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# Google Custom Search API limits: the same call with no daily cap

Compared on Nov 10, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/google-custom-search-api-limits

The Custom Search JSON API gives 100 free queries a day, then $5 per 1,000 up to 10,000 queries a day. Each call returns 1 to 10 results, and a query never returns more than 100. Google ends the API on January 1, 2027.

SpecStream answers the same `GET /customsearch/v1` at `https://api.specstream.ai`, with no daily limit. Change the base address and the key; `num` and `start` work as before.

It scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-limits) page, at $5 per 1,000 searches.

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

## Limits of the Custom Search call at Google, at SpecStream and on Vertex AI Search

| | SpecStream | Google Custom Search JSON API | Vertex AI Search |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queries a day | No daily limit. Calls spend from your balance, inside the spending limit you set on the account or the key | 10,000 queries a day | Pay as you go for search queries and data storage |
| To start | $10 of credit for a new account, no card. It covers 2,000 searches | 100 search queries a day free, for existing customers. Closed to new customers | A free trial of 10,000 queries per account a month |
| Price after that | $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results | $5 per 1,000 queries | $1.50 per 1,000 queries on Search Standard Edition, $4.00 on Search Enterprise Edition |
| Results a call | `num` from 1 to 10 on this route, as on Google. Up to 100 in one search on `GET /v1/web-search`, priced by `num` | 1 to 10 | Billed per query: any API call to Enterprise Search counts as one |
| Results a query | `start` reaches to result 1,000, so a request past result 100 is not refused. On `GET /v1/web-search`, `page` 1 to 10 continues the same ranked list | Never more than 100. A `start` plus `num` above 100 returns an error | Up to 50 domains. For full web search, Google asks you to contact it |
| Calls a minute, and what is charged | Up to 8,800 searches a minute on one account. A call over that gets a `429` with `Retry-After` and is not charged | Its terms say you may be charged for each successful request | A request is any API call, direct or through an integration or the console |
| How long it runs | Live, with new accounts open today | Discontinued on January 1, 2027 | Google's suggested alternative for up to 50 domains |

## Why teams at the Custom Search limit move to SpecStream

### The same call without the daily cap

Your code keeps its path, its parameters and its parser. The address changes, and the key.

```
# Before: 10,000 queries a day
curl "https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1?key=$GOOGLE_KEY&cx=$CX&q=open+source+vector+databases"

# After: no daily limit
curl "https://api.specstream.ai/customsearch/v1?key=$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY&cx=$CX&q=open+source+vector+databases"
```

10,000 searches a day cost $50, and search 10,001 is answered like the first. `cx` is accepted and not used.

### 8,800 searches a minute, and an over-limit call is free

One account can send up to 8,800 searches a minute. A call over that gets a `429` with a `Retry-After` header and is not charged, so a retry loop costs nothing until the call goes through. Send an `Idempotency-Key` header and a retried call is charged once.

### Past 10 results a call and 100 a query

On the Custom Search route `num` stays at 1 to 10, so code written for Google gets the same pages. On the same key, `GET /v1/web-search` returns up to 100 results in one search with `num`, and `page` 1 to 10 continues the same ranked list. A call for 20 results costs $0.011 and one for 100 costs $0.059.

### Speed under load

On production on November 9, 2026, the search behind this route had a median of 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second, with the 95th percentile between 1.09 and 1.73 s. It answered 718 of 720 calls.

### The limits you set

Each key carries its own spending limit, for example `"spend_cap_cents": 500000` for $5,000, and a call that would go over it gets a `403`. An empty balance returns a `402` with a link to add credit. Credit you buy never expires.

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

SpecStream scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (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 same key reads pages and returns rows

The [Extract API](https://specstream.ai/extract-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-limits) reads up to 20 pages or documents a call at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-limits) returns every match for a request in plain words as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, and quotes the most a run can cost before it starts.

## Other options past the Custom Search limits

### Vertex AI Search

Google's suggestion for searching up to 50 domains. It costs $1.50 per 1,000 queries on Search Standard Edition, after a free trial of 10,000 queries per account a month. SpecStream searches the whole web on the call your code already sends.

### Grounding with Google Search in the Gemini API

A Gemini model searches and writes an answer grounded in the results. On Gemini 3 and newer it costs $14 per 1,000 search requests after 5,000 free a month. SpecStream returns the results to your code at $5 per 1,000.

### Brave Search API

A search API on Brave's own index at $5 per 1,000 requests, with $5 in free credits every month and 50 queries per second. SpecStream takes up to 8,800 searches a minute on one account and answers in Google's JSON.

## How to move past the Custom Search limits

1. Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace. A new account gets $10 of credit, no card, which covers 2,000 searches.

2. Set the base address to `https://api.specstream.ai` where your code has `https://www.googleapis.com` or `https://customsearch.googleapis.com`, and send the SpecStream key in `key=`.

```
import os
import requests

reply = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/customsearch/v1",  # was https://www.googleapis.com
    params={"key": os.environ["SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"], "q": "open source vector databases", "num": 10},
    timeout=30,
).json()

for item in reply.get("items", []):
    print(item["title"], item["link"])
```

3. Set a spending limit on the key in place of the daily quota, and remove any daily counter your code keeps for Google.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the Google Custom Search API daily limit?

10,000 queries a day, of which the first 100 are free. Google's page says this applies to existing customers until January 1, 2027. The same call at SpecStream has no daily limit.

### How many results can the Custom Search JSON API return?

1 to 10 a call and never more than 100 for a query; a `start` plus `num` above 100 returns an error. On SpecStream, `GET /v1/web-search` returns up to 100 results in one search for $0.059.

### Is the Custom Search JSON API free?

Google gives existing customers 100 search queries a day free, then charges $5 per 1,000. The API is closed to new customers. A new SpecStream account gets $10 of credit with no card, which covers 2,000 searches.

### What happens when I go over the quota?

Google allows up to 10,000 queries a day. At SpecStream there is no daily quota, and a burst over 8,800 searches a minute gets a `429` with `Retry-After` that is not charged.

### Can I raise the Custom Search JSON API limit?

Google's page sets the limit at 10,000 queries a day and the API ends on January 1, 2027. SpecStream answers the same call with no daily limit at $5 per 1,000 searches; every rate is on the [pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-limits) page.

### What does 10,000 searches a day cost on SpecStream?

$50 a day at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results. A call stopped by a `429` is not charged.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure about Google comes from Google's own pages, and each other figure from that company's own page.

- [Google Custom Search JSON API overview](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Google Custom Search JSON API reference, cse.list](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/reference/rest/v1/cse/list), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Google Custom Search JSON API, using REST](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/using_rest), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Google Custom Search terms of service](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/terms), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Google Cloud: Agent Search pricing](https://cloud.google.com/generative-ai-app-builder/pricing), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Gemini API: Grounding with Google Search](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/google-search), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 9, 2026
- [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 10, 2026