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Parallel Task API alternative in 2026

A report in about a minute.

Parallel's Task API costs $5 to $2,400 per 1,000 runs by processor. Its deep research runs on pro at $0.10 a run, in 2 to 10 minutes, and on ultra at $0.30, in 5 to 25 minutes.

SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. POST /v1/research returns a written report with the page, the read time and the passage behind each cited sentence: $0.10 in about a minute, $0.30 in about four, $1.00 in about five.

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New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. It covers 100 quick reports, 33 standard reports or 10 deep reports.

SpecStream research reports and Parallel Task API side by side

SpecStreamParallel
Price of one report$0.10 quick, $0.30 standard, $1.00 deep. One flat price per depthPer 1,000 runs by processor: pro $100 and ultra $300 for deep research, up to ultra8x at $2,400. lite, for basic metadata, is $5
How long a report takesAbout one minute quick, about four minutes standard, about five minutes deeppro 2 to 10 minutes, ultra 5 to 25 minutes, ultra8x 5 minutes to 2 hours. Deep Research can take up to 45 minutes
What you chooseOne of three depths: quick, standard (the default) or deepOne of nine processors, from lite to ultra8x
What comes backreport.content with [1] markers, report.citations with the page, the read time and the passage of each cited sentence, and report.sources with every page readA markdown report with inline citations in text mode, or structured JSON with citations, reasoning and confidence levels
JSON in place of text"output": {"type": "json", "schema": {...}} with your JSON Schemaauto schema mode, or a JSON schema you specify
How you get the resultPoll GET /v1/research/{id}, follow GET /v1/research/{id}/events as server-sent events, or name a webhookPolling, webhooks or SSE
When you payOnce, when the report is delivered. The reply to the POST shows price_usd, and a cancelled report is not chargedPer successfully completed run. Failed runs are not billed
Approval before an agent spendsOn MCP, research_price shows the price and start_research runs only with that price approved as confirm_max_centsA price per run by the processor in the request
Search and pages on the same keySearch API at $5 per 1,000 searches and $1 on the fast tier, Extract API at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, Deep Search rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 eachSearch at $1 to $5 per 1,000 requests and Extract at $1 per 1,000 URLs
Starting credit$10 of credit on a new account, no card: 100 quick reportsPay per run from $5 per 1,000 on lite

Why Task API users move to SpecStream

The report arrives while the agent still works

A pro run takes 2 to 10 minutes and an ultra run 5 to 25, and Parallel's guide says Deep Research can take up to 45 minutes. A SpecStream quick report takes about a minute for the same $0.10 as pro. A standard report takes about four minutes for the same $0.30 as ultra, and a deep report about five minutes for $1.00.

Three depths, three prices

The Task API has nine processors between $5 and $2,400 per 1,000 runs, and the right one depends on how hard the question is. SpecStream has three depths at $0.10, $0.30 and $1.00. The reply to the POST shows the report's price as price_usd, so a budget of $300 is 1,000 standard reports.

Each cited sentence shows its page and when it was read

report.content holds the text with [1] markers. report.citations gives each cited sentence the URL of its page, the time SpecStream read it and the passage that supports it. report.sources lists every page read in the run. Your reviewer opens the page and finds the passage in seconds.

Search, pages, rows and reports on one key

A report is one of the calls the key runs. The same key runs the Search API, which scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, and the Extract API at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. The benchmarks page shows each run. When the job is a table of matches, Deep Search returns each one as a row at 5¢, 15¢ or $1, with the maximum approved before the run. See research reports and pricing.

Other Parallel Task API alternatives

Linkup Research

SpecStream writes a cited report for $0.10 to $1.00 in about one to five minutes. Linkup Research costs $0.25, $0.50, $1.50 or $2.50 a request by depth, and its pricing page gives 1 to 10 minutes a request. A SpecStream standard report costs $0.30, under Linkup's M depth at $0.50.

Exa Deep search and Exa Agent

Exa's deep search type costs $12 per 1,000 requests and returns in 4 to 15 seconds. For long-running research Exa points to Exa Agent, at $0.012 to $1.00 a request at a fixed effort. SpecStream sets three report prices, $0.10, $0.30 and $1.00, and shows the price in the reply before any charge.

Tavily Research

Tavily Research bills 4 to 110 credits a request on mini and 15 to 250 on pro, at $0.008 a credit pay as you go. That is $0.032 to $0.88 on mini and $0.12 to $2.00 on pro, known after the run. A SpecStream report has one price per depth, shown as price_usd when the report starts.

How SpecStream scores

The same numbers as the benchmarks page, from the official tasks and scorers.

SpecStreamParallelExaTavilyPerplexity
Web researchWideSearch, GPT-5.6 Luna60.945.553.047.947.0
Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Luna9694919494
Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Sol9997919295

How to move a Task API deep research call

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

2. Send the question as input, as you do on the Task API, and choose depth where your call names a processor. input holds up to 15,000 characters. The call answers 202 at once with the report's id, where Parallel returns a run_id.

curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/v1/research \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input": "Create a comprehensive market research report on the HVAC industry in the USA including an analysis of recent M&A activity and other relevant details.", "depth": "deep"}'

# 202 at once, with the report's id and price_usd. Then read it:
curl https://api.specstream.ai/v1/research/<id> \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"

3. Read status until it is completed. The report is text by default, like Parallel's text mode. For structured output, send your schema as "output": {"type": "json", "schema": {...}}.

4. Keep the way you wait: GET /v1/research/{id}/events streams progress as server-sent events and resumes with Last-Event-ID, and "webhook": {"url": "https://..."} is called when the report ends. Add an Idempotency-Key header to retry safely.

From an agent, connect the MCP server at https://api.specstream.ai/mcp: research_price shows the price of each depth, start_research starts the report, and get_research reads it. The research reports guide has every field. For search calls, the Parallel migration guide keeps your /v1/search code.

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Frequently asked questions

Something we didn't answer? Talk to a human

How much does the Parallel Task API cost?
$5 to $2,400 per 1,000 runs, by processor: lite $5, base $10, core $25, core2x $50, pro $100, ultra $300, ultra2x $600, ultra4x $1,200 and ultra8x $2,400. Deep research runs on pro and ultra, so a report costs $0.10 or more.
What is the best Parallel Task API alternative for deep research?
SpecStream, at $0.10, $0.30 or $1.00 a report. A quick report takes about a minute, and each cited sentence carries the URL of its page, the time it was read and the passage.
How long does Parallel deep research take?
2 to 10 minutes on pro and 5 to 25 minutes on ultra, and Parallel's guide says Deep Research can take up to 45 minutes. A SpecStream report takes about one, four or five minutes by depth.
What does a failed or cancelled report cost on SpecStream?
$0. The price is taken once, when the report is delivered, and a cancelled report is not charged.
Can a SpecStream report return JSON?
Yes, with one field: send "output": {"type": "json", "schema": {...}} with your JSON Schema. length sets the size of a text report to short, standard or long.
Does SpecStream have an MCP server for research?
Yes, at https://api.specstream.ai/mcp, with 3 tools for reports: research_price, start_research and get_research. start_research runs only after your person approves the price as confirm_max_cents.
Does SpecStream answer Parallel's search call?
Yes, at $1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results. Set the base address to https://api.specstream.ai/parallel, and POST /parallel/v1/search answers in Parallel's shape.

Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure about another provider comes from that company's own page, read on the date shown.

  1. Parallel pricingdocs.parallel.ai/getting-started/pricing.md, read Nov 13, 2026
  2. Parallel Deep Researchdocs.parallel.ai/task-api/task-deep-research.md, read Nov 13, 2026
  3. Linkup pricinglinkup.so/pricing, read Nov 13, 2026
  4. Linkup pricing docsdocs.linkup.so/pages/documentation/development/pricing.md, read Nov 13, 2026
  5. Exa pricingexa.ai/docs/admin/pricing.md, read Nov 13, 2026
  6. Exa changelogexa.ai/docs/changelog/pricing-update.md, read Nov 13, 2026
  7. Tavily API creditsdocs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits.md, read Nov 13, 2026
  8. SpecStream research reportsspecstream.ai/docs/research, read Nov 13, 2026
  9. SpecStream pricingspecstream.ai/pricing, read Nov 13, 2026
  10. SpecStream benchmarksspecstream.ai/benchmarks, read Nov 13, 2026
  11. SpecStream for agentsspecstream.ai/agents.md, read Nov 13, 2026