# Cloudflare Web Search API vs Valyu

> Valyu scores 64.6 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on security & auth. Both do web search. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-06

Valyu scores 64.6 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on security & auth. Both do web search.

- Cloudflare Web Search API: grade B, 62.1/100, rank #226 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json
- Valyu: grade B, 64.6/100, rank #182 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/valyu.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/valyu.json

## Which one, for what

### Cloudflare Web Search API (B)

Good 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.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 71 against 44

Watch for: Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway

### Valyu (B)

Good for: Research agents that need SEC filings, papers, patents, clinical trials or market data alongside the web, with a per-query price cap.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 87 against 81
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 63
- Payments & pricing, 45 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 80 against 71

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 4.5 against 3.0 out of 5

Watch for: No published rate limits and no Retry-After or backoff guidance


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Cloudflare Web Search API | Valyu | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 53 | Cloudflare Web Search API +2 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 87 | Valyu +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 78 | Valyu +15 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 71 | 44 | Cloudflare Web Search API +27 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 45 | Valyu +25 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 80 | Valyu +9 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 79 | Valyu +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **62.1 · B** | **64.6 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Cloudflare Web Search API | Valyu |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Cloudflare, Inc. | Valyu |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.valyu.ai/v1/search` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Price for web search | $0.25 per 1,000 requests | $1.50 per 1,000 pages |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page | none |
| Tools exposed | none | 6 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-09-12 |
| Popularity | none | 19 stars, 6.7k npm/wk, 7.1k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 4.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**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. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It's an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters, and no machine payment route.

**Valyu.** Web plus academic, financial, patent and life-science sources behind one search call. No published rate limits and no Retry-After or backoff guidance.

## Before you call either

### Cloudflare Web Search API

1. Set `options.gateway.id`. Every account has a gateway named `default`
2. Pass `provider` explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result
3. Set `limit` to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10
4. Set `byokAlias` when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits
5. Send `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs

### Valyu

1. Set `max_price` and `max_num_results` on every search to bound cost
2. Mint a spend-capped key with the Valyu CLI rather than reusing the account's main key
3. Call `valyu_search`. The legacy per-vertical MCP tools stop working on 2026-12-01
4. A 206 means some sources failed. Check which before treating results as complete
5. DeepResearch is async. Poll `valyu_deepresearch_status` rather than waiting in one call

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Web Search API or Valyu?

Valyu scores 64.6 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on security & auth.

### Do Cloudflare Web Search API and Valyu need an API key?

Cloudflare Web Search API needs an API key. Valyu takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Cloudflare Web Search API and Valyu without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. Valyu has a hosted endpoint at https://api.valyu.ai/v1/search.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cloudflare-web-search", "b": "valyu"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cloudflare-web-search valyu`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/valyu.json

## Other comparisons with Cloudflare Web Search API or Valyu

- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-valyu.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Exa API + MCP vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-valyu.md)
- [Firecrawl MCP vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-valyu.md)
- [Linkup vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-valyu.md)
- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-valyu.md)
- [SearchAPI.io vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-valyu.md)
- [SerpApi vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-valyu.md)
- [Serper vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-valyu.md)
- [SerpKite vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-valyu.md)
- [Tavily API + MCP vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tavily-mcp-vs-valyu.md)
- [Valyu vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/valyu-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-valyu.md)