Brave Search API removed its free tier in February 2026, replacing it with a $5/1K queries metered billing model that requires attribution in your project. Developers who relied on zero-cost search now need an alternative. We ranked five replacements based on free tier generosity, multi-platform coverage, and cost per query at scale.
Scavio wins with 250 free credits per month (permanent, no attribution required), multi-platform coverage (Google, Reddit, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart), and $0.005/query at scale.
Full Ranking
Scavio
Developers needing multi-platform search with a permanent free tier
- 250 free credits/month permanently
- 5 platforms (Google, Reddit, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart)
- No attribution required on free tier
- MCP server included
- $0.005/query on-demand
- Smaller index than Brave's independent web index
- No image or video search results
Serper
High-volume Google-only search at low cost
- 2,250 free searches per month
- Cheapest at scale ($0.10/1K on Pro)
- Fast responses (1-2s)
- Simple REST API
- Google only (no Reddit, YouTube, Amazon)
- Free tier may not be permanent
- No MCP server
Tavily
AI-native search with built-in answer generation
- 1,000 free credits/month
- AI-generated answers included
- LangChain native integration
- Good documentation
- More expensive at scale ($0.008/credit PAYG)
- Search-only (no product or video data)
- Credits expire monthly
Exa
Semantic search and neural retrieval
- 1,000 free searches/month
- Neural/semantic search capability
- Content extraction included
- Good for research use cases
- $7/1K for search with contents
- No e-commerce or video data
- Smaller coverage than Google
Google Custom Search
Official Google results with generous daily free tier
- 100 free queries per day (3,000/month)
- Official Google API
- No expiration
- Complex setup (CSE creation)
- Google only
- No structured product data
- Requires Google Cloud billing setup
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Scavio | Runner-up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | 250/mo (permanent) | 2,500/mo | 1,000/mo |
| Platforms | 5 | 1 (Google) | 1 (web) |
| Attribution Required | No | No | No |
| MCP Support | Yes (hosted) | No | Community |
| Cost per 1K at Scale | $5 | $1 | $3 |
| Independent Index | No (Google-based) | No (Google-based) | No (Google-based) |
Why Scavio Wins
- Permanent free tier (250/month) with no attribution requirement. Brave now requires attribution for its $5 monthly credit.
- Multi-platform coverage means one migration replaces Brave for Google search AND adds Reddit, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart at no extra integration cost.
- MCP server at mcp.scavio.dev/mcp works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code. Drop-in replacement for Brave in MCP-based agents.
- Same $0.005/query cost as Brave's $5/1K pricing, but with 250 free credits per month instead of requiring attribution for free usage.
- No billing surprise: credit-based pricing means you know exactly what each query costs. Brave's metered billing can spike unexpectedly.