# NewsCatcher vs SearchAPI.io (slim)

> NewsCatcher scores 67.5 (B) to SearchAPI.io's 50.1 (D) for search news. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-searchapi-io.md (~5,650 tokens) · this version ~3,280 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-searchapi-io.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-searchapi-io
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

NewsCatcher scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against SearchAPI.io's 50.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. SearchAPI.io leads on reliability. Both do search news.

- NewsCatcher: B 67.5, rank #322 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/newscatcher.min.md
- SearchAPI.io: D 50.1, rank #1075 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/searchapi-io.min.md
- NewsCatcher, good for Agents that need current news across languages, grouped into stories, or tables of events and company news on a schedule. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 94 against 59; Agent ergonomics, 84 against 52; Security & auth, 45 against 28; Maintenance & community, 76 against 0; Transparency & trust, 79 against 62.
- SearchAPI.io, good for Agents that need parsed results from many engines, especially shopping, ads, travel and social sources, at a low price per search. Ahead on Reliability, 90 against 67. Also Free to start without a card.

| Category | NewsCatcher | SearchAPI.io |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 67 | 90 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 94 | 59 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 84 | 52 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 45 | 28 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 30 | 30 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 76 | 0 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 79 | 62 |

| Fact (where they differ) | NewsCatcher | SearchAPI.io |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | NewsCatcher, Inc. | SearchApi |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.newscatcherapi.com/mcp` | `https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Price for search news | $1 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| Tools exposed | 15 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.searchapi/mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-11-06 | none |
| Terms last updated | 2026-11-02 | 2026-04-11 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-11-02 | 2026-04-11 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (2) |

Why the edge:
- Maintenance & community, NewsCatcher +76: NewsCatcher 76 (Read for a closed service, with the MCP repository read as code. News API 1.1.0 and Agent 1.5.0 on 4 November 2026, MCP server 0.1.0 on 6 November and v3 News API 3.25.0 on 6 November (30). In the 90 days from 8 August, the 30 October launch, News API 1.1.0, Agent 1.5.0, MCP 0.1.0 and v3 releases 3.19.0 to 3.25.0 (20). Public dated changelogs, support by email and Pylon, and a security policy with a 3-business-day target. The MCP repository is a day old, so there are no issues to judge (10 of 15). The CatchAll MCP server is in the official registry under the verified namespace com.newscatcherapi, but the new server isn't, and no official SDK for the current API was found; the Enterprise APIs list libraries (8 of 15). The MCP repository runs its test suite in CI with a read-only token; pass state not read (8 of 10). 30 + 20 + 10 + 8 + 8 = 76.); SearchAPI.io 0 (No changelog (/changelog answered 404 on 4 November 2026) and no dated API change found, so the last release can't be dated (0). No releases to count (0). No public issue tracker or changelog to judge replies by. A Discord server is linked from the footer and wasn't tested (0). The 15 for io.searchapi/mcp in the official MCP registry rested on a reading of the registry's JSON API, which this run doesn't use, and no ordinary registry page shows the entry, so the line falls to 0, as graphiti, linear-mcp and copilot-studio-mcp read it. No official SDKs were found; the footer links a GitHub organisation whose pages answered 403 (0, 15 before). No public packages or CI (0). 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 0.)
- Schema & documentation, NewsCatcher +35: NewsCatcher 94 (OpenAPI 3.1 for the News API (version 1.3.9, 4 paths) and the agent (version 1.5.1, 33 paths), linked from llms.txt, and typed JSON Schema on every MCP tool through Pydantic (25). llms.txt, a Markdown copy of every page and a docs MCP server (10). MCP tool descriptions say when to use each and which tool to use instead, such as `list_articles` for older news; the REST reference explains each endpoint and the 'Choose an API' page compares them (17 of 20). Inputs are typed with enums for effort, mode and dimensions, length and range limits such as a 500-character query and limit 1 to 100, and required fields marked (13 of 15). Runnable examples in curl, Python and JavaScript, and an error table with retry advice for every status. The agent spec carries no response examples (14 of 15). Versioned APIs with a dated changelog, the latest entries on 4 November 2026, and separate changelogs for the v3 News API and CatchAll (15). 25 + 10 + 17 + 13 + 14 + 15 = 94.); SearchAPI.io 59 (OpenAPI 3.0 for the Google engine at /openapi/google.yaml with 25 typed parameters. We found no index of specs for the other engines, so 20 of 25. No llms.txt (404 on 4 November 2026) and no Markdown docs for agents (0). The API reference explains each parameter, and the MCP tool definitions aren't public (10). Enums for device, country, language, safe search and time period (14). Examples and a Postman collection, and the spec documents 400, 401, 403, 429 and 500 (12). /api/v1 in the path and no changelog anywhere we looked (3).)
- Agent ergonomics, NewsCatcher +32: NewsCatcher 84 (15 MCP tools in four toolsets, chosen per connection with `?tools=`, and tools return compact text rather than the full JSON. 15 for 11 to 30 tools plus 7 for toolsets (22 of 25). `limit`, `search_window`, effort, language, country, publisher, coverage and content-type filters, sorting, and paging on `/articles`; agent tables come back up to 200 rows at a time over MCP (20). Every status is documented with whether to retry; the agent returns stable `code` values, while the News API body has a `status_code` and a message meant for people (17 of 20). Every tool carries readOnlyHint and idempotentHint, writes carry destructiveHint, `start_research` has a free `dry_run`, and refused or failed calls aren't charged. No idempotency key for starting runs (17 of 20). Only `q` is required, with medium effort and a 7-day window as defaults. No official SDK for the current API was found; the docs show raw HTTP in three languages (8 of 15). 22 + 20 + 17 + 17 + 8 = 84.); SearchAPI.io 52 (The MCP exposes over 100 tools, one or more per engine, with no toolsets or filtering documented (5). `page`, `time_period`, location, country, language and safe search. Google's `num` has been fixed at 10 since September 2025 (18). Status codes are documented, but not how to recover from each (12). Searches are reads, and only HTTP 200 responses are billed, so retries are cheap. MCP annotations aren't visible (10). Two required parameters, `engine` and `q`. No official SDKs (7).)
- Reliability, SearchAPI.io +23: NewsCatcher 67 (Read with the hosted lines, for the News API, the agent and the hosted MCP server. status.newscatcherapi.com (Hyperping) shows one News API component with 99.820% uptime from August to November 2026 and an incident history. The agent and the MCP server have no component of their own (20). In the 90 days from 8 August, one incident, on 1 September 2026, when the vendor wrote that for about four hours a higher-than-usual number of requests to the production News API timed out because of one client's queries. Read as one major (10). Rate limits published per plan, 1 request a second free and up to 10 on pay as you go, with exact limits from the free `GET /subscription` (15). 429 carries Retry-After with instructions to retry the same request, 503 carries Retry-After, and failed or refused requests are not charged. Agent runs and monitor creation have no idempotency keys (12 of 15). An uptime SLA exists only in signed Enterprise agreements; none is published (0). Generally available since 30 October 2026, with OAuth for the MCP server announced as coming soon (10). 20 + 10 + 15 + 12 + 0 + 10 = 67.); SearchAPI.io 90 (Honeybadger status page at status.searchapi.io with Landing Page and API components and monthly history (20). Re-read on 4 November 2026, it shows no incidents in September, October or November 2026, and its incident feed's newest entry is the 11 February 2026 partial outage, so the window from 6 August is clean (30). The hourly cap is published, 20 per cent of the plan's monthly searches in any hour (15). The OpenAPI file lists a 429 response with an error string, but no `Retry-After` or backoff guidance was found. The partial 5 is kept pending the founder's rule on in-between values (5). The terms of 11 April 2026 give a 99.9% SLA for all plans with a credit of 100% of the monthly price, and the pricing page lists it on every plan (10). GA (10). 20 + 30 + 15 + 5 + 10 + 10 = 90.)
- Security & auth, NewsCatcher +17: NewsCatcher 45 (API keys in the `x-api-key` header, several per account, revocable in the platform, with advice to keep one per application. A 403 for 'a key that may not use this API' suggests per-key API access, but no scopes are documented (20). The MCP server documents `?apiKey=` on the server URL for Claude.ai custom connectors, with a warning, so less 10 (10 of 30). The MCP repository's SECURITY.md says URL keys are rejected unless the operator enables them, which the hosted server does per the docs. Toolsets let an operator load only the read-only `news` tools, write tools carry destructiveHint, and the server tells the assistant to confirm large or hourly agent jobs (14 of 20). Results are third-party article text and summaries, and no prompt-injection guidance was found in the docs or the MCP server's instructions (0 of 15). Every response carries a Correlation-ID, `GET /subscription` shows usage and balance, and runs are listed in the platform. No per-call audit log for the customer was found (7 of 15). The security page and footer claim SOC 2 Type II and link a trust centre on Oneleet, which wasn't read. A vulnerability disclosure policy covers the MCP server. No security.txt (404) and no bug bounty found (14 of 20). 10 + 14 + 0 + 7 + 14 = 45.); SearchAPI.io 28 (API keys with a documented `api_key` query-string option, and OAuth with expiring, rotating tokens for the MCP. The MCP page, re-read on 4 November 2026, now tells clients to send the token in the `X-MCP-Token` header and not in a URL. The registry's `?token=` reading came from a JSON API this run doesn't use and is struck. The `api_key` query option stays documented in the API reference. 20 less 10 (10). Every action is a read, and there are no tool subsets (15). Results are third-party snippets and scraped AI answers, with no injection guidance (0). No per-call audit log found. The privacy policy says account logins are logged by IP (0). The trust centre at security.searchapi.io answers robots.txt with an app page, so it was left unread on 4 November 2026. No certifications, bounty or security.txt (404 on 4 November 2026) found. The partial 3 is kept pending the founder's rule on in-between values (3).)
- Transparency & trust, NewsCatcher +17: NewsCatcher 79 (The API is closed under terms of 2 November 2026 naming NewsCatcher, Inc., and the MCP server is MIT, so between the two bands (20 of 30). The terms say inputs and generated data are not used to train models, a DPA applies automatically, and the privacy policy gives retention periods (server logs 7 days, API logs with query text 90 days, then archived indefinitely, billing records about seven years). They agree with each other, but indefinite archives of query logs hold it back (22 of 30). The terms promise 30 days' email notice before a paid product or API version is discontinued, with refunds of unused credits, and the v3 News API has a migration guide (15 of 20). A sub-processor list dated 2 November 2026 with each provider's location and the data it handles. The MCP repository deploys to Vercel and can send pseudonymised analytics to PostHog, and neither appears on the list (16 of 20). 20 + 22 + 15 + 16 = 73.); SearchAPI.io 62 (Closed service with published terms (15). Privacy policy dated 11 April 2026. Data sits in the US, cached results are purged on an unstated schedule, and zero retention is Enterprise only (15). Google's `num` phase-out is documented, and there's no deprecation policy (3). US data location stated, and the privacy policy links a subprocessor page (15).)