Head to head · Web search · October 2026 research run

Mojeek Web Search API vs Perplexity Search API

Perplexity Search API scores 70.2 (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. Perplexity Search API is cheaper for web search, $1 against $2.68 per 1,000 requests.

Best web search APIs for AI agents · All 308 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

Perplexity Search API BB

Best for Agents on any model that need raw ranked sources with extracted text at a low per-request price, and teams that want cited answers from the same key through the Agent API.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 80 against 45
  • Schema & documentation, 89 against 29
  • Agent ergonomics, 85 against 66
  • Security & auth, 56 against 15
  • Payments & pricing, 25 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 82 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
  • Runs on your own machine

Watch for

The FAQ says uptime and recovery time are not guaranteed, and the terms carry no SLA

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 Perplexity Search API +72

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.

Perplexity Search API 82

Read as a closed service with official SDKs and an open-source MCP server. perplexityai 0.46.1 on PyPI on 23 October 2026 and the MCP server's last commit on 21 October, with changelog entries into November 2026 (30). In the 90 days from 8 August, perplexityai 0.43.7 to 0.46.1 (six releases from 2 October), MCP server 1.2.1 (27 August) and 1.3.0 (25 September, Fast Search on perplexity_search), and Fast Search itself in September (20). A changelog with several entries a month, a community forum with a bug-report category, a GitHub discussion repository and api@perplexity.ai. MCP issue reply times weren't read (10 of 15). The MCP server is in the official registry under the domain-verified ai.perplexity namespace, and the Python and TypeScript SDKs are current (15). The MCP repository runs tests in CI and validates its plugin manifests. Its 1.4.0, prepared on 16 October, is not on npm, which still serves 1.3.0, and the registry's latest entry is 1.2.1 of 27 August (7 of 10). 30 + 20 + 10 + 15 + 7 = 82.

Schema & documentation Perplexity Search API +60

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.

Perplexity Search API 89

OpenAPI 3.1.0 at docs.perplexity.ai/openapi.json describes POST /search with typed request and response schemas, listed in llms.txt (25). llms.txt indexes every page, each with a Markdown twin (10). The overview says what a result holds, that snippets can be empty, when to use the Search API instead of the Agent API, and that it takes queries not URLs and does not re-fetch pages (19 of 20). search_type is an enum, max_results, max_tokens and max_tokens_per_page carry minimum and maximum, country and language codes carry lengths, and query is a string or an array. The recency filter is an enum in the docs, and date filters are MM/DD/YYYY strings (14 of 15). Python, TypeScript and cURL examples with a recorded response. The spec documents only 200 and 422 for /search, and status codes are listed on the SDK error-handling page and the rate-limit page rather than for Search (11 of 15). A public changelog with several entries a month, dated by month only, and an unversioned /search path (10 of 15). 25 + 10 + 19 + 14 + 11 + 10 = 89.

Security & auth Perplexity Search API +41

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.

Perplexity Search API 56

Project API keys, shown once, revocable, and generated and revoked through two documented endpoints with a rotation guide. No per-key scopes or spending limits were found. The hosted MCP server also takes Sign in with Perplexity (OAuth). Keys go in the Authorization header only (22 of 30, as on the Decisions API listing). Search only reads, and MCP clients can disable tools, but any key reaches every API on the account, including the Agent API's sandbox and MCP tools (8 of 20). Snippets are third-party page text, and no guidance on treating them as untrusted was found in the docs, the MCP server or its SECURITY.md (0 of 15). Responses carry a request id, and the console shows usage by key. The Audit API covers enterprise organisations' web app events with its own keys, not API calls (8 of 15). security.txt valid until 31 December 2027 linking a security page, a SOC 2 Type II report, a 2025 HIPAA gap assessment and a CAIQlite listed on the trust centre, and a SECURITY.md on the MCP server that takes private reports through GitHub advisories or security@perplexity.ai. The trust centre is drawn by script and wasn't read (18 of 20). 22 + 8 + 0 + 8 + 18 = 56.

Reliability Perplexity Search API +35

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.

Perplexity Search API 80

Graded on the hosted lines, for POST /search and the hosted MCP server. status.perplexity.com, on incident.io since 10 September 2026, has an API component with an RSS feed and a JSON summary. There is no separate Search component (20). In the 90 days from 8 August the feed lists 'Investigating API issue' on 13 August, resolved with no detail, a usage-based billing issue on 3 September, and on 9 October elevated errors on the website, app and Computer, where the API 'remained operational throughout'. Minor only, with the caveat that history before the migration may be incomplete (20). The Search API is limited to 50 query units a second with a burst of 50 on every tier, and the other APIs publish QPS and token limits per tier (15). 429 carries Retry-After and an error.type, the SDKs retry 429 and 5xx twice honouring Retry-After, the Search best-practices page shows backoff, and failed or rate-limited searches are not billed. Searches have no side effects (15). The FAQ says Perplexity does not guarantee uptime, failure frequency or recovery time, and the terms carry no SLA (0). No beta label on the Search API, launched on 25 September 2025 (10). 20 + 20 + 15 + 15 + 0 + 10 = 80.

Agent ergonomics Perplexity Search API +19

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.

Perplexity Search API 85

max_results 1 to 20, max_tokens and max_tokens_per_page cap the extracted text, and results are title, url, snippet and two dates. The MCP server has four tools (23 of 25). Domain, language, recency, publication and update date filters and country, with up to five queries in one request. No pagination or offset (16 of 20). 429 bodies name the limit hit, the SDKs map status codes to typed errors, and 402 marks an empty balance. Search-specific error bodies beyond 422 validation are not documented (13 of 20). Searches only read, failed and rate-limited requests are not billed, and the MCP server sets readOnlyHint true, destructiveHint false and idempotentHint false on every tool (18 of 20). Only query is required. Official Python and TypeScript SDKs, a CLI and a Python Search SDK (15). 23 + 16 + 13 + 18 + 15 = 85.

Payments & pricing Perplexity Search API +5

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.

Perplexity Search API 25

No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, pricing page, OpenAPI or llms.txt (0). $5 per 1,000 successful requests, $1 with Fast Search, published without a login, with failed and rate-limited requests not billed (20). Usage is prepaid with a card on the billing page, and no free allowance was found. The console playground needs no key but is a page for a person, not an API allowance (0). A person signs up in the console. The Stripe Projects route provisions a project, key and credits from a terminal, but needs a person's Stripe account with a payment method and a $10 minimum purchase (5 of 20, as on the Decisions API listing). 0 + 20 + 0 + 5 = 25.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runMojeek Web Search APIPerplexity Search APIEdge
Reliability16%204580Perplexity Search API +35
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.22989Perplexity Search API +60
Agent ergonomics13%16.26685Perplexity Search API +19
Security & auth14%17.51556Perplexity Search API +41
Payments & pricing10%12.52025Perplexity Search API +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.81082Perplexity Search API +72
Transparency & trust7%8.86866Mojeek Web Search API +2
Negative events≤1500
TotalF 36.4/100BB 70.2/100

Facts side by side

FactMojeek Web Search APIPerplexity Search API
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorMojeek LimitedPerplexity
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp
TransportsStreamable HTTP, stdio
AuthAPI keyOAuth or key
PricingPay per usePay per use
Price for web search$2.68 per 1,000 requests$1 per 1,000 requests
x402nono
LicencenoneProprietary service under the Perplexity API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the official SDKs Apache-2.0
Tools exposed04
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registrynot listedai.perplexity/mcp-server
Last releasenone2026-10-23
Terms last updatedno date givencouldn't be read
Privacy policy last updated2022-02-02couldn't be read
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textcouldn't be read
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textcouldn't be read
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textcouldn't be read
Terms or service can change without noticeyescouldn't be read
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textcouldn't be read

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.

Perplexity Search API

Raw ranked results with token-capped page text from Perplexity's own index, $5 per 1,000 requests or $1 with Fast Search, an OpenAPI description and a hosted MCP server with read-only annotations. Uptime is not guaranteed, there is no free allowance, keys carry no scopes, and no guidance on untrusted page text was found.

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

Perplexity Search API

  1. Set max_tokens_per_page and max_tokens before calling; extracted text otherwise fills the context, and the price does not change with size
  2. Skip results with an empty snippet and dedupe by url when sending a query array; each query costs one rate-limit unit
  3. Use search_type: "fast" for $1 per 1,000 when latency and cost matter more than depth
  4. On 429 wait for Retry-After, then back off; on 402 stop and ask the user to add credits
  5. Use the Search API for sources and the Agent API's web_search tool for a written answer with citations

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Mojeek Web Search API or Perplexity Search API?

Perplexity Search API scores 70.2 (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 Perplexity Search API?

Perplexity Search API, 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 Perplexity Search API need an API key?

Mojeek Web Search API needs an API key. Perplexity Search API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Mojeek Web Search API and Perplexity Search API without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Mojeek Web Search API. Perplexity Search API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp.

Other comparisons with Mojeek Web Search API or Perplexity Search API

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