Web search built for AI agents, with 1,000 credits free each month. Tavily is a web search, extract and crawl API built for AI agents and LLM apps. The Researcher plan is free with 1,000 API credits a month and no credit card. Pay As You Go costs $0.008 per credit, and Project is $30 a month for 4,000 credits with higher rate limits. Credits reset on the first day of each month, and requests stop once they run out until the reset or an upgrade. Startups can apply for 100,000 free credits, and students can use it free. G2 shows 4.5 from 3 reviews. Reviewers like how quickly it plugs into an app, and one called it a bit expensive. In Reddit comparisons with Exa and Brave, commenters call Tavily good overall without agreeing on a single winner.
Free tier quotas
Researcher plan
Free, 1,000 API credits a month
Credit card
Not required on Researcher
Support
Email support on Researcher
Reset
Credits reset on the first day of each month
When credits run out
Requests stop until the reset or an upgrade
Startup program
100,000 free API credits
Students
Free for students
Credit use
Credits are consumed per request type (search, extract, crawl)
Last sniffed Oct 8, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+The free plan needs no card. Researcher gives 1,000 credits a month and email support, enough to test an agent before paying.
+Reviewers say it connects fast. A G2 reviewer wrote that it is easy to integrate into their app with quick responses, and another liked the simple API calls that made initial setup smooth.
+Results come back clean. A G2 reviewer who runs searches across hundreds of thousands of companies said Tavily returns concise, relevant results without noise.
+It grounds model answers. A G2 reviewer uses it to ground LLM answers with information from the internet.
+Commenters rate its accuracy. In an r/LocalLLaMA thread, a commenter said Tavily, Firecrawl's web search and Scrapingdog land within 2 to 3 percent of each other, with Tavily ahead.
+An r/Rag commenter said tavily is good overall, with Exa best for speed and Linkup best for quality and accuracy. That is one person's ranking.
+Pay As You Go is priced per credit at $0.008, with Project at $30 a month for 4,000 credits as the bundled option.
+Programs reduce cost for some people. The pricing page lists 100,000 free credits for startups and free access for students.
+G2 reviewers list LangChain and Google Cloud Console as tools they use with it.
👎 Watch out
−Cost is the complaint in G2. One reviewer wrote that it is a bit expensive and asked about a bundled package, though another G2 reviewer called the pricing structure budget-friendly.
−There is a hard stop. When credits run out, the pricing page says requests stop until the monthly reset or an upgrade, so a busy agent needs a paid plan or a spending plan.
−Cost per request varies. The pricing page says credits are consumed per request type for search, extract and crawl, so a monthly credit count does not map to a fixed number of calls. I did not capture the exact credits for each type.
−A G2 reviewer said limited visibility into new endpoints can slow down exploring additional use cases.
−Token cost sits on top. An r/AI_Agents poster who measured 13 search APIs argued that the per-request price is only part of the cost, because your model then bills again to read the payload. That is the poster's framing from a search excerpt.
−Other tools win some queries. An r/vectordatabase poster comparing Exa, Tavily and Firecrawl recommended Exa for abstract or exploratory queries. The excerpt cuts off, so read the full thread before you decide.
−The review base is thin. G2 has 3 reviews, and my search found no Capterra or Trustpilot listing for Tavily.
−The comparisons I found are Reddit posts, so treat them as anecdotes and test on your own queries.
The catch
Researcher gives you 1,000 API credits a month for free, with no credit card and email support. Credits reset on the first day of each month. When they run out, requests stop until the reset or until you upgrade.
Paid use is by credit. Pay As You Go is $0.008 per credit. Project is $30 a month for 4,000 credits, set by a slider on the page, and adds higher rate limits. Enterprise is custom. A search, an extract and a crawl each use credits, and the page shows how many per request type. I did not capture those counts, so check the page before you budget. A startup program offers 100,000 free API credits, and the page says it is free for students.
I did not find terms that allow or restrict commercial use of the free credits, so commercial use is unknown. Your own model costs come on top: an r/AI_Agents poster who compared 13 search APIs argued that reading the returned payload is billed separately by your model provider.
What’s included
✓Web search API for agents
✓Content extraction
✓Site crawling
✓Monthly credit allowance
✓Pay As You Go credits
✓Higher rate limits on Project
✓Startup program with 100,000 free credits
✓Free access for students
✓LangChain use reported by reviewers
✓Enterprise custom plan
Free tier value
Generosity
B
Estimated value
1,000 free credits a month; paid credits at $0.008 each or $30 a month for 4,000
Feature parity
Researcher includes email support. Project adds credits and rate limits. Enterprise is custom.
Screenshots
HomepagePricing page
Paid plans
Pay As You Go, $0.008 per credit
Priced per credit at $0.008.
Project, $30 a month for 4,000 credits
Set by a slider on the page. Adds higher rate limits than Researcher.
Enterprise, custom
Custom quote. Contact Tavily for details.
Common questions
Is Tavily free?
Yes, the Researcher plan includes 1,000 API credits a month with no credit card. Credits reset on the first day of each month.
What happens when I run out of credits?
The pricing page says requests stop until the monthly reset or until you upgrade.
How much do extra credits cost?
$0.008 per credit on Pay As You Go. Project is $30 a month for 4,000 credits.
Is there a startup discount?
The pricing page lists a startup program with 100,000 free API credits and says Tavily is free for students.
How many credits does one request use?
It depends on the request type. The pricing page lists credit use for search, extract and crawl, so check it for the current counts.
How does it compare with Exa or Brave Search?
Reddit commenters disagree. One said Tavily is good overall and Exa is best for speed, and another benchmark poster recommended Exa for abstract or exploratory queries. Test it on your own queries.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
Pricing page lists Researcher free with 1,000 credits, Pay As You Go at $0.008 and Project at $30 for 4,000 credits. G2 shows 4.5 from 3 reviews.
