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Free search & scraping APIs compared: Tavily / Exa / Firecrawl / You.com
Short answer: 4 free search and scraping allowances: Tavily (1,000 credits/month), Exa ($10/month + $10 signup gift), Firecrawl (1,000 credits/month), and You.com (100 searches/day, no account or key). The first three reset monthly, You.com resets daily, and none requires a card.
Comparison table
| Offer | Free allowance | Cadence | Requirements | China direct | OpenAI-compatible | Reset | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search API free tier | 1,000 API credits per month, no card required | Monthly | Account | Not marked | No | Resets on the 1st of each month | 2026-11-01 |
| Search API Starter free credits | $10 per month + $10 signup gift, no card required | Monthly | Account | Not marked | No | $10 credits per month, plus a $10 onboarding bonus on signup | 2026-11-01 |
| Scrape/search free tier | 1,000 credits per month, no card required | Monthly | Account | Not marked | No | Resets monthly; roughly 1,000 pages | 2026-11-01 |
| Web Search API (MCP) free daily | 100 searches per day, no account, no key | Daily | None | Not marked | No | Resets daily; called via the MCP server | 2026-11-05 |
How to choose
The four use different billing units (credits / dollars / searches), so comparing the numbers directly is meaningless. Tavily and Exa are search APIs, Firecrawl is a scraping API (its allowance wording mentions roughly 1,000 pages), and You.com is account-free daily search (overage billed at $5 per 1,000 searches). Choose by your call volume and endpoint type; endpoint differences are per the vendor docs.
Of the three monthly allowances, Tavily resets on the 1st of each month; Exa’s and Firecrawl’s reset wording is in the table above. You.com resets daily, needs no account or key, and suits getting a prototype working first.
FAQ
Is there a free web search API?
Yes — four verified ones: Tavily (1,000 API credits/month), Exa ($10/month + a $10 signup gift), Firecrawl (1,000 credits/month), and You.com (100 searches/day, no account or key needed). None requires a card. Tavily and Exa are search APIs; Firecrawl is a scraping API; You.com is a daily allowance via MCP.
Monthly credits or daily searches — which fits an agent better?
It depends on usage pattern. Monthly credits (Tavily, Exa, Firecrawl) suit steady workloads — Tavily resets on the 1st of each month. You.com’s 100 free searches per day, with no account or key, suit getting a prototype working first; overage is billed at $5 per 1,000 searches.
Disclaimer: table data comes from vendor official pages; allowances can change or end at any time — check the official page before claiming.