# DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs You.com APIs

> You.com scores 75.7 (BB) to DeepSeek Search and Fetch's 53.2 (D) for web search. DeepSeek Search and Fetch is cheaper for web search, $0.75 against $5 per 1,000 requests. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-17

You.com APIs scores 75.7 (BB) on agent readiness against DeepSeek Search and Fetch API's 53.2 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do web search. DeepSeek Search and Fetch API is cheaper for web search, $0.75 against $5 per 1,000 requests.

- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API: grade D, 53.2/100, rank #795 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-search-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-search-api.json
- You.com APIs: grade BB, 75.7/100, rank #48 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/you-com-api.json
- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md
- All 163 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### DeepSeek Search and Fetch API (D)

Good for: Cheap per-request web search with model-ready summaries and an authority signal, plus page fetching, for agents already on a DeepSeek key and comfortable with data held in the PRC.

Also in its favour:
- Cheaper for web search, $0.75 against $5 per 1,000 requests

Watch for: Opened on 17 October 2026, with no service record of its own and no component for it on the status page

### You.com APIs (BB)

Good for: An unattended agent that needs search, page text and cited answers and wants to pay per call without an account.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 80 against 65
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 55
- Security & auth, 57 against 38
- Payments & pricing, 88 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 42

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- 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

Watch for: Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API | You.com APIs | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 80 | You.com APIs +15 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 82 | You.com APIs +27 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 81 | even |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 57 | You.com APIs +19 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 88 | You.com APIs +68 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 42 | 82 | You.com APIs +40 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 58 | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **53.2 · D** | **75.7 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepSeek Search and Fetch API | You.com APIs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | DeepSeek | You.com |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepseek.com/v1/tools/search` | `https://api.you.com/v1/search` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Price for web search | $0.75 per 1,000 requests | $5 per 1,000 requests |
| x402 | no | payer tooling only |
| Tools exposed | none | 6 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-10-17 | 2026-10-14 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2024-08-27 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-09-22 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | none | 4.4k npm/wk, 92k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | 3.8/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**DeepSeek Search and Fetch API.** Search returns up to 50 results with a model-length summary, an authority tier and optional full text, and only successful non-empty calls are billed, at $0.75 per 1,000. It opened on 17 October 2026, with 5 requests a second per account, no OpenAPI file, no free tier, and data held in the PRC under a policy that permits training.

**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.

## Before you call either

### DeepSeek Search and Fetch API

1. Keep `query` to 128 characters and put filters in it as operators, such as `site:github.com lang:en after:2026-01-01`
2. Leave `need_content` false and read `summary` first, then call Fetch on the URLs you keep
3. Stay under 5 requests a second per account across all keys. On 408, 429 or 5xx wait and retry, since no Retry-After is documented
4. Don't retry a Fetch 403 or 404 unchanged. The page is blocked by policy, unreachable or has no Markdown
5. Don't send private queries or an end user's IP in `localization`. Data is stored in the PRC

### You.com APIs

1. 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
2. Use `https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free` to try search with no key (100 queries a day)
3. Send Answer, Research and Finance Research to api.you.com. On ydc-index.io they fail with 'Missing Authentication Token'
4. Pass `?tools=` with only the tools you need to keep the MCP tool list short
5. With Python SDK 3.6.0 or later, pass `knowledge=None, extraction=None` on search unless you want highlights and knowledge cards, which are now on by default and may cost more

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, DeepSeek Search and Fetch API or You.com APIs?

You.com APIs scores 75.7 (BB) on agent readiness against DeepSeek Search and Fetch API's 53.2 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

### Which is cheaper for web search, DeepSeek Search and Fetch API or You.com APIs?

DeepSeek Search and Fetch API, at $0.75 per 1,000 requests against $5 per 1,000 requests for You.com APIs. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

### Do DeepSeek Search and Fetch API and You.com APIs need an API key?

DeepSeek Search and Fetch API needs an API key. You.com APIs takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call DeepSeek Search and Fetch API and You.com APIs without installing anything?

Yes. DeepSeek Search and Fetch API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.deepseek.com/v1/tools/search and You.com APIs at https://api.you.com/v1/search.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with DeepSeek Search and Fetch API or You.com APIs

- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-deepseek-search-api.md)
- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-deepseek-search-api.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs DeepSeek Search and Fetch API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-deepseek-search-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-exa-mcp.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Grep AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-grep-ai.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-kagi-search.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-linkup.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-parallel-search-api.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-searchapi-io.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serpapi.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serper.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serpkite.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-tinyfish-search.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-valyu.md)
- [Exa API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Firecrawl MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Linkup vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [SearchAPI.io vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [SerpApi vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Serper vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [SerpKite vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Tavily API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tavily-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [TinyFish Search vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tinyfish-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Valyu vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/valyu-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Fetch (MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-fetch-reference-server.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Grep AI vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-you-com-api.md)

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