Linkup vs Parallel in 2026

Keep both calls and change two lines

Your Linkup call and your Parallel call keep their bodies, their headers and their parsers. Each one changes its address, and both carry the same key.

# Linkup: was https://api.linkup.so/v1/search
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"q": "Who founded Mistral AI and when?", "depth": "fast", "outputType": "searchResults"}'

# Parallel: was https://api.parallel.ai/v1/search
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/parallel/v1/search \
  -H "x-api-key: $SPECSTREAM_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"search_queries": ["Mistral AI founders"], "mode": "fast"}'

A team that has not chosen yet writes to either format and moves nothing later. The parameter by parameter tables are in the Linkup migration guide and the Parallel migration guide.

What each path reads and returns

On /linkup/v1/search, by POST or GET, q, depth, maxResults from 1 to 100, includeDomains, excludeDomains, fromDate and toDate work as on Linkup. outputType takes searchResults, which returns results[] with type, name, url and content, and sourcedAnswer, which returns answer and sources[]. structured gets 400 with the reason. In linkup-sdk, set base_url to https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1.

On /parallel/v1/search, search_queries, mode (turbo, fast, basic or advanced), advanced_settings.max_results up to 100, and advanced_settings.source_policy with include_domains, exclude_domains and after_date work as on Parallel, with excerpt_settings, max_chars_total and session_id. The reply has search_id, session_id and results[] with url, title, publish_date when the page has a date, and excerpts. warnings and usage are not returned. In the parallel-web Python SDK, set base_url to https://api.specstream.ai/parallel.

$1 per 1,000 searches, page text included

Linkup prices a search by depth and output, from $0.005 to $0.055. Parallel charges $1 per 1,000 in turbo and fast and $5 per 1,000 in basic and advanced. On SpecStream a search of up to 10 results is $0.001 at Linkup's standard and in Parallel's basic, page text included, and $0.005 at deep or advanced. Send "mode": "fast" or "basic" on the Parallel path: a call with no mode runs advanced, as on Parallel. There is no monthly plan, a top up never expires, and a call stopped by a 429 charges nothing.

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. Linkup reports a 94% F-score on the same benchmark. On WideSearch SpecStream scores 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official tasks, and the Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. The scores and the method are at specstream.ai/benchmarks.

About one second a search, read live

Every search reads the live web at the moment of the call. On November 9, 2026 production took 1 to 20 fast searches a second and answered 718 of 720: the median was 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second, and the 95th percentile stayed between 1.09 and 1.73 s. There is no limit per key and no daily limit.

Zero retention on any key

Set zero_retention when you create a key, or later. A search made with that key keeps no request text and no answer after the reply. The charge keeps the account, the key, the request ID, the price and the time.

curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/v1/account/keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "production", "scopes": ["account:read", "finds:spend"], "spend_cap_cents": 500000, "zero_retention": true}'

Search, pages, crawls and rows on the same key

The same key reads up to 20 pages a call with the Extract API at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and a page with no text is not charged. It runs Deep Search, which returns every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. 10,000 rows with 5 facts each cost $500, and the most a run can cost is approved before it starts.

Tavily

Search in credits at $0.008 a credit pay as you go, 1 credit for a basic search and 2 for an advanced one, with 1,000 free credits every month. SpecStream answers Tavily's POST /search at https://api.specstream.ai/tavily, in Tavily's JSON, at $0.001 a search.

You.com

Search at $5.00 per 1,000 calls of up to 100 results, with 10 requests a second on /v1/search. SpecStream answers You.com's /v1/search at https://api.specstream.ai/you, in You.com's JSON, at $0.001 a search of up to 10 results.

Exa

Search on its own index at $4 per 1,000 requests on lite and $7 on auto, for up to 10 results. SpecStream answers Exa's POST /search at https://api.specstream.ai/exa, in Exa's JSON, at $0.001 a search.

Brave Search API

Results from Brave's own index at $5 per 1,000 requests, with $5 in free credits every month. SpecStream answers Brave's GET /res/v1/web/search at https://api.specstream.ai, at $1 per 1,000 searches.