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# Brave Search API vs You.com in 2026: prices, limits, one key

Compared on Nov 12, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/compare/brave-vs-you-com

On Nov 12, 2026, the Brave Search API costs $5 per 1,000 requests, with $5 in free credits a month. You.com's Web Search API costs $5 per 1,000 calls, plus $1 per 1,000 pages crawled live for full page text.

SpecStream answers both calls on one key at $1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results. Brave code calls `https://api.specstream.ai`, You.com code calls `https://api.specstream.ai/you`, and the parsers stay. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

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

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

| | SpecStream | Brave Search API | You.com |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your code today | Runs as it is on both. Brave's `GET /res/v1/web/search` answers at `https://api.specstream.ai` with the key in `X-Subscription-Token`, and You.com's `/v1/search` at `https://api.specstream.ai/you` with the key in `X-API-Key` | `GET https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search` with a Brave key in `X-Subscription-Token` | `POST https://ydc-index.io/v1/search` with a You.com key in `X-API-Key`. `GET /v1/search` still works and gets no new features |
| Price per 1,000 searches | $1 for up to 10 results on both routes. 11 to 20 results cost $0.0022 a call, and a search that returns the answer with its page costs $5 per 1,000 | $5 per 1,000 requests on the Search plan. Answers costs $4 per 1,000 requests plus $5 per million input and output tokens | $5 per 1,000 calls of up to 100 results. A call that returns 1 result costs the same as one that returns 100 |
| Results per call | Up to 20 on Brave's path and up to 100 on You.com's. A call that names no count returns 10 for $0.001, and 100 results cost $0.0118 | `count` up to 20, 20 by default, and `offset` from 0 to 9 | Up to 100. With highlights, `count` stops at 50 |
| Page text | The Extract API reads up to 20 URLs a call, web pages, PDF, Word and Excel, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. A page with no text is not charged | A description and up to 5 extra excerpts with each result | Full pages add $1 per 1,000 pages crawled live. Pages served from cache are free |
| A call that returns nothing | Costs nothing. A busy call answers `429` with `Retry-After` and is not charged | Each API call counts as one request | One request to an endpoint is one billable call, whatever it returns |
| Free to start | $10 of credit, no card: 10,000 searches | $5 in free credits every month | 100 Web Search queries a day through its MCP server with no key. $10 of API credit at sign up and $90 more on verifying the account, valid for 60 days |
| How you pay | From one balance, with no monthly plan. Each API key carries its own spending limit | Prepaid credits: load credits, use as you go. Larger plans by contact | Pay as you go, with a spending cap per key and Auto Top-Up. Custom pricing by contact above 1M calls a month |
| Volume | The same rate from the first search. Search packs bring it to $2.50 per 1,000 default searches | 50 queries per second on the Search plan, 2 on Answers | Custom pricing by contact above 1M calls a month |
| MCP | Hosted at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`, with OAuth or an API key: `search_web`, `read_pages` and Deep Search | `@brave/brave-search-mcp-server`, which runs on your machine with a `BRAVE_API_KEY` | A hosted MCP server, billed at the same rate as direct API calls |
| Every match as rows | Deep Search: every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with the most a run can cost quoted before it starts | Up to 20 results for one query | Research API per 1,000 calls: $12 on Lite and $50 on Standard |

## Why teams move Brave and You.com calls to SpecStream

### Both calls on one key

A team that runs Brave in one service and You.com in another keeps both. Each call keeps its path, its parameters and its parser; the address and the key change.

```
# Brave Search API, before and after
curl -G https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: $BRAVE_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=open source vector databases" -d count=10
curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/res/v1/web/search \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=open source vector databases" -d count=10

# You.com Search API, before and after
curl -X POST https://ydc-index.io/v1/search \
  -H "X-API-Key: $YDC_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "open source vector databases", "count": 10}'
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/you/v1/search \
  -H "X-API-Key: $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "open source vector databases", "count": 10}'
```

On Brave's path the reply has `web.results[]` with `title`, `url` and `description`. On `/you` it has `results.web[]` with `url`, `title`, `description` and `snippets`, and `metadata`. The older `GET /you/search` answers in its `hits[]` shape. Every parameter is in the [Brave](https://specstream.ai/migrate/brave?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=brave-vs-you-com) and [You.com](https://specstream.ai/migrate/you?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=brave-vs-you-com) migration guides.

### 100,000 searches: $500, $500 or $100

At 100,000 searches of 10 results a month, Brave's Search plan costs $500 and You.com's Web Search API costs $500. On SpecStream the same calls cost $100 on either route, with no plan to buy and no charge for a call that returns nothing or stops at a `429`.

You.com adds $1 per 1,000 pages crawled live when a call asks for full pages, so 10 results with every page cost up to $0.015. On SpecStream, `passages=true` on `GET /v1/web-search` adds the text of the top pages to the search, and the Extract API reads any page at $0.80 per 1,000.

### 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, 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 is on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=brave-vs-you-com) page.

Both drop-in routes run the fast search. Ask `GET /v1/web-search` on the same key and the reply carries the `answer` with the `page` it was read from and its read time in `seen_at`, when the results agree on one value, at $5 per 1,000.

### 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=brave-vs-you-com) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and runs [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=brave-vs-you-com), which returns every match for a request in plain words as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. Source URL and read time on every value. A saved request reruns hourly to yearly, with each row labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching.

### An agent spends inside a hard maximum

Each API key carries its own spending limit and the operations it allows. A search needs no quote: each call takes its price from the balance, and the reply's `price_usd` says what it cost. A Deep Search run never costs more than the maximum you approved.

## Other search APIs teams price against Brave and You.com

### SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. Search at $1 per 1,000 on Brave's, You.com's and the other drop-in addresses, $5 with the answer and its page, pages at $0.80 per 1,000, and every match as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row.

### Tavily

A search API billed in credits at $0.008 each pay as you go, 1 credit a basic search and 2 an advanced one, with 1,000 free credits a month. SpecStream answers Tavily's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/tavily` for $0.001 a search.

### Exa

$4, $7 or $12 per 1,000 requests by search type, with up to 10 results in the base price. SpecStream answers Exa's `POST /search` at `https://api.specstream.ai/exa`, in Exa's JSON, at $1 per 1,000.

### Perplexity Search API

Ranked web results as JSON at $5 per 1,000 requests, or $1 with fast search, with no generated answer. A SpecStream search at $5 also returns the answer with its page when the results agree on one.

### Parallel

Search from $1 per 1,000 requests, with 10 results a request. SpecStream answers Parallel's `POST /v1/search` at `https://api.specstream.ai/parallel`, and the same key reads pages and returns rows.

## How to move Brave and You.com calls to SpecStream

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

2. Point the Brave calls at `https://api.specstream.ai` and send the SpecStream key in `X-Subscription-Token`.

```
import os, requests

reply = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/res/v1/web/search",  # was https://api.search.brave.com
    params={"q": "open source vector databases", "count": 10},
    headers={"X-Subscription-Token": os.environ["SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"]},
).json()

for result in reply["web"]["results"]:
    print(result["title"], result["url"])
```

3. Point the You.com calls at `https://api.specstream.ai/you` in place of `https://ydc-index.io`, and send the SpecStream key in `X-API-Key`.

```
import os, requests

reply = requests.post(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/you/v1/search",  # was https://ydc-index.io/v1/search
    json={"query": "open source vector databases", "count": 10},
    headers={"X-API-Key": os.environ["SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"]},
).json()

for result in reply["results"]["web"]:
    print(result["title"], result["url"])
```

4. Leave the rest. A call of up to 10 results costs $0.001 on either route, a call that returns nothing costs nothing, and the key's limit caps what it can spend.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Brave Search API cheaper than You.com?

No, they cost the same per call: Brave $5 per 1,000 requests and You.com $5 per 1,000 calls. You.com adds $1 per 1,000 pages crawled live for full page text. SpecStream answers both calls at $1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results.

### Brave Search API vs You.com pricing: what does each cost?

Brave costs $5 per 1,000 requests on the Search plan with $5 in free credits a month, and Answers $4 per 1,000 requests plus $5 per million tokens. You.com costs $5 per 1,000 Web Search calls, $1 per 1,000 live pages, and $12 to $50 per 1,000 Research calls on Lite and Standard.

### Which has the bigger free tier?

You.com, at the start: 100 Web Search queries a day through its MCP server with no key, and $10 of API credit at sign up plus $90 on verifying, valid for 60 days. Brave gives $5 in free credits every month. SpecStream gives $10 of credit, no card, which is 10,000 searches.

### How many results does one call return?

Brave returns up to 20 a request, 20 by default. You.com returns up to 100 for the same price, and up to 50 with highlights. On SpecStream, Brave's path returns up to 20 and You.com's up to 100, and a call with no count returns 10 for $0.001.

### Can I use both Brave and You.com on one key?

Yes. On SpecStream, Brave calls go to `https://api.specstream.ai/res/v1/web/search` and You.com calls to `https://api.specstream.ai/you/v1/search`, each in its own JSON, from one balance.

### Does either have an MCP server?

Both. Brave's official server, `@brave/brave-search-mcp-server`, runs on your machine with a Brave key, and You.com hosts one billed at its API rate. SpecStream hosts `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`, with `search_web`, `read_pages` and Deep Search on one connection.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure for Brave, You.com and the other tools comes from that company's own page, read on 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
- [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Brave Web Search documentation](https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/app/documentation/web-search/get-started), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Brave Search API on AWS Marketplace](https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-qjlabherxghtq), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Brave Search MCP server](https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server), read Nov 12, 2026
- [You.com pricing](https://you.com/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [You.com billing](https://you.com/docs/administration/billing.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [You.com search reference](https://docs.you.com/api-reference/search/v1-search.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily pricing](https://www.tavily.com/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Perplexity pricing](https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/getting-started/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Parallel pricing](https://parallel.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026