Brave Search API
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 3 of 12 search APIs by recommenders
A web search API with a free monthly tier that people use to give AI models and apps search results; critics say it gets expensive at high volume.
A web search API with a free monthly tier that people use to give AI models and apps search results; critics say it gets expensive at high volume.
18 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Generous free monthly tier
“has a generous free search tier for their api makes me think it's possible to replace Google search”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “Leaving Google has actively improved my life” “I will stick with the Brave Search API which gives you $5 free every month”
Comment from 22 Aug 2026 in “Kagi added a setting for removing paywalled links from search results” “Brave Search's API has a free tier (1000 searches per month).”
Comment from 17 Jul 2026 in “Google Kills Custom Search API on Jan 1, 2027” - Comment from 22 May 2026 in “DeepSeek makes the V4 Pro price discount permanent”
Works well with AI tools
“the search they provide (similar to Exa, Tavily) is what makes an "OK LLM" become super smart”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Running local models is good now” “It works well if you connect it the Brave Search API”
Comment from 3 Jul 2026 in “SearXNG: A free internet metasearch engine” “it works great with OpenClaw”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: Brave Search API forbids use with AI agents (openclaw, moltbot?)” Preferred over Exa and alternatives
“really great and imo a better experience than Exa”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Web Search API” “Exa and tavily #1, brave #2, searx last”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “DeepSeek search and fetch – $0.75 per 1000 successful requests” “the Brave one is the one I use”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “DeepSeek-v4.1-Flash-1017”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Expensive at high volume
“it might cost you a lot of money (using the brave api)”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: My not-for-profit search engine with no ads, no AI, & all DDG bangs” “The issue is that it's expensive.”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “DeepSeek-v4.1-Flash-1017”
Other search APIs people recommend
The four most recommended other search APIs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exa | 33 | 9 | 79% | 10 | — | Approved |
| SerpApi | 16 | 10 | 62% | 8 | — | — |
| Brave Search APIThis page | 15 | 3 | 83% | 7 | — | Approved |
| DeepSeek search API | 15 | 7 | 68% | 1 | — | — |
| Parallel Search API | 12 | 6 | 67% | 4 | — | Approved |
What people said
All 20 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It's literally like, at my volumes, a couple bucks here and there.”
“Exa and tavily #1, brave #2, searx last”
“The issue is that it's expensive.”
“the Brave one is the one I use”
“Brave is the only one I've found that'll let you store their results (in exchange for paying more)”
“really great and imo a better experience than Exa”
“brave has strong general internet coverage, but might not be the best for domain-specific queries like financial research”
“I will stick with the Brave Search API which gives you $5 free every month”
“Brave, Mojeek & Marginalia and EU Search Perspective have certainly been much friendlier to deal with.”
“it isn't the kind of index that could ever replace their Brave / Yandex / SerpAPI dependencies”
“Brave Search's API has a free tier (1000 searches per month).”
“It works well if you connect it the Brave Search API”
“the search they provide (similar to Exa, Tavily) is what makes an "OK LLM" become super smart”
“Pair it with good search skills (Tavily, Brave, Exa)”
“they require a credit card even for that”
“Brave, Exa, and Tavily all offer a free tier for websearch”
“has a generous free search tier for their api makes me think it's possible to replace Google search”
“it works great with OpenClaw”
“it might cost you a lot of money (using the brave api)”
“Exa and Brave haven't clearly solved this yet.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.