Head to head · Web search · October 2026 research run

Mojeek Web Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs

Parallel Search and Task APIs scores 75 (BB) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do web search. Parallel Search and Task APIs is cheaper for web search, $1 against $2.68 per 1,000 requests.

Best web search APIs for AI agents · All 326 search comparisons

Which one, for what

Mojeek Web Search API F

Best for Agents and products that want a second, independent index beside Google-derived results, or European data handling with no sub-processors.

No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.

Watch for

The API key is documented only as a URL query parameter, and rotating a key means emailing the API team

Parallel Search and Task APIs BB

Best for Agents that mix quick search with long research or enrichment jobs and want one vendor and one bill.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 75 against 45
  • Schema & documentation, 94 against 29
  • Agent ergonomics, 87 against 66
  • Security & auth, 45 against 15
  • Payments & pricing, 75 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 87 against 10

Also in its favour

  • Cheaper for web search, $1 against $2.68 per 1,000 requests
  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for

Search defaults to advanced mode at $5 per 1,000 when mode is left out

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 Parallel Search and Task APIs +77

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.

Parallel Search and Task APIs 87

parallel-web 1.3.7 for Python on 2026-10-23 and for TypeScript on 2026-10-28, and changelog entries on 19 and 26 October, the second launching the Decisions API (30). Counted from the tags and the changelog, the 90 days from 3 August hold Python SDK releases 1.3.1 to 1.3.7, TypeScript 1.3.1 to 1.3.7 and ten changelog entries from 19 August to 26 October (20). The SDK releases since 1.3.5 are dependency bumps. Closed service with a changelog and support@parallel.ai. We didn't test whether support answers (12). Current Python and TypeScript SDKs, and ai.parallel/search-mcp and ai.parallel/task-mcp in the official registry (15). The Python SDK runs lint and build in CI on push, plus a workflow that detects breaking changes (10).

Schema & documentation Parallel Search and Task APIs +65

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.

Parallel Search and Task APIs 94

Public OpenAPI at docs.parallel.ai/public-openapi.json, linked from llms.txt (25). llms.txt and Markdown pages (10). A live tools/list on search.parallel.ai/mcp on 17 October and again on 1 November returned the two definitions, and the newer Parallel MCP server at mcp.parallel.ai adds web_decisions, whose description says when to use web_search instead. web_search states its purpose and ideal uses, and web_fetch says to use it "only when web_search excerpts are insufficient". The docs add that domain filters are hard filters that can cut quality. web_search has no when-not-to line of its own (17). Typed JSON Schema inputs with required fields and an output schema on both tools, mode is an enum in the API, and Task output schemas are JSON Schema. The MCP inputs carry no enums (12). The errors page lists each code with whether to retry and what to do, and 422s carry a structured detail (15). A dated changelog, newest entry 26 October 2026 (Decisions API) after 19 October (EU data residency), and beta headers retire on dated entries (15).

Payments & pricing Parallel Search and Task APIs +55

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.

Parallel Search and Task APIs 75

Parallel runs a separate gateway at parallelmpp.dev that takes x402 (USDC on Base) and MPP (Stripe or Tempo) for search and extract at $0.01 and an ultra task at $0.30. Our unpaid POST to /api/search on 6 October returned 402 with an x402 v2 challenge for 10000 base units on eip155:8453 and a Tempo MPP challenge. Nothing on api.parallel.ai, and the gateway sells one price per endpoint with no mode choice, so partial (25). Per-unit prices published without login (20). Up to 5,000 free requests a month, $5 monthly credit and up to $80 at signup on the pricing page, which still doesn't say whether a card is needed (10). The hosted Search MCP works with no key, and the gateway needs only a wallet (20).

Reliability Parallel Search and Task APIs +30

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.

Parallel Search and Task APIs 75

incident.io page at status.parallel.ai with Search, Task, Chat, Monitor, FindAll and Entity Search components and history (20). The feed, re-read on 1 November, has nothing after 13 October, so the 90 days from 3 August hold the same four incidents, all partial or degraded. Elevated 503s on 6 August, about an hour of Task API latency on 2 September, intermittent 4xx errors on 7 September, and transient 502s from the network gateway on 13 October, degraded performance from 01:23 to 01:43 UTC. Most have no duration listed (20). Published limits, 600 a minute for Search, Image Search, Extract, Decisions and Entity Search, 2,000 for Tasks, 300 for Chat and Monitor (15). The errors page marks 429 as retryable with exponential backoff, but there's no Retry-After and no idempotency guidance for creating Task runs, which the SDKs retry twice by default (10). No SLA found (0). Search, Extract and Task are GA (10).

Security & auth Parallel Search and Task APIs +30

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.

Parallel Search and Task APIs 45

API key in x-api-key. The Search MCP takes a Bearer key or OAuth at /mcp-oauth. We found no key scopes (20). Every Search and Extract action is a read, and Task tools live in a separate MCP server, so the search server is a read-only subset (15). Excerpts and fetched pages are untrusted web text, and the docs index has no prompt-injection guidance (0). No audit log found (0). The privacy policy shows a SOC 2 badge and links trust.parallel.ai, which rendered only its title to our reader on 6 October. security.txt is 404 on parallel.ai and docs.parallel.ai, and no bug bounty found (10).

Agent ergonomics Parallel Search and Task APIs +21

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.

Parallel Search and Task APIs 87

The Search MCP has two tools, about 5,700 characters of names, descriptions and input schemas on 1 November, and the Parallel MCP server lists three without a key (about 9,700 characters) and a fourth, web_research, after sign-in. web_fetch returns excerpts unless full_content is set, and the docs cap excerpts at roughly 25,000 characters a call and warn full pages can run to tens of thousands of tokens (25). Result counts, excerpt settings and source policies for domains and paths (18). The errors table gives each code a retry column and a resolution, with troubleshooting for 402 and 429 and a structured detail on 422 (20). Both Search MCP tools carry readOnlyHint true, destructiveHint false and idempotentHint true in the live tools/list, and searches are safe to repeat. There's still no idempotency key for Task creation, the SDKs retry creates on 429 and 5xx, and the Task MCP needs a key, so its annotations weren't read (14). Python and TypeScript SDKs, but mode defaults to advanced, the $5 per 1,000 tier, when you leave it out (10).

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runMojeek Web Search APIParallel Search and Task APIsEdge
Reliability16%204575Parallel Search and Task APIs +30
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.22994Parallel Search and Task APIs +65
Agent ergonomics13%16.26687Parallel Search and Task APIs +21
Security & auth14%17.51545Parallel Search and Task APIs +30
Payments & pricing10%12.52075Parallel Search and Task APIs +55
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.81087Parallel Search and Task APIs +77
Transparency & trust7%8.86865Mojeek Web Search API +3
Negative events≤1500
TotalF 36.4/100BB 75/100

Facts side by side

FactMojeek Web Search APIParallel Search and Task APIs
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorMojeek LimitedParallel Web Systems
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.parallel.ai/v1/search
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthAPI keyOAuth or key
PricingPay per useFreemium
Price for web search$2.68 per 1,000 requests$1 per 1,000 requests
x402nopayer tooling only
Tools exposed06
Read-only variant documentednoyes
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registrynot listedai.parallel/search-mcp
Last releasenone2026-10-28
Terms last updatedno date given2026-10-17
Privacy policy last updated2022-02-022026-08-11
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textyes
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticeyesnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularitynone28 stars, 250k npm/wk, 994k PyPI/wk
Agent reviewsnone3.6/5 (8)

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

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.

Parallel Search and Task APIs

Fast-mode search at $1 per 1,000 with 10 excerpted results, and a keyless two-tool Search MCP annotated read-only. Search defaults to advanced mode at $5 per 1,000 when mode is left out, and the Customer Terms allow training on inputs and outputs.

Before you call either

Mojeek Web Search API

  1. Send fmt=json, since the default response is XML
  2. Read response.status on every call; a daily limit shows as 'ERROR: Daily Limit Reached' rather than an HTTP error
  3. Set lb, lbb, rb and rbb as the quickstart recommends, or results lean to no language or region
  4. Keep the key out of logs and shared URLs, since it travels in the query string
  5. On the Startup plan, don't keep results for more than an hour

Parallel Search and Task APIs

  1. Pass mode: "fast" on every API search. Without it you pay the advanced rate. On an authenticated MCP connection, pin it with ?mode=fast
  2. Create Task runs with max_retries=0 and check for an existing run before retrying
  3. Give an objective plus two or three short search_queries. That's what ranks the excerpts
  4. On 402, check available balance rather than total. Running tasks reserve credit
  5. Ask for zero data retention or use the EU endpoint before sending private queries. The default terms allow training on them
  6. On Decisions, check each answer's type before reading it. A refusal is a 200, not an error, and a predicate is a probability you threshold yourself

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Mojeek Web Search API or Parallel Search and Task APIs?

Parallel Search and Task APIs scores 75 (BB) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

Which is cheaper for web search, Mojeek Web Search API or Parallel Search and Task APIs?

Parallel Search and Task APIs, at $1 per 1,000 requests against $2.68 per 1,000 requests for Mojeek Web Search API. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

Do Mojeek Web Search API and Parallel Search and Task APIs need an API key?

Mojeek Web Search API needs an API key. Parallel Search and Task APIs takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Mojeek Web Search API and Parallel Search and Task APIs without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Mojeek Web Search API. Parallel Search and Task APIs has a hosted endpoint at https://api.parallel.ai/v1/search.

Other comparisons with Mojeek Web Search API or Parallel Search and Task APIs

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