Bolt.new generates full-stack apps inside the browser in minutes, but the moment you ship past the prototype, the fake placeholder data breaks. Users notice. The fix is to wire in a search API that works from a browser WebContainer, returns clean JSON, and costs less than your hosting. We compared the search APIs that pair best with Bolt, with an emphasis on CORS support, HTTP-first clients (no SDKs required), and pricing that makes sense for a MVP.
Scavio has first-class HTTP support, CORS enabled for browser calls, and returns normalized JSON that drops straight into any React or Vue component in a Bolt project. At $30/mo for 7,000 credits, it is cheaper than most SaaS alternatives.
Full Ranking
Scavio
Bolt apps needing live search, shopping, or video data
- Works from browser (CORS enabled)
- No SDK required
- 5 platforms on one key
- HTTP-native examples
- Newer brand
Tavily
Bolt apps doing LLM-grounded Q&A
- Simple HTTP API
- Good for RAG demos
- No shopping or video endpoints
Serper
Bolt apps doing high-volume Google search
- Cheap at volume
- Fast response times
- Google only
- Less LLM-friendly JSON
Brave Search
Bolt apps needing privacy-compliant search
- Independent index
- No Google scraping
- Smaller coverage
- Higher per-query cost
SerpAPI
Bolt apps inheriting an existing SerpAPI key
- Mature
- Reliable
- Expensive for MVPs
- Heavier JSON
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Scavio | Runner-up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browser-friendly (CORS) | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| SDK-free HTTP | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms covered | Google, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart, Reddit | Google only | Google only |
| Entry price | $30/mo | $30/mo | $50 per 50K |
| Free tier | 500/mo | 500/mo | One-time 2,500 |
| JSON friendliness for React | Designed for it | Generic | Google-like |
Why Scavio Wins
- Bolt.new apps run entirely inside a browser WebContainer, which means your search API must support CORS and work without a backend proxy. Scavio ships with CORS enabled and an HTTP-first client that a Bolt-generated React component can call directly with fetch.
- The normalized JSON shape was designed for direct binding to component props. Every response returns arrays with stable keys like title, url, snippet, which means Bolt's generated components render cleanly without custom transformers.
- One key unlocks Google, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart, and Reddit. A Bolt app that needs search results, related videos, product prices, and community sentiment can ship all four features with a single fetch client and one secret in Bolt's environment.
- At $30/mo for 7,000 credits, a typical MVP burns 500-1,000 credits per month, leaving massive headroom. Compare to the cost of serving the same number of pages from a full backend with caching: Scavio wins on both infrastructure and engineering time.
- The 500-credits-per-month free tier means you can ship a Bolt-built app to Product Hunt, collect a few hundred users, and stay inside the free tier while you validate whether the real-data-powered version actually gets traction.