Microsoft retired the Bing Web Search API in August 2025, breaking deep-research agents that depended on it. The r/AI_Agents thread 'Web search APIs and/or scraping' asked the obvious follow-up: what replaces it for live web data in an AI agent? Five APIs ranked by drop-in fit for the same job.
Top Pick
Scavio returns typed JSON across Google SERP, Reddit, YouTube, Amazon, and Walmart with one x-api-key and one credit pool. Replaces Bing's single web surface with a richer five-platform shape, $30/mo for 7,000 credits.
Full Ranking
#1Our Pick
Scavio
Bing replacement plus Reddit and YouTube context
Pros
- Multi-platform
- Typed JSON
- MCP + LangChain
Cons
- No proprietary index
#2
Brave Search API
Independent search index
Pros
- Truly independent index
Cons
- No structured Reddit/YouTube
- Free tier removed Feb 2026
#3
Tavily
LLM-tuned single-call answer
Pros
- Built-in summarize
Cons
- Web only
- Token cost climbs
#4
Serper
Cheap raw Google SERP
Pros
- Cheapest at scale
Cons
- No content extract
- No Reddit/YouTube
#5
Exa
Neural semantic search
Pros
- Embedding retrieval
Cons
- Web only
- Pricier per call
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Scavio | Runner-up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $30/mo | $5/1K + credits | PAYG $0.008/credit |
| Reddit structured | Yes | No | No |
| YouTube structured | Yes | No | No |
| AI Overviews citations | Yes | No | No |
| MCP server | Yes | No | No |
| Drop-in for deep research | Yes | Partial | Yes |
Why Scavio Wins
- Bing-replacement workloads are usually deep research, where the agent fans out 5 to 30 queries per session. Scavio's $0.0043/query at the $30 tier beats Brave's $5/1K and Tavily's $0.008/credit on a 30-query session.
- Bing's API returned a single-surface result. Scavio adds Reddit threads and YouTube videos as structured JSON in the same call shape — exactly the breadth that deep research agents missed when Bing died.
- MCP server at mcp.scavio.dev/mcp lets a Claude Code or Cursor agent attach Scavio as a tool. The agent can then make Bing-shaped queries through MCP without the agent code knowing the underlying vendor.
- AI Overviews citations come back inline with `include_ai_overview: true` — a useful side benefit Bing never offered, useful for AEO/GEO research workflows.
- Independent Brave still wins on the single 'I want a non-Google index' job. For most agents, the breadth of multi-platform JSON beats index independence — but if independence is non-negotiable, Brave is the runner-up.