Parallel

parallel.ai/pricingSearch APIcrawler-scraper/parallelJSON compare report an error provider JSON

Free allowance: USD 5 in free credits each month for an organization with a credit card on file, covering up to 5,000 Search API requests
Verdict: caveatusable, with a named limit or an unprobed read path
Cost: free tier
Identity: cardcard required, no phone
Binding limit: request-rateup to 5,000 requests a month free as a USD 5 monthly credit; Search API 600 requests a minute and Task API 2,000 a minute by default
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 tier	USD 5 in free credits each month for an organization with a credit card on file, covering up to 5,000 Search API requests unit requests; metered on request-count; the pricing page also offers up to USD 80 in credits at signup, with USD 5 in free credits a month
Price	none stated
Limits	request-rate (binding) up to 5,000 requests a month free as a USD 5 monthly credit; Search API 600 requests a minute and Task API 2,000 a minute by default source
Binding	request-rate the monthly USD 5 credit, up to 5,000 Search requests, is spent long before 600 requests a minute binds
Identity	card the USD 5 monthly credit goes only to an organization with a credit card on file, one card activates it for one organization, and usage past USD 5 is billed to that card, with monthly spend limits that email the organization's admins and never block requests; an account opens with an email address or a Google account, and the vendor states a card is needed only for the monthly credit, so the signup credit of up to USD 80 and the hosted MCP server at mcp.parallel.ai/mcp need none; what sets the signup amount is unverified: behind a sign-up
Egress	not applicable
Retention	a new USD 5 credit each month; unused balance expires at the end of the month
Interface	rest REST Task, Search, Extract, Responses, Monitor and Find All APIs
Tooling	not stated
Composes with	not established
Reliability	no reliability event recorded
Notes	The monthly credit needs a card on file. A hosted MCP server at mcp.parallel.ai/mcp serves web_search, web_fetch and web_decisions free with no API key at lower rate limits, a separate keyless route.
Evidence note	documented free tier, rate limits and the card condition quoted from first-party pages; the vendor states a card is needed only for the monthly credit; what sets the signup credit amount, up to USD 80, is behind a sign-up
Parsed numbers	has-free-tier 1 request-rate 5000 requests / month

Evidence 21

date	source	what it proved
2026-10-22	parallel.ai/pricing	Run up to 5,000 requests per month for free; Search API latency 200 ms to 3 s
2026-10-30	parallel.ai/blog/free-tier-parallel	the USD 5 monthly credit goes to an organization with a credit card; one card activates one organization; usage past USD 5 is billed to the card; USD 5 covers up to 5,000 Search requests
2026-10-30	parallel.ai/pricing	up to USD 80 in credits at signup and USD 5 in free credits a month
2026-10-30	parallel.ai/blog/free-tier-parallel	a new credit arrives each month and unused balance expires at month end
2026-10-30	parallel.ai/pricing	up to 5,000 requests a month free; the same page lists 600 requests a minute for Search and 2,000 for Task
2026-10-30	docs.parallel.ai/integrations/mcp/quickstart	the hosted MCP server serves web_search, web_fetch and web_decisions free with no API key, at lower rate limits
2026-10-30	docs.parallel.ai/resources/rate-limits	the default Search quota is 600 requests a minute, counted per POST to /v1/search
2026-11-01	parallel.ai/pricing	the pricing page names the metered plan that carries the USD 5 monthly credit Pay as you go
2026-11-01	parallel.ai/articles/best-free-web-search-api	the vendor's comparison table states the hosted MCP server needs no account, up to USD 80 is earned at signup, and a card is needed only for the monthly credit
2026-11-01	platform.parallel.ai/signup	the platform sign-up page offers sign-up with an email address or with a Google account
2026-11-01	docs.parallel.ai/resources/faqs	monthly spend limits email the organization's admins and never block requests
2026-11-01	parallel.ai/blog/free-tier-parallel	the unused part of the monthly credit expires at the end of the month
2026-11-01	parallel.ai/pricing	the pricing page states up to 5,000 requests a month free
2026-11-01	docs.parallel.ai/resources/rate-limits	the default Search quota is 600 requests a minute, counted per POST to /v1/search
2026-11-01	docs.parallel.ai/resources/rate-limits	the default Task quota is 2,000 runs a minute
2026-11-01	docs.parallel.ai/integrations/mcp/quickstart	the hosted MCP server at mcp.parallel.ai/mcp serves web_search, web_fetch and web_decisions free with no API key, at lower rate limits
2026-11-01	parallel.ai/articles/best-free-web-search-mcp	the vendor states it does not publish the anonymous rate limit of the hosted MCP server
2026-11-01	probe: `https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp`	a GET to the hosted MCP endpoint without credentials answers HTTP 405: the route takes POST
2026-11-01	probe: `https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp?login`	a GET to the key-gated /mcp?login endpoint without credentials answers HTTP 401
2026-11-01	probe: `https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp?login`	the /mcp?login endpoint answers that it needs a Parallel API key or a sign-in
2026-11-01	parallel.ai/blog/free-tier-parallel	the USD 5 monthly credit goes to each eligible organization with a credit card

Unknown values 4

egress terms: the field does not apply to this kind of offer
per object cap stated: 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