<!-- twin of https://specstream.ai/linkup-pricing -->
# Linkup pricing in 2026: $5 per 1,000 searches, and every rate

Compared on Nov 12, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/linkup-pricing

Linkup bills each call from a prepaid balance: $0.005 a search at flash, fast or standard depth, $0.05 at deep, $0.001 to $0.011 a fetch and $0.25 to $2.50 a research call. A professional email gets $20 of credit.

SpecStream answers Linkup's own `/v1/search` call at `https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1` for $0.001 a search of up to 10 results, a fifth of Linkup's price. Change the base address and the key, and keep your code.

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

## What each Linkup call costs, and the same call on SpecStream

| | SpecStream | Linkup |
|---|---|---|
| Search at flash, fast or standard | $0.001 with `searchResults`, which is $1 per 1,000. $0.005 with `sourcedAnswer` | $0.005 with `searchResults`, and $0.006 with `sourcedAnswer` or `structured` |
| Search at deep | $0.005, with `searchResults` or `sourcedAnswer` | $0.05 with `searchResults`, and $0.055 with `sourcedAnswer` or `structured` |
| Reading a page | Extract API: $0.80 per 1,000 pages, up to 20 URLs a call, web pages, PDF, Word and Excel. A page that gives no text is not charged | Fetch: $0.001 a call in standard mode, $0.005 with `renderJs` or in pro mode, $0.01 with both. A `schema` adds $0.001 |
| Research | Deep Search: 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 | Research: $0.25, $0.50, $1.50 or $2.50 a call for `reasoningDepth` S, M, L or XL |
| Free to start | $10 of credit once, no card, which covers 10,000 searches | $20 at sign up with a professional email address, topped back up to $20 each month on eligible accounts. The pricing page says 4,000 queries free |
| Large top-ups | A top-up of $1,000 or more adds 20% more credit, and credit you buy never expires | A top-up of $1,000 or more adds free credits to the account |
| Paying with no account | An agent can buy one request with no account, by card or in USDC | x402 in USDC on Base, at the same rates, with a minimum of $0.01 a request |
| Errors and an empty balance | Not charged. An empty balance answers `429` `INSUFFICIENT_FUNDS_CREDITS`, as Linkup does, and a busy call answers `429` with `Retry-After` | No credit is subtracted on an error or when nothing relevant is found. An empty balance answers `429` |
| Rate limit | No limit per key and no daily limit | 10 queries per second per organization |
| Search accuracy | 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct), and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks. Scores and method on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=linkup-pricing) page | Its docs give Search a 94% F-score on Verified SimpleQA, ranked among web search APIs that answer in under a second |

## What 1,000 Linkup calls cost

### The pricing page shows the low end of each range

linkup.so/pricing lists search at $0.005 to $0.006 and fetch at $0.001 to $0.006 a request. The docs add the rest: deep search at $0.05 and $0.055, and pro fetch with JavaScript rendering at $0.01, or $0.011 with a schema.

### 1,000 calls on each

1,000 standard searches cost $5 on Linkup and $1 on SpecStream. 1,000 deep searches cost $50 on Linkup and $5 on SpecStream. 1,000 sourced answers cost $6 on Linkup and $5 on SpecStream. 1,000 page reads cost $1 to $11 on Linkup Fetch and $0.80 on the SpecStream Extract API.

### The call, before and after

```
# Before
curl -s https://api.linkup.so/v1/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LINKUP_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"q": "linkup api pricing", "depth": "standard", "outputType": "searchResults"}'

# After
curl -s https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"q": "linkup api pricing", "depth": "standard", "outputType": "searchResults"}'
```

`q`, `maxResults`, `depth`, `outputType`, `includeDomains`, `excludeDomains`, `fromDate` and `toDate` keep their meaning, and the reply keeps `results[]` with `type`, `name`, `url` and `content`. Every parameter is on the [Linkup compatible](https://specstream.ai/migrate/linkup?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=linkup-pricing) page.

### Pages, search 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=linkup-pricing), runs SpecStream's own Search API at $5 per 1,000 with the answer or $1 with `speed=fast`, and runs [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=linkup-pricing), which returns every match for a request in plain words as structured rows.

## What other search APIs for agents cost

### Tavily

$0.008 a credit pay as you go, a basic search costs 1 credit and an advanced search 2, with 1,000 free credits a month. SpecStream answers Tavily's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/tavily` for $1 per 1,000 searches.

### Exa

`/search` at $7 per 1,000 requests with `auto` or `fast`, and $4 with `lite` or `instant`. SpecStream answers Exa's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/exa` for $1 per 1,000 searches.

### Brave Search API

$5 per 1,000 requests, with $5 of free credits every month. SpecStream answers Brave's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/res/v1/web/search` for $1 per 1,000 searches.

### Parallel

Search from $1 per 1,000 requests. SpecStream answers Parallel's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/parallel` at $1 per 1,000, and returns structured rows for a whole dataset through Deep Search.

## How to pay $0.001 a search for the same Linkup call

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

2. Set the base address to `https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1` where your code has `https://api.linkup.so/v1`, and send the SpecStream key as the Bearer token. With the `linkup-sdk` Python client, pass `base_url="https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1"`. In Python with `requests`:

```
import requests

BASE = "https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1"  # was https://api.linkup.so/v1

reply = requests.post(
    f"{BASE}/search",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {SPECSTREAM_KEY}"},
    json={"q": "linkup api pricing", "depth": "standard", "outputType": "searchResults", "maxResults": 10},
    timeout=60,
)
reply.raise_for_status()
for result in reply.json()["results"]:
    print(result["name"], result["url"], result["content"][:200])
```

3. Linkup's MCP server takes the same address: set `LINKUP_BASE_URL` to `https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1` and put your SpecStream key in `LINKUP_API_KEY`. Or connect the SpecStream MCP server at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`.

4. Read `429` with `Retry-After` as a call to send again. It is not charged. `outputType` `structured` gets `400` with the reason. For structured data, send the request in plain words to Deep Search.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does Linkup cost?

Linkup charges $0.005 a search at flash, fast or standard depth with `searchResults`, $0.006 with an answer or structured output, and $0.05 to $0.055 at deep. Fetch costs $0.001 to $0.011 a call and Research $0.25 to $2.50 a call.

### Does Linkup have a free plan?

Linkup credits $20 to a new account that signs up with a professional email address, and tops eligible accounts back up to $20 each month. A new SpecStream account gets $10 of credit once, no card, which covers 10,000 searches.

### How much is a Linkup deep search?

$0.05 with `searchResults` and $0.055 with `sourcedAnswer` or `structured`, which is $50 to $55 per 1,000. A deep call on SpecStream's Linkup address costs $0.005.

### Does Linkup charge for failed calls?

No. No credit is subtracted on an error or when nothing relevant is found, and an empty balance answers `429`. SpecStream charges nothing for a busy call or an empty balance either.

### Is there a cheaper Linkup compatible API?

Yes. SpecStream answers Linkup's `/v1/search` at `https://api.specstream.ai/linkup/v1` in Linkup's JSON for $0.001 a search of up to 10 results at flash, fast and standard, and $0.005 at deep or with `sourcedAnswer`.

### What is Linkup's rate limit?

10 queries per second per organization. SpecStream sets no limit per key and no daily limit, and a busy call answers `429` with `Retry-After`.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure about Linkup and other providers comes from that company's own page, read on the date shown.

- [Linkup pricing](https://www.linkup.so/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Linkup pricing docs](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/platform/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Linkup rate limits](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/platform/rate-limits.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Linkup introduction](https://docs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/get-started/introduction), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily API credits](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa pricing docs](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Parallel pricing](https://parallel.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream Linkup pass table](https://specstream.ai/specstream/dialects/linkup.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 12, 2026