Free tiers matter for developers prototyping, students learning, and startups validating ideas before committing budget. In 2026, Brave dropped its free tier (Feb 2026) and several APIs converted permanent free tiers to time-limited trials. We ranked the remaining search APIs with genuinely useful free tiers, distinguishing between permanent monthly credits and expiring trials.
Scavio wins with the best free tier: 500 credits per month permanently, covering Google, Reddit, YouTube, Amazon, and Walmart. No credit card required, no trial expiration. Enough for daily development use.
Full Ranking
Scavio
Developers wanting a permanent free tier across 5 platforms
- 500 credits/month permanently
- No credit card required
- All 5 platforms included in free tier
- MCP server available on free tier
- Enough for daily development (15-30 searches/day)
- 500 credits goes fast for production use
- Need paid plan for serious volume
Google Custom Search
Basic Google search with generous daily free tier
- 100 free queries per day
- Official Google API
- No expiration
- Google only
- Complex setup (CSE creation required)
- $5/1K is expensive at scale
- No Reddit/YouTube/Amazon
Serper
Quick prototyping with Google search
- 2,500 free queries to start
- Simple API
- Fast responses
- Trial expires, not permanent
- Google only
- Must pay after trial
SerpAPI
Testing SerpAPI before committing
- 100 searches/month permanently
- Many engines
- Good docs
- Only 100/month is very limited
- Expensive paid tiers
- Active DMCA lawsuit
DataForSEO
Pay-as-you-go with minimal commitment
- $1 minimum deposit
- Pay only for what you use
- Flexible
- No actual free tier
- Complex API
- Per-query pricing hard to predict
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Scavio | Runner-up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Credits | 500/mo (permanent) | 100/day (permanent) | 2,500 (trial) |
| Credit Card Required | No | Yes (Google Cloud) | No |
| Platforms on Free | All 5 | Google only | Google only |
| Enough for Development | Yes (15-30/day) | Yes (100/day) | Yes (lasts ~2-4 weeks) |
| MCP on Free Tier | Yes | No | No |
| Trial vs Permanent | Permanent | Permanent | Trial (expires) |
Why Scavio Wins
- 500 permanent monthly credits with no credit card required. Build and test for months without spending anything.
- All 5 platforms (Google, Reddit, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart) available on the free tier. Other free tiers restrict you to one platform.
- MCP server works on the free tier. Connect Claude Desktop or Cursor to live search without any payment setup.
- 500 credits/month = ~16 searches per day. Enough for daily development and testing, not just a quick trial.
- No trial expiration. The free tier does not convert to paid after 14 or 30 days. It stays free at 500 credits/month indefinitely.