{ "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", "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": 62.1, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 226, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 460, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 71, "payments": 20, "reliability": 55, "schema": 81, "security": 71, "transparency": 75 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-05" }, "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. 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.", "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 $0.25 per 1,000 searches, at the provider's list price", "Every search lands in AI Gateway logs, with per-request headers to skip storing payloads", "Typed error body with category, code and a `retryable` flag", "Providers commit to verified-bot crawling and a source link on every result" ], "weaknesses": [ "Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway", "Credits need a payment method and carry a 5 per cent purchase fee. No free allowance", "At most 10 results a call, with no pagination, domain or date filters", "No x402. Machine Payments covers only /ai/run", "The changelog and the providers page disagree on whether Exa searches have Zero Data Retention" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `options.gateway.id`. Every account has a gateway named `default`", "Pass `provider` explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result", "Set `limit` to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10", "Set `byokAlias` when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits", "Send `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 62.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 71, "payments": 20, "reliability": 55, "schema": 81, "security": 71, "transparency": 50 }, "provenanceScore": 100 }, "connect": { "http": "curl https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$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-sandbox-sdk", "cloudflare-mcp", "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": "2026-10-05", "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, read on 5 October 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." ], "score": 100 }, "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": "2026-10-06T01:47:08.690984366Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-06T01:47:08.690984366Z" } }, "answer": "You.com APIs scores 76.9 (BB) 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 \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust.", "b": { "slug": "you-com-api", "name": "You.com APIs", "vendor": "You.com", "vendorUrl": "https://you.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "search", "summary": "Web Search, Contents, Answer, Research and Finance Research APIs, plus a hosted MCP server with six tools.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/you-com-api.json", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.you.com/v1/search", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "youdotcom" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@youdotcom-oss/sdk" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@youdotcom-oss/mcp" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "API key in the `X-API-Key` header (env `YDC_API_KEY`). The hosted MCP also takes a Bearer key or OAuth 2.1, and `?profile=free` needs no key. Web Search and Finance Research take x402 (`PAYMENT-SIGNATURE`) or MPP (`Authorization: Payment`) instead of a key.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "$100 free credit for new accounts, no card, then prepaid credits. Web Search $5 per 1,000 calls (up to 100 results a call), live page extraction $1 per 1,000 pages, Contents $1 per 1,000 pages, Answer $5 per 1,000. Research per 1,000 by effort, lite $12, standard $50, deep $100, exhaustive $450, frontier $1,200. Finance Research $110 (deep) or $500 (exhaustive) per 1,000. x402 prices match credit prices, MPP rounds Web Search up to $0.01 (https://you.com/docs/administration/billing).", "priceSummary": "$5 / 1k req", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "partial", "evidence": "Official docs. GET /v1/search, /v1/agents/search and POST /v1/finance_research accept x402 in USDC on Base or Solana, and MPP in USDC on Tempo. An unpaid GET https://api.you.com/v1/search returned 402 with both PAYMENT-REQUIRED and WWW-Authenticate Payment headers on 2026-09-30. Contents, Answer and Research need a key (https://you.com/docs/administration/machine-payments.md)", "endpoints": [ { "url": "https://api.you.com/v1/search", "priceUsd": 0.005, "network": "eip155:8453" }, { "url": "https://api.you.com/v1/finance_research", "priceUsd": 0.11, "network": "eip155:8453" } ] }, "toolCount": 6, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": 4419, "pypiWeekly": 91673, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://you.com/docs/welcome", "llmsTxt": "https://you.com/docs/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://you.com/docs/openapi.json", "registryName": "io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp", "capabilities": [ "web.search", "web.fetch", "web.extract", "search.answer", "search.research", "search.news" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "no-card", "free-tier", "mcp", "x402", "llms-txt", "openapi", "python", "typescript", "async-jobs", "enterprise" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-22", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 76.9, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 20, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 460, "categoryRank": 2, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 84, "maintenance": 82, "payments": 88, "reliability": 85, "schema": 82, "security": 53, "transparency": 63 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "x402 and MPP on Web Search and Finance Research, with no account needed. Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io.", "bestFor": "An unattended agent that needs search, page text and cited answers and wants to pay per call without an account.", "strengths": [ "x402 and MPP on Web Search and Finance Research, with no account needed", "$100 free credit with no card, plus a keyless MCP profile for search (100 queries a day)", "Public OpenAPI, llms.txt and an error reference with guidance per code", "429 carries Retry-After, with documented backoff and rate-limit headers", "MCP tool allow-lists through `?tools=` or `X-Allowed-Tools`" ], "weaknesses": [ "Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io", "No public changelog or deprecation notices", "Zero Data Retention only for Web Search and Answer, and only on enterprise agreements", "No prompt-injection guidance for the page text Search and Contents return", "Research runs cost $12 to $1,200 per 1,000 depending on effort" ], "agentNotes": [ "For unattended runs call GET https://api.you.com/v1/search, handle the 402 and pay with x402. It's half the MPP price for search", "Use `https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free` to try search with no key (100 queries a day)", "Send Answer, Research and Finance Research to api.you.com. On ydc-index.io they fail with 'Missing Authentication Token'", "Pass `?tools=` with only the tools you need to keep the MCP tool list short", "On 429, wait for `Retry-After` and watch `X-RateLimit-Remaining` before the next burst" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 8, "avgRating": 3.8, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 76.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 84, "maintenance": 82, "payments": 88, "reliability": 85, "schema": 82, "security": 53, "transparency": 45 }, "provenanceScore": 80 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -X POST https://ydc-index.io/v1/search \\\n -H \"X-API-Key: $YDC_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"query\":\"latest AI news\",\"count\":5}'", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http you-com https://api.you.com/mcp --header \"Authorization: Bearer ${YDC_API_KEY}\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "you-com": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${YDC_API_KEY}" }, "url": "https://api.you.com/mcp" } } }, "x402": "curl -si 'https://api.you.com/v1/search?query=test'\n# HTTP/2 402 with PAYMENT-REQUIRED (x402, 5000 base units of USDC) and WWW-Authenticate: Payment (MPP on Tempo)\n# retry with PAYMENT-SIGNATURE: \u003cbase64 signed authorization\u003e" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/you-com-api" }, "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Web Search", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5, "note": "up to 100 results a call" }, { "item": "Contents", "unit": "1k-pages", "usd": 1 }, { "item": "Answer", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5 }, { "item": "Research, standard effort", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 50 }, { "item": "Web Search over x402", "unit": "call", "usd": 0.005, "note": "MPP charges $0.01" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "SuSea, Inc., d/b/a you.com", "domain": "you.com", "domainRegistered": "1998-11-25", "domainNote": "you.com was registered in 1998, long before the company launched.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://you.com/terms", "privacy": "https://you.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.you.com", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-01", "notes": [ "Web Search and Contents are documented on ydc-index.io, a separate domain. api.you.com also serves /v1/search.", "status.you.com is a Rootly page with Search/Index, Live News and AI Search components. It returned 403 on 30 September and loaded on 1 October.", "trust.you.com links a vulnerability disclosure page and a subprocessor list, but renders only with JavaScript." ], "score": 80 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.json", "live": { "slug": "you-com-api", "probe": { "target": "https://api.you.com/v1/search", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-06T01:46:38.93320153Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 402, "lastMs": 1412, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 99.86, "p50ms24h": 811, "p95ms24h": 4823, "samples24h": 273, "samples30d": 1395, "days": [ { "date": "2026-09-30", "probes": 35, "ok": 35 }, { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 276, "ok": 276 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 270 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.you.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-06T01:26:25.921390017Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "mcp-registry", "name": "io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp", "version": "4.0.3", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T23:55:54.568086057Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@youdotcom-oss/mcp", "version": "4.0.3", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T17:09:55.244042586Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@youdotcom-oss/sdk", "version": "0.13.1", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T17:09:54.197740402Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "youdotcom", "version": "3.5.0", "released": "2026-09-22", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T17:09:54.013726214Z" } ], "npmWeekly": 5417, "pypiWeekly": 117116, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://you.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T15:16:09.125503212Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://you.com/docs/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T15:19:36.435281025Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "you.com", "registered": "1998-11-25", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/you.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:10:43.715973858Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://you.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T16:05:24.396615278Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-02T15:29:08.544804959Z", "fingerprint": "b84ad4cf0729" }, { "url": "https://you.com/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T16:05:26.712054686Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-02T15:29:11.109355049Z", "fingerprint": "662298a7f244" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-06T01:46:38.93320153Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "b": "You.com", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "https://api.you.com/v1/search", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "$0.25 per 1,000 requests", "b": "$5 per 1,000 requests", "name": "Price for web search" }, { "a": "no", "b": "payer tooling only", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page", "b": "none", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "6", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "not listed", "b": "io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-10-02", "b": "2026-09-22", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "none", "b": "4.4k npm/wk, 92k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3/5 (2)", "b": "3.8/5 (8)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "You.com APIs scores 76.9 (BB) 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 \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Web Search API or You.com APIs?" }, { "answer": "Cloudflare Web Search API, at $0.25 per 1,000 requests against $5 per 1,000 requests for You.com APIs. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.", "question": "Which is cheaper for web search, Cloudflare Web Search API or You.com APIs?" }, { "answer": "Cloudflare Web Search API needs an API key. You.com APIs takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Cloudflare Web Search API and You.com APIs need an API key?" }, { "answer": "No hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. You.com APIs has a hosted endpoint at https://api.you.com/v1/search.", "question": "Can an agent call Cloudflare Web Search API and You.com APIs without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Security \u0026 auth, 71 against 53", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 75 against 63" ], "also": [ "Cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $5 per 1,000 requests" ], "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": [ "Reliability, 85 against 55", "Agent ergonomics, 84 against 63", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 88 against 20", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 82 against 71" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install", "Runs on your own machine", "Free to start without a card", "Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.8 against 3.0 out of 5" ], "goodFor": "An unattended agent that needs search, page text and cited answers and wants to pay per call without an account.", "slug": "you-com-api", "watchFor": "Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io" } ], "job": { "capability": "web.search", "name": "Web search" }, "others": [ { "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-you-com-api.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-you-com-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-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-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/exa-mcp-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Exa API + MCP vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Firecrawl MCP vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Linkup vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Parallel Search and Task APIs vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SearchAPI.io vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SerpApi vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Serper vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SerpKite vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tavily-mcp-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Tavily API + MCP vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tavily-mcp-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/valyu-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Valyu vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/valyu-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Fetch (MCP reference server) vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-you-com-api" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 30, "cloudflare-web-search": 55, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16, "you-com-api": 85 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 1, "cloudflare-web-search": 81, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13, "you-com-api": 82 }, { "by": 21, "cloudflare-web-search": 63, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13, "you-com-api": 84 }, { "by": 18, "cloudflare-web-search": 71, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14, "you-com-api": 53 }, { "by": 68, "cloudflare-web-search": 20, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10, "you-com-api": 88 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 11, "cloudflare-web-search": 71, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7, "you-com-api": 82 }, { "by": 12, "cloudflare-web-search": 75, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7, "you-com-api": 63 } ], "summary": "You.com APIs scores 76.9 (BB) 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 \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do web search. Cloudflare Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $5 per 1,000 requests.", "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. 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.", "you-com-api": "x402 and MPP on Web Search and Finance Research, with no account needed. Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.min.md" }, "markdown": "You.com APIs scores 76.9 (BB) 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 \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do web search. Cloudflare Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $5 per 1,000 requests.\n\n- 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\n- You.com APIs: grade BB, 76.9/100, rank #20 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/you-com-api.json\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- Security \u0026 auth, 71 against 53\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 75 against 63\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $5 per 1,000 requests\n\nWatch for: Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway\n\n### You.com APIs (BB)\n\nGood for: An unattended agent that needs search, page text and cited answers and wants to pay per call without an account.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 85 against 55\n- Agent ergonomics, 84 against 63\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 88 against 20\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 82 against 71\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n- Runs on your own machine\n- Free to start without a card\n- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.8 against 3.0 out of 5\n\nWatch for: Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Cloudflare Web Search API | You.com APIs | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 85 | You.com APIs +30 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 82 | You.com APIs +1 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 84 | You.com APIs +21 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 71 | 53 | Cloudflare Web Search API +18 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 88 | You.com APIs +68 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 82 | You.com APIs +11 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 63 | Cloudflare Web Search API +12 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **62.1 · B** | **76.9 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Cloudflare Web Search API | You.com APIs |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Cloudflare, Inc. | You.com |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.you.com/v1/search` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |\n| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |\n| Price for web search | $0.25 per 1,000 requests | $5 per 1,000 requests |\n| x402 | no | payer tooling only |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page | none |\n| Tools exposed | none | 6 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp` |\n| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-09-22 |\n| Popularity | none | 4.4k npm/wk, 92k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 3.8/5 (8) |\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. 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.\n\n**You.com APIs.** x402 and MPP on Web Search and Finance Research, with no account needed. Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io.\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### You.com APIs\n\n1. For unattended runs call GET https://api.you.com/v1/search, handle the 402 and pay with x402. It's half the MPP price for search\n2. Use `https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free` to try search with no key (100 queries a day)\n3. Send Answer, Research and Finance Research to api.you.com. On ydc-index.io they fail with 'Missing Authentication Token'\n4. Pass `?tools=` with only the tools you need to keep the MCP tool list short\n5. On 429, wait for `Retry-After` and watch `X-RateLimit-Remaining` before the next burst\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Web Search API or You.com APIs?\n\nYou.com APIs scores 76.9 (BB) 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 \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust.\n\n### Which is cheaper for web search, Cloudflare Web Search API or You.com APIs?\n\nCloudflare Web Search API, at $0.25 per 1,000 requests against $5 per 1,000 requests for You.com APIs. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.\n\n### Do Cloudflare Web Search API and You.com APIs need an API key?\n\nCloudflare Web Search API needs an API key. You.com APIs takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Cloudflare Web Search API and You.com APIs without installing anything?\n\nNo hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. You.com APIs has a hosted endpoint at https://api.you.com/v1/search.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"cloudflare-web-search\", \"b\": \"you-com-api\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cloudflare-web-search you-com-api`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/you-com-api.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Cloudflare Web Search API or You.com APIs\n\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 You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-you-com-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 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 Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Linkup vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [SerpApi vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Serper vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [SerpKite vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Tavily API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tavily-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Valyu vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/valyu-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-you-com-api.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-06", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.3", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs", "url": "" } ], "description": "You.com APIs scores 76.9 (BB) 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 \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do web search. Cloudflare Web Search API is cheaper for web…", "facts": [ "Cloudflare Web Search API B 62.1", "You.com APIs BB 76.9", "scores" ], "h1": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.png", "path": "/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs for AI agents", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-06", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2550, "slim": 780 }, "version": 1 }