{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "cloudflare-web-search", "name": "Cloudflare Web Search API", "vendor": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.cloudflare.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "search", "summary": "Cloudflare's web search endpoint, in open beta since 2 October 2026, routes a query through AI Gateway to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, by REST or from a Worker's AI binding.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json", "dns": "cloudflare-web-search.grade.anchorterminal.com", "license": "Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "A Cloudflare API token as a Bearer header, with Account \u003e Workers AI \u003e Read and Account \u003e AI Gateway \u003e Read. Inside a Worker the `AI` binding needs no token. Provider keys stored on the gateway (BYOK) are selected by `byokAlias` and never sent in the request. The OpenAPI operation also accepts the legacy global API key with an email header.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Billed per search from prepaid AI Gateway credits at the provider's list price, Ceramic.ai $0.25, Linkup $5.00 and Exa $7.00 per 1,000 requests. Credits carry a 5 per cent purchase fee and need a payment method on the account. With a stored provider key the provider bills you directly. No free allowance found (https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/providers/, checked 2026-10-05).", "priceSummary": "$0.25 / 1k req", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "AI Gateway Machine Payments (x402, beta since 30 September 2026) covers only POST /ai/run for four open models, US accounts with a card on file. The Web Search API pages, the providers page and the OpenAPI operation mention no x402, MPP or L402 (https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/features/machine-payments/, checked 2026-10-05).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-05" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cloudflare/api-schemas/main/openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "web.search" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "beta", "openapi", "llms-txt", "typescript", "status-page", "bug-bounty" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-02", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 66.9, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 300, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1272, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 71, "payments": 20, "reliability": 77, "schema": 81, "security": 74, "transparency": 73 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-02" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway, whose status shows no incidents in 90 days. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It is still an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters and no machine payment route.", "bestFor": "Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.", "strengths": [ "Three providers behind one request shape, switched by the `provider` parameter", "Ceramic.ai at $0.25 per 1,000 searches, at the provider's list price", "Every search lands in AI Gateway logs, with per-request headers to skip storing payloads", "Typed error body with category, code and a `retryable` flag", "Providers commit to verified-bot crawling and a source link on every result", "AI Gateway, which carries every search, shows no incident days in the 90 days to 2 November 2026 on Cloudflare's status page" ], "weaknesses": [ "Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway", "Credits need a payment method and carry a 5 per cent purchase fee. No free allowance", "At most 10 results a call, with no pagination, domain or date filters", "No x402. Machine Payments covers only /ai/run", "The changelog and the providers page disagree on whether Exa searches have Zero Data Retention", "The Cloudflare TypeScript SDK (7.3.0) still has no web search method a month after launch" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `options.gateway.id`. Every account has a gateway named `default`", "Pass `provider` explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result", "Set `limit` to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10", "Set `byokAlias` when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits", "Send `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 66.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 71, "payments": 20, "reliability": 77, "schema": 81, "security": 74, "transparency": 50 }, "provenanceScore": 96, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-02", "maintenance": "2026-11-02", "payments": "2026-11-02", "reliability": "2026-11-02", "schema": "2026-11-02", "security": "2026-11-02", "transparency": "2026-11-02" }, "last": "2026-11-02", "lastMoved": "2026-11-02", "oldest": "2026-11-02", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "http": "curl https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID/ai/websearch/ \\\n --request POST \\\n --header \"Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN\" \\\n --header \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n --data '{\n \"query\": \"What are some fun things to do in Salt Lake City as fall approaches?\",\n \"provider\": \"ceramic\",\n \"limit\": 5,\n \"options\": {\n \"gateway\": { \"id\": \"default\" }\n }\n }'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/cloudflare-web-search" }, "sameCompany": [ "cloudflare-ai-gateway", "cloudflare-workers-ai", "cloudflare-sandbox-sdk", "cloudflare-clairic", "cloudflare-ai-search", "cloudflare-cli", "cloudflare-mcp", "cloudflare-email-service", "cloudflare-r2", "cloudflare-clef" ], "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Search, Ceramic.ai", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 0.25 }, { "item": "Search, Linkup", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5 }, { "item": "Search, Exa", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 7 } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "domain": "cloudflare.com", "domainRegistered": "2009-02-17", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://cloudflare.com/terms/", "privacy": "https://cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/", "statusPage": "https://www.cloudflarestatus.com", "changelog": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/changelog/", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-11-02", "notes": [ "Legal entity, domain date, terms and privacy follow the Cloudflare MCP listing's check. We didn't re-read them for this listing.", "www.cloudflare.com/.well-known/security.txt, re-read on 2 November 2026, names HackerOne and a disclosure policy and carries no Expires field.", "The endpoint is on api.cloudflare.com. Searches are forwarded to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup.", "www.cloudflarestatus.com shows AI Gateway with no days with incidents in its 90-day bar on 2 November 2026. Web search has no component of its own." ], "score": 96 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json", "live": { "slug": "cloudflare-web-search", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://www.cloudflarestatus.com", "indicator": "major", "summary": "Partial System Outage", "checkedAt": "2026-11-03T18:11:39.8192322Z" }, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://cloudflare.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-11-03T15:52:18.734158883Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-03T15:19:32.990668868Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "cloudflare.com", "registered": "2009-02-17", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/cloudflare.com", "checkedAt": "2026-11-01T14:18:56.122446983Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/changelog/", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:17:29.967269806Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:04:13.791253735Z", "fingerprint": "aaad1064978c" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-11-03T18:11:39.8192322Z" } }, "answer": "Cloudflare Web Search API scores 66.9 (B) on agent readiness against SpecStream's 64.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SpecStream leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community.", "b": { "slug": "specstream", "name": "SpecStream", "vendor": "SpecStream SAS", "vendorUrl": "https://specstream.ai", "kind": "platform", "category": "search", "summary": "SpecStream is a hosted web data service that turns a plain-language request into rows with a source page for each value, enriches and rechecks lists, and is reached through a web app, REST API, SDKs and remote MCP server.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/specstream", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/specstream.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/specstream.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/specstream.json", "dns": "specstream.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/specstream/specstream-tools", "license": "Proprietary hosted service under SpecStream SAS's terms of use (updated 3 November 2026, French law). The client code in specstream/specstream-tools (SDKs, the stdio bridge, framework packages, plugins, skills and integrations) is MIT, copyright SpecStream SAS", "transports": [ "streamable-http", "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.specstream.ai/mcp", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "specstream-client" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@specstream/sdk" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "specstream-mcp-stdio" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Two credentials, both sent as `Authorization: Bearer`. API keys (`ss_live_...`) are made under Agents \u0026 API in the workspace or with the `create_api_key` tool, shown once, limited to any of eight scopes (`specs:read`, `specs:write`, `finds:read`, `finds:write`, `finds:spend`, `projects:read`, `projects:manage`, `account:read`), to named projects, to an expiry of 1 to 365 days (90 by default) and to a spending ceiling, and revoked singly so that the next request fails; the docs group them as read, prepare or execute access and only execute starts paid work. OAuth 2.1 sign-in for MCP clients uses HTTPS client ID metadata documents or dynamic client registration, with read, prepare or execute access shown on a consent screen, and registered clients are listed and revoked in account settings. Delegated access can let an agent start named operations within a per-run limit, a monthly limit and an expiry. No secret in a query string is documented. The authorisation server metadata on api.specstream.ai was not read (see openQuestions).", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Prices are per matching result and the same on every plan, Standard $0.05 (up to 5 facts), Expanded $0.15 (up to 15 facts and one related list with 10 related records, then 10 cents per further 10), Deep $1, plus 5 cents for a named person's email and 15 cents for a phone. Rechecks cost half the rate for a changed or new row and 1 cent for an unchanged one; checking an imported row costs 5 cents or its match rate. A run that finds nothing, rows left out and reading or pricing a request cost nothing. Free is $10 of work once for the first 30 days with no card; pay as you go tops up from $10 with no expiry; Pro $19 a month with $19 of work, Scale $99, Team $499, Enterprise from $2,500; yearly adds 20 per cent more work, and plan balance rolls over one month. Agents without an account can pay per purchase by x402 (USDC) or MPP (card, at least $1) (https://specstream.ai/pricing and https://specstream.ai/docs/agent-payments, checked 2026-11-03).", "priceSummary": "$19 / mo", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "yes", "evidence": "The agent payments page documents `POST https://api.specstream.ai/v1/agent/lists` as the one paid route for agents without an account. It answers 402 with a `PAYMENT-REQUIRED` header for x402 v2 (USDC on Base, Arbitrum or Polygon, a Permit2 authorisation for the quoted maximum under the `upto` scheme, settled for the results cost only) and a `WWW-Authenticate: Payment` challenge for MPP by card through Stripe's Link agent wallet; the offer lasts 15 minutes and a purchase is 1 to 500 results for $1.00 to $500.00. Pricing and the changelog (15 October 2026) say the same. Not exercised, because api.specstream.ai's robots.txt could not be read, so nothing on that host was requested (https://specstream.ai/docs/agent-payments, checked 2026-11-03).", "endpoints": [ { "url": "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/agent/lists", "priceUsd": null, "network": "eip155:8453" }, { "url": "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/agent/lists", "priceUsd": null, "network": "eip155:42161" }, { "url": "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/agent/lists", "priceUsd": null, "network": "eip155:137" } ] }, "toolCount": 128, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-11-03" }, "docsUrl": "https://specstream.ai/docs", "llmsTxt": "https://specstream.ai/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://specstream.ai/openapi.json", "registryName": "ai.specstream/specstream", "capabilities": [ "search.research", "web.search", "web.extract", "lead.enrichment", "data.company", "email.finder" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "official", "closed-source", "openapi", "llms-txt", "mcp", "remote-mcp", "oauth", "api-key", "x402", "mpp", "a2a", "python", "typescript", "cli", "webhooks", "async-jobs", "agent-skills", "enrichment", "desktop-app", "windows", "eu-hosting", "usage-based", "free-tier", "no-card", "no-status-page", "new" ], "lastRelease": "2026-11-03", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 64.4, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 399, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1272, "categoryRank": 11, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 65, "maintenance": 81, "payments": 85, "reliability": 23, "schema": 80, "security": 73, "transparency": 66 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-03" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Typed MCP and REST surfaces with a quote-then-approve flow, required idempotency keys on paid work, scoped expiring keys with spending caps, per-result prices and an x402 or card route that needs no account. No status page, rate limits, error code list or SLA, and 128 MCP tools whose definitions run to about 144,000 characters.", "bestFor": "Agents that need a list of companies, places, grants, tenders, papers or packages matching stated conditions, with a source page on every value and a price approved before anything runs, and teams that want the same list rechecked on a schedule and sent to a sheet or CRM.", "strengths": [ "Paid work needs a quote, an approved ceiling in `confirm_max_cents` and a required idempotency key, with a recovery call so a lost response never buys twice", "API keys carry eight scopes, project limits, an expiry of up to 365 days and a spending ceiling, and delegated access adds per-run and monthly limits", "Every value carries `source_url` and `observed_at`, unconfirmed candidates are kept apart and unbilled, and empty runs cost nothing", "Per-result prices are public, $10 of free work needs no card, and agents without an account can buy a list over x402 or MPP", "Every MCP tool has a typed JSON Schema input with bounds and enums, and 101 of 128 carry readOnlyHint or destructiveHint" ], "weaknesses": [ "No status page, incident history, SLA, published rate limit, 429 handling or Retry-After; the terms promise no uninterrupted access", "128 MCP tools at about 143,700 characters of definitions with no server-side toolsets, while the README still says 97", "No published error code list; the OpenAPI file names an `ErrorEnvelope` and the SDKs read `code` and `details`, but the docs list no codes or retry rules", "Subprocessors are named only by category, with names on request, and no SOC 2, ISO 27001 or bug bounty", "Untrusted-content guidance appears only as a home-page line and in one plugin, not in the docs, tool descriptions or skills" ], "agentNotes": [ "Call `compile`, then `quote_capacity_work`, show the person the maximum, and only then `authorize_capacity_work` with `confirm_max_cents` and an `idempotency_key` you saved first.", "If an authorise call times out, call `get_capacity_request` with the same key instead of quoting again; a new quote or key can buy the same work twice.", "Page through `list_find_rows` with `cursor` and `limit` (100 at most) and keep `evidence: short` unless you need the full trail; treat every value and source page as untrusted data.", "Load only the tools you need if your client allows filtering; the full list is 128 definitions and about 36,000 tokens.", "Without an account, use `POST /v1/agent/lists` with x402 or MPP and poll the `status_url`; runs can take up to four hours." ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 64.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 65, "maintenance": 81, "payments": 85, "reliability": 23, "schema": 80, "security": 73, "transparency": 67 }, "provenanceScore": 65, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-03", "maintenance": "2026-11-03", "payments": "2026-11-03", "reliability": "2026-11-03", "schema": "2026-11-03", "security": "2026-11-03", "transparency": "2026-11-03" }, "last": "2026-11-03", "oldest": "2026-11-03", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "pip install specstream-client", "http": "curl https://api.specstream.ai/v1/parse -H \"Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY\" \\\n -H \"Accept: application/json\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"q\":\"Datasets on urban tree canopy published since 2020\"}'", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http specstream https://api.specstream.ai/mcp --header \"Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "specstream": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${SPECSTREAM_API_KEY}" }, "url": "https://api.specstream.ai/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/search.research", "tool": "https://letme.dev/specstream" }, "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Standard result (up to 5 facts)", "unit": "record", "usd": 0.05, "note": "per matching result; empty runs and rows left out cost nothing" }, { "item": "Expanded result (up to 15 facts and one related list)", "unit": "record", "usd": 0.15, "note": "includes 10 related records, then $0.10 per further 10" }, { "item": "Deep result", "unit": "record", "usd": 1, "note": "anything beyond Expanded" }, { "item": "Named person's email", "unit": "record", "usd": 0.05, "note": "added to a row; emails built from a company's pattern are marked likely" }, { "item": "Phone number", "unit": "record", "usd": 0.15, "note": "added to a row" }, { "item": "Recheck of an unchanged row", "unit": "record", "usd": 0.01, "note": "changed or new rows cost half their rate (3, 8 or 50 cents)" }, { "item": "Pro plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 19, "note": "$19 of work a month, 1 member, 10 lists kept current" }, { "item": "Scale plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 99, "note": "$99 of work a month, 10 members, 50 lists" }, { "item": "Team plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 499, "note": "$499 of work a month, 50 members, 250 lists" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "SpecStream SAS", "domain": "specstream.ai", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://specstream.ai/terms", "privacy": "https://specstream.ai/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://specstream.ai/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-11-03", "notes": [ "The legal notice in English and French (both updated 3 November 2026) names SpecStream SAS, a French société par actions simplifiée with share capital of 10 euros, RCS Narbonne 131 125 841, VAT FR49131125841, registered at 20 quai de Lorraine, 11100 Narbonne, with Tarek Etman as president and publication director and Nataliia Stepanenko as director general, hosted by Compagnie IBM France SAS on IBM Cloud in Madrid. The terms and privacy policy (both 3 November 2026) name the same company under French law.", "The company number was not confirmed against the register. annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr and recherche-entreprises.api.gouv.fr were refused by our fetcher and a web search found no register page. The SIREN 131125841 passes its Luhn check digit and the VAT key 49 matches it; SIREN numbers starting with 1 or 2 are normally given to public bodies, which a private SAS would not be. No first-hand page contradicts the notice, so nothing is deducted.", "https://specstream.ai/.well-known/security.txt is valid (Contact support@specstream.ai, Expires 2027-10-08, languages en and fr). The repository's SECURITY.md adds GitHub private vulnerability reporting.", "firstReleased is 2026-09-30, the first entry in the dated changelog (the Windows workspace app); the npm SDK and n8n node were first published on 12 October and the stdio bridge on 12 October 2026. lastRelease is 2026-11-03, specstream-mcp-stdio 1.2.3 on PyPI.", "robots.txt on specstream.ai allows / and disallows /workspace (except /workspace/shared/ and /workspace/assets/), /app/, /account, /login, /signup, /join, /v1/, /oauth/, /mcp, /share/, /export/, /internal/, /cdn-cgi/ and the paths under /integrations/*/, with no rule for named AI crawlers. api.specstream.ai/robots.txt could not be read, so nothing on that host was fetched, including the OAuth well-known documents, the A2A agent card and the MCP server card.", "Not read: RDAP for specstream.ai, the Wayback Machine, the live MCP registry entry, PyPI project pages (a client challenge; the release feed was read instead) and the GitHub API for stars and issues." ], "score": 65 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/specstream.json", "live": { "slug": "specstream", "probe": { "target": "https://api.specstream.ai/mcp", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-11-03T18:20:23.661096193Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 228, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 198, "p95ms24h": 292, "samples24h": 44, "samples30d": 44, "days": [ { "date": "2026-11-03", "probes": 44, "ok": 44 } ] }, "versions": [ { "registry": "mcp-registry", "name": "ai.specstream/specstream", "version": "1.3.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-03T16:51:07.971176756Z" } ], "securityTxt": { "url": "https://specstream.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-10-08T00:00:00.000Z", "checkedAt": "2026-11-03T15:52:31.491866186Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://specstream.ai/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-03T15:21:10.521972292Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-03T18:20:23.661096193Z" } }, "edges": [ { "by": 65, "category": "payments", "leads": "specstream", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "reasons": { "a": "No x402, MPP or L402 on /ai/websearch. AI Gateway Machine Payments covers only /ai/run for four open models (0, Machine Payments page unchanged since 30 September and still limited to `/ai/run`). Per-search prices published without a login, $0.25, $5.00 and $7.00 per 1,000 by provider. The 5 per cent fee on credit purchases sits on the Unified Billing page, not the providers page (20). No free allowance found. Credits need a payment method, and the BYOK route needs an account with the provider (0). A person signs up for Cloudflare in a browser and buys credits or stores a provider key (0). 0 + 20 + 0 + 0 = 20.", "b": "x402 v2 (USDC on Base, Arbitrum or Polygon, Permit2 `upto` for the quoted maximum, settled for the results cost) and MPP by card on SpecStream's own `POST /v1/agent/lists`, the route for buying a list of 1 to 500 results without an account; enrichment of imported lists, refreshes, monitors and investigations need an account, and the route was read in the docs and not exercised because api.specstream.ai's robots.txt could not be read, so partial (25). Per-result prices published without a login, 5, 15 or 100 cents a result, 5 cents an email, 15 cents a phone, rechecks at half rate or 1 cent (20). $10 of work for 30 days with no card (20). An agent can buy a list over x402 or MPP with no account, and the A2A endpoint prices a request without a key (20). 25+20+20+20 = 85." }, "scores": { "a": 20, "b": 85 } }, { "by": 54, "category": "reliability", "leads": "cloudflare-web-search", "name": "Reliability", "reasons": { "a": "Scored as a hosted API. www.cloudflarestatus.com lists AI Gateway, Workers AI and AI Search among its services, each with 30-day and 90-day incident bars (20). Web search has no component of its own and runs through AI Gateway. On 2 November 2026 the services page showed AI Gateway with no days with incidents in 90 days. The five Workers AI incident days (13 and 19 August, 9 September, 15 and 27 October) name model errors, a model outage and AI Security for Apps, not AI Gateway or web search, so a clean record (30). The 5 October reading from the status page's JSON feed is struck. 200 requests per 60 seconds per gateway on Unified Billing credentials, and 1,200 requests per five minutes per Cloudflare API token (15). The Cloudflare API returns 429 with `retry-after` and `Ratelimit` headers, and the error body carries a `retryable` flag. Searches have no side effects, but 429 isn't among the responses the OpenAPI operation lists (12 of 15). No SLA for AI Gateway found (0). The docs still label it open beta on 2 November, although the OpenAPI operation is tagged generally-available. We scored from the docs (0). 20 + 30 + 15 + 12 + 0 + 0 = 77.", "b": "Hosted reading, for the MCP server and REST API on api.specstream.ai. No public status page was found. None is linked from the site, llms.txt or the docs, llms-full.txt mentions none, and https://specstream.ai/status returned an error (0). No readable incident history, so the floor (5). No rate limit with numbers is published in the docs, llms.txt, llms-full.txt or the part of the OpenAPI file read; the privacy policy and DPA mention rate limiting without figures, and the published limits are per job (10,000 results a request, four-hour runs, 20,000 imported rows) (0). Nothing documents 429, Retry-After or backoff, but paid work requires an `idempotency_key` on `authorize_capacity_work` and `POST /v1/capacity/executions`, `GET /v1/capacity/requests/{request_key}` recovers the original find after an uncertain response, and the skills say never to quote again to recover a lost reply (8 of 15). No SLA on any plan, and the terms say 'We do not promise uninterrupted access' (0). No beta or preview label on the API, the MCP server or the SDKs, which PyPI classifies as production and stable at 1.2 (10). 0+5+0+8+0+10 = 23." }, "scores": { "a": 77, "b": 23 } }, { "by": 10, "category": "maintenance", "leads": "specstream", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "reasons": { "a": "Read for a closed service. The web search launch entry is dated 2 October 2026, 31 days ago. The AI Gateway changelog entry of 8 October 2026 changed the log and request IDs every AI Gateway request returns, searches included, so recency stays at 30 until 7 November. Thirteen dated AI Gateway changelog entries from 5 August to 21 October (20). A public changelog with RSS and a developer Discord. We didn't check support response times (8 of 15). The Workers binding has the method. The Cloudflare TypeScript SDK's newest tag is still 7.3.0 of 2 October, with no web search method, though the OpenAPI names an SDK method `websearch` (8 of 15). The OpenAPI spec carries the path. Nothing else to measure for a hosted endpoint (5 of 10). 30 + 20 + 8 + 8 + 5 = 71.", "b": "specstream-mcp-stdio 1.2.3 on PyPI on 3 November 2026, the Python SDK 1.2.0 committed the same day and `@specstream/sdk` 1.2.0 on npm on 31 October (30). Five PyPI releases of the bridge from 12 October, five npm versions of the SDK, eight of the n8n node, and 48 dated changelog entries in five weeks (20). A closed service with a dated changelog, support@specstream.ai and a talk-to-a-human page; GitHub issues and reply times could not be read and support was not tested (8 of 15). server.json under the reverse-DNS namespace `ai.specstream/specstream` 1.3.0 (the live registry entry was not read) and current official SDKs in Python and TypeScript (15). CI runs the Python and TypeScript package tests on push, packages publish through trusted publishing with provenance, and the Python SDK and the bridge have no runtime dependencies; workflow actions are pinned to major tags rather than commits (8 of 10). 30+20+8+15+8 = 81." }, "scores": { "a": 71, "b": 81 } }, { "by": 7, "category": "transparency", "leads": "cloudflare-web-search", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "reasons": { "a": "Closed service under Cloudflare's terms, with each provider's terms linked from the providers page (15 of 30). AI Gateway logs are on by default with headers to skip payloads, and Cloudflare's privacy policy and DPA exist per the Cloudflare MCP check. The providers page gives Zero Data Retention for Ceramic.ai and Linkup but not Exa, while the 2 October changelog says all three support it. No retention period for web search logs on the pages we read (15 of 30). No deprecation policy found. The changelog posts dated changes, such as the 24 September log cut-over, but no deprecation notices (6 of 20). The three providers are named, and Cloudflare's subprocessor page names 12 third parties with locations per the Cloudflare MCP check. Where searches are processed isn't stated (14 of 20). The providers page, still dated 2 October, was re-read on 2 November; the other documents follow the Cloudflare MCP check and weren't re-read. 15 + 15 + 6 + 14 = 50.", "b": "Closed hosted service under terms of 3 November 2026 naming SpecStream SAS, French law and a liability cap of the greater of 12 months' fees or 100 euros; the client code is MIT (20 of 30). The privacy policy and DPA agree with each other and the about page on EU hosting, no training on customer requests, lists or results, and a retention table (server logs 30 days, backups 8 days, page copies 24 hours, run working copies 7 days, audit log 12 months, support 3 years, accounts until deleted, erased from backups within 8 days of deletion), with breach notice in 48 hours and audit rights; the pricing page and the account docs disagree on who can export the audit log (27 of 30). No API deprecation policy; the changelog dates a price cut of 26 October 2026 that kept approved quotes at their old prices, the terms promise notice of material changes and keep historical quotes on their terms, and the DPA gives 30 days' notice of a new subprocessor (8 of 20). Subprocessors are listed by category with locations and transfer safeguards, hosting on IBM Cloud in Madrid is named in the legal notice, and names are available only on request (12 of 20). 20+27+8+12 = 67." }, "scores": { "a": 73, "b": 66 } } ], "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "Platform", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "b": "SpecStream SAS", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "https://api.specstream.ai/mcp", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "Streamable HTTP, HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Pay per use", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "$0.25 per 1,000 requests", "b": "not published", "name": "Price for web search" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page", "b": "Proprietary hosted service under SpecStream SAS's terms of use (updated 3 November 2026, French law). The client code in specstream/specstream-tools (SDKs, the stdio bridge, framework packages, plugins, skills and integrations) is MIT, copyright SpecStream SAS", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "128", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "not listed", "b": "ai.specstream/specstream", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-10-02", "b": "2026-11-03", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2025-09-12", "b": "not read yet", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no date given", "b": "not read yet", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not read yet", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not read yet", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not read yet", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not read yet", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not read yet", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "3/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Cloudflare Web Search API scores 66.9 (B) on agent readiness against SpecStream's 64.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SpecStream leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Web Search API or SpecStream?" }, { "answer": "No hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. SpecStream has a hosted endpoint at https://api.specstream.ai/mcp.", "question": "Can an agent call Cloudflare Web Search API and SpecStream without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 77 against 23", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 73 against 66" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.", "slug": "cloudflare-web-search", "watchFor": "Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 85 against 20", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 81 against 71" ], "also": [ "An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account", "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install", "Free to start without a card" ], "goodFor": "Agents that need a list of companies, places, grants, tenders, papers or packages matching stated conditions, with a source page on every value and a price approved before anything runs, and teams that want the same list rechecked on a schedule and sent to a sheet or CRM.", "slug": "specstream", "watchFor": "No status page, incident history, SLA, published rate limit, 429 handling or Retry-After; the terms promise no uninterrupted access" } ], "history": { "cloudflare-web-search": [ { "causes": [ "evidence" ], "date": "2026-11-02", "delta": 5, "from": 61.9, "fromGrade": "C", "to": 66.9, "toGrade": "B" }, { "causes": [ "method" ], "date": "2026-10-08", "delta": -0.2, "from": 62.1, "fromGrade": "B", "to": 61.9, "toGrade": "C" } ], "specstream": null }, "job": { "capability": "web.search", "name": "Web search" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-cloudflare-web-search.json", "title": "Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs Cloudflare Web Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-cloudflare-web-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-cloudflare-web-search.json", "title": "Arcmira vs Cloudflare Web Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-cloudflare-web-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-deepseek-search-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-deepseek-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Exa API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Firecrawl MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-grep-ai.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Grep AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-grep-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-kagi-search.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Kagi Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-kagi-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Linkup", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SearchAPI.io", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Serper", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpKite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Tavily API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tinyfish-search.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs TinyFish Search", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tinyfish-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Valyu", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-specstream.json", "title": "DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Exa API + MCP vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Firecrawl MCP vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Linkup vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Parallel Search and Task APIs vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-specstream.json", "title": "SearchAPI.io vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-specstream.json", "title": "SerpApi vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Serper vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-specstream.json", "title": "SerpKite vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Arcmira vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Grep AI vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-tavily-mcp.json", "title": "SpecStream vs Tavily API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-tavily-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-tinyfish-search.json", "title": "SpecStream vs TinyFish Search", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-tinyfish-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-valyu.json", "title": "SpecStream vs Valyu", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-valyu" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SpecStream vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-you-com-api" } ], "panel": null, "scores": [ { "by": 54, "cloudflare-web-search": 77, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "specstream": 23, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 1, "cloudflare-web-search": 81, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "specstream": 80, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 2, "cloudflare-web-search": 63, "edge": "specstream", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "specstream": 65, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 1, "cloudflare-web-search": 74, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "specstream": 73, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 65, "cloudflare-web-search": 20, "edge": "specstream", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "specstream": 85, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 10, "cloudflare-web-search": 71, "edge": "specstream", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "specstream": 81, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 7, "cloudflare-web-search": 73, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "specstream": 66, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Cloudflare Web Search API scores 66.9 (B) on agent readiness against SpecStream's 64.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SpecStream leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do web search. SpecStream accepts x402. Cloudflare Web Search API doesn't.", "tasks": null, "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "cloudflare-web-search": "One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway, whose status shows no incidents in 90 days. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It is still an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters and no machine payment route.", "specstream": "Typed MCP and REST surfaces with a quote-then-approve flow, required idempotency keys on paid work, scoped expiring keys with spending caps, per-result prices and an x402 or card route that needs no account. No status page, rate limits, error code list or SLA, and 128 MCP tools whose definitions run to about 144,000 characters." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-specstream", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-specstream.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-specstream.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-specstream.min.md" }, "markdown": "Cloudflare Web Search API scores 66.9 (B) on agent readiness against SpecStream's 64.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SpecStream leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do web search. SpecStream accepts x402. Cloudflare Web Search API doesn't.\n\n- Cloudflare Web Search API: grade B, 66.9/100, rank #300 of 1272. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json\n- SpecStream: grade B, 64.4/100, rank #399 of 1272. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/specstream.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/specstream.json\n- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md\n- All 201 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Cloudflare Web Search API (B)\n\nGood for: Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 77 against 23\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 73 against 66\n\nWatch for: Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway\n\n### SpecStream (B)\n\nGood for: Agents that need a list of companies, places, grants, tenders, papers or packages matching stated conditions, with a source page on every value and a price approved before anything runs, and teams that want the same list rechecked on a schedule and sent to a sheet or CRM.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 85 against 20\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 81 against 71\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n- Free to start without a card\n\nWatch for: No status page, incident history, SLA, published rate limit, 429 handling or Retry-After; the terms promise no uninterrupted access\n\n\n## Why the edge\n\n### Payments \u0026 pricing: SpecStream +65\n\n- Cloudflare Web Search API (20): No x402, MPP or L402 on /ai/websearch. AI Gateway Machine Payments covers only /ai/run for four open models (0, Machine Payments page unchanged since 30 September and still limited to `/ai/run`). Per-search prices published without a login, $0.25, $5.00 and $7.00 per 1,000 by provider. The 5 per cent fee on credit purchases sits on the Unified Billing page, not the providers page (20). No free allowance found. Credits need a payment method, and the BYOK route needs an account with the provider (0). A person signs up for Cloudflare in a browser and buys credits or stores a provider key (0). 0 + 20 + 0 + 0 = 20.\n- SpecStream (85): x402 v2 (USDC on Base, Arbitrum or Polygon, Permit2 `upto` for the quoted maximum, settled for the results cost) and MPP by card on SpecStream's own `POST /v1/agent/lists`, the route for buying a list of 1 to 500 results without an account; enrichment of imported lists, refreshes, monitors and investigations need an account, and the route was read in the docs and not exercised because api.specstream.ai's robots.txt could not be read, so partial (25). Per-result prices published without a login, 5, 15 or 100 cents a result, 5 cents an email, 15 cents a phone, rechecks at half rate or 1 cent (20). $10 of work for 30 days with no card (20). An agent can buy a list over x402 or MPP with no account, and the A2A endpoint prices a request without a key (20). 25+20+20+20 = 85.\n\n### Reliability: Cloudflare Web Search API +54\n\n- Cloudflare Web Search API (77): Scored as a hosted API. www.cloudflarestatus.com lists AI Gateway, Workers AI and AI Search among its services, each with 30-day and 90-day incident bars (20). Web search has no component of its own and runs through AI Gateway. On 2 November 2026 the services page showed AI Gateway with no days with incidents in 90 days. The five Workers AI incident days (13 and 19 August, 9 September, 15 and 27 October) name model errors, a model outage and AI Security for Apps, not AI Gateway or web search, so a clean record (30). The 5 October reading from the status page's JSON feed is struck. 200 requests per 60 seconds per gateway on Unified Billing credentials, and 1,200 requests per five minutes per Cloudflare API token (15). The Cloudflare API returns 429 with `retry-after` and `Ratelimit` headers, and the error body carries a `retryable` flag. Searches have no side effects, but 429 isn't among the responses the OpenAPI operation lists (12 of 15). No SLA for AI Gateway found (0). The docs still label it open beta on 2 November, although the OpenAPI operation is tagged generally-available. We scored from the docs (0). 20 + 30 + 15 + 12 + 0 + 0 = 77.\n- SpecStream (23): Hosted reading, for the MCP server and REST API on api.specstream.ai. No public status page was found. None is linked from the site, llms.txt or the docs, llms-full.txt mentions none, and https://specstream.ai/status returned an error (0). No readable incident history, so the floor (5). No rate limit with numbers is published in the docs, llms.txt, llms-full.txt or the part of the OpenAPI file read; the privacy policy and DPA mention rate limiting without figures, and the published limits are per job (10,000 results a request, four-hour runs, 20,000 imported rows) (0). Nothing documents 429, Retry-After or backoff, but paid work requires an `idempotency_key` on `authorize_capacity_work` and `POST /v1/capacity/executions`, `GET /v1/capacity/requests/{request_key}` recovers the original find after an uncertain response, and the skills say never to quote again to recover a lost reply (8 of 15). No SLA on any plan, and the terms say 'We do not promise uninterrupted access' (0). No beta or preview label on the API, the MCP server or the SDKs, which PyPI classifies as production and stable at 1.2 (10). 0+5+0+8+0+10 = 23.\n\n### Maintenance \u0026 community: SpecStream +10\n\n- Cloudflare Web Search API (71): Read for a closed service. The web search launch entry is dated 2 October 2026, 31 days ago. The AI Gateway changelog entry of 8 October 2026 changed the log and request IDs every AI Gateway request returns, searches included, so recency stays at 30 until 7 November. Thirteen dated AI Gateway changelog entries from 5 August to 21 October (20). A public changelog with RSS and a developer Discord. We didn't check support response times (8 of 15). The Workers binding has the method. The Cloudflare TypeScript SDK's newest tag is still 7.3.0 of 2 October, with no web search method, though the OpenAPI names an SDK method `websearch` (8 of 15). The OpenAPI spec carries the path. Nothing else to measure for a hosted endpoint (5 of 10). 30 + 20 + 8 + 8 + 5 = 71.\n- SpecStream (81): specstream-mcp-stdio 1.2.3 on PyPI on 3 November 2026, the Python SDK 1.2.0 committed the same day and `@specstream/sdk` 1.2.0 on npm on 31 October (30). Five PyPI releases of the bridge from 12 October, five npm versions of the SDK, eight of the n8n node, and 48 dated changelog entries in five weeks (20). A closed service with a dated changelog, support@specstream.ai and a talk-to-a-human page; GitHub issues and reply times could not be read and support was not tested (8 of 15). server.json under the reverse-DNS namespace `ai.specstream/specstream` 1.3.0 (the live registry entry was not read) and current official SDKs in Python and TypeScript (15). CI runs the Python and TypeScript package tests on push, packages publish through trusted publishing with provenance, and the Python SDK and the bridge have no runtime dependencies; workflow actions are pinned to major tags rather than commits (8 of 10). 30+20+8+15+8 = 81.\n\n### Transparency \u0026 trust: Cloudflare Web Search API +7\n\n- Cloudflare Web Search API (73): Closed service under Cloudflare's terms, with each provider's terms linked from the providers page (15 of 30). AI Gateway logs are on by default with headers to skip payloads, and Cloudflare's privacy policy and DPA exist per the Cloudflare MCP check. The providers page gives Zero Data Retention for Ceramic.ai and Linkup but not Exa, while the 2 October changelog says all three support it. No retention period for web search logs on the pages we read (15 of 30). No deprecation policy found. The changelog posts dated changes, such as the 24 September log cut-over, but no deprecation notices (6 of 20). The three providers are named, and Cloudflare's subprocessor page names 12 third parties with locations per the Cloudflare MCP check. Where searches are processed isn't stated (14 of 20). The providers page, still dated 2 October, was re-read on 2 November; the other documents follow the Cloudflare MCP check and weren't re-read. 15 + 15 + 6 + 14 = 50.\n- SpecStream (66): Closed hosted service under terms of 3 November 2026 naming SpecStream SAS, French law and a liability cap of the greater of 12 months' fees or 100 euros; the client code is MIT (20 of 30). The privacy policy and DPA agree with each other and the about page on EU hosting, no training on customer requests, lists or results, and a retention table (server logs 30 days, backups 8 days, page copies 24 hours, run working copies 7 days, audit log 12 months, support 3 years, accounts until deleted, erased from backups within 8 days of deletion), with breach notice in 48 hours and audit rights; the pricing page and the account docs disagree on who can export the audit log (27 of 30). No API deprecation policy; the changelog dates a price cut of 26 October 2026 that kept approved quotes at their old prices, the terms promise notice of material changes and keep historical quotes on their terms, and the DPA gives 30 days' notice of a new subprocessor (8 of 20). Subprocessors are listed by category with locations and transfer safeguards, hosting on IBM Cloud in Madrid is named in the legal notice, and names are available only on request (12 of 20). 20+27+8+12 = 67.\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Cloudflare Web Search API | SpecStream | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 77 | 23 | Cloudflare Web Search API +54 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 80 | Cloudflare Web Search API +1 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 65 | SpecStream +2 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 74 | 73 | Cloudflare Web Search API +1 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 85 | SpecStream +65 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 81 | SpecStream +10 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 66 | Cloudflare Web Search API +7 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **66.9 · B** | **64.4 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Cloudflare Web Search API | SpecStream |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | Platform |\n| Vendor | Cloudflare, Inc. | SpecStream SAS |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp` |\n| Transports | HTTP | Streamable HTTP, HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |\n| Price for web search | $0.25 per 1,000 requests | not published |\n| x402 | no | yes |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page | Proprietary hosted service under SpecStream SAS's terms of use (updated 3 November 2026, French law). The client code in specstream/specstream-tools (SDKs, the stdio bridge, framework packages, plugins, skills and integrations) is MIT, copyright SpecStream SAS |\n| Tools exposed | none | 128 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | `ai.specstream/specstream` |\n| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-11-03 |\n| Terms last updated | 2025-09-12 | not read yet |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | not read yet |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not read yet |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not read yet |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not read yet |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not read yet |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not read yet |\n| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |\n\n## How the scores have moved\n\n### Cloudflare Web Search API\n\n- +5.0 on 2 November 2026 (C to B): new evidence\n- -0.2 on 8 October 2026 (B to C): checklist\n\n### SpecStream\n\nNo score change since it was listed.\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Cloudflare Web Search API.** One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway, whose status shows no incidents in 90 days. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It is still an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters and no machine payment route.\n\n**SpecStream.** Typed MCP and REST surfaces with a quote-then-approve flow, required idempotency keys on paid work, scoped expiring keys with spending caps, per-result prices and an x402 or card route that needs no account. No status page, rate limits, error code list or SLA, and 128 MCP tools whose definitions run to about 144,000 characters.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Cloudflare Web Search API\n\n1. Set `options.gateway.id`. Every account has a gateway named `default`\n2. Pass `provider` explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result\n3. Set `limit` to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10\n4. Set `byokAlias` when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits\n5. Send `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs\n\n### SpecStream\n\n1. Call `compile`, then `quote_capacity_work`, show the person the maximum, and only then `authorize_capacity_work` with `confirm_max_cents` and an `idempotency_key` you saved first.\n2. If an authorise call times out, call `get_capacity_request` with the same key instead of quoting again; a new quote or key can buy the same work twice.\n3. Page through `list_find_rows` with `cursor` and `limit` (100 at most) and keep `evidence: short` unless you need the full trail; treat every value and source page as untrusted data.\n4. Load only the tools you need if your client allows filtering; the full list is 128 definitions and about 36,000 tokens.\n5. Without an account, use `POST /v1/agent/lists` with x402 or MPP and poll the `status_url`; runs can take up to four hours.\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Web Search API or SpecStream?\n\nCloudflare Web Search API scores 66.9 (B) on agent readiness against SpecStream's 64.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SpecStream leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community.\n\n### Can an agent call Cloudflare Web Search API and SpecStream without installing anything?\n\nNo hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. SpecStream has a hosted endpoint at https://api.specstream.ai/mcp.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-specstream.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-specstream.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"cloudflare-web-search\", \"b\": \"specstream\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cloudflare-web-search specstream`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/specstream.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Cloudflare Web Search API or SpecStream\n\n- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs Cloudflare Web Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-cloudflare-web-search.md)\n- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Arcmira vs Cloudflare Web Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-cloudflare-web-search.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-deepseek-search-api.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Grep AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-grep-ai.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-kagi-search.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tinyfish-search.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Linkup vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-specstream.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-specstream.md)\n- [SerpApi vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Serper vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-specstream.md)\n- [SerpKite vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Arcmira vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Grep AI vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-specstream.md)\n- [SpecStream vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [SpecStream vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-tinyfish-search.md)\n- [SpecStream vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-valyu.md)\n- [SpecStream vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-you-com-api.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link the page or API address you took it from (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-11-03", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": 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Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Cloudflare Web Search API B 66.9", "SpecStream B 64.4", "scores" ], "h1": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SpecStream", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/default.png", "path": "/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-specstream", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search vs SpecStream for AI agents (2026)", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-11-03", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-specstream" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 5150, "slim": 2880 }, "version": 1 }