· Web grounding/ What it knows

Brave Search API

Brave Search API is a web grounding option for building AI agents. Independent web index with straightforward per-query pricing.

Proprietary · freemium · hosted service only · by Brave · verified 2026-08-21

Official docsAdd to a stackAll web grounding options
· When to reach for it/ Fit
  • You are choosing a web grounding component — what it knows.
  • You are happy to depend on a hosted service and would rather not operate this yourself.
· What it takes to run/ Setup
Environment
BRAVE_API_KEY=
· Brave Search API vs the alternatives/ 4 others
OptionWhat it doesLicenceSelf-host
Brave Search APIIndependent web index with straightforward per-query pricing.ProprietaryNo
ExaEmbeddings-native web search built for agents, with full-content retrieval.ProprietaryNo
TavilySearch API that returns model-ready answers rather than ten blue links.ProprietaryNo
FirecrawlTurns any site into clean markdown, including the JavaScript-heavy ones.Open sourceYes
SearXNGSelf-hosted metasearch. No third-party search vendor in the path.Open sourceYes
· For agents/ This page, machine-readable

Every page here answers to Accept: text/markdown and returns the same content at roughly a tenth the tokens. No separate site, no toggle — same URL.

curl -s -H "Accept: text/markdown" https://newagent.build/c/brave-search