grounding with Bing Search | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status on Nov 8, 2026 | Live and open to new accounts | Retired Aug 11, 2025; existing instances decommissioned, no new sign-ups | Offered by Microsoft inside Azure AI Agents |
| How you call it | GET /v1/web-search?q=... from any code, the Python and TypeScript SDKs, the CLI or any MCP client | Retired | A tool inside an Azure AI Agent, used with a model as it writes a response |
| Authentication | Authorization: Bearer <key> | Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key header | Not stated |
| Result fields | sources[] with url, title, site, snippet and published | webPages.value[] with url, name and snippet | Not stated |
| Answer with its page | answer with value, page and seen_at | Not stated | Not stated |
| Price | $5 per 1,000 searches | Retired | Not stated |
| Failed calls | A 503 with Retry-After charges nothing | Retired | Not stated |
| Page text | Extract API, $0.80 per 1,000 pages, PDF, Word and Excel included; a page with no text is not charged | Retired | Not stated |
| Full lists with a source on each value | Deep Search: every match as a structured row, 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, plus 5¢ for an email and 15¢ for a phone | Retired | Not stated |
| Reruns and delivery | A saved request reruns hourly to yearly, and changes go to Slack, email, a sheet, a CRM or a signed webhook | Retired | Not stated |
Why teams move from Bing to SpecStream
The same request with a new header
A Bing integration sent q and read webPages.value[]. SpecStream takes q under the same name, in any language, from 1 to 2,000 characters, and returns sources[] in rank order. url stays url, name becomes title, and snippet stays snippet. The Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key header becomes Authorization: Bearer <key>.
An answer with the page it came from
Each reply also carries answer: the value, the page it was read from and its read time. The answer is null unless the vote over the values the results print rates it above 0.6, because a wrong answer costs more than none, and every value found stays in rows. Add passages=true to get the text of the top pages closest to the question.
Any code, any agent
Microsoft points Bing customers to Grounding with Bing Search, a tool inside Azure AI Agents that works with a model as it writes responses. SpecStream's Search API is a plain HTTP call from any code, with Python and TypeScript SDKs, a CLI and the search_web tool for any MCP client. The same balance pays for the Extract API at $0.80 per 1,000 pages and Deep Search, which returns every match as structured rows and reruns on a schedule.
How SpecStream scores
The same numbers as the benchmarks page, from the official tasks and scorers.
| SpecStream |  Parallel |  Exa |  Tavily |  Perplexity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web researchWideSearch, GPT-5.6 Luna | 60.9 | 45.5 | 53.0 | 47.9 | 47.0 |
| Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Luna | 96 | 94 | 91 | 94 | 94 |
| Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Sol | 99 | 97 | 91 | 92 | 95 |
Move from Bing to SpecStream
Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace. New accounts get $10 of credit for 30 days, no card, which covers 2,000 searches. Change the endpoint and the header, and keep q:
curl "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search?q=Who%20founded%20Mistral%20AI%20and%20when%3F" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <key>"Read sources[] where you read webPages.value[], and take name from title. Send an Idempotency-Key header to retry safely, since a call is charged once per key. A 503 with Retry-After charges nothing, and the Python and TypeScript SDKs (1.3.2 and later) send it again once by themselves when the wait is 10 seconds or less.
Frequently asked questions
Something we didn't answer? Talk to a human
When did the Bing Search API shut down?
What replaces the Bing Web Search API?
GET /v1/web-search takes the same q parameter and returns ranked results with URL, title, site and snippet, plus an answer with its page, at $5 per 1,000 searches. Prices are on the pricing page.Do I have to use Azure AI Agents?
How do Bing fields map to SpecStream?
webPages.value[].url maps to sources[].url, name to title, and snippet to snippet. q keeps its name, and the subscription key header becomes Authorization: Bearer <key>.Can SpecStream return a full list?
kind: list with the first rows and a handoff that prices the full list as a Deep Search find, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a delivered row. A saved request reruns hourly to yearly and sends new rows to Slack, email, a sheet, a CRM or a webhook.Sources
SpecStream wrote this page. Each rival figure comes from that company's own page.
- Microsoft: Bing Search APIs retiring on August 11, 2025learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement, read Nov 8, 2026
- Microsoft: Grounding with Bing Searchlearn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/agents/how-to/tools/bing-grounding, read Nov 8, 2026
- Other providers' benchmark scores, September 9, 2026parallel.ai/benchmarks, read Nov 8, 2026
- SpecStream pricingspecstream.ai/pricing, read Nov 8, 2026
- SpecStream for agentsspecstream.ai/agents.md, read Nov 8, 2026