Notes
Last Updated: 2026-07-16
Google’s Custom Search JSON API is being discontinued, requiring developers to migrate to other search services. This page provides a factual comparison of currently available API alternatives without recommending a particular product.
Google’s Custom Search JSON API has long been used to access web search results programmatically. With its discontinuation, developers need to evaluate alternative services based on their characteristics, capabilities, and intended use.
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Search API | Operates its own web search index and provides search results through an API. |
| SERP API | Returns results from existing search engines through a commercial API service. |
| AI Search API | Optimized for AI agents and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), rather than exhaustive web search. |
| Enterprise / Site Search | Searches a predefined set of websites or enterprise content rather than the public web. |
| API | Provider | Category | Own Search Index | Public Web Search | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Custom Search JSON API | Search API | Yes | Existing customers only until 2027-01-01. | ||
| Brave Search API | Brave | Search API | Brave | Yes | Uses Brave’s independent search index. |
| SerpAPI | SerpAPI | SERP API | No | Yes | Provides search engine results through a commercial API. |
| Serper.dev | Serper.dev | SERP API | No | Yes | Google SERP API service. |
| DataForSEO SERP API | DataForSEO | SERP API | No | Yes | Enterprise-oriented SERP APIs. |
| Bright Data SERP API | Bright Data | SERP API | No | Yes | Large-scale SERP and web data platform. |
| Tavily | Tavily | AI Search API | Proprietary | Partial | Designed for AI retrieval workflows. |
| Exa | Exa | AI Search API | Proprietary | Partial | Semantic search API for AI applications. |
| Vertex AI Search | Enterprise / Site Search | No (general web) | Intended for enterprise and site search rather than unrestricted public web search. |