Vibe-coded apps — built fast with AI assistance, shipped in a weekend — need search APIs that are cheap, simple, and have generous free tiers. An r/sideprojects user reported spending $10/wk on Tavily for their side project. That is $520/year for search in an app that might not make revenue yet. Five APIs ranked for cost-conscious indie developers.
Top Pick
Scavio's 250 free credits/mo and $0.005/credit pricing is built for side projects. At $10/wk Tavily spend, the same queries on Scavio cost roughly $6.50/wk.
Full Ranking
#1Our Pick
Scavio
Multi-platform search for indie apps at lowest cost
Pros
- 250 free credits/mo covers MVP testing
- Google + YouTube + Reddit from one key
- $0.005/credit vs Tavily's $0.008
- MCP for AI-powered apps
Cons
- Newer, less community examples than Tavily
- 500 free vs Serper's 2,500 free
#2
Serper
Most generous free tier for Google-only apps
Pros
- 2,500 free queries (most generous)
- $0.30/1K at volume
- Simple API
Cons
- Google only
- No YouTube/Reddit/Amazon
- No agent framework integrations
#3
Tavily
LangChain apps with AI search
Pros
- 1K free/mo
- LangChain-native
- Clean JSON
Cons
- $0.008/credit adds up ($10/wk at moderate use)
- Web only
- Nebius ownership change
#4
Brave Search API
Privacy-conscious indie apps
Pros
- ~1K free/mo
- Own search index
- Privacy brand
Cons
- Web only
- No agent integrations
- Less structured data
#5
Exa
Semantic search for research apps
Pros
- 1K free/mo
- Neural search
- Content extraction included
Cons
- $7/1K is expensive at scale
- Different from keyword search
- Not for SERP-shaped apps
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Scavio | Runner-up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 250/mo | 2,500/mo (Serper) | 1K/mo (Tavily) |
| Per-query cost | $0.005 | $0.001 at volume (Serper) | $0.008 (Tavily) |
| Platforms | 5 (Google, YouTube, Reddit, Amazon, Walmart) | 1 (Google) | 1 (Web) |
| Weekly cost at moderate use | ~$6.50 | ~$1.30 (Serper) | ~$10 (Tavily) |
Why Scavio Wins
- Serper has the most generous free tier at 2,250 queries/mo. For Google-only apps at low volume, Serper is effectively free and cheaper than any paid tier.
- Tavily at $0.008/credit costs ~60% more per query than Scavio. The r/sideprojects user spending $10/wk would save ~35% switching to Scavio for the same volume.
- Scavio's multi-platform advantage matters for apps that search YouTube, Reddit, or Amazon — one key covers all. For Google-only apps, Serper is cheaper.
- The vibe-coded app priority order: free tier size (testing), per-query cost (scaling), platform coverage (features). Rank these based on your app's stage.