Tavily

Search APIs

Tavily is a search API built for AI agents. It returns short text from web pages, ready to hand to an AI model.

The verdict

Tavily is the pick for small AI agents that need search plus ready text. Project is $30 a month for 4,000 credits. A basic search costs 1 credit and an advanced search costs 2.

If you need Google's own results, SearchApi costs less. If you read many full pages, Firecrawl costs less.

Read the verdict before you buy. Skip anything that only looks good in a demo.

Best for

Teams building a small AI agent that needs web search and ready text in one call.

Not for

Skip it if you need Google's exact results or read many full pages a month.

Pricing truth

From $30 a month. Project is $30 for 4,000 credits. Bootstrap is $100 for 15,000. Startup is $220 for 38,000. Growth is $500 for 100,000. Pay as you go is $0.008 a credit. The free plan gives 1,000 credits a month. Checked October 14, 2026.

When we use it

Give a chat agent fresh web answers without writing your own page reader.
Run a few thousand searches a month on the $30 Project plan.
Pull the text of a list of web pages with basic extract, at 1 credit per 5 pages that work.
Test it on the free 1,000 credits a month before you pay.

How to wire it

Start on the free 1,000 credits and test basic search first.
Count your searches for a normal week, then multiply by four.
Use advanced search only where basic answers fall short, because it costs 2 credits.
Pick the plan that covers a normal month, and let pay as you go cover a busy one.

Margin notes

Basic extract costs 1 credit per 5 pages that work. Advanced extract costs 2 credits per 5.
Failed extracts cost nothing.
The math on Project: $30 ÷ 4,000 = $0.0075 a credit.
The math on Growth: $500 ÷ 100,000 = $0.005 a credit.
A map lists the pages on a site and costs 1 credit per 10 pages.