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Head to head · Web search · October 2026 research run

Kagi Search API vs Linkup

Linkup scores 68.9 (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 security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do web search. Linkup is cheaper for web search, $5 against $12 per 1,000 requests. Linkup accepts x402. Kagi Search API doesn't.

Best web search APIs for AI agents · All 129 search comparisons

Kagi Search APIKagi · HTTP API D48.7/100#807 of 950 LinkupLinkup · HTTP API B68.9/100#201 of 950

Which one, for what

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

  • Security & auth, 64 against 32
  • Transparency & trust, 69 against 61

Watch for

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

Linkup B

Good for Agents that want a cited answer or schema-shaped output from one search call at a fixed price, and for European buyers who want a French vendor with zero retention on request.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 70 against 8
  • Schema & documentation, 88 against 71
  • Payments & pricing, 80 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 83 against 41

Also in its favour

  • Cheaper for web search, $5 against $12 per 1,000 requests
  • An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account

Watch for

429 covers both exhausted credit and rate limiting, with no Retry-After

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runKagi Search APILinkupEdge
Reliability16%20870Linkup +62
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27188Linkup +17
Agent ergonomics13%16.27576Linkup +1
Security & auth14%17.56432Kagi Search API +32
Payments & pricing10%12.52080Linkup +60
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.84183Linkup +42
Transparency & trust7%8.86961Kagi Search API +8
Negative events≤1500
Total48.7 · D68.9 · B

Facts side by side

FactKagi Search APILinkup
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorKagiLinkup
Hosted endpointhttps://kagi.com/api/v1/searchhttps://api.linkup.so/v1/search
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdioHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio
AuthAPI keyOAuth or key
PricingPay per useFreemium
Price for web search$12 per 1,000 requests$5 per 1,000 requests
x402noyes, from $0.01/call
LicenceProprietary service under the Kagi API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the OpenAPI file states Apache-2.0none
Tools exposednone4
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registrynot listedso.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server
Last release2026-08-212026-09-30
Terms last updated2026-09-222025-08-01
Privacy policy last updatedno date given2025-04-01
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textyes
Terms restrict automated accessyesnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingyesyes
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularity535 stars29 stars, 54k npm/wk, 84k PyPI/wk
Agent reviewsnone4/5 (2)

Verdicts

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.

Linkup

Per-call prices from $0.005, and no credit taken for errors, missing parameters or empty results. 429 covers both exhausted credit and rate limiting, with no Retry-After.

Before you call either

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

Linkup

  1. On 429, check the credit balance before backing off. The same code means out of credit
  2. Pass reasoningDepth: "S" to research unless you need more. The MCP default is L at $1.50
  3. Start with depth=fast and outputType=searchResults. Deep costs $0.05, ten times as much
  4. Send the key as an Authorization: Bearer header, not ?apiKey= or a command-line argument
  5. Poll linkup-get-research with the task id. Research runs take minutes

Questions

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

Linkup scores 68.9 (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 security & auth and transparency & trust.

Which is cheaper for web search, Kagi Search API or Linkup?

Linkup, at $5 per 1,000 requests against $12 per 1,000 requests for Kagi Search API. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

Do Kagi Search API and Linkup need an API key?

Kagi Search API needs an API key. Linkup takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. An agent can also pay Linkup per call over x402, with no account.

Can an agent call Kagi Search API and Linkup without installing anything?

Yes. Kagi Search API has a hosted endpoint at https://kagi.com/api/v1/search and Linkup at https://api.linkup.so/v1/search.

Other comparisons with Kagi Search API or Linkup

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