AI search and web reading
Search the web and read pages as clean text for AI agents
AI search APIs find and read web pages for an AI agent or your own app: they return search results, page text as clean Markdown or extracted facts instead of raw HTML. Use them to give a language model current information or to build research tools. Free plans have a monthly or daily request limit.
Jina Reader
Jina Reader turns any web page into clean, readable text for AI models and other software: put r.jina.ai/ in front of a URL and get the page content as Markdown, without menus, ads and scripts. A second endpoint, s.jina.ai, ...
Tavily Search API
Tavily is a web search API made for AI agents and apps: send a question and get relevant, up-to-date search results with clean content snippets, and optionally a short generated answer, ready to use in an AI prompt. Other ...
Compare the AI search and web reading APIs
| Service | API key | Formats | Free use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jina Reader | Not needed | – | Free without an API key at a lower rate limit per IP address; a new free API key comes with 10 million free tokens and higher limits. |
| Tavily Search API | Needed, free | JSON | Free plan with 1,000 API credits per month and no credit card needed; paid plans for more. |
Questions
Which free AI search and web reading APIs work without an API key?
Jina Reader works without a key, according to its documentation. Most keyless services ask you to keep the number of requests reasonable, and some ask for a User-Agent that names your app.
Are these AI search and web reading APIs really free?
The services here can be used without paying, at least on a free plan or free tier, often with limits such as a number of requests per day or non-commercial use only. The table above quotes what each service says about its free use; check the provider's own terms before you rely on it.
How up to date is this list?
The address of every service is checked about once a week, and services that stop working or stop being free are removed. This list last changed on November 1st, 2026.