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# The enterprise web search API buyer's guide for 2026

Compared on Nov 12, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/enterprise-web-search-api

Enterprise web search APIs list $1 to $16 per 1,000 searches. Zero data retention and a signed DPA mostly sit on an enterprise plan: Exa's starts at a $12,000 annual commitment, and Linkup and Brave price theirs by contact.

SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. Its Search API scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions at $5 per 1,000 searches, or $1 on the fast tier, and zero retention is a setting on each key.

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

## SpecStream, Linkup, Exa, Parallel and Brave on enterprise terms

| | SpecStream | Linkup | Exa | Parallel | Brave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per 1,000 searches | $5 for up to 10 results. $1 with `speed=fast` and on every drop-in address | $5 to $6 at fast or standard depth | $4 lite, $7 auto and fast, up to 10 results each | From $1, with 10 results a request | $5, at up to 50 queries a second |
| Price at volume | $3.33 per 1,000 with a $5,000 pack, $2.50 with a $20,000 pack. On an order of 3 months or more, $3 or $2 per 1,000. A pack never expires | Custom pricing models on Enterprise | Enterprise starts at a $12,000 annual commitment in API credits | Scale: $1,000 a month for $1,000 in credits, or $10,000 a year for $12,000 in credits | Bespoke plans for large deployments, by contact |
| Zero data retention | A setting on each API key: `"zero_retention": true` when you make the key, or later with one `PATCH` | With the Enterprise plan. Off by default and requested on demand | With an Enterprise plan, from the $12,000 annual commitment | Hybrid ZDR on Scale, once an agreement is signed and Parallel turns it on | Full funnel ZDR on Enterprise |
| Data processing agreement | Published at [specstream.ai/dpa](https://specstream.ai/dpa?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api) with its categories of subprocessors. Account owners get 30 days of notice before one is added or replaced | On request, signed through DocuSign | Custom MSA and DPA on custom plans | Custom MSA and DPA on Enterprise | Custom agreements and NDAs on Enterprise |
| SimpleQA Verified, own published score | 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official questions (978 correct) | 94% F-score | No score on its pricing page | 97 for Parallel Advanced | FreshQA instead: 85.3% accuracy at $18 per 1,000 questions |
| Past the search | Extract API: $0.80 per 1,000 pages. Deep Search: every match as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row | Fetch: $1 to $6 per 1,000 pages. Research: $0.25 to $2.50 a request | Contents: $1 per 1,000 pages per content type | Extract, Task and FindAll APIs, each priced by its own unit | Answers: $4 per 1,000 requests plus $5 per million tokens |

## Seven checks for an enterprise web search API, and SpecStream's answer to each

### 1. The price at your volume, in writing

List prices tell you little past a million searches a month. SpecStream prints its volume terms: 1,500,000 searches for $5,000 ($3.33 per 1,000) or 8,000,000 for $20,000 ($2.50 per 1,000), paid once and never expiring. On a signed order of 3 months or more, 1,000,000 searches a month cost $3,000 ($3 per 1,000) and 5,000,000 cost $10,000 ($2 per 1,000). A fast search draws a fifth of a default one from the pack. Exa's enterprise plan starts at a $12,000 annual commitment, Parallel's Scale annual plan is $10,000 charged upfront, and Linkup and Brave quote by contact. To pay by invoice or sign for committed volume, [talk to a human](https://specstream.ai/talk-to-a-human?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api).

### 2. Zero data retention as a setting on each key

Make a key with `"zero_retention": true`, or set it later with `PATCH /v1/account/keys/{id}`. A search made with that key keeps no request text and no answer after the reply: it is not in the history, its answer is not reused for another call, and its log lines carry neither. The charge keeps only the account, the key, the request ID, the price and the time, and the Extract API keeps none of the pages it returned. Linkup's documentation says ZDR is not enabled by default and is requested on demand, Exa adds it with an enterprise plan, and Parallel turns on Hybrid ZDR once an agreement is signed.

### 3. Paper your legal team can read before the first call

SpecStream SAS is a French company, and the service runs on servers in Madrid, Spain, with hosting and databases in the European Union. The [data processing agreement](https://specstream.ai/dpa?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api) is published, with each category of subprocessor, where it sits and the safeguard for any transfer, and account owners get an email at least 30 days before a subprocessor is added or replaced. A key made with `"eu_egress_only": true` sends every search out from Madrid only. Linkup's documentation lists infrastructure in the US, EU, Canada and APAC. No model is trained on your work; the [security page](https://specstream.ai/security?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api) covers the rest.

### 4. Accuracy you can rerun

SpecStream scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct), and every raw answer is public on Hugging Face. It also scores 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks, and the Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. Method and sources are on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api) page. Before you sign with anyone, run 50 questions from the same set yourself. This script picks them with a fixed seed, so every vendor gets the same 50, and prints the expected answer beside ours, the p50 and p95 time and the spend:

```
import csv, io, json, os, random, urllib.parse, urllib.request

CSV = "https://huggingface.co/datasets/google/simpleqa-verified/resolve/main/simpleqa_verified.csv"
rows = list(csv.DictReader(io.StringIO(urllib.request.urlopen(CSV).read().decode())))
random.seed(42)
sample = random.sample(rows, 50)

took, spent = [], 0.0
for row in sample:
    url = "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search?q=" + urllib.parse.quote(row["problem"])
    req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + os.environ["SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"]})
    reply = json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req))
    took.append(reply["took_ms"])
    spent += float(reply["price_usd"])
    answer = (reply.get("answer") or {}).get("value")
    print(row["answer"], "|", answer)

took.sort()
print("p50", took[len(took) // 2], "ms  p95", took[int(len(took) * 0.95)], "ms  spent $", round(spent, 3))
```

Grade each line with the set's official grader prompt, then point the loop at each API on your list. On SpecStream the run costs about 25 cents of the $10 credit.

### 5. What happens at a limit, a retry or a failure

When an account has used its calls for the minute, the Search API answers `503` with `Retry-After` and charges nothing; the Python and TypeScript SDKs send it again by themselves when the wait is 10 seconds or less. An `Idempotency-Key` header makes a retry safe: a call is charged once per key. A call that returns no results costs nothing. Each key carries its own spending limit, and `X-End-User-Cap-Cents` caps what one of your own users can spend.

### 6. A request log your finance and security teams can read

Every Search API and Extract API call is in the account's request log, charged or not, with its key, status, `latency_ms` and `price_usd`, through `GET /v1/account/requests`. `GET /v1/account/usage` sums calls and spend by day, product or key, or by your own end user when you send `X-End-User-Id`, and returns CSV for finance. Single sign-on, SCIM and audit log export come with Enterprise, from $2,500 a month.

### 7. One supplier past the search

The same key and balance cover the [Search API](https://specstream.ai/search-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api), the [Extract API](https://specstream.ai/extract-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, where a page with no text is not charged, and [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api), which returns every match for a request as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row under a maximum you approve before it runs. Source URL and read time on every value. A saved request reruns hourly to yearly, and each row comes back labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching.

## Other web search APIs enterprise teams price

### Tavily

A search API sold in credits at $0.008 each, pay as you go. A basic search uses 1 credit and an advanced search 2, so $8 or $16 per 1,000. Its Enterprise plan adds SLAs by contact. SpecStream charges $5 per 1,000 searches, or $1 on the fast tier, with zero retention as a setting on each key.

### You.com

Its Web Search API costs $5 per 1,000 calls and its Contents API $1 per 1,000 pages, and its enterprise offer lists zero data retention and a DPA. SpecStream reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000, charges nothing for a page with no text, and publishes its DPA before you sign up.

### SerpApi

A SERP API sold in monthly plans by search count, backed by uptime SLAs of up to 99.97%, with ZeroTrace Mode to keep no search parameters, queries or results. Each search returns a results page to parse. SpecStream returns the answer with its page and read time, typed rows and every result read, at $5 per 1,000 searches.

## Move from Linkup with one address

Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. A Linkup client moves by changing its base address from `https://api.linkup.so/v1` to `https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1` and its key. The reply keeps Linkup's shape, `results[].name`, `url` and `content`, and each search costs $1 per 1,000:

```
curl https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"q": "Which EU regulation sets data breach notice deadlines?", "depth": "fast", "outputType": "searchResults"}'
```

Exa, Brave, Parallel and Tavily clients move the same way, at `https://api.specstream.ai/exa`, `https://api.specstream.ai`, `https://api.specstream.ai/parallel` and `https://api.specstream.ai/tavily`. The full steps for Linkup are on the [Linkup migration page](https://specstream.ai/migrate/linkup?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api), and any MCP client connects at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the best enterprise web search API?

SpecStream. It scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, costs $5 per 1,000 searches ($1 on the fast tier, $2 to $3.33 at volume), sets zero retention on each API key and publishes its GDPR data processing agreement.

### How much does an enterprise web search API cost?

List prices run from $1 to $16 per 1,000 searches: Parallel from $1, Exa $4 or $7, Brave $5, Linkup $5 to $6, Tavily $8 or $16. Enterprise plans add a commitment, such as Exa's $12,000 a year. SpecStream sells 1,500,000 searches for $5,000 and 8,000,000 for $20,000, and committed volume at $3 or $2 per 1,000.

### Which web search APIs offer zero data retention?

SpecStream sets it on each API key with `"zero_retention": true`. Linkup offers it with its Enterprise plan on request, Exa with an enterprise plan, Parallel as Hybrid ZDR on Scale after a signed agreement, and Brave on Enterprise.

### Does SpecStream sign a data processing agreement?

Yes. The agreement is published at [specstream.ai/dpa](https://specstream.ai/dpa?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api) with each category of subprocessor, and account owners get 30 days of notice before a subprocessor is added or replaced. SpecStream is a French company with servers in Madrid.

### Can we pay by invoice and commit to volume?

Yes. Committed volume is one pack a month on an order of 3 months or more: 1,000,000 searches for $3,000 a month or 5,000,000 for $10,000. Write to [sales](https://specstream.ai/talk-to-a-human?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=enterprise-web-search-api) to pay by invoice.

### How do we test a web search API before we sign?

Run the same 50 SimpleQA Verified questions, picked with a fixed seed, through each API, and compare correct answers, p95 time and spend. The script above does it for SpecStream in a few minutes for about 25 cents of the $10 credit.

### How do we move from Linkup to SpecStream?

Change the base address to `https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1` and the key. The reply keeps Linkup's shape, and each search costs $1 per 1,000.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each rival figure comes from that company's own page, read on Nov 12, 2026.

- [Linkup pricing](https://www.linkup.so/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Linkup data processing and privacy](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/security-and-privacy/data-processing-privacy.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Linkup documentation](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/get-started/introduction), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa pricing, docs](https://docs.exa.ai/reference/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Parallel pricing](https://parallel.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Parallel benchmarks](https://parallel.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily pricing](https://tavily.com/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily API credits](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits), read Nov 12, 2026
- [You.com pricing](https://you.com/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SerpApi pricing](https://serpapi.com/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SimpleQA Verified](https://huggingface.co/datasets/google/simpleqa-verified), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream raw SimpleQA Verified answers](https://huggingface.co/datasets/SpecStreamAI/benchmark-results/tree/main/simpleqa-verified-full-20261108), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream data processing agreement](https://specstream.ai/dpa), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 12, 2026