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# You.com vs Tavily in 2026: one key answers both calls

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

You.com charges $5 per 1,000 Web Search calls of up to 100 results. Tavily charges 1 credit for a basic search and 2 for an advanced one, at $0.008 a credit pay as you go: $8 or $16 per 1,000.

SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. It answers both calls with one key at $1 per 1,000 searches: `https://api.specstream.ai/you` in place of `https://ydc-index.io`, and `https://api.specstream.ai/tavily` in place of `https://api.tavily.com`.

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

## SpecStream, You.com and Tavily side by side

| | SpecStream | You.com | Tavily |
|---|---|---|---|
| The call your code sends | Both, on one key. `POST https://api.specstream.ai/you/v1/search` in You.com's JSON with the key in `X-API-Key`, and `POST https://api.specstream.ai/tavily/search` in Tavily's JSON with the key as a Bearer token | `POST https://ydc-index.io/v1/search` with `query` and `count`, and a You.com key in `X-API-Key` | `POST https://api.tavily.com/search` with `query`, `max_results` and `search_depth`, and a Tavily key as a Bearer token |
| Price per 1,000 searches | $1 for up to 10 results on either path. $5 on Tavily's `advanced` depth, which runs the default search, and $5 on `/v1/web-search` with the answer | $5.00 per 1,000 calls of up to 100 results | $8 on `basic` (1 credit) and $16 on `advanced` (2 credits) at $0.008 a credit pay as you go. Monthly plans run $0.0075 to $0.005 a credit, from $30 for 4,000 credits to $500 for 100,000 |
| Results in one call | Up to 100 on the You.com path and up to 20 on the Tavily path, as each API allows. Up to 10 results cost $0.001, and each started block of 10 more adds $0.0012 | Up to 100 for the same $0.005 | Up to 20, set with `max_results` |
| The text of each page | In the same search at no extra cost: Tavily's `include_raw_content` and You.com's highlights. The Extract API reads up to 20 pages a call at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, also at `/tavily/extract` | Contents API $1 per 1,000 pages. Full pages on a search add $1.00 per 1,000 pages fetched live, so a call for 10 results costs up to $0.015 | Extract costs 1 credit for every 5 pages on `basic` and 2 on `advanced`: $1.60 or $3.20 per 1,000 pages pay as you go |
| Free to start | $10 of credit, no card, which covers 10,000 searches. Nothing resets at the end of a month, and credit you buy stays until you use it | $10 of API credit at sign up and $90 more on verifying the account, valid for 60 days. 100 Web Search queries a day through the MCP server | 1,000 free credits every month, no credit card. When the monthly credits run out, requests stop until they reset or you upgrade |
| Calls that return nothing | A search that returns no results costs nothing. A busy call answers `429` with `Retry-After` in that API's own form and is not charged | One request to an endpoint is one billable call, whatever it returns | A failed URL extraction is not charged |
| Speed limits | Calls a minute are counted per account. A call past the limit, or while search is busy, answers `429` with `Retry-After` in that API's own form and is not charged | 10 requests a second on `/v1/search` by default | 100 requests a minute on the free plan and 1,000 with pay as you go. Research is held to 20 a minute |
| Published accuracy | 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct), and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. Scores and method on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com-vs-tavily) page | You.com's own comparison page reports 92.09% on SimpleQA for You.com and 86.32% for Tavily | Tavily's figure, as You.com's page quotes it: 93.3% on Tavily's own evals |
| Every match as structured rows | Deep Search: a request in plain words returns every match on the live web as rows that meet each condition you wrote, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts | Research API from $12 to $1,200 per 1,000 calls by effort tier, one cited answer a call | Research priced dynamically between 4 and 110 credits a request on `mini` and between 15 and 250 on `pro` |

## Why teams choosing between You.com and Tavily use SpecStream

### Keep both calls and change two lines

Your You.com call and your Tavily call keep their bodies and their parsers. Each one changes its address, and both carry the same SpecStream key.

```
# You.com: was https://ydc-index.io/v1/search
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/you/v1/search \
  -H "X-API-Key: $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "Who founded Mistral AI and when?", "count": 10}'

# Tavily: was https://api.tavily.com/search
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/tavily/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "Who founded Mistral AI and when?", "max_results": 10}'
```

A team that has not chosen yet writes to either format and moves nothing later. Every parameter and reply field is in the [You.com migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/you?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com-vs-tavily) and the [Tavily migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/tavily?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com-vs-tavily).

### What 100,000 searches a month cost

At 100,000 searches a month, You.com costs $500. Tavily costs $800 on `basic` pay as you go, $1,600 on `advanced`, or $500 on the Growth plan for 100,000 credits. On SpecStream the same calls cost $100 on either path, and $500 with Tavily's `advanced` depth.

Add the text of 10 pages to each call. You.com's ceiling is $0.015 a call, $1,500 a month. Tavily Extract reads pages at $1.60 per 1,000 on `basic`. On SpecStream the page text in the search costs nothing extra, and the Extract API reads any page at $0.80 per 1,000.

### Run the same question through both formats

This script sends one question in You.com's format and in Tavily's format and prints the top pages from each, side by side. Run it with your own questions before you move traffic.

```
import os, requests

KEY = os.environ["SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"]
QUESTION = "Who founded Mistral AI and when?"

you = requests.post(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/you/v1/search",
    headers={"X-API-Key": KEY},
    json={"query": QUESTION, "count": 10},
    timeout=30,
).json()
for result in you["results"]["web"]:
    print("you.com format:", result["title"], result["url"])

tavily = requests.post(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/tavily/search",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {KEY}"},
    json={"query": QUESTION, "max_results": 10, "include_raw_content": "markdown"},
    timeout=30,
).json()
for result in tavily["results"]:
    print("tavily format:", result["title"], result["url"])
```

### The most accurate web search API in the world

You.com's comparison page reports 92.09% on SimpleQA for You.com and 86.32% for Tavily, and notes Tavily's own 93.3%. The SpecStream Search API scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, with 978 correct, and 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. The Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. The scores and the method are at [specstream.ai/benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com-vs-tavily).

### Prices known before the call

Tavily prices Research dynamically, between 4 and 250 credits a request, and You.com bills every request as one call whatever it returns. On SpecStream a search that returns nothing costs nothing, an `Idempotency-Key` header makes a retried call charge once, and each key carries its own spending limit.

When the job is a list, every company or filing that meets a set of conditions, [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com-vs-tavily) returns one row per match with a source on each value, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a delivered row. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts, and nothing runs until you approve it.

### Search, pages and rows on the same key

The same key reads up to 20 pages a call with the [Extract API](https://specstream.ai/extract-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=you-com-vs-tavily) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and a page with no text is not charged. Agents connect through the MCP server at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`, where `search_web` and `read_pages` bill at the API's prices.

## Other search APIs for AI agents

### Exa

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

### 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.

### Linkup

Search priced by depth: $0.005 a call at `standard` and $0.05 at `deep`. SpecStream answers Linkup's `POST /v1/search` at `https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1` at $0.001 a search of up to 10 results.

### Kagi Search API

Search results from Kagi at $12 per 1,000 requests, and Extract at $4 per 1,000 pages. SpecStream answers Kagi's `POST /api/v1/search` at `https://api.specstream.ai/kagi/api/v1`, at $1 per 1,000 searches.

## How to run your You.com and Tavily calls on SpecStream

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

2. Point each SDK at its SpecStream address. In Python, Tavily's client takes one argument, and You.com's SDK takes `server_url` on each search call:

```
from tavily import TavilyClient
from youdotcom import You

KEY = SPECSTREAM_API_KEY

# Tavily, was https://api.tavily.com
tavily = TavilyClient(api_key=KEY, api_base_url="https://api.specstream.ai/tavily")
print(tavily.search("Who founded Mistral AI and when?", max_results=10)["results"])

# You.com, was https://ydc-index.io
with You(api_key_auth=KEY) as you:
    reply = you.search(query="Who founded Mistral AI and when?", count=10,
                       server_url="https://api.specstream.ai/you")
```

3. In JavaScript the call is one `fetch` to each path:

```
const key = process.env.SPECSTREAM_API_KEY;
const question = "Who founded Mistral AI and when?";

// You.com's call, was https://ydc-index.io/v1/search
const you = await fetch("https://api.specstream.ai/you/v1/search", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "X-API-Key": key, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({ query: question, count: 10 }),
}).then((r) => r.json());

// Tavily's call, was https://api.tavily.com/search
const tavily = await fetch("https://api.specstream.ai/tavily/search", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${key}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({ query: question, max_results: 10 }),
}).then((r) => r.json());

for (const result of you.results.web) console.log(result.title, result.url);
for (const result of tavily.results) console.log(result.title, result.url);
```

4. Leave the rest. Each call of up to 10 results is one search at $0.001, and `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/account/requests` lists every call with its `price_usd`. On a `429` with `Retry-After`, wait those seconds and send the call again; nothing was charged.

When your agent needs every match in place of a results page, write the request in plain words. SpecStream reads it back as the conditions every row must meet and the facts to bring back, quotes the most it can cost, and delivers the rows after you approve.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is You.com better than Tavily?

For an agent that needs search it can trust, SpecStream answers both You.com's and Tavily's call with one key at $0.001 a search of up to 10 results. It scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, and a team keeps whichever format it already wrote.

### You.com vs Tavily pricing: what does each cost?

You.com costs $5.00 per 1,000 searches of up to 100 results. Tavily costs $8 per 1,000 basic searches and $16 per 1,000 advanced ones at $0.008 a credit pay as you go, or $0.005 a credit on the $500 Growth plan. SpecStream costs $1 per 1,000 on either format.

### Which one has a free plan?

Tavily gives 1,000 free credits every month with no credit card. You.com gives $10 of API credit at sign up and $90 more on verifying the account, valid for 60 days. SpecStream gives $10 of credit with no card, which covers 10,000 searches.

### How many results can each return in one call?

You.com returns up to 100 results a call and Tavily up to 20. On SpecStream each path returns as many as its own API allows, at $0.001 for up to 10 results and $0.0012 for each started block of 10 more.

### How much does page text cost on You.com and Tavily?

You.com charges $1.00 per 1,000 pages fetched live, so a search for 10 results with full pages costs up to $0.015. Tavily Extract costs 1 credit for every 5 pages on basic, $1.60 per 1,000 pages pay as you go. SpecStream reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000.

### Can I use both You.com and Tavily?

Yes, with one key: SpecStream answers You.com's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/you` and Tavily's at `https://api.specstream.ai/tavily`, each in its own JSON. One balance, one request log and one spending limit cover both.

### Does SpecStream have an MCP server?

Yes, at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp` over Streamable HTTP, with OAuth or an API key. `search_web` runs a search for $0.005 and `read_pages` reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000, from the same balance as the API.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure for You.com, Tavily and the other APIs comes from that company's own page, read on 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 rate limits](https://you.com/docs/rate-limits.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [You.com Search API reference](https://docs.you.com/api-reference/search/v1-search.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [You.com Search API schema](https://you.com/docs/openapi/web-search.json), read Nov 12, 2026
- [You.com vs. Tavily, by You.com](https://about.you.com/compare/you-com-vs-tavily), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily credits and pricing](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily pricing](https://tavily.com/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily rate limits](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/rate-limits.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily Search API reference](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-reference/endpoint/search.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Linkup pricing](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/platform/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Kagi API pricing](https://kagi.com/api/pricing), read 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