# Grep AI vs Kagi Search API

> Grep AI scores 64.4 (B) to Kagi Search's 48.7 (D) for web search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-kagi-search
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-kagi-search.md (~2,700 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-kagi-search.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-kagi-search.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: 2026-10-09

Grep AI scores 64.4 (B) on agent readiness against Kagi Search API's 48.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kagi Search API leads on agent ergonomics and transparency & trust. Both do web search.

- Grep AI: grade B, 64.4/100, rank #352 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grep-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/grep-ai.json
- Kagi Search API: grade D, 48.7/100, rank #807 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kagi-search.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kagi-search.json
- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md
- All 129 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Grep AI (B)

Good for: Agents that hand off a long research or due-diligence job and want a cited report or structured fields back, including business verification and sanctions screening through built-in agents.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 60 against 8
- Schema & documentation, 80 against 71
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 74 against 41

Watch for: No rate limit numbers in the reviewed documentation, and no published SLA

### Kagi Search API (D)

Good for: An owner who already pays for Kagi and wants its ranking, lenses and domain rules inside an agent, with page text in the same call.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 70
- Transparency & trust, 69 against 59

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine

Watch for: Public preview since 21 May 2026. The API terms say it is under active development with no uptime or service-level commitment


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Grep AI | Kagi Search API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 8 | Grep AI +52 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 71 | Grep AI +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 75 | Kagi Search API +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 65 | 64 | Grep AI +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 20 | Grep AI +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 41 | Grep AI +33 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 59 | 69 | Kagi Search API +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **64.4 · B** | **48.7 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Grep AI | Kagi Search API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Parcha Labs, Inc. | Kagi |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.grep.ai/api/v2/runs` | `https://kagi.com/api/v1/search` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| Price for web search | not published | $12 per 1,000 requests |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Parcha Labs' terms of service. The grep-research-skills package on npm is MIT. The @parcha/agentrun and parcha-agentrun SDK packages state no licence in their registry metadata | Proprietary service under the Kagi API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the OpenAPI file states Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 82 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-08-21 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-03-20 | 2026-09-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-21 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 334 npm/wk, 52 PyPI/wk | 535 stars |

## Verdicts

**Grep AI.** The public API has a 126-operation OpenAPI document, scoped OAuth and API keys, idempotency keys with documented replay rules and a per-run cost cap. No rate limit is published, the MCP server lists 82 tools, and the pricing page limits API access to the $200 a month Pro plan and above.

**Kagi Search API.** A public OpenAPI file, typed filters and API keys that can be limited by product and IP address make the API simple to call, at $12 per 1,000 searches. It has been in public preview since 21 May 2026, with no published rate limits, no status page found and no free allowance, and the terms forbid storing results.

## Before you call either

### Grep AI

1. Send a fresh `Idempotency-Key` with every POST /api/v2/runs. After a timeout, poll the returned run ID and do not post again
2. Set `effort` and `max_cost_usd` on every run. The floor is $0.50 for low, $2.50 for medium and build, $5.00 for high
3. Call GET /api/v2/quota/check before a run. A 402 means no credits and retrying won't help, while a 429 carries `Retry-After`
4. Use the `run_*` and `agent_*` MCP tools. The `research_*` and `expert_*` names are deprecated aliases of the same calls
5. Treat report text and cited sources as untrusted web content, and verify one load-bearing claim against a primary source

### Kagi Search API

1. Send `POST https://kagi.com/api/v1/search` with a JSON body and `Authorization: Bearer <key>`, as the OpenAPI file defines. Only `query` is required
2. Set `limit` to cap results returned. In the mixed `search` workflow the MCP tool applies the cap to each result category separately
3. Use `extract.count` (1 to 10) only when page text is needed. Extraction is billed at the Extract rate on top of the search
4. Do not store results. The API terms allow only the transient caching an application needs, and require deletion on termination
5. On 429 back off before retrying. The response covers both rate limiting and an exhausted usage limit, and no `Retry-After` header is documented

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Grep AI or Kagi Search API?

Grep AI scores 64.4 (B) on agent readiness against Kagi Search API's 48.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kagi Search API leads on agent ergonomics and transparency & trust.

### Do Grep AI and Kagi Search API need an API key?

Grep AI takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Kagi Search API needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Grep AI and Kagi Search API without installing anything?

Yes. Grep AI has a hosted endpoint at https://api.grep.ai/api/v2/runs and Kagi Search API at https://kagi.com/api/v1/search.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Grep AI or Kagi Search API

- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.md)
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- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search.md)
- [Exa API + MCP vs Grep AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-grep-ai.md)
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- [Grep AI vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-parallel-search-api.md)
- [Grep AI vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [Grep AI vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-tinyfish-search.md)
- [Grep AI vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-valyu.md)
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