Google Custom Search API alternatives · before it shuts down
An API is a way for your code to ask a service for data, and JSON is a plain text format code can read. Google’s Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers, and existing customers have until January 1, 2027 to move.
our pick for you
Our pick
SearchApi wins for Google results in code. Vertex AI Search wins for searching your own sites. Firecrawl wins when you need the text of the pages you find.
- An API is a way for your code to ask another service for data. JSON is the plain text format the answer comes back in.
- Google’s developer page says the Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers. Existing customers have until January 1, 2027 to move.
- Only existing customers still get 100 free queries, or searches, a day, then pay $5 per 1,000, up to 10,000 queries a day.
- SearchApi’s Developer plan is $40 a month for 10,000 searches, which is $4 per 1,000.
- Two jobs used one API. Searching your own sites moves to Vertex AI Search. Searching all of Google moves to a SERP API, a service that returns a search engine results page as data.
Ranked picks
- #1
SearchApitop pickBest for: Developers who called the Custom Search JSON API for Google results and need the same job done.
- From Developer up, it costs less per 1,000 searches than the $5 Google charges existing customers.
- It returns the results Google shows, so your parser, the code that reads the results, keeps the same kind of data.
- #2
Best for: Teams that search so they can read the pages, for an AI model or a research job.
- Search and page reading come back from one call.
- A task is one research job an AI program runs with search. Firecrawl’s $42.57 total per 1,000 tasks is less than Exa and Perplexity, which both scored 80 in the Artificial Analysis test and cost about $65.60 and $70.34.
Compare
| Tool | Price band | Best for | Dealbreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 SearchApi | $40 a month billed monthly. | Developers who called the Custom Search JSON API for Google results and need the same job done. | Its free allowance is 100 requests, or search calls, once, at signup, with no free daily… |
| #2 Firecrawl | From $16 a month yearly. | Teams that search so they can read the pages, for an AI model or a research job. | At 60.1 seconds per task, it was slower than Exa and Perplexity, which both scored 80 in… |
MethodHow we scored these tools▾
Google’s closure dates and limits are from its Custom Search JSON API overview. A task is one research job that an AI program does with search. Search quality, cost per task and time per task are from the Artificial Analysis Search API index, a public test of search APIs, with data from October 19, 2026. A second board, the Vals AI Web Search Index, updated October 21, 2026, tests an AI model and a search tool as a pair.
Who it's for
buy if
- Use this page if you tried to sign up for the Custom Search JSON API and found it closed.
- Use this page if your code calls the API today and you need a replacement before January 1, 2027.
skip if
- Skip this page if you want a search box on your own website with no code. Google’s Programmable Search Engine element still covers that.
The short answer
Google’s API is closed to new customers, so a new buyer has to start somewhere else.
Pick SearchApi if you want Google results in your code, because it does the old API’s job and costs less per 1,000 searches from its Developer plan up.
Pick Vertex AI Search if you only search your own websites.
Pick Firecrawl if you search to read the pages behind the results.
Exa, Perplexity and Tavily also sell search APIs. Web search APIs compares all of them.
The old API did two jobs, and each has a new home
Some teams used the Custom Search JSON API to search a few of their own sites. Google points them to Vertex AI Search, for up to 50 domains, or website names.
Other teams used it to get Google results for any query. That job needs a SERP API, such as SearchApi.
If you are an existing customer, your API keys, the passwords your code uses to call it, keep working until January 1, 2027. Plan the move now and test the new parser, the paging (results sent one page at a time) and error handling (what your code does when a call fails) before the date.
What 30,000 Google searches a month cost
A new buyer can’t price Google at all, because the API is closed to them. SearchApi Production is $100 a month for 35,000 searches, so 30,000 searches a month cost $100.
The math: on October 20, 2026 prices, an existing Google customer running 30,000 queries in a 30-day month gets 100 × 30 = 3,000 free. The other 27,000 cost 27 × $5 = $135 a month. SearchApi Production is $100, so it costs $135 minus $100 = $35 a month less.
At 10,000 queries a month, an existing customer pays for 10,000 minus 3,000 = 7,000, which is 7 × $5 = $35, below SearchApi Developer at $40. That rate ends on January 1, 2027, and new buyers can’t get it.
The cheapest search call isn’t always the cheapest task
On the Artificial Analysis index, an AI agent, a program that works through steps on its own, runs several searches for one task, then reads the results with a model. Firecrawl’s $42.57 per 1,000 tasks includes $12.09 for the model. Price a full task on your own job, alongside the cost per 1,000 searches.
The share of a task’s cost that goes to search depends on the setup. On Artificial Analysis, search was $30.48 of Firecrawl’s $42.57 per 1,000 tasks. On the Vals AI Web Search Index, updated October 21, 2026, with GPT-5.6 Sol and Keenable, search was $0.41 of $8.84 a task.
The math: on Artificial Analysis data from October 19, 2026, $30.48 ÷ $42.57 = about 72% for search with Firecrawl. That share comes from the dollar figures Artificial Analysis published.
The math: on Vals data from October 21, 2026, $0.41 ÷ $8.84 = about 5% for search with GPT-5.6 Sol and Keenable. Vals itself put search at about 5% of that cost in a post on X the same day.
The two boards test different setups, so they name different winners. Artificial Analysis gives 27 search API products the same AI model and the same questions. Vals ranks an AI model and a search tool as a pair, on 450 finance questions and 208 legal tasks. It put GPT-5.6 Sol with Keenable first, and it has not tested Firecrawl, SearchApi or Brave. Before you pick, run a small batch of your own tasks on the AI model you plan to use.
Common questions
Is Google’s Custom Search API being discontinued?▾
Yes. Google’s developer page says the Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers and ends on January 1, 2027.
Can I still sign up for the Custom Search JSON API?▾
No. It is closed to new customers. Existing customers have until January 1, 2027 to move.
What replaces Custom Search for searching my own sites?▾
Google names Vertex AI Search for searching up to 50 domains.
What does SearchApi cost per 1,000 Google searches?▾
SearchApi is $4 per 1,000 searches on Developer and about $3 on Production. Google charges existing customers $5 per 1,000, and new buyers can’t sign up.
Is there a free Google search API?▾
Not for new buyers, because Google’s API is closed to new customers. SearchApi gives 100 free requests once, at signup. Brave’s search API includes $5 of free credit a month, about 1,000 searches, but it returns Brave’s results.
what to do next
What to do next
List every place your code calls the Custom Search JSON API, and mark each call as “my sites” or “all of Google”. For the Google results calls, test SearchApi. For calls where you read the pages, test Firecrawl. For the my-sites calls, move to Vertex AI Search on Google Cloud. Try SearchApi Try Firecrawl Next · Bing Search API alternatives covers the other shutdown · Web search APIs compares Exa, Perplexity and Tavily · SerpApi alternatives compares SERP APIs.