Brave Search API vs You.com Search API for AI agents
Programmatic access to Brave Search, which runs its own independent web index. You.com Search API is a web and news search API for AI apps, with optional full-page content.
The short answer
- Brave Search API: Independent (non-Google, non-Bing) web results at a simple flat price, with fast throughput.
- You.com Search API: Trying web search in an agent with zero setup via the free keyless MCP, then scaling on a simple per-call price.
Side by side
| Brave Search API | You.com Search API | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Brave's own independent index (Brave says 40+ billion pages); web, news, images, video. | The web and news (the pages read do not say whose index). |
| 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. | JSON web and news results with several text snippets each; optional full page content as Markdown or HTML ($1 per 1,000 pages crawled live). |
| Before the first call | An account, an API key, and a credit card even for the free credit (used for identity, not charged). | An API key (X-API-Key header); the free MCP profile needs no key, account or card. |
| Free | $5 in free credits every month (about 1,000 searches at $5 per 1,000); card required. | 100 Web Search queries a day through the MCP with no key, account or card. |
| Paid | $5 per 1,000 requests (Search plan, 50 queries per second). | $5 per 1,000 calls (Web Search API, Standard); Contents $1 per 1,000 pages. |
| Acting on a result | Through the web page each result links to | 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. | Not stated on its pages |
| AI in its terms | Results may not be used to create, train, fine-tune or benchmark AI models (storage-rights plans are separate). | Not stated on its pages |
| MCP server | Official MCP server from Brave: https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server | Official MCP server: https://api.you.com/mcp (keyless free profile: https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free) |
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.
What do I need before I can use You.com Search API?
An API key (X-API-Key header); the free MCP profile needs no key, account or card.
Is You.com Search API free?
100 Web Search queries a day through the MCP with no key, account or card.
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”
You.com Search API, read on October 15, 2026:
- you.com/pricing: “No API key, no account, no credit card”
- you.com/pricing: “100 Web Search API queries/day via MCP”
- you.com/docs/guides/search: “Multiple text snippets per result for context”
- you.com/docs/guides/search: “Every request sends your API key in the X-API-Key header.”
- you.com/docs/guides/search: “https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free”
- you.com/pricing: “Web Search API $5 /1k calls”