Migrate from SearXNG

The whole migration is one address

Your client keeps SearXNG's path, its format=json and its parser. The instance address changes, and it carries the key, so a client with only an address field needs no other setting.

# Before
curl "https://searx.example.org/search?q=open+source+vector+databases&format=json"

# After: the key in the path
curl "https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY/search?q=open+source+vector+databases&format=json"

# Or in a header
curl "https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/search?q=open+source+vector+databases&format=json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"

Tested on production on November 9, 2026: the key in the path for LobeHub, Perplexica, OpenClaw and Open WebUI, the key as the Basic password for GPT Researcher and LangChain's SearxSearchWrapper, and /searxng/config for Cherry Studio's check button.

What the reply leaves out

The route serves JSON. A client that reads SearXNG's HTML page, as Khoj does, gets a 403. publishedDate is null on most results, so read it as optional, and thumbnail and img_src are empty strings. corrections, infoboxes, suggestions and unresponsive_engines are empty lists.

A refusal is {"error": ..., "code": ...} with the HTTP status: 401 for a missing or wrong key, 402 for an empty balance, 403 for a format other than JSON, and 429 with Retry-After for a busy minute, which charges nothing.

Nothing to host or keep unblocked

SearXNG's own docs say a public instance can make the external service enforce CAPTCHAs or ban the instance's IP address, and a private one needs Docker or Podman, Valkey for the limiter and a reverse proxy. SpecStream is one address: the search runs on our side, and your app gets results in SearXNG's JSON.

$0.005 a search, with no server to pay for

Each call returns one page of 10 results and costs $0.005, the price of one search. New accounts start with $10 of credit, no card, which covers 2,000 searches, and credit you buy never expires. Every rate is on the pricing page.

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 page.

About one second a search, measured under load

Every drop-in route runs the fast search unless the call asks for page text or results past the first ten. On November 9, 2026 production took 1 to 20 fast searches a second 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 takes 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, its answer is not reused for another call, and its log lines carry neither. 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 calls GET /v1/web-search, which returns up to 100 results for one search and an answer with the page it was read from. It reads up to 20 pages or documents a call with the Extract API at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and a page with no text is not charged. Deep Search returns every match for a request in plain words as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with a source URL on every value, and the most a run can cost is approved before it starts.

Brave Search API

A search API on Brave's own index at $5 per 1,000 requests, with $5 in free credits every month. Your SearXNG client cannot call it without code; SpecStream answers that client at one address in SearXNG's JSON.

Tavily

A search API at $0.008 a credit on pay as you go, where a basic search costs 1 credit. It has its own request and reply. SpecStream answers both SearXNG's call and Tavily's, at $0.005 a search.

Exa

A search API from $4 per 1,000 requests with up to 10 results. It has its own request and reply. SpecStream keeps your SearXNG client as it is and scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions.