{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "perplexity-search-api", "name": "Perplexity Search API", "vendor": "Perplexity", "vendorUrl": "https://www.perplexity.ai/", "kind": "http-api", "category": "search", "summary": "Perplexity's Search API returns ranked web results with extracted page text as JSON from Perplexity's own index, through `POST /search`. The same key reaches the Agent API's web_search tool for cited answers, and a hosted MCP server wraps both.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/perplexity-search-api", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/perplexity-search-api.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/perplexity-search-api.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/perplexity-search-api.json", "dns": "perplexity-search-api.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/perplexityai/modelcontextprotocol", "license": "Proprietary service under the Perplexity API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the official SDKs Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "streamable-http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "perplexityai" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@perplexity-ai/perplexity_ai" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@perplexity-ai/mcp-server" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Bearer Perplexity API key in the `Authorization` header. Keys belong to a project in the API console, are shown once, and can be generated and revoked through `/generate_auth_token` and `/revoke_auth_token`, with a rotation guide. No per-key scopes found. The hosted MCP server also accepts Sign in with Perplexity (OAuth), where the user picks the organisation to bill.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "$5 per 1,000 successful Search API requests, or $1 with Fast Search, with up to five queries per request billed once. Invalid, rate-limited and failed requests are not billed. Agent API web_search is $2.50 per 1,000 calls plus model tokens. Prepaid credits with a card. No free allowance found.", "priceSummary": "$5 / 1k req", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Search API docs, the pricing page, the OpenAPI description or llms.txt (checked 2026-11-06). An empty balance returns 402 Payment Required with no payment requirements, per the FAQ.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 4, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-11-06" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/search/overview", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.perplexity.ai/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://docs.perplexity.ai/openapi.json", "registryName": "ai.perplexity/mcp-server", "capabilities": [ "web.search", "search.answer", "search.research" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "usage-priced", "prepaid", "card-required", "closed-source", "openapi", "llms-txt", "mcp", "remote-mcp", "mcp-registry", "python", "typescript", "status-page", "soc2" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-23", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 70.2, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 210, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1486, "categoryRank": 5, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 85, "maintenance": 82, "payments": 25, "reliability": 80, "schema": 89, "security": 56, "transparency": 66 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-06" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "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.", "strengths": [ "OpenAPI 3.1 description of `POST /search` with enums and limits, llms.txt and a Markdown twin of every docs page", "`max_tokens`, `max_tokens_per_page` and `max_results` cap what reaches the model, and up to five queries share one billed request", "Per-request prices published without login, and invalid, rate-limited and failed requests are not billed", "Hosted MCP server with OAuth or a key; the local server is in the official registry under the verified ai.perplexity namespace", "security.txt valid to 31 December 2027, a SOC 2 Type II report and a SECURITY.md that takes private reports" ], "weaknesses": [ "The FAQ says uptime and recovery time are not guaranteed, and the terms carry no SLA", "No free allowance and prepaid credits with a card; Stripe Projects still needs a $10 purchase", "Project keys have no scopes or spending limits, so any key can run every API on the account", "No guidance on treating returned snippets as untrusted text was found in the docs or the MCP server", "The DPA says Perplexity Search may follow different data terms, and no retention period for search queries is stated" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `max_tokens_per_page` and `max_tokens` before calling; extracted text otherwise fills the context, and the price does not change with size", "Skip results with an empty `snippet` and dedupe by `url` when sending a `query` array; each query costs one rate-limit unit", "Use `search_type: \"fast\"` for $1 per 1,000 when latency and cost matter more than depth", "On 429 wait for Retry-After, then back off; on 402 stop and ask the user to add credits", "Use the Search API for sources and the Agent API's web_search tool for a written answer with citations" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 70.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 85, "maintenance": 82, "payments": 25, "reliability": 80, "schema": 89, "security": 56, "transparency": 51 }, "provenanceScore": 80, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-06", "maintenance": "2026-11-06", "payments": "2026-11-06", "reliability": "2026-11-06", "schema": "2026-11-06", "security": "2026-11-06", "transparency": "2026-11-06" }, "last": "2026-11-06", "oldest": "2026-11-06", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "pip install perplexityai", "http": "curl -X POST https://api.perplexity.ai/search \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $PERPLEXITY_API_KEY\" \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"query\": \"renewable energy technologies\", \"max_results\": 10, \"max_tokens\": 50000, \"max_tokens_per_page\": 4096}'", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http perplexity https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp", "config": { "mcpServers": { "perplexity": { "url": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/perplexity-search-api" }, "sameCompany": [ "perplexity-space", "pplx-decider", "pplx-decider-flash" ], "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Search API request", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5, "note": "Up to five queries in one request billed once; failed and rate-limited requests not billed" }, { "item": "Search API request with Fast Search", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 1, "note": "`search_type: \"fast\"`" }, { "item": "Agent API web_search call", "unit": "1k-calls", "usd": 2.5, "note": "Plus model tokens; $1.00 with Fast Search" }, { "item": "Agent API fetch_url call", "unit": "1k-calls", "usd": 0.5, "note": "Plus model tokens" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Perplexity AI, Inc.", "domain": "perplexity.ai", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/legal/perplexity-api-terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/legal/privacy-notice", "statusPage": "https://status.perplexity.com/", "changelog": "https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-11-06", "notes": [ "The API Terms of Service (last updated 23 January 2026) name Perplexity AI, Inc. and California law. The Data Processing Addendum (last updated 13 August 2026) deletes personal data within 30 days of the service ending and notes that Perplexity Search may follow different data terms.", "www.perplexity.ai/.well-known/security.txt is valid until 31 December 2027 and links www.perplexity.ai/security.", "The status page moved to incident.io on 10 September 2026 and has Website, App, Computer and API components, with no separate Search component.", "docs.perplexity.ai/robots.txt allows the docs and carries Content-Signal ai-train=yes, search=yes, ai-input=yes. The terms have no clause on automated access to the website.", "The changelog dates entries by month only. Domain registration was not checked." ], "score": 80 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/perplexity-search-api.json", "live": { "slug": "perplexity-search-api", "probe": { "target": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-11-07T18:20:46.568623937Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 254, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 164, "p95ms24h": 262, "samples24h": 200, "samples30d": 200, "days": [ { "date": "2026-11-06", "probes": 13, "ok": 13 }, { "date": "2026-11-07", "probes": 187, "ok": 187 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.perplexity.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T18:21:53.516499278Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "mcp-registry", "name": "ai.perplexity/mcp-server", "version": "1.2.1", "seenAt": "2026-11-07T18:16:28.95801333Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@perplexity-ai/mcp-server", "version": "1.3.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:55:31.394431614Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@perplexity-ai/perplexity_ai", "version": "0.41.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:55:30.575713692Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "perplexityai", "version": "0.46.1", "released": "2026-10-23", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:55:30.34668899Z" } ], "githubStars": 2612, "npmWeekly": 97298, "pypiWeekly": 401537, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://perplexity.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-12-31T00:00:00Z", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T16:01:03.917430365Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.perplexity.ai/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:33:36.681222085Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:07:27.675707255Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-06T13:29:48.535494355Z", "fingerprint": "a52a171e1f1f" }, { "url": "https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/legal/privacy-notice", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:32:54.875760985Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-06T13:53:25.792168971Z", "fingerprint": "29c9dd01613d" }, { "url": "https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/legal/perplexity-api-terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:32:50.897959644Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-06T13:53:22.592031411Z", "fingerprint": "6a7e4a95f45b" } ], "mcpTools": { "url": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T01:46:49.011542458Z", "status": "auth", "note": "asks for credentials before listing its tools", "changedAt": "2026-11-07T01:46:49.011542458Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-07T18:21:53.516499278Z" } }, "answer": "You.com APIs scores 76.1 (BB) on agent readiness against Perplexity Search API's 70.2 (BB), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.", "b": { "slug": "you-com-api", "name": "You.com APIs", "vendor": "You.com", "vendorUrl": "https://you.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "search", "summary": "Web Search, Contents, Answer, Research and Finance Research APIs, an OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible Inference Router, and a hosted MCP server with six tools.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/you-com-api.json", "dns": "you-com-api.grade.anchorterminal.com", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.you.com/v1/search", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "youdotcom" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@youdotcom-oss/mcp" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "API key in the `X-API-Key` header (env `YDC_API_KEY`). The hosted MCP also takes a Bearer key or OAuth 2.1, and `?profile=free` needs no key. Web Search and Finance Research take x402 (`PAYMENT-SIGNATURE`) or MPP (`Authorization: Payment`) instead of a key.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "$10 free credit on sign-up and $90 more on verifying the account, no card, valid 60 days per the pricing FAQ, then prepaid credits. Web Search $5 per 1,000 calls (up to 100 results a call), live page extraction $1 per 1,000 pages, Contents $1 per 1,000 pages, Answer $5 per 1,000. Research per 1,000 by effort, lite $12, standard $50, deep $100, exhaustive $450, frontier $1,200. Finance Research $110 (deep) or $500 (exhaustive) per 1,000. x402 prices match credit prices, MPP rounds Web Search up to $0.01 (https://you.com/docs/administration/billing).", "priceSummary": "$5 / 1k req", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "partial", "evidence": "Official docs. GET /v1/search, /v1/agents/search and POST /v1/finance_research accept x402 in USDC on Base or Solana, and MPP in USDC on Tempo. An unpaid GET https://api.you.com/v1/search returned 402 with both PAYMENT-REQUIRED and WWW-Authenticate Payment headers on 2026-09-30. Contents, Answer and Research need a key (https://you.com/docs/administration/machine-payments.md)", "endpoints": [ { "url": "https://api.you.com/v1/search", "priceUsd": 0.005, "network": "eip155:8453" }, { "url": "https://api.you.com/v1/finance_research", "priceUsd": 0.11, "network": "eip155:8453" } ] }, "toolCount": 6, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": 4419, "pypiWeekly": 91673, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://you.com/docs/welcome", "llmsTxt": "https://you.com/docs/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://you.com/docs/openapi.json", "registryName": "io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp", "capabilities": [ "web.search", "web.fetch", "web.extract", "search.answer", "search.research", "search.news" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "no-card", "free-tier", "mcp", "x402", "llms-txt", "openapi", "python", "typescript", "async-jobs", "enterprise" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-28", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 76.1, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 48, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1486, "categoryRank": 2, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 83, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 88, "reliability": 80, "schema": 92, "security": 59, "transparency": 67 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-01" }, "negative": -3, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-10-14. Python SDK youdotcom 3.6.0, a minor release, turned on highlights and knowledge by default for every search, so `snippets` comes back as None for default callers and unguarded code reading it fails, marked 'Action required' in its MIGRATION.md with no earlier notice found. Its changelog says the defaults may add cost depending on the plan, though the billing page includes highlights and Knowledge in the Web Search rate. The API changelog of 15 July 2026 likewise announced the removal of the `authors` field from Web Search and Answer responses as already done. Breaking changes without notice, read as one term at the floor, 3 points, since both were documented on the day with a way back. https://github.com/youdotcom-oss/youdotcom-python-sdk/blob/main/MIGRATION.md and https://you.com/docs/changelog/2026/7/15" ], "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "An unattended agent that needs search, page text and cited answers and wants to pay per call without an account.", "strengths": [ "x402 and MPP on Web Search and Finance Research, with no account needed", "Free credit with no card ($10, plus $90 on verifying), and a keyless MCP profile for search (100 queries a day)", "Public OpenAPI, llms.txt, a dated API changelog and an error reference with guidance per code", "Per-key spending caps since 5 October, with a distinct `spend_cap_exceeded` error", "429 carries Retry-After, with documented backoff and rate-limit headers" ], "weaknesses": [ "Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io", "Python SDK 3.6.0 turned on highlights and knowledge by default in a minor release, so `snippets` is None for default callers, and the July removal of `authors` was announced as done", "Zero Data Retention only for Web Search and Answer, and only on enterprise agreements", "No prompt-injection guidance for the page text Search and Contents return", "Only a Python SDK is current. The TypeScript SDK was deprecated in March 2026" ], "agentNotes": [ "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", "Use `https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free` to try search with no key (100 queries a day)", "Send Answer, Research and Finance Research to api.you.com. On ydc-index.io they fail with 'Missing Authentication Token'", "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", "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" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 8, "avgRating": 3.8, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 76.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 83, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 88, "reliability": 80, "schema": 92, "security": 59, "transparency": 50 }, "provenanceScore": 84, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-01", "maintenance": "2026-11-01", "payments": "2026-11-01", "reliability": "2026-11-01", "schema": "2026-11-01", "security": "2026-11-01", "transparency": "2026-11-01" }, "last": "2026-11-01", "lastMoved": "2026-11-01", "oldest": "2026-11-01", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "http": "curl -X POST https://ydc-index.io/v1/search \\\n -H \"X-API-Key: $YDC_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"query\":\"latest AI news\",\"count\":5}'", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http you-com https://api.you.com/mcp --header \"Authorization: Bearer ${YDC_API_KEY}\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "you-com": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${YDC_API_KEY}" }, "url": "https://api.you.com/mcp" } } }, "x402": "curl -si 'https://api.you.com/v1/search?query=test'\n# HTTP/2 402 with PAYMENT-REQUIRED (x402, 5000 base units of USDC) and WWW-Authenticate: Payment (MPP on Tempo)\n# retry with PAYMENT-SIGNATURE: \u003cbase64 signed authorization\u003e" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/you-com-api" }, "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Web Search", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5, "note": "up to 100 results a call" }, { "item": "Contents", "unit": "1k-pages", "usd": 1 }, { "item": "Answer", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5 }, { "item": "Research, standard effort", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 50 }, { "item": "Web Search over x402", "unit": "call", "usd": 0.005, "note": "MPP charges $0.01" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "SuSea, Inc., d/b/a you.com", "domain": "you.com", "domainRegistered": "1998-11-25", "domainNote": "you.com was registered in 1998, long before the company launched.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://you.com/terms", "privacy": "https://you.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.you.com", "changelog": "https://you.com/docs/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-11-01", "notes": [ "Web Search and Contents are documented on ydc-index.io, a separate domain. api.you.com also serves /v1/search.", "status.you.com is a Rootly page with Search/Index, Live News and AI Search components. Its robots.txt loaded on 1 November and allows all paths, but incident pages answered with a Cloudflare challenge, as the whole site did on 17 October. Its history RSS feed at status.you.com/history.rss reads.", "trust.you.com is a Vanta trust centre that links a vulnerability disclosure page and a subprocessor list, but renders only with JavaScript.", "security.txt returned 404 on you.com and api.you.com on 6 October, and on you.com again on 17 October and 1 November.", "The dated API changelog at you.com/docs/changelog is linked from llms.txt, with entries from 15 July 2026." ], "score": 84 }, "requirements": { "setupChecked": true, "complianceChecked": true, "agentAlone": true, "card": "no", "freeTier": true, "minutes": 3, "credential": "mixed", "hosting": [ "US" ], "euResidency": "unknown", "trainsOnData": "no", "zeroRetention": "enterprise", "certifications": [ "GDPR" ], "dpa": true, "selfHost": "no" }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.json", "live": { "slug": "you-com-api", "probe": { "target": "https://api.you.com/v1/search", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-11-07T18:21:06.674222077Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 402, "lastMs": 743, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 99.97, "p50ms24h": 756, "p95ms24h": 2507, "samples24h": 239, "samples30d": 7910, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-07", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 268, "ok": 268 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-11", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-12", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-13", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-14", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-15", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-16", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-17", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-18", "probes": 256, "ok": 256 }, { "date": "2026-10-19", "probes": 255, "ok": 255 }, { "date": "2026-10-20", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-21", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-22", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-23", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-24", "probes": 251, "ok": 251 }, { "date": "2026-10-25", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-26", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-27", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-28", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-29", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-30", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-31", "probes": 251, "ok": 251 }, { "date": "2026-11-01", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-11-02", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-11-03", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-11-04", "probes": 246, "ok": 245 }, { "date": "2026-11-05", "probes": 185, "ok": 184 }, { "date": "2026-11-06", "probes": 241, "ok": 241 }, { "date": "2026-11-07", "probes": 187, "ok": 187 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.you.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T18:22:12.672272493Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "mcp-registry", "name": "io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp", "version": "4.0.7", "seenAt": "2026-11-07T18:16:28.95801333Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@youdotcom-oss/mcp", "version": "4.0.7", "seenAt": "2026-11-07T00:18:44.081784649Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@youdotcom-oss/sdk", "version": "0.13.1", "seenAt": "2026-10-17T02:27:46.578724644Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "youdotcom", "version": "3.6.0", "released": "2026-10-15", "seenAt": "2026-11-07T00:18:43.812516988Z" } ], "npmWeekly": 419, "pypiWeekly": 87331, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://you.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:59:53.589582412Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://you.com/docs/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:34:25.47008198Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "you.com", "registered": "1998-11-25", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/you.com", "checkedAt": "2026-11-01T14:09:06.435134028Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://you.com/docs/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:38:09.207561393Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "9506696940b3" }, { "url": "https://you.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:38:11.665911528Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-23T02:09:14.07040316Z", "fingerprint": "36f4ebdd4164" }, { "url": "https://you.com/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:38:13.579487459Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-23T02:09:16.540053208Z", "fingerprint": "51f7b4f15208" } ], "mcpTools": { "url": "https://api.you.com/mcp", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T01:49:15.06565765Z", "status": "auth", "note": "asks for credentials before listing its tools", "changedAt": "2026-11-07T01:49:15.06565765Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-07T18:22:12.672272493Z" } }, "edges": [ { "by": 63, "category": "payments", "leads": "you-com-api", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "reasons": { "a": "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.", "b": "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)." }, "scores": { "a": 25, "b": 88 } } ], "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Perplexity", "b": "You.com", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp", "b": "https://api.you.com/v1/search", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "Streamable HTTP, stdio", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "$1 per 1,000 requests", "b": "$5 per 1,000 requests", "name": "Price for web search" }, { "a": "no", "b": "payer tooling only", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under the Perplexity API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the official SDKs Apache-2.0", "b": "none", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "4", "b": "6", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "ai.perplexity/mcp-server", "b": "io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-10-23", "b": "2026-10-28", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "2024-08-27", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "2026-09-22", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "none", "b": "4.4k npm/wk, 92k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "none", "b": "3.8/5 (8)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "You.com APIs scores 76.1 (BB) on agent readiness against Perplexity Search API's 70.2 (BB), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Perplexity Search API or You.com APIs?" }, { "answer": "Perplexity Search API, at $1 per 1,000 requests against $5 per 1,000 requests for You.com APIs. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.", "question": "Which is cheaper for web search, Perplexity Search API or You.com APIs?" }, { "answer": "Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Perplexity Search API and You.com APIs need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Perplexity Search API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp and You.com APIs at https://api.you.com/v1/search.", "question": "Can an agent call Perplexity Search API and You.com APIs without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": null, "also": [ "Cheaper for web search, $1 against $5 per 1,000 requests", "No incidents deducted, where You.com APIs loses 3 points for them" ], "goodFor": "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.", "slug": "perplexity-search-api", "watchFor": "The FAQ says uptime and recovery time are not guaranteed, and the terms carry no SLA" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 88 against 25" ], "also": [ "Free to start without a card" ], "goodFor": "An unattended agent that needs search, page text and cited answers and wants to pay per call without an account.", "slug": "you-com-api", "watchFor": "Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io" } ], "history": { "perplexity-search-api": null, "you-com-api": [ { "causes": [ "evidence", "event" ], "date": "2026-11-01", "delta": 0.2, "from": 75.9, "fromGrade": "BB", "to": 76.1, "toGrade": "BB" }, { "causes": [ "method" ], "date": "2026-10-27", "delta": 0.2, "from": 75.7, "fromGrade": "BB", "to": 75.9, "toGrade": "BB" }, { "causes": [ "reliability", "evidence" ], "date": "2026-10-17", "delta": -0.8, "from": 76.5, "fromGrade": "BB", "to": 75.7, "toGrade": "BB" } ] }, "job": { "capability": "web.search", "name": "Web search" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-perplexity-search-api.json", "title": "Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs Perplexity Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-perplexity-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-you-com-api.json", 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API + MCP vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-perplexity-search-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Perplexity Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-perplexity-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-perplexity-search-api.json", "title": "DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Perplexity Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-perplexity-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-perplexity-search-api.json", "title": "Exa API + MCP vs Perplexity Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-perplexity-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Exa API + MCP vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-perplexity-search-api.json", "title": "Firecrawl MCP vs Perplexity Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-perplexity-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Firecrawl MCP vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": 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"https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-serpkite.json", "title": "Perplexity Search API vs SerpKite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-serpkite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-specstream.json", "title": "Perplexity Search API vs SpecStream", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-specstream" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-tavily-mcp.json", "title": "Perplexity Search API vs Tavily API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-tavily-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-tinyfish-search.json", "title": "Perplexity Search API vs TinyFish Search", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-tinyfish-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-valyu.json", "title": "Perplexity Search API vs Valyu", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-valyu" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SearchAPI.io vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SerpApi vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Serper vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SERPHouse vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SerpKite vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tavily-mcp-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Tavily API + MCP vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tavily-mcp-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tinyfish-search-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "TinyFish Search vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tinyfish-search-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/valyu-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Valyu vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/valyu-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-perplexity-search-api.json", "title": "Arcmira vs Perplexity Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-perplexity-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Arcmira vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-perplexity-search-api.json", "title": "Grep AI vs Perplexity Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-perplexity-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Grep AI vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "SpecStream vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Fetch (MCP reference server) vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "NewsCatcher vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-you-com-api" } ], "panel": null, "scores": [ { "by": 0, "edge": "", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "perplexity-search-api": 80, "weight": 16, "you-com-api": 80 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 3, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "perplexity-search-api": 89, "weight": 13, "you-com-api": 92 }, { "by": 2, "edge": "perplexity-search-api", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "perplexity-search-api": 85, "weight": 13, "you-com-api": 83 }, { "by": 3, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "perplexity-search-api": 56, "weight": 14, "you-com-api": 59 }, { "by": 63, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "perplexity-search-api": 25, "weight": 10, "you-com-api": 88 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 3, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "perplexity-search-api": 82, "weight": 7, "you-com-api": 85 }, { "by": 1, "edge": "you-com-api", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "perplexity-search-api": 66, "weight": 7, "you-com-api": 67 } ], "summary": "You.com APIs scores 76.1 (BB) on agent readiness against Perplexity Search API's 70.2 (BB), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do web search. Perplexity Search API is cheaper for web search, $1 against $5 per 1,000 requests.", "tasks": null, "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "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.", "you-com-api": "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." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-you-com-api", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-you-com-api.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-you-com-api.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-you-com-api.min.md" }, "markdown": "You.com APIs scores 76.1 (BB) on agent readiness against Perplexity Search API's 70.2 (BB), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do web search. Perplexity Search API is cheaper for web search, $1 against $5 per 1,000 requests.\n\n- Perplexity Search API: grade BB, 70.2/100, rank #210 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/perplexity-search-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/perplexity-search-api.json\n- You.com APIs: grade BB, 76.1/100, rank #48 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/you-com-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/you-com-api.json\n- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md\n- All 308 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Perplexity Search API (BB)\n\nGood 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.\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Cheaper for web search, $1 against $5 per 1,000 requests\n- No incidents deducted, where You.com APIs loses 3 points for them\n\nWatch for: The FAQ says uptime and recovery time are not guaranteed, and the terms carry no SLA\n\n### You.com APIs (BB)\n\nGood for: An unattended agent that needs search, page text and cited answers and wants to pay per call without an account.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 88 against 25\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Free to start without a card\n\nWatch for: Two API hosts. Answer and Research return 'Missing Authentication Token' on ydc-index.io\n\n\n## Why the edge\n\n### Payments \u0026 pricing: You.com APIs +63\n\n- 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.\n- 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).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Perplexity Search API | You.com APIs | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 80 | even |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 89 | 92 | You.com APIs +3 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 83 | Perplexity Search API +2 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 59 | You.com APIs +3 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 88 | You.com APIs +63 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 85 | You.com APIs +3 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 66 | 67 | You.com APIs +1 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |\n| **Total** | | **70.2 · BB** | **76.1 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Perplexity Search API | You.com APIs |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Perplexity | You.com |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp` | `https://api.you.com/v1/search` |\n| Transports | Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |\n| Price for web search | $1 per 1,000 requests | $5 per 1,000 requests |\n| x402 | no | payer tooling only |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under the Perplexity API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the official SDKs Apache-2.0 | none |\n| Tools exposed | 4 | 6 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | `ai.perplexity/mcp-server` | `io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp` |\n| Last release | 2026-10-23 | 2026-10-28 |\n| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2024-08-27 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-09-22 |\n| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Popularity | none | 4.4k npm/wk, 92k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | none | 3.8/5 (8) |\n\n## How the scores have moved\n\n### Perplexity Search API\n\nNo score change since it was listed.\n\n### You.com APIs\n\n- +0.2 on 1 November 2026: new evidence, negative event\n- +0.2 on 27 October 2026: checklist\n- -0.8 on 17 October 2026: reliability, new evidence\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**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.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Perplexity Search API\n\n1. Set `max_tokens_per_page` and `max_tokens` before calling; extracted text otherwise fills the context, and the price does not change with size\n2. Skip results with an empty `snippet` and dedupe by `url` when sending a `query` array; each query costs one rate-limit unit\n3. Use `search_type: \"fast\"` for $1 per 1,000 when latency and cost matter more than depth\n4. On 429 wait for Retry-After, then back off; on 402 stop and ask the user to add credits\n5. Use the Search API for sources and the Agent API's web_search tool for a written answer with citations\n\n### You.com APIs\n\n1. 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\n2. Use `https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free` to try search with no key (100 queries a day)\n3. Send Answer, Research and Finance Research to api.you.com. On ydc-index.io they fail with 'Missing Authentication Token'\n4. 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\n5. 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\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Perplexity Search API or You.com APIs?\n\nYou.com APIs scores 76.1 (BB) on agent readiness against Perplexity Search API's 70.2 (BB), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.\n\n### Which is cheaper for web search, Perplexity Search API or You.com APIs?\n\nPerplexity Search API, at $1 per 1,000 requests against $5 per 1,000 requests for You.com APIs. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.\n\n### Do Perplexity Search API and You.com APIs need an API key?\n\nBoth take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Perplexity Search API and You.com APIs without installing anything?\n\nYes. Perplexity Search API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp and You.com APIs at https://api.you.com/v1/search.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-you-com-api.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-you-com-api.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"perplexity-search-api\", \"b\": \"you-com-api\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare perplexity-search-api you-com-api`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/perplexity-search-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/you-com-api.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Perplexity Search API or You.com APIs\n\n- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs Perplexity Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-perplexity-search-api.md)\n- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Grounding with Bing Search vs Perplexity Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bing-grounding-vs-perplexity-search-api.md)\n- [Grounding with Bing Search vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bing-grounding-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Perplexity Search 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SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-specstream.md)\n- [Perplexity Search API vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Perplexity Search API vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-tinyfish-search.md)\n- [Perplexity Search API vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-valyu.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [SerpApi vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Serper vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [SERPHouse vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [SerpKite vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpkite-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Tavily API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tavily-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [TinyFish Search vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tinyfish-search-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Valyu vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/valyu-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Arcmira vs Perplexity Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-perplexity-search-api.md)\n- [Arcmira vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Grep AI vs Perplexity Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-perplexity-search-api.md)\n- [Grep AI vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [SpecStream vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/specstream-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [NewsCatcher vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-you-com-api.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link the page or API address you took it from (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-11-07", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.7", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "terms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Perplexity Search API vs You.com APIs", "url": "" } ], "description": "You.com scores 76.1 (BB) to Perplexity Search's 70.2 (BB) for web search. Perplexity Search is cheaper for web search, $1 against $5 per 1,000 requests. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Perplexity Search API BB 70.2", "You.com APIs BB 76.1", "scores" ], "h1": "Perplexity Search API vs You.com APIs", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/default.png", "path": "/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-you-com-api", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Perplexity Search vs You.com for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-11-07", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-you-com-api" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 3850, "slim": 1180 }, "version": 1 }