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# Grounding with Bing Search alternative: the raw results, $5 per 1,000

Compared on Nov 10, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/grounding-with-bing-search-alternative

Grounding with Bing Search costs $14 per 1,000 transactions and hands its results to a model. Microsoft's docs say developers and end users don't have access to the raw content it returns, and that the tool's output never reaches them.

SpecStream returns the results to your code, in Bing's own JSON. Send the v7 call to `https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search` with a SpecStream key in `Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key`, and read `webPages.value[]`.

It scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks, on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=grounding-with-bing-search-alternative) page. A search of up to 10 results costs $0.005.

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

## SpecStream and Grounding with Bing Search side by side

| | SpecStream | Grounding with Bing Search |
|---|---|---|
| What your code gets | Every result as JSON: `webPages.value[]` with `id`, `name`, `url`, `displayUrl` and `snippet`, `totalEstimatedMatches` and `rankingResponse` | The model's result grounded with Bing data, citing the publishers. The tool's output is not returned to developers and end users |
| Raw results | Yes, in Bing's v7 shape, for ranking, retrieval or any agent on any model | No. Developers and end users don't have access to the raw content, and outputs are not directly accessible for use in other applications or programs |
| Price | $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results. `count=50` costs $0.029. A call stopped by a `429` charges nothing | $14 per 1,000 transactions, counted by the number of tool calls per run |
| Limits | Up to 8,800 searches a minute on one account, with no daily limit. A call over that gets a `429` with `Retry-After` | 150 transactions per second and 1 million transactions per day |
| Results a call | `count` 1 to 50, default 10, and `offset` pages through the list. `GET /v1/web-search` returns up to 100 | `count` defaults to 5, with a maximum of 50 |
| How you call it | One HTTP call with an API key, from any code, the Python and TypeScript SDKs, the CLI or any MCP client | A tool an Azure AI agent calls while a model writes its response. Not all models support it |
| Where it runs | One address, `https://api.specstream.ai`, for every account | With a private network configuration, only West Europe, Canada East, Switzerland North, Spain Central, UAE North, Korea Central, Poland Central and Southeast Asia |
| How results are shown | Your product shows the results the way it shows anything else | The website URLs and the Bing search query URLs must be displayed in your interface, in the exact form Microsoft provides |
| Where your queries go | Zero retention is a field on each key: a search made with it keeps no request text and no answer after the reply | Your data flows outside the Azure compliance and Geo boundary, and the Microsoft Data Protection Addendum does not apply to it |

## Why teams take SpecStream over Grounding with Bing Search

### The results come back to your code

```
curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search \
  -H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=Who founded Mistral AI and when?" -d count=10
```

The reply is Bing's v7 JSON with every result in `webPages.value[]`. Your code ranks them, reads their pages or hands them to any model, and nothing has to be shown in a fixed form.

### Your v7 code needs no rewrite

The route reads `q`, `count` (1 to 50, default 10), `offset`, `freshness` (Day, Week, Month, a range or one date) and `textFormat`. `mkt`, `setLang`, `cc`, `safeSearch`, `responseFilter`, `answerCount`, `promote` and `textDecorations` are accepted, so a request written for Bing needs no edit. Errors come back as `ErrorResponse` with Bing's codes. `dateLastCrawled` is not in the reply: each search reads the live web at the moment of the call.

Moving from the retired API is a one line change, shown on the [Bing Search API retirement](https://specstream.ai/bing-search-api-retirement?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=grounding-with-bing-search-alternative) page.

### $5 per 1,000 searches against $14 per 1,000 transactions

A Grounding transaction is one tool call in an agent's run, at $14 per 1,000. A SpecStream search of up to 10 results takes $0.005 from your balance, each started block of 10 more adds $0.006, and a top-up never expires. A model on any provider can call it, and you pay for the search alone.

### The most accurate web search API, at about one second

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. Each score and its method is on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=grounding-with-bing-search-alternative) page.

On November 9, 2026 production took 1 to 20 searches a second through the fast search every drop-in route uses, 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.

### You decide what is kept

Grounding with Bing Search sends your data outside the Azure compliance and Geo boundary. On SpecStream, zero retention is a field on each key: a search made with it keeps no request text and no answer after the reply. The charge keeps the account, the key, the request ID, the price and the time.

```
POST https://api.specstream.ai/v1/account/keys

{
  "name": "production",
  "scopes": ["account:read", "finds:spend"],
  "spend_cap_cents": 500000,
  "zero_retention": true
}
```

### Search, pages and rows on one key

`GET /v1/web-search` returns up to 100 results for one search and an `answer` with the page it was read from. The [Extract API](https://specstream.ai/extract-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=grounding-with-bing-search-alternative) 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=grounding-with-bing-search-alternative) returns every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with the most a run can cost quoted before it starts. Agents connect to `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`.

## Other Grounding with Bing Search alternatives

### Grounding with Bing Custom Search

Microsoft's version limited to the sites you choose, at the same $14 per 1,000 transactions, with no access to the raw content either. Its documentation sits under Agents (classic), which Microsoft says will be retired on March 31, 2027. On SpecStream, `site:` in `q` keeps a search to one site at $0.005, and the results come back to your code.

### Brave Search API

A search API on Brave's own index at $5 per 1,000 requests, with $5 in free credits every month. Its reply has Brave's shape, so Bing code is rewritten for it. SpecStream answers both: Bing's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search` and Brave's at `https://api.specstream.ai/res/v1/web/search`.

### Tavily

A search API for agents billed in credits, at $0.008 a credit pay as you go. SpecStream answers Tavily's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/tavily/search` for $0.005 a search.

### Exa

A search API priced from $4 per 1,000 requests of up to 10 results, in Exa's own reply shape. SpecStream answers Exa's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/exa/search` on the same key as Bing's.

### Parallel

Search, Extract and other APIs sold by the request. Search starts at $1 per 1,000 requests, and the Build plan has no subscription fee. On SpecStream one request in plain words also returns the finished rows, under a maximum you approve.

## How to replace Grounding with Bing Search

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. Call `https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search` with the key in `Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key`, from the code or the agent tool that needs search results.

```
import requests

reply = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search",
    headers={"Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key": SPECSTREAM_KEY},
    params={"q": "Who founded Mistral AI and when?", "count": 10},
).json()

for page in reply["webPages"]["value"]:
    print(page["name"], page["url"], page["snippet"])
```

```
const reply = await fetch(
  "https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search?" + new URLSearchParams({ q: "Who founded Mistral AI and when?", count: "10" }),
  { headers: { "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key": process.env.SPECSTREAM_KEY } },
).then((r) => r.json());

for (const page of reply.webPages.value) console.log(page.name, page.url, page.snippet);
```

3. Give the results to your model as context, or connect the agent to `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`, where the `search_web` tool runs a search for $0.005. Each call is billed as one search on your key, inside the spending limit you give it.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does Grounding with Bing Search cost?

$14 per 1,000 transactions on Microsoft's pricing page, counted by the number of tool calls per run, with limits of 150 transactions a second and 1 million a day. SpecStream costs $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results.

### Can I get the raw results from Grounding with Bing Search?

No. Microsoft's docs say developers and end users don't have access to the raw content it returns, and outputs are not directly accessible for use in other applications or programs. SpecStream returns every result in Bing's v7 JSON.

### Is Grounding with Bing Search the replacement for the Bing Search API?

Yes, it is the one Microsoft names. Its lifecycle notice retired the Bing Search APIs on August 11, 2025 and encourages customers to migrate to Grounding with Bing Search in Azure AI Agents. SpecStream answers the retired v7 call at `https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search`.

### Can I use Grounding with Bing Search without Azure AI Agents?

No. It runs as a tool an Azure AI agent calls, and not all models support it. SpecStream is one HTTP call with an API key at $0.005 a search, from any code, model or MCP client.

### What is the best Grounding with Bing Search alternative?

SpecStream, at $5 per 1,000 searches. It returns raw results in Bing's own v7 JSON, searches the whole live web, and scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

### Do I have to display Bing's URLs with the answer?

With Grounding with Bing Search, yes: the website URLs and the Bing search query URLs must be displayed in the exact form Microsoft provides. With SpecStream the results are JSON in your code, shown the way your product shows them.

## Sources

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

- [Microsoft: Bing APIs and Grounding with Bing pricing](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/apis), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Microsoft: Grounding with Bing Search tools](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry/agents/how-to/tools/bing-tools), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Microsoft: Grounding with Bing Custom Search (classic)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry-classic/agents/how-to/tools-classic/bing-custom-search), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Microsoft: Foundry Agent Service limits, quotas and regions](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry/agents/concepts/limits-quotas-regions), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Microsoft: Grounding with Bing terms](https://www.microsoft.com/bing/apis/grounding-legal-enterprise), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Microsoft: Bing Search APIs retiring on August 11, 2025](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Tavily pricing](https://www.tavily.com/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Parallel pricing](https://parallel.ai/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