List of 20+ Search APIs You Can Use Right Now

What is a Search API?

An API is a service that provides a set of sub-routines, functions, and procedures that application software can call to perform a specific task.

A search API is a service that offers an API whose underlying features involve seeking through various data for a specific piece of data as instructed by application software.

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The search can be conducted locally on the machine that the application software is running on, or remotely on data in a device connected to the local computer through media such as on the Internet.

Some of the more popular APIs you’ll find on the web include the (now deprecated) Google web search API and Elasticsearch API.

List of Top Search APIs

Here is a list of some of the top search and search-related APIs available on RapidAPI we thought were worth mentioning:

1. Flixsearch

This is an API that allows you to search Netflix videos available around the world.

Endpoint examples

• Newest – returns newest Netflix movies
• Movie Cast – retrieves the cast of the Netflix movie by ID
• Movie Seasons & Episodes – retrives all the seasons and episodes data for a Netflix show

How to get an API Key

No API key needed from Flixsearch.

Once you subscribe to a pricing plan, all you need is your RapidAPI’s API Key (X-Mashape-Key).

2. Search by WebKnox

The WebKnox Search API allows you to search WebKnox web and news results from their database.

Endpoint Examples

• Image Search – search for images on WebKnox
• Web Search – search for web results based on your query

API Pricing

• Basic – free usage up to 10 calls/day
• Pro – $19.00 for 100 calls/day
• Ultra – $99.00 for 1,000 calls/day
• Mega – $499.00 for 8,000 calls/day

3. Email Search

The Email Search API by EmailSherlock allows you to perform a reverse email search based on your query.

You can use this API to identify the owner of unknown email senders.

Endpoint examples

This API has one endpoint:

EmailSherlock – input an email address to do a reverse email search

How to get an API key

No API key needed from EmailSherlock – only the RapidAPI key (X-Mashape-Key).

API Pricing

This API has 3 tiers:

• Basic – Free to use plan up to 5,000 calls/month
• Pro – $49.00 for 50,000 calls/month
• Ultra – $99.99 for unlimited API calls

4. Domainr

The Domainr API provides instant domain searches.

Endpoint examples

• /v2/search – searches domains based on input
• /v2/status – checks the domain’s availability

How to Get an API Key

With RapidAPI, you don’t need a Domainr API Key, just the RapidAPI key (X-Mashape-Key) found in your account.

API Pricing

The Domainr API is free to use up to 10,000 monthly API calls. Every API call after will cost $0.002/call.

5. Cloudsight

The Cloudsight API is an image recognition software that also offers reverse image search.

It also powers the visual search engine app, CamFind.

Endpoint examples

• Image Request – upload an image to be identified
• Image Response – retrieves result of identified image

How to Get an API Key
None needed with RapidAPI – just need the RapidAPI key found with your account.

API Pricing

• Basic – $0.00 for 500 calls/month
• Pro – $249.00 for 2,500 calls/month
• Ultra – $599.00 for 10,000 calls/month
• Mega – $1,999.00 for 50,000 calls/month

6. Microsoft Academic Search

Microsoft’s Academic Search API is a semantic search API that provides highly relevant results from academic-specific content within their database of 120 Million (120,000,000) publications.

Endpoint examples

• calcHistogram – Calculate the distribution of attribute values for a set of paper entities.
• getIntepretation – Takes an end user query string and returns formatted interpretations of user intent based on the Academic Graph data and the Academic Grammar.
• graphSearch– Query entities that meet certain criteria (e.g. find a paper with a given title) and perform pattern matching via graph exploration.

How to Get an API Key

1. Subscribe to the Microsoft Text Analytics API on the Microsoft Azure portal.
2. Click the create button.
3. Under Settings->Credentials, you will see apiKey (Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key)

7. Google Books

The Google Books API is a search API that searches for books that Google has scanned and converted to text before storing in its digital database.
Endpoint examples

• addVolumeToBookshelf – adds a specified volume to a bookshelf
• getAccessToken – returns the AccessToken
• getBookshelf – returns a specific Bookshelf resource for the specified user

How to Get an API Key
A user registers his/her application using the Google API Console. The user is then provided with a client ID and a client secret. Upon receiving the client ID and client secret, the user activates GoogleBooks API from within the Google API Console.

8. GeoRanker

GeoRanker is among the best search APIs for acquiring real-time data on search engine optimization by location.
Endpoint examples

• createReport – creates a new report
• deleteSingleMonitor – delete the monitor
• getApiChangeLog – read the API ChangeLog

How to Get an API Key
To acquire an API key, one has to visit the GeoRanker website.
API Pricing
This API offers a free trial period, which on expiration requires a client to choose a plan from a list of the following methods:

• Free account – 500 monthly credits, Rank Tracker Tool, HeatMap Tool, Monitor Evaluation and top 30 results.
• Professionals – at $99.00 per month, one gets 5,000 monthly credits, top 100 results, and real-time data. Targeted at professional businesses.
• Agencies – at $249.00 per month, one gets 50,000 monthly credits, top 100 results, and real-time data. Targeted at agencies and consultants.
• Enterprises – at $490.00 per month, one gets 120,000 monthly credists, top 100 results, and real-time data. Targeted at enterprises and large teams.

9. Eventful

Eventful API helps in searching for events and venues on Eventful’s local event database.
Endpoint examples

• addEventCategory – add a category to an event
• addEventProperty – add a property to an event
• adventure – add a URL to an event

How to Get an API Key

1. Create a new Eventful API account
2. Navigate to application key button located under the ‘Get Started’ section

10. SERPs Keyword Ranking

AuthoritasSERPs Keyword Ranking API provides keyword rankings, PPC data and search engine rankings.
Endpoint examples

• createSERPsJob – creates a new job to be processed
• getSERPsJob – returns information about an existing situation

How to Get an API Key

1. Visit Authoritas website
2. Create an account
3. Upgrade the account
4. Send an email to support to get API keys

API Pricing
There are three plans on offer: eCommerce, Enterprise, and Agency.

For eCommerce, there are four options to choose from:

• Niche at $269 per month – allows up to 5 sites, three users, 1000 keywords, 125000 pages, 150000 backlinks.
• National at $539 per month – allows up to 10 sites, five users, 2000 keywords, 250000 pages, 300000 backlinks.
• Enterprise at $939 per month – allows up to 20 sites, 20 users, 6000 keywords, 500000 pages, 600000 backlinks.
• MNEs at $2009 per month – allows up to 40 sites, an unlimited number of users, 14000 keywords, 1,000,000 pages, 1,500,000 backlinks.

For Enterprise, there are four options to choose from:

• Niche at $269 per month – allows up to 5 sites, three users, 1000 keywords, 125000 pages, 150000 backlinks.
• National at $539 per month – allows up to 10 sites, five users, 2000 keywords, 250000 pages, 300000 backlinks.
• Enterprise at $939 per month – allows up to 20 sites, 20 users, 6,00 keywords, 500000 pages, 600000 backlinks.
• MNEs at $2009 per month – allows up to 40 sites, an unlimited number of users, 14000 keywords, 1,000,000 pages, 1,500,000 backlinks.

For Agency, there are four options to choose from:

• Specialist at $139 per month – allows up to 5 sites, three users, 500 keywords, 125000 pages, 125000 backlinks.
• Growing at $399 per month – allows up to 30 sites, seven users, 3000 keywords, 300000 pages, 300000 backlinks.
• Established at $869 per month – allows up to 75 sites, 20 users, 7500 keywords, 750000 pages, 750000 backlinks.
• Top Tier at $1739 per month – allows up to 125 sites, an unlimited number of users, 25000 keywords, 1,500,000 pages, 1,250,000 backlinks.

11. Bing Web Search

Bing Web Search API embeds Bing search results into apps.
Endpoint examples

• advancedSearch – returns a list of relevant data
• searchImage – returns a list of related images
• searchNews – returns a list of related news

How to Get an API Key

1. Create or log in to a Microsoft account.
2. Create a new subscription by choosing ‘Bing Search – Preview.’
3. Navigate to the Key section and choose either of Key1 or Key2

API Pricing
There’s an option for a free trial, after which one can choose from a choice of 8 different tiers.

• S1 tier at $7 per 1000 transactions. APIs included: Bing Web Search, Bing Image Search, Bing News Search, Bing Video Search, Bing Entity Search.
• S2 tier at $3 per 1000 transactions. APIs included: Bing Web Search.
• S3 tier at $4 per 1000 transactions. APIs included: Bing Web Search, Bing Image Search.
• S4 tier at $4 per 1000 transactions. APIs included: Bing Web Search, Bing Video Search.
• S5 tier at $4 per 1000 transactions. APIs included: Bing Web Search, Bing News Search.
• S6 tier at $4 per 1000 transactions. APIs included: Bing Web Search, Bing Entity Search.
• S7 tier at $5 per 1000 transactions. APIs included: Bing Web Search, Bing Image Search, Bing Video Search
• S8 tier at $6 per 1000 transactions. APIs included: Bing Web Search, Bing Image Search, Bing News Search, Bing Video Search.

If you’re looking for other News APIs, click here.

12. Bing Auto Suggest

Another Bing API that returns suggestions for a requested query or search.

Endpoint examples

There’s only one endpoint for Bing Autosuggest: getSuggestions – returns suggestions based on your input.

13. WolframAlpha

This WolframAlpha API enables a user to get search results from the Wolfram|Alpha computational knowledge engine.
Endpoint examples

• createQuery – creates a query for Wolfram|Alpha

How to Get an API Key

Visit the Wolfram|Alpha website to acquire an API key.

API Pricing

• Simple API – $25 per 1000 queries
• Short Answers API – $25 per 1000 queries
• Spoken Results API – $25 per 1000 queries
• Full Results API – $50 per 1000 queries
• Fast Query Recognizer API – contact Wolfram|Alpha for pricing information
• Summary Boxes API – $25 per 1000 queries
• Instant Calculator API – $25 per 1000 queries
• Show Steps API – $100 per 1000 queries

14. Algolia

Algolia API adds search functionality with autocomplete, and instant results display to apps.

Endpoint examples

• addGlobalApiKey – adds a new global API key
• addIndexSpecificApiKey – adds a new key that can access to this index
• batchObjectsWrite – performs multiple write operations in a single API call

How to Get an API Key

1. Log in to the Algolia Dashboard
2. Navigate to the Keys section
3. Use applicationID as appId and Admin API Key as apiKey

API Pricing

• There’s an option for a free trial, after which a user needs to purchase one of the paid plans.
• PLUS plan at $479 per month: 1 million records, 5 million indexing operations, API and extension support, 30-day analytics and insight, granular user permissions.
• BUSINESS plan at $3499 per month: advanced faceting, personalized search results, custom synonyms, developer support, 90-day analytics and insight, custom QPS, 99.9% SLA, sandbox environment.
• ENTERPRISE plan: dedicated infrastructure, advanced engine optimizations, offline search, dedicated guidance and support, 365-day analytics and insight, optional 99.9% SLA, custom QPS, advanced security, and compliance. For pricing, contact Algolia.

15. Yelp API

The Yelp API helps in accessing local business data from the Yelp database.
Endpoint examples

• getBusinessReviews – returns up to three reviews of a business
• getSingleBusiness – returns detailed information regarding a business
• getSingleEvent – returns detailed knowledge of a Yelp event

How to Get an API Key

1. Sign up or log in to Yelp
2. Navigate to Create App
3. Fill out a form about your app
4. Agree to Yelp API Terms of Use

API Pricing
The Yelp API is open and free for default access (5000 API calls per 24 hours, resetting every midnight UTC). There’s an additional rate that’s provided on a case-by-case basis when one exceeds the default limit.

16. BestBuy

The Best Buy API has a search feature that allows you to search for specific products within their database.

Endpoint examples

• getAllOpenBox – returns any available Open Box offers
• getProductBySearchQuery – gives access to the full Best Buy catalog
• getAllCategories – returns all Best Buy product categories.

How to Get an API Key

To get an API key, visit Best Buy and sign up with your email address.

17. FAROO Web Search

Faroo offers a free search API on RapidAPI.com, which includes:

• Web Search
• News Search
• Trending News
• Trending Topics
• and Suggestions (autocomplete)

Endpoint examples

There is only one endpoint: web which allows you to search the FAROO database.

API Pricing

This API is free to use on RapidAPI.com.

18. 3taps Search

The 3taps Search API allows you to search their database of postings from a specific data source, category or location.

Endpoint examples

• Search – search the 3taps database

20. Twitter Search API

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The Twitter API has a Search endpoint that allows you to search for tweets based on a query.

You can also use this API to:

• Retweet other tweets
• Retweet and edit the tweet
• Send out a tweet

20. Crunchbase API

The Crunchbase API is now available on RapidAPI’s marketplace.

Crunchbase allows you to search and find company data including:

• Acquisitions
• Funding rounds
• People
• Locations
• Organizations
• and more!

Integrate this API into your application today for free unlimited calls to ODM requests!

Summary: Best Web Search APIs

Do you agree with our list of the top Search and Search Engine APIs? What do you think is the best Search API that is missing from this blog post? Let us know in the comments below.