# NewsCatcher vs You.com APIs

> You.com scores 76.1 (BB) to NewsCatcher's 67.5 (B) for search news. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-you-com-api
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-you-com-api.md (~5,600 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-08

You.com APIs scores 76.1 (BB) on agent readiness against NewsCatcher's 67.5 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. NewsCatcher leads on transparency & trust. Both do search news.

- NewsCatcher: grade B, 67.5/100, rank #322 of 1513. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/newscatcher.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/newscatcher.json
- You.com APIs: grade BB, 76.1/100, rank #48 of 1513. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/you-com-api.json
- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md
- All 326 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### NewsCatcher (B)

Good for: Agents that need current news across languages, grouped into stories, or tables of events and company news on a schedule.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 79 against 67

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where You.com APIs loses 3 points for them

Watch for: The current News API and agent launched on 30 October 2026 and the MCP repository went public on 6 November 2026

### You.com APIs (BB)

Good for: An unattended agent that needs search, page text and cited answers and wants to pay per call without an account.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 80 against 67
- Security & auth, 59 against 45
- Payments & pricing, 88 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 85 against 76

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io


## Why the edge

### Payments & pricing: You.com APIs +58

- NewsCatcher (30): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Credit prices per call published without login, and credits cost $1 per 1,000 through top-ups from $25 (20). 10,000 free credits every 30 days on a $0 plan, and the first top-up moves an account to pay as you go. No page says whether a card is needed to open the free plan, so half (10). A person signs up in the platform in a browser to get a key (0). NewsMCP's keyless tier belongs to a separate product and isn't counted. 0 + 20 + 10 + 0 = 30.
- You.com APIs (88): x402 (USDC on Base or Solana) and MPP (USDC on Tempo) on GET /v1/search, /v1/agents/search and POST /v1/finance_research. On 1 November an unpaid GET https://api.you.com/v1/search returned 402 with an x402 v2 `PAYMENT-REQUIRED` challenge for 5,000 base units of USDC on Base and on Solana and an MPP `WWW-Authenticate: Payment` challenge on Tempo, and an unpaid POST /v1/finance_research returned the same pair, with x402 at 110,000 base units. Contents, Answer and Research still need a key (28). Per-call and per-page prices published without a login (20). The pricing FAQ now says $10 of API credit on sign-up and $90 more on verifying the account, no card, with sign-up credits valid 60 days. The Web Search card on the same page says '$10 free credit' (20). The MCP free profile needs no key (100 queries a day), and x402 or MPP needs no account (20).

### Security & auth: You.com APIs +14

- 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.
- You.com APIs (59): Several keys per organisation in the `X-API-Key` header, revoked immediately on delete, rotation by create-then-delete, and roles where developers see only their own keys. The hosted MCP takes OAuth 2.1. No per-key scopes documented. No secret in a URL (22). Tool allow-lists on the MCP, a two-tool free profile and no tool that writes or deletes. Since 5 October a key can carry a spending cap per billing period, and a capped key answers 429 `spend_cap_exceeded` when it's reached, which bounds what a leaked or runaway key can spend, as kagi-search's per-key cap does (18). Search and Contents return untrusted page text. The only content control we found is `safesearch`, and no prompt-injection guidance (2). The key list shows a last-used date and each capped key's spend, and the troubleshooting page says Platform Logs list recent requests with error messages, response details and a request ID. No retention period, logs API or audit log of key actions was found, so 9, between numeral's 8 for a dashboard Logs tab and deepgram-stt's 10 for console and API logs (9). trust.you.com, a Vanta trust centre, links a vulnerability disclosure page and a subprocessor list but rendered only with JavaScript on 1 November, security.txt returned 404 on you.com, and the MCP repo runs Semgrep in CI (8).

### Reliability: You.com APIs +13

- 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.
- You.com APIs (80): Rootly status page at status.you.com with Search/Index, Live News and AI Search API components (20). Its robots.txt loaded on 1 November, but incident pages still answered with a Cloudflare challenge, so we read the history RSS feed as before. In the 90 days to 1 November it lists one incident, an 'Authentication Outage' on the AI Search API component posted on 5 October, and nothing after it. The feed gives no duration, so we couldn't establish the outage as a major. Minor only (20). 10 requests a second per API and 5 for Finance Research on self-serve accounts, re-read on 1 November (15). 429 carries `Retry-After`, the docs give exponential backoff capped at 60 seconds, and `X-RateLimit-*` headers allow client-side throttling (15). No SLA found for the search APIs. The pricing page banner claims an uptime SLA of at least 99.9% for the new Inference Router, but we found no SLA document (0). GA (10).

### Transparency & trust: NewsCatcher +12

- 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.
- You.com APIs (67): Closed API, with the MCP stdio bridge under MIT (18). The privacy policy (last updated 22 September 2026, re-read on 1 November) says prompts and outputs aren't used for training and a DPA is linked, but gives no retention periods. Zero Data Retention covers Web Search and Answer only, on enterprise agreements, not self-serve, and the machine payments page says it isn't available on keyless requests (17). No deprecation policy. The changelog dates one removal, the `authors` field from Web Search and Answer responses on 15 July 2026, announced as already done (5). The privacy policy names OpenAI, Anthropic and Google as model providers and points to trust.you.com for the full list, which we couldn't render. No data locations stated (10).

### Maintenance & community: You.com APIs +9

- 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.
- You.com APIs (85): @youdotcom-oss/mcp 4.0.7 tagged on 2026-10-28 and an API changelog entry on 26 October for the Inference Router (30). MCP 4.0.5, 4.0.6 and 4.0.7 between 19 and 28 October, all version-bump publishes, and API changelog entries on 4, 5 and 11 August, 2 and 23 September and 5, 7, 9 and 26 October (20). A dated public API changelog, support at api@you.com and a support page, and the MCP repo merges changes weekly. We didn't read the open issues (11). Listed in the official MCP registry as io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp at 4.0.7, with a current Python SDK (3.6.0, 14 October). The TypeScript SDK is deprecated (15). CI, Semgrep and conventional commits on the MCP repo (9).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | NewsCatcher | You.com APIs | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 80 | You.com APIs +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 94 | 92 | NewsCatcher +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 83 | NewsCatcher +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 59 | You.com APIs +14 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 88 | You.com APIs +58 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 85 | You.com APIs +9 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 67 | NewsCatcher +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **67.5 · B** | **76.1 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | NewsCatcher | You.com APIs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | NewsCatcher, Inc. | You.com |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.newscatcherapi.com/mcp` | `https://api.you.com/v1/search` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Price for search news | $1 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| x402 | no | on some endpoints, from $0.005/call |
| Tools exposed | 15 | 6 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-11-06 | 2026-10-28 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-11-02 | 2024-08-27 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-22 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | 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 | yes |
| Popularity | none | 4.4k npm/wk, 92k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.8/5 (8) |

## How the scores have moved

### NewsCatcher

No score change since it was listed.

### You.com APIs

- +0.2 on 1 November 2026: new evidence, negative event
- +0.2 on 27 October 2026: checklist
- -0.8 on 17 October 2026: reliability, new evidence

## Verdicts

**NewsCatcher.** One key and one credit balance cover a ranked news search, a background research agent and a hosted MCP server with toolsets and annotated tools, under OpenAPI 3.1 specs and a dated changelog. The current API launched on 30 October 2026, the MCP server accepts the key in its URL, and no SLA is published below Enterprise.

**You.com APIs.** x402 and MPP on Web Search and Finance Research, with no account needed, and keys can carry a spending cap. Two API hosts, so Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io, and Python SDK 3.6.0 changed the default search response in a minor release.

## Before you call either

### NewsCatcher

1. Send the key in the `x-api-key` header, and use a separate key for the MCP server so it can be revoked alone
2. Call `start_research` with `dry_run` first, since agent runs cost 1,000 to 6,000 credits
3. Use `effort=low` for quick lookups; the default `medium` costs five times as much
4. Use `/articles` or `list_articles` for news older than 30 days or exact counts; `/search` covers 30 days only
5. On 429 or 503 wait for Retry-After, and quote the Correlation-ID header to support

### You.com APIs

1. For unattended runs call GET https://api.you.com/v1/search, handle the 402 and pay with x402. It's half the MPP price for search
2. Use `https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free` to try search with no key (100 queries a day)
3. Send Answer, Research and Finance Research to api.you.com. On ydc-index.io they fail with 'Missing Authentication Token'
4. With Python SDK 3.6.0 or later, pass `knowledge=None, extraction=None` on search unless you want highlights and knowledge cards, which are on by default and may cost more
5. Treat a 429 with `spend_cap_exceeded` as a budget stop, not a rate limit. Retrying won't clear it until the cap is raised

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, NewsCatcher or You.com APIs?

You.com APIs scores 76.1 (BB) on agent readiness against NewsCatcher's 67.5 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. NewsCatcher leads on transparency & trust.

### Do NewsCatcher and You.com APIs need an API key?

NewsCatcher needs an API key. You.com APIs takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call NewsCatcher and You.com APIs without installing anything?

Yes. NewsCatcher has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.newscatcherapi.com/mcp and You.com APIs at https://api.you.com/v1/search.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-you-com-api.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-you-com-api.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "newscatcher", "b": "you-com-api"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare newscatcher you-com-api`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/newscatcher.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/you-com-api.json

## Other comparisons with NewsCatcher or You.com APIs

- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Grounding with Bing Search vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bing-grounding-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Grounding with Bing Search vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bing-grounding-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Exa API + MCP vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Exa API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Firecrawl MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Linkup vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Linkup vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Mojeek Web Search API vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mojeek-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Mojeek Web Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mojeek-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-parallel-search-api.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs Perplexity Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-perplexity-search-api.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-tinyfish-search.md)
- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Perplexity Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [SearchAPI.io vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [SerpApi vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Serper vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [SERPHouse vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [SerpKite vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Tavily API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tavily-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [TinyFish Search vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tinyfish-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Valyu vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/valyu-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Arcmira vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Arcmira vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Grep AI vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Grep AI vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Liner Search MCP vs NewsCatcher](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/liner-mcp-vs-newscatcher.md)
- [Liner Search MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/liner-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-specstream.md)
- [SpecStream vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-searchapi-io.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-serpapi.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-serper.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-serphouse.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-serpkite.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [NewsCatcher vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-valyu.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp