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Brave Search API

api-dashboard.search.brave.com/app/subscriptions/subscribeSearch APIcrawler-scraper/brave-searchJSONcomparereport an errorprovider JSON

Free allowance
USD 5 of free credits every month, applied automatically; Search is priced at USD 5.00 per 1,000 requests, so the credit covers about 1,000 Search requests a month
Verdict
fails: identitythe identity required is not reachable without it
Cost
free tier
Identity
cardcard required, no phone
Binding limit
request-rateSearch 50 requests per second and Answers 2 requests per second, drawn from a monthly credit of USD 5; a 1-second sliding window counts requests per plan, beside a monthly window; a request over the limit answers 429
Evidence
documented21 sources; a first-party page was read and the sentence quoted
Freshness
stale on 2026-12-03checked 2026-11-02 (live); stale on 2026-12-03
Free tierUSD 5 of free credits every month, applied automatically; Search is priced at USD 5.00 per 1,000 requests, so the credit covers about 1,000 Search requests a month
unit requests; metered on request-count; no standalone free plan exists: each plan carries its own USD 5 monthly credit, reached by activating the plan with a card and setting the prepay amount to USD 0
Pricenone stated
Limits
  • request-rate (binding) Search 50 requests per second and Answers 2 requests per second, drawn from a monthly credit of USD 5 source
  • request-rate (binding) a 1-second sliding window counts requests per plan, beside a monthly window; a request over the limit answers 429 source
Bindingrequest-rate the monthly USD 5 credit, about 1,000 Search requests, is spent long before 50 requests per second binds
Identitycard an email address and a password open the account, and a credit card is asked at the second step, when a plan is activated; the card is checked with a USD 0 or USD 1 hold that is refunded, some cards fail that check, and on a prepaid plan the service pauses when the balance reaches USD 0; the product FAQ answers 'Why do you ask for a credit card?' with 'To prevent abuse'
Egressnot applicable
Per-object capnot applicable: the unit is a query
Retentioncredit resets monthly
Interfacerest REST search API, 50 QPS on search, 2 QPS on answers
Toolingnot stated
Composes withnot established
Reliabilityno reliability event recorded
NotesThe signup gate is the whole finding: the allowance is real, a credit card is asked when a plan is activated, no standalone free plan exists, and a call without an API key is refused.
Evidence notedocumented free tier, capacity and the card requirement quoted from first-party pages; the quickstart places the card at plan activation, after an account that needs an email address and a password
Parsed numbers
  • has-free-tier 1
  • request-rate 50 requests
Evidence 21
datesourcewhat it proved
2026-10-22api-dashboard.search.brave.com/app/subscriptions/subscribe409 from the reader: the page is behind an authenticated dashboard and could not be read
2026-10-30api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/pricingthe Search plan includes USD 5 of free credits every month, at USD 5.00 per 1,000 requests
2026-10-30api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/pricingSearch capacity is 50 requests per second; the Answers plan on the same page states 2 requests per second
2026-10-30api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/guides/rate-lima 1-second sliding window counts requests per plan; the same page states that an over-limit request answers 429 and that plans also carry a monthly window
2026-10-30brave.com/search/api/the FAQ entry 'Why do you ask for a credit card?' answers that a card is asked to prevent abuse and only bought prepaid credits are charged
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/resources/help-the plan activation runs a credit card check with a USD 0 or USD 1 hold even when the prepay amount is USD 0
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/quickstartthe card is entered at the second step, plan activation, after the account exists
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/resources/help-no standalone free plan exists; each plan carries its own USD 5 monthly credit
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/quickstartthe quickstart lists a credit card as a prerequisite to activate a plan
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/quickstartan account is created with an email address and a password, confirmed by a link sent to the address
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/resources/help-the USD 0 or USD 1 hold on the card is refunded at once
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/resources/help-some cards fail the card check and the FAQ points to a Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/resources/help-on a prepaid plan the service pauses when the balance reaches USD 0
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/quickstartevery request to the REST API carries the API key in the X-Subscription-Token header
2026-11-01probe: https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search?q=testa GET to the search endpoint without an API key answers HTTP 422
2026-11-01probe: https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search?q=testthe 422 answer names the missing header x-subscription-token as a required field
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/pricingthe Search plan capacity is 50 requests per second
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/pricingthe Answers plan capacity is 2 requests per second
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/guides/rate-limpart of the text of Limits, above
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/resources/help-the free monthly credit is replaced each month and not carried over
2026-11-01api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/pricingthe Search plan includes USD 5 of free credits every month
Unknown values 3
  • egress terms: the field does not apply to this kind of offer
  • reliability note: nothing of this kind was observed
  • tooling: a source was read and is silent on this field