# Deep research API benchmarks in 2026: scores, who ran them, cost Compared on Nov 12, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/deep-research-api-benchmark The deep research scores published in 2026 come from vendors' own runs, and each run puts its vendor first. On DeepSearchQA, Parallel's run scores its Ultra4x 86% and GPT-5.6 Sol 85%. On DRACO, Valyu's run scores Valyu 72.7% and Perplexity 70.5%. SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. Its Search API scores 64.0 item F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks, above every system in the WideSearch paper. Deep Search returns research as rows at 5¢ to $1 each. [Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-deep-research-api-benchmark&utm_source=alternatives-md&utm_campaign=deep-research-api-benchmark&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fagents%3Ftab%3Dkeys) New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. ## Every published deep research score, by benchmark | | SpecStream | Parallel | OpenAI | Gemini | Perplexity | Exa | Valyu | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | The product scored | The Search API, with Deep Search and the Extract API on the same key | The Task API, processors from lite to ultra8x | GPT-5.6 Sol with web search. `o3-deep-research` shut down on July 23, 2026 | Gemini 3.1 Pro, and the Deep Research agent in preview | Perplexity's research at its high effort and its Deep Research | Exa Agent Max, and the `deep-reasoning` search type | DeepResearch, run on its Heavy mode | | DeepSearchQA, 100 questions (Parallel's run, Aug 26, 2026) | Not in Parallel's run | 76% on Lite at $5 per 1,000 questions, up to 86% on Ultra4x at $1,200 | 85% on GPT-5.6 Sol PTC max, at $1,047.80 per 1,000 | 77% on Gemini 3.1 Pro high, at $123.90 per 1,000 | 68% on high, at $371.90 per 1,000 | 65% on Exa Agent Max, at $1,506.50 per 1,000 | Not in Parallel's run | | BrowseComp, 100 questions (the same run) | Not in Parallel's run | 88% on Lite at $5 per 1,000 questions, up to 94% on Ultra4x at $1,200 | 85%, at $791.10 per 1,000 | 72%, at $194.40 per 1,000 | 86%, at $441.50 per 1,000 | 78%, at $1,043.50 per 1,000 | Not in Parallel's run | | DRACO, 100 report tasks (Valyu's run) | Not in Valyu's run | 51.2% on Ultra8x, at $2,400 per 1,000 | 52.1% on deep research with o3, about $3,500 per 1,000 | 59.0% on Deep Research, about $4,500 per 1,000 | 70.5% on Deep Research with Opus 4.6, about $5,500 per 1,000 | 25.9% on Deep Reasoning, at $15 per 1,000 | 72.7% on Heavy, at $2,500 per 1,000 | | WideSearch, 200 tasks, item F1 | 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1, our run of Nov 8, 2026 | Scored as a search API on one shared agent, on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=deep-research-api-benchmark) page | 57.3 for o3 in a multi-agent setup, in the WideSearch paper | 57.4 for Gemini 2.5 Pro in a multi-agent setup, in the WideSearch paper | Scored as a search API on one shared agent, on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=deep-research-api-benchmark) page | Scored as a search API on one shared agent, on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=deep-research-api-benchmark) page | Not in the WideSearch paper | | List price | 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a delivered row. Search API $5 per 1,000 searches, or $1 with `speed=fast` | $5 (lite) to $2,400 (ultra8x) per 1,000 runs | GPT-5.6 Sol: $4 input and $20 output per 1M tokens, plus $10 per 1,000 web searches | Google estimates $1.00 to $3.00 a Deep Research task | Tokens and tool calls. The cost varies with the model, the tokens and the tools used | `deep` $12 and `deep-reasoning` $15 per 1,000 requests | 8 credits (instant) to 2,500 credits (max) a task | | Can you rerun it | Yes. The WideSearch tasks and scorer are public, and every raw answer and score of ours is on Hugging Face | Parallel's article gives a method to run on your own queries, and calls its figures a snapshot of that day | Scored in Parallel's and Valyu's runs | Scored in Parallel's and Valyu's runs | Scored in Parallel's and Valyu's runs | Scored in Parallel's and Valyu's runs | Valyu publishes its datasets, run scripts, raw outputs and judge evaluations on GitHub | ## How to read a deep research benchmark ### Every run puts the vendor that ran it first Parallel's run of DeepSearchQA and BrowseComp puts the Parallel Task API first, and its article says so plainly: "You should know we're biased." Valyu's DRACO run puts Valyu first, on its Heavy mode. Linkup ranks its own /research endpoint first on SealQA-0 at 61%. Our WideSearch run is ours too, so every raw answer and score is public for you to check. ### Read the cost per 1,000 tasks beside the score The top score is rarely the one to buy. In Parallel's run, Task API Lite scores 76% on DeepSearchQA at $5 per 1,000 questions, and GPT-5.6 Sol scores 85% at $1,047.80: nine points for about 200 times the cost. In Valyu's run, Exa Deep Reasoning costs $15 per 1,000 tasks and scores 25.9% on DRACO, while Perplexity's Deep Research costs about $5,500 and scores 70.5%. Price the run you would buy, at the tier you would use. ### Each benchmark measures a different job DeepSearchQA asks multi-step questions. BrowseComp, created by OpenAI, tests persistent browsing for hard-to-find facts. DRACO, Perplexity's open benchmark, grades 100 long reports across 10 professional domains against expert rubrics. WideSearch, from ByteDance Seed, asks an agent to collect a whole table and scores every row and every cell. If your research ends in a table, WideSearch is the benchmark that measures it. ### Our scores, and how to rerun them On all 200 official WideSearch tasks the SpecStream Search API scores 64.0 item F1, 43.4 row F1 and a 7.0 success rate, the highest WideSearch score any search API has published. It scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct), and the Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. The tasks and scorer are on [GitHub](https://github.com/ByteDance-Seed/WideSearch), our raw answers are on [Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/datasets/SpecStreamAI/benchmark-results), and the method is on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=deep-research-api-benchmark) page. ### Test your own job in minutes, for nothing A benchmark tells you who did well on someone else's questions. Write 25 rows you already know the answers to as one request, send it to Deep Search, and read back how SpecStream reads it and the most it can cost, before you spend anything. Approve it and compare each row, with its source URL and read time, against your own answers. You pay 5¢, 15¢ or $1 for each row delivered, and a run that finds nothing costs nothing. ## Other deep research APIs with published scores ### Linkup Linkup ranks its /research endpoint first on SealQA-0 at 61%, in its own run, at a fixed $0.25 to $2.50 a request. It returns a sourced answer. SpecStream returns every match as a row with a source on each value. ### Tavily Research Tavily Research on pro scores 38.8% on DRACO in Valyu's run, at about $1,060 per 1,000 tasks. It charges 4 to 250 credits a request at $0.008 a credit. SpecStream quotes the most a run can cost before it starts. ### You.com Research You.com Research on exhaustive scores 53.0% on DRACO in Valyu's run, at $450 per 1,000 tasks. It returns a report. SpecStream Deep Search returns structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 each. ## How to run your own test on SpecStream Sign up and you get $10 of credit, no card: up to 200 rows at 5¢, or 2,000 searches. Or start with no account at all. This call spends nothing: the `402` reply shows how SpecStream read the request, the columns and the most it can cost. ``` curl -i https://api.specstream.ai/v1/agent/lists \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"request": "AI startups that raised a seed or Series A round in 2026, with the founders, the round size, the lead investor and the product in one line", "count": 25}' ``` To test the Search API inside your own research agent, send each question as one call. The reply holds the answer, the page it was read from and every source. ``` curl "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search?q=Who+led+the+seed+round+of+the+company+that+makes+Cursor" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" ``` Over MCP at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`, your agent calls `search_web` for one fact, and `compile`, `quote_capacity_work` and `authorize_capacity_work` for a list, then reads the rows with `list_find_rows`. ## Frequently asked questions ### Which deep research API scores highest in 2026? It depends on who ran the test. On DeepSearchQA, Parallel's run puts its Ultra4x first at 86%, with GPT-5.6 Sol at 85%. On DRACO, Valyu's run puts Valyu Heavy first at 72.7%, with Perplexity at 70.5%. On WideSearch, the SpecStream Search API scores 64.0 item F1 on all 200 tasks, the highest WideSearch score any search API has published. ### What is DeepSearchQA? A deep research benchmark of multi-step questions, scored on fully correct answers. Parallel ran a fixed 100-question subset on August 26, 2026, where scores ranged from 65% (Exa Agent Max) to 86% (Parallel Ultra4x). ### What is DRACO? Perplexity's open benchmark of 100 long-form research tasks across 10 professional domains, each graded against an expert rubric. In Valyu's run, scores ranged from 25.9% (Exa Deep Reasoning) to 72.7% (Valyu Heavy). ### How much does a deep research run cost? From $5 to about $5,500 per 1,000 tasks in these runs: Parallel Lite at $5, Exa Deep Reasoning at $15, GPT-5.6 Sol at $1,047.80 and Perplexity's Deep Research at about $5,500. SpecStream bills 5¢, 15¢ or $1 for each delivered row, under a maximum you approve first. ### Has SpecStream been benchmarked? Yes. The Search API scores 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks, and 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions. Every raw answer is on Hugging Face, and the method is on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=deep-research-api-benchmark) page. ### Can I rerun a deep research benchmark myself? Yes, for WideSearch and DRACO: the WideSearch tasks and scorer are public, and Valyu publishes its DRACO run scripts and raw outputs. The faster test is your own job: 25 rows you know, sent to SpecStream at no cost until you approve the quoted maximum. ## Sources SpecStream wrote this page. Each score of another company comes from the page of the company that ran the test, and each price from that company's own page. - [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), 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 raw benchmark answers](https://huggingface.co/datasets/SpecStreamAI/benchmark-results), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Parallel: Best deep research APIs in 2026, a benchmark report](https://parallel.ai/articles/best-deep-research-apis.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Valyu: Introducing DeepResearch](https://www.valyu.ai/blog/introducing-deepresearch), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Linkup: Best deep research API in 2026](https://linkup.so/blog/best-deep-research-api-in-2026-openai-gemini-and-linkup-compared), read Nov 12, 2026 - [WideSearch paper](https://arxiv.org/html/2508.07999), read Nov 12, 2026 - [WideSearch tasks and scorer](https://github.com/ByteDance-Seed/WideSearch), read Nov 12, 2026 - [OpenAI o3-deep-research](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/o3-deep-research), read Nov 12, 2026 - [OpenAI pricing](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Parallel pricing](https://docs.parallel.ai/getting-started/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Gemini Deep Research](https://aistudio.google.com/docs/deep-research), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Perplexity pricing](https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Valyu pricing](https://docs.valyu.ai/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Tavily API credits](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits), read Nov 12, 2026