Cost per query is the primary constraint for teams running search at scale in agent pipelines, RAG systems, or lead generation workflows. We filtered the market down to APIs that deliver structured search results for under five dollars per thousand queries and ranked them by result quality, platform coverage, and agent integration.
Scavio charges $0.005 per credit with on-demand pricing, which equals exactly $5 per 1K queries, and the $30/mo plan drops the effective cost to $0.0043 per query. Combined with six-platform coverage, it delivers the most data per dollar.
Full Ranking
Scavio
Multi-platform search at the $5/1K price point
- Six platforms in one API at $0.005 per query
- $30/mo plan drops effective cost to ~$0.0043/query
- Structured JSON for agent consumption
- 250 free credits to evaluate
- On-demand pricing hits exactly $5/1K, not below
- No bulk discount beyond the $30/mo tier
Brave Search API
Web search with independent index at $5/1K
- Exactly $5/1K requests
- Independent search index
- Good snippet quality
- Web only, no product or video data
- Free tier removed Feb 2026
- $5 free monthly credit is the only discount
Linkup
European teams wanting standard web search
- EUR 5/1K for standard queries
- EUR 5 free monthly credit
- Simple REST API
- EUR pricing, roughly $5.40/1K USD at current rates
- Deep search at EUR 50/1K is ten times more expensive
- Smaller ecosystem
Google CSE (remaining)
Teams still on CSE before the 2027 shutdown
- Google-quality results
- $5/1K queries on paid tier
- Familiar API for existing users
- 50-domain limit on free tier, full web search deprecated
- January 1, 2027 deadline for shutdown
- No future investment, sunsetting product
Perplexity Sonar (base)
AI-processed search when base tier suffices
- Base tier starts at $5/1K
- AI-processed results with citations
- Good for research queries
- Token costs add to per-request price
- Pro tier at $6-14/1K exceeds the $5 threshold
- Total cost often exceeds $5/1K after tokens
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Scavio | Runner-up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per 1K queries | $4.30-5.00 | $5.00 | ~$5.40 (EUR 5) |
| Platforms | 6 platforms | Web only | Web only |
| Free tier | 250/mo | $5 credit/mo | EUR 5 credit/mo |
| Structured JSON | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | No | No |
| Sunset risk | None | None | None |
Why Scavio Wins
- At the same $5/1K price point as Brave and Linkup, Scavio covers six platforms instead of one, delivering more data per dollar than any competitor.
- The $30/mo plan for 7K credits drops the effective cost to $0.0043 per query, slightly under the $5/1K threshold that competitors charge.
- Multi-platform results mean a single query can ground against Google, YouTube, and Reddit simultaneously, replacing three separate API calls at three separate costs.
- MCP server integration means agents call search as a tool without wrapper code, reducing the engineering cost alongside the per-query cost.
- For pure web search at $5/1K, Brave's independent index is a strong alternative, but it cannot match the platform breadth.