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Google Custom Search API alternative: the live web at $5 per 1,000 searches

Google's Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers, and Google's page gives existing customers until January 1, 2027 to move. SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. Its Search API answers a question from the live web at GET /v1/web-search for $5 per 1,000 searches, the rate Google lists after its 100 free queries a day. It needs no search engine ID, and each reply carries an answer with the page it was read from. SpecStream leads WideSearch (60.9, on the low-cost model; the best other API scores 57.6 even on the larger model) and SimpleQA Verified (99), with every score and its cost on the benchmarks page.

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New accounts get $10 of credit for their first 30 days, no card.

SpecStream and Google's search APIs

SpecStreamCustom Search JSON APIVertex AI Search
Status on Nov 8, 2026Live and open to new accountsClosed to new customers; existing customers have until Jan 1, 2027Offered by Google as a path off Custom Search
What it searchesThe live web, from a question in everyday wordsA search engine ID (cx) is required on every callUp to 50 domains
Price per 1,000 searches$5$5 after 100 free queries a day, up to 10,000 a dayNot stated
Result fieldssources[] with url, title, site, snippet and publisheditems[] with link, title, snippet and displayLinkNot stated
Answer with its pageanswer with value, page and seen_atNot statedNot stated
Failed callsA 503 with Retry-After charges nothingNot statedNot stated
Page textExtract API, $0.80 per 1,000 pages, PDF, Word and Excel included; a page with no text is not chargedNot statedNot stated
Full lists with a source on each valueDeep Search: every match as a structured row, 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, plus 5¢ for an email and 15¢ for a phoneNot statedNot stated
Reruns and deliveryA saved request reruns hourly to yearly, and changes go to Slack, email, a sheet, a CRM or a signed webhookNot statedNot stated

Why teams move from Custom Search to SpecStream

No search engine ID

Custom Search needs a search engine ID, cx, on every call. SpecStream needs only q, written in everyday words in any language, from 1 to 2,000 characters. Quoted phrases are searched as phrases, and results that hold them come first.

The same $5, with an answer and its page

Google lists $5 per 1,000 queries after the first 100 a day and returns items[] for your code to read. SpecStream charges $5 per 1,000 searches and returns ranked sources[] with the same fields, plus answer: the value, the page it was read from and its read time. With passages=true, the reply also carries the text of the top pages closest to the question.

Searches, pages and rows on one balance

The same key reads pages with the Extract API at $0.80 per 1,000, PDF, Word and Excel included, and runs Deep Search, which returns every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. A saved request reruns on a schedule and delivers new rows to Slack, email, a sheet, a CRM or a webhook. Source URL and read time on every value.

Google's own paths

Vertex AI Search and the full web interest form

Google's page points customers to Vertex AI Search, which searches up to 50 domains, and to an interest form for full web search. The page names no product or price for full web search.

How SpecStream scores

The same numbers as the benchmarks page, from the official tasks and scorers.

SpecStreamParallelExaTavilyPerplexity
Web researchWideSearch, GPT-5.6 Luna60.945.553.047.947.0
Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Luna9694919494
Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Sol9997919295

Move from Custom Search to SpecStream

Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace. New accounts get $10 of credit for 30 days, no card, which covers 2,000 searches. Drop cx, keep q, and send the key as a Bearer header:

curl "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search?q=Who%20founded%20Mistral%20AI%20and%20when%3F" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <key>"

Read sources[] where you read items[]: link becomes url, title and snippet keep their names, and displayLink becomes site. Send an Idempotency-Key header to retry safely, or call web_search(q=...) in Python, webSearch({ q }) in TypeScript or the search_web MCP tool.

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Frequently asked questions

Something we didn't answer? Talk to a human

Is the Google Custom Search JSON API shutting down?
Google's overview page says the Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers and that existing customers have until January 1, 2027 to transition. Until then Google lists 100 free queries a day and $5 per 1,000 after that, up to 10,000 a day.
Can new developers still get the Custom Search API?
Google's page says it is closed to new customers. SpecStream's Search API is open to new accounts, with $10 of credit for the first 30 days and no card.
How do Custom Search fields map to SpecStream?
items[].link maps to sources[].url, title to title, snippet to snippet, and displayLink to site. q keeps its name, and no cx is needed.
What does it cost to move?
$5 per 1,000 searches, the same as Google's paid rate, and a call stopped by a 503 is not charged. The first $10 of credit covers 2,000 searches. Prices are on the pricing page.
What else runs on the same key?
The Extract API reads up to 20 pages or documents per call at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and Deep Search returns full lists as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, plus 5¢ for an email and 15¢ for a phone.

Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each rival figure comes from that company's own page.

  1. Google Custom Search JSON API overviewdevelopers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview, read Nov 8, 2026
  2. Google Custom Search JSON API referencedevelopers.google.com/custom-search/v1/reference/rest/v1/Search, read Nov 8, 2026
  3. Other providers' benchmark scores, September 9, 2026parallel.ai/benchmarks, read Nov 8, 2026
  4. SpecStream pricingspecstream.ai/pricing, read Nov 8, 2026
  5. SpecStream for agentsspecstream.ai/agents.md, read Nov 8, 2026