Brave Search API vs Bing Search API for AI agents
Programmatic access to Brave Search, which runs its own independent web index. Microsoft's Bing Search APIs were retired on August 11, 2025 and are no longer available.
The short answer
- Brave Search API: Independent (non-Google, non-Bing) web results at a simple flat price, with fast throughput.
- Bing Search API: Nothing for new projects: it is retired; Microsoft points customers to Grounding with Bing Search inside Azure AI Agents.
Side by side
| Brave Search API | Bing Search API | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Brave's own independent index (Brave says 40+ billion pages); web, news, images, video. | – |
| Returns | JSON web results (URLs, titles, snippets, up to five extra snippets), news, images and more, plus an LLM-context endpoint; a separate Answers plan returns AI answers. | – |
| Before the first call | An account, an API key, and a credit card even for the free credit (used for identity, not charged). | – |
| Free | $5 in free credits every month (about 1,000 searches at $5 per 1,000); card required. | – |
| Paid | $5 per 1,000 requests (Search plan, 50 queries per second). | – |
| Acting on a result | Through the web page each result links to | – |
| Limits on keeping or showing results | No storing, caching or building a database of results beyond transient storage unless you buy a plan that explicitly grants storage rights. | – |
| AI in its terms | Results may not be used to create, train, fine-tune or benchmark AI models (storage-rights plans are separate). | – |
| MCP server | Official MCP server from Brave: https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server | – |
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use Brave Search API?
An account, an API key, and a credit card even for the free credit (used for identity, not charged).
Is Brave Search API free?
$5 in free credits every month (about 1,000 searches at $5 per 1,000); card required.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
Brave Search API, read on October 15, 2026:
- brave.com/search/api: “$5 per 1,000 requests”
- brave.com/search/api: “Includes $5 in free credits every month”
- brave.com/search/api: “Brave's index includes 40+ billion pages, kept fresh by 100+ million page updates every day.”
- brave.com/search/api: “Get up to five snippets picked in real time to maximize contextual relevance to a search.”
- brave.com/search/api: “For free plans, the card is only used to confirm your identity and will not be charged.”
- brave.com/search/api: “you will need to subscribe to a plan that explicitly grants storage rights.”
- api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/resources/terms-of-service: “store, cache, or create a database of Search Results, in whole or in part, other than transient storage”
- api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/resources/terms-of-service: “use the Search Results to create, evaluate, train, re-train, fine-tune, benchmark”
Bing Search API, read on October 15, 2026:
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement: “Bing Search APIs will be retired on August 11, 2025.”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement: “the product will no longer be available to be used or new customer signup.”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement: “Customers are encouraged to migrate to Grounding with Bing Search as part of Azure AI Agents.”