Head to head · Web search · October 2026 research run
Linkup vs Mojeek Web Search API
Linkup scores 68 (B) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Mojeek Web Search API leads on transparency & trust. Both do web search. Mojeek Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $2.68 against $5 per 1,000 requests. Linkup accepts x402. Mojeek Web Search API doesn't.
Best web search APIs for AI agents · All 308 search comparisons
Which one, for what
Linkup B
Best 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 45
- Schema & documentation, 88 against 29
- Agent ergonomics, 76 against 66
- Security & auth, 32 against 15
- Payments & pricing, 80 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 73 against 10
Also in its favour
- An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Runs on your own machine
Watch for
429 covers both exhausted credit and rate limiting, with no Retry-After
Best for Agents and products that want a second, independent index beside Google-derived results, or European data handling with no sub-processors.
Ahead on
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 61
Also in its favour
- Cheaper for web search, $2.68 against $5 per 1,000 requests
Watch for
The API key is documented only as a URL query parameter, and rotating a key means emailing the API team
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Maintenance & community Linkup +63
Linkup 73
The newest release that changes code is 30 September 2026, Python linkup-sdk 0.23.1 (request deadline errors) and JavaScript linkup-sdk 3.7.1, 32 days before this check (20). Python 0.24.0 of 22 October drops Python 3.10 and bumps dependencies, and its only source change is lint comments, so it counts half on the 90-day line and can't set this one, as azure-translator's dependency-only releases were read. Python 0.19.1 to 0.23.1, JavaScript 3.4.0 to 3.7.1 and MCP server 3.4.0 fall in the 90 days to 1 November (20). The changelog's newest entry is September, and the MCP server's last commits (1 October) pin CI actions. We didn't read the GitHub issues (10). Registered as so.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server in the official MCP registry, and current Python and JavaScript SDKs (15). The MCP server's CI lints and builds but runs no tests. Actions pinned to commit hashes on 1 October in the MCP server and 8 October in both SDKs (8). 20+20+10+15+8 = 73.
Mojeek Web Search API 10
Read for a closed service. No API changelog, release notes or dated API change were found, and the blog's posts since 2024 are about search in general, so the last change can't be dated (0). No dated changes in the 90 days from 8 August (0). A staff member answered API questions on the community forum within a day in December 2025 and October 2026, and support is by email; no public changelog (10 of 15). No official SDKs or MCP server (0). No public packages or CI to measure (0). 0 + 0 + 10 + 0 + 0 = 10.
Payments & pricing Linkup +60
Linkup 80
x402 on Linkup's own /v1/search and /v1/fetch at a flat $0.01 in USDC on Base, not on research or extract, so partial (30). Per-call prices published without login (20). $20 of credit topped up monthly for work-email signups. The docs don't say whether a card is needed, so half credit (10). An agent can pay by x402 with no account (20).
Mojeek Web Search API 20
No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-request prices published without login, £2 and £3 per 1,000 requests (20). The FAQ says a free credit comes with the Startup plan, but a bank card is required to open an account (0). A person signs up in a browser and adds a card (0). 0 + 20 + 0 + 0 = 20.
Schema & documentation Linkup +59
Linkup 88
OpenAPI at api.linkup.so/v1/openapi.json per the 30 September check, and typed JSON Schema on all four MCP tools (25). llms.txt and Markdown pages (10). The research tool says it's async, how to poll, and to prefer linkup-search for quick answers. The search tool lists what to use it for but not when not to (17). Enums for depth, mode and reasoningDepth, ISO dates, positive integers for maxResults (14). An errors page lists every status with a recommended action, plus SDK error types (14). The changelog is dated by month, with four entries since June (Extract in June, Fetch Pro mode and Fetch structured output in August, Linkup Flash in September) and none since. Versioning is the /v1 path only (8).
Mojeek Web Search API 29
No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract (0). No llms.txt (404) and no Markdown pages for agents (0). The parameters page states what each parameter does, with notes on when not to use reg and clufmt, but nothing on when another endpoint fits better (12 of 20). Every parameter has a type, defaults and valid ranges (tlen 0 to 127, dlen 0 to 511, rbb and lbb 1 to 100, up to 25 domains), though reg is called an enum without listing its values (11 of 15). One curl example and annotated JSON and XML response formats; errors appear only as a status string with one example (6 of 15). No API version, changelog or dated release notes, and the quickstart and the parameters page give different hosts (0). 0 + 0 + 12 + 11 + 6 + 0 = 29.
Reliability Linkup +25
Linkup 70
openstatus page at status.linkup.so with Search API, Fetch API, MCP Server and Application components (20). Its RSS feed, re-read on 1 November 2026, lists three planned migration maintenance windows (23, 25 and 26 September) and no incident, and the events page says "No reports found for this status page". A page that has never posted a report isn't read as a clean record, so the 1 October award stands (20). 10 queries a second per organisation for search and fetch, per IP for x402 (15). 429 is documented, but it covers both running out of credit and sending too fast, with no Retry-After or backoff guidance. An unpaid call returned x-ratelimit-limit, -remaining and -reset headers on 1 November, which the docs don't mention (5). No SLA found (0). Search and fetch are GA. Extract is closed beta and isn't the core surface (10).
Mojeek Web Search API 45
Read with the hosted lines. status.mojeek.com is a Site24x7 StatusIQ page with Search, Website, Blog and Community components. It is drawn by script, so only its RSS feed could be read, which shows each component's current state (Search operational since 7 September 2026) and no incident entries (15 of 20). No readable incident history (5). Rate limits are published per plan, 5 a second and 100,000 a day on Startup, 10 a second and 400,000 a day on Business (15). Over the daily limit the JSON status reads 'ERROR: Daily Limit Reached'; no HTTP 429, Retry-After or backoff guidance was found (0). No SLA, and the API terms say the service is provided as is and may be interrupted without notice (0). Generally available, with only the lr parameter marked beta (10). 15 + 5 + 15 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 45.
Security & auth Linkup +17
Linkup 32
One Bearer key per organisation. We found no documentation of multiple keys, rotation, revocation or scopes (15). The MCP README documents ?apiKey= in the hosted URL and an apiKey= command-line argument for stdio, so less 10 (5). Every action is a read, but the MCP server has no tool subsets (15). Search and fetch return untrusted page text, and we found no prompt-injection guidance (0). No per-call audit log found (0). SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA and annual pen tests are claimed on the security page. No security.txt, no bug bounty, and contact@linkup.so is the only security contact (12).
Mojeek Web Search API 15
One key per account, documented only as the api_key query parameter, and rotation or revocation is by email to the API team (a staff reply of 22 October 2026 on the community forum asks for the key's last 8 digits). One all-powerful key (10) less 10 for the key in the URL (0). Search is read-only and there is nothing to write, but no scoped or restricted key (10 of 20). Results are third-party titles and snippets, with no prompt-injection guidance found (0). No audit log or per-call usage view was found in the docs; the FAQ mentions budget alerts on the account (0 of 15). security.txt names security@mojeek.com, with no Expires field. No bug bounty, disclosure policy, SOC 2 or ISO 27001 found; the API page claims compliance with European rules such as the EU Data Act without a certification (5 of 20). 0 + 10 + 0 + 0 + 5 = 15.
Agent ergonomics Linkup +10
Linkup 76
Four tools, search, fetch, research and research polling, compact. Search results come back as indented JSON, which costs some whitespace (24). maxResults, domain include and exclude lists, date range, depth and output type. No result pagination (18). Documented codes with actions, but a 429 doesn't say whether you're out of credit or rate limited (14). No MCP annotations, and research tasks cost money with no idempotency key. Searches are safe to repeat (5). Only query is required and depth defaults to fast. Python and JavaScript SDKs (15).
Mojeek Web Search API 66
Responses can be sized with t (up to 10, 40 or 100 results by plan), tlen, dlen and opt-in date and size fields (22 of 25). s for paging, since and before, site, included and excluded domains, region and language boosting and safe search (20). Errors are a free-text status with no documented codes, which an agent can't branch on reliably (5 of 20). Searches only read, so a retry is safe, but no page says whether failed or empty requests are billed (12 of 20). Only q and api_key are required, with recommended values for the boosts. No official SDK in any language (7 of 15). 22 + 20 + 5 + 12 + 7 = 66.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Linkup | Mojeek Web Search API | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 70 | 45 | Linkup +25 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 88 | 29 | Linkup +59 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 76 | 66 | Linkup +10 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 32 | 15 | Linkup +17 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 80 | 20 | Linkup +60 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 73 | 10 | Linkup +63 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 61 | 68 | Mojeek Web Search API +7 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | B 68/100 | F 36.4/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Linkup | Mojeek Web Search API |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Linkup | Mojeek Limited |
| Hosted endpoint | https://api.linkup.so/v1/search | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| Price for web search | $5 per 1,000 requests | $2.68 per 1,000 requests |
| x402 | yes, from $0.01/call | no |
| Tools exposed | 4 | 0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | so.linkup.mcp/linkup-mcp-server | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | none |
| Terms last updated | 2025-08-01 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-04-01 | 2022-02-02 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 29 stars, 54k npm/wk, 84k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | none |
How the scores have moved
Mojeek Web Search API
No score change since it was listed.
Verdicts
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.
Mojeek Web Search API
Mojeek sells search over its own independent index at published per-request prices, with region, language, date and domain controls and storage rights on the Business plan. The key travels only in the URL, rotation is by email, a card is needed to start, and there is no OpenAPI, changelog, 429 handling or SLA.
Before you call either
Linkup
- On 429, check the credit balance before backing off. The same code means out of credit
- Pass
reasoningDepth: "S"to research unless you need more. The MCP default is L at $1.50 - Start with
depth=fastandoutputType=searchResults. Deep costs $0.05, ten times as much - Send the key as an
Authorization: Bearerheader, not?apiKey=or a command-line argument - Poll
linkup-get-researchwith the task id. Research runs take minutes
Mojeek Web Search API
- Send
fmt=json, since the default response is XML - Read
response.statuson every call; a daily limit shows as 'ERROR: Daily Limit Reached' rather than an HTTP error - Set
lb,lbb,rbandrbbas the quickstart recommends, or results lean to no language or region - Keep the key out of logs and shared URLs, since it travels in the query string
- On the Startup plan, don't keep results for more than an hour
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Linkup or Mojeek Web Search API?
Linkup scores 68 (B) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Mojeek Web Search API leads on transparency & trust.
Which is cheaper for web search, Linkup or Mojeek Web Search API?
Mojeek Web Search API, at $2.68 per 1,000 requests against $5 per 1,000 requests for Linkup. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.
Do Linkup and Mojeek Web Search API need an API key?
Linkup takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Mojeek Web Search API needs an API key. An agent can also pay Linkup per call over x402, with no account.
Can an agent call Linkup and Mojeek Web Search API without installing anything?
Linkup has a hosted endpoint at https://api.linkup.so/v1/search. No hosted endpoint is listed for Mojeek Web Search API.
Other comparisons with Linkup or Mojeek Web Search API
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- Arcmira vs Mojeek Web Search API
- Grounding with Bing Search vs Linkup
- Grounding with Bing Search vs Mojeek Web Search API
- Brave Search API + MCP vs Linkup
- Brave Search API + MCP vs Mojeek Web Search API
- Cloudflare Web Search API vs Linkup
- Cloudflare Web Search API vs Mojeek Web Search API
- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Linkup
- DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Mojeek Web Search API
- Exa API + MCP vs Linkup
- Exa API + MCP vs Mojeek Web Search API
- Firecrawl MCP vs Linkup
- Firecrawl MCP vs Mojeek Web Search API
- Grep AI vs Mojeek Web Search API
- Kagi Search API vs Linkup
- Kagi Search API vs Mojeek Web Search API
- Linkup vs NewsCatcher
- Linkup vs Parallel Search and Task APIs
- Linkup vs Perplexity Search API
- Linkup vs SearchAPI.io
- Linkup vs SerpApi
- Linkup vs Serper
- Linkup vs SERPHouse
- Linkup vs SerpKite
- Linkup vs SpecStream
- Linkup vs Tavily API + MCP
- Linkup vs TinyFish Search
- Linkup vs Valyu
- Linkup vs You.com APIs
- Mojeek Web Search API vs NewsCatcher
- Mojeek Web Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs
- Mojeek Web Search API vs Perplexity Search API
- Mojeek Web Search API vs SearchAPI.io
- Mojeek Web Search API vs SerpApi
- Mojeek Web Search API vs Serper
- Mojeek Web Search API vs SERPHouse
- Mojeek Web Search API vs SerpKite
- Mojeek Web Search API vs SpecStream
- Mojeek Web Search API vs Tavily API + MCP
- Mojeek Web Search API vs TinyFish Search
- Mojeek Web Search API vs Valyu
- Mojeek Web Search API vs You.com APIs
- Arcmira vs Linkup
- Grep AI vs Linkup
- Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Linkup
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/linkup-vs-mojeek.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/linkup.json·/api/v1/tools/mojeek.json - From a terminal
anchor compare linkup mojeek(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "linkup", "b": "mojeek"}at/mcp, no key