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# Google Custom Search API pricing: $5 per 1,000 until January 1, 2027

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

The Custom Search JSON API gives 100 queries a day free, then costs $5 per 1,000 queries, up to 10,000 a day. Google says this pricing applies only to existing customers, until the service ends on January 1, 2027.

The same call costs $5 per 1,000 searches at `https://api.specstream.ai/customsearch/v1`, with no cap of 10,000 a day. Change the base address and the key; the path, the parameters and the JSON stay.

It scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks ([benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-pricing)). A new account gets $10 of credit, which covers 2,000 searches.

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

## What a Custom Search call costs, and what it costs elsewhere

| | SpecStream | Custom Search JSON API | Vertex AI Search | Grounding with Google Search |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per 1,000 | $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, $0.005 a call | $5 per 1,000 queries after the free 100 a day | $1.50 per 1,000 queries on Standard and $4.00 on Enterprise, plus data storage | $14 per 1,000 search requests on Gemini 3 and newer models, and $35 per 1,000 grounded prompts on Gemini 2.5 |
| Free use | $10 of credit on a new account, no card. It covers 2,000 searches, and credit you buy never expires | 100 queries a day | A free trial of 10,000 queries per account a month | 5,000 search requests a month on Gemini 3 and newer, and 1,500 prompts a day on Gemini 2.5 |
| Limit | Up to 8,800 searches a minute on one account. A call over that gets a `429` and is not charged | 10,000 queries a day | 50 domains | 1,500 requests a day per project by default on the paid tier |
| 10,000 searches a day | $50 a day | $49.50 a day, with the first 100 free, and 10,000 is the most it answers | $15 on Standard or $40 on Enterprise a day, plus data storage, on 50 domains at most | Over the default limit of 1,500 requests a day |
| What you pay for | Each call, priced by the results it asks for. Each started block of 10 more results adds $0.006 | Each successful request | Each query, direct by API or through an integration or the console | Each search query the model decides to run on Gemini 3 and newer, and each prompt on Gemini 2.5 |
| What comes back | Google's JSON: `kind` `customsearch#search`, `items[]` with `title`, `link`, `snippet` and `displayLink`, `searchInformation.totalResults` and `queries.nextPage` | `items[]` with the URL, title and text snippets of each result | The reply of the Agent Search `servingConfigs.search` method | A final answer grounded in the search results, with search suggestions HTML |
| Open to new customers | Yes. The Custom Search route is live at `https://api.specstream.ai/customsearch/v1` | No. The pricing applies to existing customers until January 1, 2027 | Google's named alternative for up to 50 domains | A tool of the Gemini API |

## Why the same $5 goes further on SpecStream

### Keep the call, change the address

The price stays at $5 per 1,000. The code stays too: the path, the parameters and the JSON reply are Google's.

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

# After
curl "https://api.specstream.ai/customsearch/v1?key=$SPECSTREAM_KEY&cx=$CX&q=open+source+vector+databases"
```

### No cap of 10,000 a day

Google stops at 10,000 queries a day. On SpecStream 10,000 searches a day cost $50 and search 10,001 is answered like the first, up to 8,800 searches a minute on one account. Calls spend from your balance, inside the spending limit you set on the key.

### More than 10 results in one call

Google returns 1 to 10 results a call and never more than 100 for a query. On the same key, `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search` returns up to 100 results for one search, set with `num`: `num=50` is $0.029 and `num=100` is $0.059. The reply's `price_usd` says what the call cost.

### What a failed call costs

Google's terms say you may be charged for each successful request and that Google can change fees with 90 days notice. On SpecStream a call stopped by a `429` charges nothing, an `Idempotency-Key` makes a retried call charge once, and credit you buy never expires.

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

On SimpleQA Verified the SpecStream Search API scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official questions, 978 of them correct. On WideSearch it scores 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official tasks. The Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. Every score and its method is on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-pricing) page.

### About one second a search, measured under load

The Custom Search route runs on the fast search. On November 9, 2026 production took 1, 5, 10 and 20 searches a second through it and answered 718 of 720. The median was 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second, and the 95th percentile stayed between 1.09 and 1.73 s. One account can send up to 8,800 searches a minute; a call over that gets a `429` with `Retry-After` and is not charged.

### You decide what is kept, on each key

Create a key with `zero_retention` and a search made with it keeps no request text and no answer after the reply. It is not in the history and its log lines carry neither. The charge keeps the account, the key, the request ID, the price and the time. `spend_cap_cents` is the most the key can spend.

```
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/v1/account/keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "production", "scopes": ["account:read", "finds:spend"], "spend_cap_cents": 500000, "zero_retention": true}'
```

### Search, pages and rows on one key

The same key reads up to 20 pages or documents a call with the [Extract API](https://specstream.ai/extract-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-pricing) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and a page with no text is not charged. [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-pricing) takes a request in plain words and returns every match on the live web as structured rows, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, plus 5¢ for an email and 15¢ for a phone. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts, and a saved request reruns hourly to yearly.

## What other search APIs cost per 1,000

### Vertex AI Search (Agent Search)

$1.50 per 1,000 queries on Standard and $4.00 on Enterprise, plus data storage, on up to 50 domains. SpecStream searches the whole live web at $5 per 1,000, on the Custom Search path. See [Vertex AI Search next to Custom Search](https://specstream.ai/vertex-ai-search-vs-custom-search-json-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-pricing).

### Grounding with Google Search

$14 per 1,000 search requests on Gemini 3 and newer models, after 5,000 free a month, and the model decides how many searches a prompt runs. SpecStream bills the searches your code sends, at $5 per 1,000.

### Brave Search API

$5 per 1,000 requests, up to 50 queries a second, with $5 in free credits every month. Brave's own guide says moving to it means updating how you read the response. SpecStream charges the same $5 and answers in Google's JSON.

### Exa

$4 per 1,000 requests for lite search and $7 for auto and fast. SpecStream is $5 per 1,000 for every search on the Custom Search route, which runs the fast search.

### OpenAI web search

$10 per 1,000 calls, plus search content tokens at the model's rates. A SpecStream search costs $0.005 with no tokens on top.

## How to keep paying $5 per 1,000 after January 1, 2027

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` in place of `https://www.googleapis.com` or `https://customsearch.googleapis.com`, and send the SpecStream key in `key=`, in `X-Goog-Api-Key` or as a Bearer token.

```
import requests

BASE = "https://api.specstream.ai"  # was https://www.googleapis.com

reply = requests.get(
    f"{BASE}/customsearch/v1",
    params={"key": SPECSTREAM_KEY, "cx": CX, "q": "open source vector databases", "num": 10},
).json()

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

3. Give the key a spending limit with `spend_cap_cents`. Each call is billed as one search, and `cx` is accepted and not used.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does the Google Custom Search API cost?

$5 per 1,000 queries after 100 free queries a day, up to 10,000 queries a day. Google's page says this pricing applies only to existing customers, until the service is discontinued on January 1, 2027.

### Is the Google Custom Search JSON API free?

For 100 queries a day. Past that each 1,000 queries cost $5, and the API is closed to new customers. A new SpecStream account gets $10 of credit, no card, which covers 2,000 searches.

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

10,000 queries a day. SpecStream has no daily cap on the same call: one account can send up to 8,800 searches a minute, each at $0.005.

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

$50 a day on SpecStream at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results. On Google it is $49.50, the 100 free queries taken off, and 10,000 is the most it answers.

### What is the cheapest replacement for the Custom Search JSON API?

SpecStream keeps the same $5 per 1,000 and the same call, so the move costs one changed line and no rewrite. It scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions.

### Does a failed call cost money?

No. On SpecStream a call stopped by a `429` charges nothing, and an `Idempotency-Key` makes a retried call charge once. Google's terms say you may be charged for each successful request.

### Does SpecStream credit expire?

No. Credit you buy never expires. Every rate is on the [pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=google-custom-search-api-pricing) page.

## Sources

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

- [Google Custom Search JSON API overview](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Google Custom Search JSON API reference, cse.list](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/reference/rest/v1/cse/list), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Google Custom Search JSON API, using REST](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/using_rest), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Google Custom Search terms of service](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/terms), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Google Cloud, Agent Search pricing](https://cloud.google.com/generative-ai-app-builder/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Google Cloud, servingConfigs.search reference](https://cloud.google.com/generative-ai-app-builder/docs/reference/rest/v1/projects.locations.collections.engines.servingConfigs/search), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Gemini API, Grounding with Google Search](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/google-search), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Gemini API pricing](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Google AI Studio pricing](https://aistudio.google.com/docs/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Brave, alternatives to the Google Search API](https://brave.com/learn/google-api-shutdown/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [OpenAI API pricing](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing), read Nov 10, 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