<!-- twin of https://specstream.ai/web-search/dify -->
# Web search in Dify: paste one SpecStream address in the SearXNG tool

Compared on Nov 10, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/web-search/dify

Four of Dify's search plugins take an address: SearXNG, Firecrawl, Bing and Brave. SpecStream answers all four. Our test on November 9, 2026 passed Dify with only the setting changed.

In the SearXNG plugin, set SearXNG base URL to `https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/<key>/search`, with your SpecStream key in place of `<key>`. Dify sends each search to that address as it is, and reads the results as before.

Every search is the most accurate web search API in the world: 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, at $5 per 1,000 searches. New accounts get $10 of credit, which covers 2,000 searches.

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

## SpecStream next to the search providers Dify offers, from each company's own pages and Dify's plugin source on Nov 10, 2026

| | SpecStream | Tavily | Brave Search API | Firecrawl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you set in Dify | One address in the plugin you already use: SearXNG base URL, Firecrawl server's Base URL, Bing endpoint or Brave server's Base URL | An API key. The plugin calls Tavily through its own client, with no address field | An API key, and Brave server's Base URL, which defaults to `https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search` | An API key, and Firecrawl server's Base URL, which defaults to `https://api.firecrawl.dev` |
| Price per 1,000 searches | $5, with up to 10 results a search | $0.008 a credit on pay as you go. A basic search takes 1 credit and an advanced search 2 | $5 per 1,000 requests | Search costs 2 credits per 10 results. On Hobby, extra credits cost $5 per 1,000 |
| Free to start | $10 of credit, no card. It covers 2,000 searches | 1,000 credits a month, no card | $5 in free credits every month | 1,000 credits every month, no card |
| Plan to buy | None. A search takes $0.005 from your balance, and credit you buy never expires | Pay as you go, for what you use | Credits are applied to your account automatically | Hobby costs $19 a month, or $16 a month billed annually |
| What one call counts as | One search of up to 10 results. Each 10 results more add $0.006. A call stopped by a `429` charges nothing | Credits by the type of request: search, extract or crawl | One request, up to 50 queries per second | 2 credits for each 10 results of a search, 1 credit a page on a basic scrape |
| The text of a page | The Extract API reads any page, PDF, Word or Excel file at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. Dify's Firecrawl scrape on our address is one page at $0.0008 | Extract requests take credits | Answers cost $4 per 1,000 requests plus $5 per million input and output tokens | 1 credit a page on a basic scrape |

## Why Dify builders set SpecStream as their search

### The setting, plugin by plugin

Open Tools in Dify, choose the plugin, and fill its credentials. Each value below was checked against the plugin's own source.

```
SearXNG plugin
  SearXNG base URL     https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/<key>/search

Firecrawl plugin
  Firecrawl server's Base URL   https://api.specstream.ai/firecrawl
  Firecrawl API Key             <key>

Bing plugin
  Bing endpoint            https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search
  Bing subscription key    <key>

Brave plugin
  Brave server's Base URL   https://api.specstream.ai/res/v1/web/search
  Brave Search API key      <key>
```

The SearXNG plugin sends no key header and uses the field as the full search address, so the key goes in the path and the address ends in `/search`. The Bing plugin adds its own `?q=` to the endpoint, so the value has no `?`. Firecrawl's scrape and search calls go to `/firecrawl/v2/scrape` and `/firecrawl/v2/search` on our address.

### Check the address before you save it

This is the call Dify's SearXNG plugin makes. Run it once with your key and you see the reply your workflow will read.

```
curl "https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/$SPECSTREAM_KEY/search?q=open+source+vector+databases&format=json"
```

The reply is SearXNG's JSON: `results[]` with `title`, `url` and `content`, plus `query` and `number_of_results`. A wrong key gets a `401`.

### Your Bing plugin works again

Dify's Bing plugin still defaults to `https://api.bing.microsoft.com/v7.0/search`. Microsoft retired the Bing Search APIs on August 11, 2025. Put `https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search` in Bing endpoint and your SpecStream key in Bing subscription key, and the plugin reads `webPages.value` as it was built to.

### $5 per 1,000 searches, with nothing to subscribe to

A SearXNG, Firecrawl or Bing call of up to 10 results is one search at $0.005. Dify's Brave plugin sends no `count`, so a Brave call returns 10 results at $0.005 too. A Firecrawl scrape is one Extract API page at $0.0008. A call stopped by a `429` charges nothing, 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=web-search-dify) page.

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

The SearXNG and Bing calls above run 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 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: not in the history, not in a log line. `spend_cap_cents` is the most the key can spend, so a looping agent stops at the cap you set.

```
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=web-search-dify) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and runs [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=web-search-dify): a request in plain words returns every match on the live web as rows, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with the most a run can cost quoted before it starts. SpecStream's own Dify plugin is on the Dify Marketplace.

## Other web search providers in Dify

### Tavily

A search API billed in credits: $0.008 a credit on pay as you go, 1 credit for a basic search and 2 for an advanced one, with 1,000 free credits a month. Dify's Tavily plugin has no address field. Through Dify's SearXNG plugin on our address, a search is $0.005, with no credits to count.

### Brave Search API

A search API on Brave's own index at $5 per 1,000 requests, with $5 in free credits every month and up to 50 queries per second. Point Brave server's Base URL at SpecStream and the same plugin searches the whole live web, with $10 of credit to start.

### Serper

Google results as JSON, sold in credit packs from $50 for 50,000, and the credits are valid for 6 months. Dify's Serper plugin fixes its address at `https://google.serper.dev/search`. SpecStream credit never expires, and the SearXNG plugin on our address searches at $5 per 1,000.

### Firecrawl

Search and scrape billed in credits: 2 credits per 10 search results, 1 credit a page on a basic scrape, and Hobby at $19 a month. With our address in Firecrawl server's Base URL, a search is $0.005 and a page is $0.0008, with no plan to buy.

### SearXNG on your own server

Dify's plugin describes SearXNG as a free internet metasearch engine, which you run and keep up yourself. SpecStream answers in SearXNG's JSON at the same field, with no server to run, and scores 97.9 F-score on SimpleQA Verified.

## How to set SpecStream as web search in Dify

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. Check the key with the call Dify will make.

```
import requests

KEY = "YOUR_SPECSTREAM_KEY"
reply = requests.get(
    f"https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/{KEY}/search",
    params={"q": "open source vector databases", "format": "json"},
).json()

for result in reply["results"]:
    print(result["title"], result["url"], result["content"])
```

3. In Dify, open Tools, install or open the SearXNG plugin, and set SearXNG base URL to `https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/<key>/search`. Save.

4. Add the SearXNG search tool to your agent or workflow as before. Every call is billed as one search on your key, inside the spending limit the key carries.

When a workflow needs a whole dataset in place of a results page, write the request in plain words. SpecStream reads it back as the conditions every row must meet, quotes the most it can cost, and delivers the rows after you approve.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I add web search to Dify?

Set one address in a search plugin. In the SearXNG plugin, SearXNG base URL `https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/<key>/search` gives your agent the whole live web at $5 per 1,000 searches, and our test on November 9, 2026 passed Dify with only that setting changed.

### Which Dify search plugins can use SpecStream?

Four: SearXNG, Firecrawl, Bing and Brave, each by its address field. Tavily and Serper fix their address in the plugin's code, so their fields take only a key.

### Does the Bing plugin in Dify still work?

Not on Microsoft's address, which retired the Bing Search APIs on August 11, 2025. Set Bing endpoint to `https://api.specstream.ai/v7.0/search` and the plugin gets `webPages.value` back in Bing's shape, at $0.005 a call of up to 10 results.

### Can I use Google Custom Search JSON API in Dify?

Google closed it to new customers and ends it on January 1, 2027. In Dify, the SearXNG plugin on SpecStream's address searches the whole live web at the same $5 per 1,000 searches, with no daily limit.

### How much does web search in Dify cost with SpecStream?

$0.005 a call of up to 10 results, $5 per 1,000 searches. A Brave plugin call costs the same, and a Firecrawl scrape is $0.0008 a page. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

### Do I need to host SearXNG for the Dify SearXNG plugin?

No. Put `https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/<key>/search` in SearXNG base URL and SpecStream answers in SearXNG's JSON, at about 0.82 s a search at the median on production.

### Where does my key go if the SearXNG plugin has no key field?

In the address, as its path part: `https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/<key>/search`. The route also reads the key from `key=`, an `X-API-Key` header or a Bearer token, for clients that send one.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure on another provider comes from that company's own page, and each Dify setting from the plugin's source on GitHub.

- [Dify SearXNG plugin, provider settings](https://github.com/langgenius/dify-official-plugins/blob/main/tools/searxng/provider/searxng.yaml), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Dify SearXNG plugin, search tool](https://github.com/langgenius/dify-official-plugins/blob/main/tools/searxng/tools/searxng_search.py), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Dify Firecrawl plugin, provider settings](https://github.com/langgenius/dify-official-plugins/blob/main/tools/firecrawl/provider/firecrawl.yaml), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Dify Bing plugin, provider settings](https://github.com/langgenius/dify-official-plugins/blob/main/tools/bing/provider/bing.yaml), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Dify Brave plugin, provider settings](https://github.com/langgenius/dify-official-plugins/blob/main/tools/brave/provider/brave.yaml), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Dify Serper plugin, search tool](https://github.com/langgenius/dify-official-plugins/blob/main/tools/serper/tools/serper_search.py), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Dify Tavily plugin, search tool](https://github.com/langgenius/dify-official-plugins/blob/main/tools/tavily/tools/tavily_search.py), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Microsoft, Bing Search API retirement](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Google Custom Search JSON API overview](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Tavily pricing](https://www.tavily.com/pricing), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Tavily search endpoint](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-reference/endpoint/search), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Firecrawl pricing](https://www.firecrawl.dev/pricing), read Nov 9, 2026
- [Serper](https://serper.dev/), read Nov 9, 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