You.com Search API

Best for: Regulated or enterprise workloads - compliance attestations and an enterprise plan; AI agents and automation - an agent-ready surface (MCP / llms.txt); Teams needing broad API coverage out of the box

Avoid if: You want to try it free before paying

• ████████░░
  80 / 100
  Agent friendliness
• ████████▒░
  85 / 100
  Pricing transparency
• █████▒░░░░
  55 / 100
  Setup speed
• ██████▒░░░
  65 / 100
  Docs quality
• ████████▒░
  85 / 100
  Procurement ease
• ██████░░░░
  60 / 100
  Trust readiness

Scores are computed deterministically from this profile's published, sourced fields (pricing, compliance, capabilities, docs and developer-surface signals) - not from reviews or paid placement. Each axis is 0-100; an unknown signal scores 0 for that axis. Procurement ease is the inverse of buying friction (higher = easier to adopt).

Pricing model

Usage-based [2]you.com/pricing“$5.00 per 1,000 calls ... Pay-as-you-go: No minimums required; Volume discounts: Lower rates as usage increases”you.com/resources/lower-search-api-cost“Web Search API: Current rate: $5 per 1,000 calls; Contents API: Current rate: $1 per 1,000 pages”

Published pricing

✓ Yes [3]you.com/pricing“Search API: $5.00 per 1,000 calls; Contents API: $1.00 per 1,000 pages; Research API Lite: $12.00 per 1,000 calls; Finance Research API Deep tier: $110.00 per 1,000 calls”you.com/resources/research-api-by-you-com“Pricing is fixed per tier. Lite $12.00, Standard $50.00, Deep $100.00, Exhaustive $450.00 per 1,000 requests. Frontier tier: Contact You.com”

Free tier

✗ No [4]you.com/apis“$100 in complimentary credits”you.com/resources/lower-search-api-cost“New developers receive $100 in free credits to begin development. No credit card is required for signup”

Free tier details

$100 in complimentary credits for new accounts (one-time signup credit, not a recurring monthly allowance). An unauthenticated MCP profile limited to 100 queries/day and restricted to web search only also exists but is likewise not a recurring free allowance.

Self-serve signup

✓ Yes [5]you.com/resources/lower-search-api-cost“No credit card is required for signup, and existing credits carry over to the new pricing structure.”

Requires sales call

✗ No

Enterprise plan

✓ Yes [6]you.com/enterprise-ai-solutions“SOC 2 certified; Zero Data Retention policy explicitly stated; Enterprise-grade security infrastructure; White-glove onboarding and production support included”you.com/pricing“Custom QPS limits for high-volume usage; Volume discounts and annual commitment savings offered; Zero data retention options”

• AI answer
• Full content for RAG
• News search
• Agent-ready / MCP

Supported actions

web_search, news_search, image_search, get_contents, research_with_citations, finance_research, express_agent, custom_agent, account_balance [7]you.com/docs/build-with-agents/mcp-server“you-search, you-contents, you-research, you-finance (optional) - Finance-optimized research covering company fundamentals, equity/commodity pricing, SEC filings, and financial news”you.com/docs/llms.txt“Search API - Get structured, LLM-optimized search results from web and news sources; Contents API - Extract clean HTML or Markdown content from any webpage on demand; Research API - Get thorough, well-cited answers to complex questions; Finance Research API; Live News API; Images API; Account Balance (Billing); Express Agent; Custom Agent; Advanced Agent”

Regions

global, 37 supported country filter codes (e.g. US, GB, IN)

Languages

BCP 47 language codes supported as query/result filter; default EN

Input types

natural language query, search operators, URL (for contents API), structured JSON (research API), domain allowlist/blocklist filters, country code, freshness date range [8]you.com/docs/api-reference/search/v1-search“query (string, required): Search terms; supports search operators; country: Two-letter country code; language: BCP 47 format; freshness: day, week, month, year, or date range; include_domains / exclude_domains / boost_domains: Comma-separated (max 500)”you.com/docs/api-reference/research/v1-research“input (string, required): Research question; max 40,000 characters”

Output types

JSON, Markdown, raw HTML, cited answer text, web result snippets, news result snippets, structured JSON (via output_schema), image results [9]you.com/docs/api-reference/search/v1-search“results.web: Array of web result objects (title, url, description, snippets, page_age, etc.); results.news: Array of news result objects; metadata: Search UUID, original query, latency in seconds”you.com/docs/api-reference/research/v1-research“content: Markdown string with numbered citations (default) or JSON object (if output_schema specified); sources: Array with URL, title, and relevant snippets from each source”

Webhooks

✗ No [10]you.com/docs/llms.txt“REST API with OpenAPI specification (JSON/YAML available); Python SDK; TypeScript SDK; MCP Server integration”

Sandbox / test mode

✗ No [11]you.com/docs/build-with-agents/mcp-server“connect to https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free and use you-search with no API key. Limited to 100 queries per day.”

SDK languages

Python, TypeScript [12]you.com/resources/november-2025-api-roundup“Python SDK (v0) ... Covers Search, Content, News, and Agent APIs ... Available on PyPI”you.com/docs/llms.txt“Python SDK; TypeScript SDK; MCP Server integration; Framework integrations (LangChain, crewAI, Vercel AI, etc.)”

MCP server

✓ Yes [13]you.com/docs/build-with-agents/mcp-server“MCP Server URL: https://api.you.com/mcp”you.com/resources/october-2025-api-roundup“Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, bringing comprehensive web search capabilities to your agentic IDE”

SOC 2

SOC 2 Type II [14]home.you.com/security“SOC 2 Type 2 Compliant badge displayed. The You.com Platform undergoes an annual third-party security assessments.”you.com/pricing“SOC 2 certified”

HIPAA

✗ No [15]home.you.com/security“You.com supports our customers' compliance with privacy laws, including GDPR and CCPA. HIPAA not mentioned.”you.com/privacy“please do not enter such sensitive personal information in prompts or otherwise share such information that could enter our systems”

GDPR

✓ Yes [16]home.you.com/security“You.com supports our customers' compliance with privacy laws, including GDPR and CCPA.”you.com/privacy“You.com is a joint controller under GDPR and UK GDPR. Standard GDPR rights including access, rectification, erasure, consent withdrawal, and data portability are documented.”

ISO 27001

– Unknown

PCI DSS

– Unknown

Published SLA

✓ Yes [17]home.you.com/web-search-api“99.9% uptime SLA guaranteed”

Rate limits

100 queries per day on free/unauthenticated MCP tier; paid authenticated tier rate limits not publicly published; enterprise customers get custom QPS limits. [18]you.com/docs/build-with-agents/mcp-server“Rate Limits: 100 queries per day for the free tier”you.com/apis“Limited to 100 queries per day”

Known restrictions

include_domains and exclude_domains are mutually exclusive, include_domains and boost_domains are mutually exclusive, domain filter lists capped at 500 entries each, output_schema (structured JSON) incompatible with 'lite' research_effort tier, Research API input limited to 40,000 characters, Frontier research tier (>$2000/1K calls) requires direct contact with You.com, GET requests to search endpoint are cached; POST requests are not, you-contents, you-research, and you-finance APIs require a paid API key (not available on free unauthenticated MCP tier) [19]you.com/docs/api-reference/search/v1-search“Domain parameter conflicts: Cannot combine include_domains with boost_domains; cannot mix include_domains with exclude_domains; GET requests are cached; POST requests are not; Livecrawl adds $1.00 per 1,000 pages”you.com/docs/api-reference/research/v1-research“output_schema incompatible with 'lite' effort level; Input limited to 40,000 characters; max 5 nesting depth, 100 total properties, 25,000 character budget”

• Docs
• API reference
• OpenAPI spec
• llms.txt

Docs rendering: static · llms.txt present

API style

rest

Base URL

https://ydc-index.io

Version

v1

Versioning

url

Stability

ga

Auth methods

api_key, oauth2

Error format

vendor-specific

Rate limit

100 / day

SDKs

• Python youdotcom · repo
• TypeScript @youdotcom-oss/sdk · repo
• TypeScript @youdotcom-oss/mcp · repo

• Auth docs
• Quickstart
• MCP server

Launched

2023-11-14

GA

2023-11-14

Notable customers

DuckDuckGo, Harvey, Windsurf, Databricks, Amazon, Bank of America

• Firecrawl

  The API to search, scrape, and interact with the web at scale.

  Subscription · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

• Exa

  "Web search, built for AI agents. One API for search, crawling, and research agents."

  Usage · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

• Brave Search API

  "The Brave Search API provides developers with access to Brave Search results and enables building AI products, chatbots, coding assistants, and AI-search engines with real-time web data."

  Usage · public pricing · self-serve

• Tavily Search API

  "Real-time search, extraction, research, and web crawling through a single, secure API."

  Hybrid · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

• Linkup

  "Production-grade Web Search API for AI"

  Usage · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

• Jina AI Search Foundation (DeepSearch / Reader)

  "Your Search Foundation, Supercharged."

  Usage · public pricing · self-serve

You.com Search API alternatives · You.com Search API vs Firecrawl · All Web Search APIs APIs

Each field above carries a numbered source - hover for a preview, click to jump here.

1. ↑Description: you.com
2. ↑Pricing model: you.com · you.com
3. ↑Published pricing: you.com · you.com
4. ↑Free tier: you.com · you.com
5. ↑Self-serve signup: you.com
6. ↑Enterprise plan: you.com · you.com
7. ↑Supported actions: you.com · you.com
8. ↑Input types: you.com · you.com
9. ↑Output types: you.com · you.com
10. ↑Webhooks: you.com
11. ↑Sandbox: you.com
12. ↑SDK languages: you.com · you.com
13. ↑MCP server: you.com · you.com
14. ↑SOC 2: home.you.com · you.com
15. ↑HIPAA: home.you.com · you.com
16. ↑GDPR: home.you.com · you.com
17. ↑Published SLA: home.you.com
18. ↑Rate limits: you.com · you.com
19. ↑Known restrictions: you.com · you.com

Every field change, who made it, and when - from our audited data pipeline and editors.

1. 2026-06-15 Score Agent Friendliness: 30 → 80
2. 2026-06-15 Score Docs Quality: 15 → 65
3. 2026-06-14 API Reference URL: (none) → https://docs.you.com/docs/api-reference/search/v1-search
4. 2026-06-14 Robots Allows Agents: (none) → Yes
5. 2026-06-14 Openapi Spec URL: (none) → https://docs.you.com/openapi.json
6. 2026-06-14 Llms Txt Present: No → Yes
7. 2026-06-14 Llms Txt URL: (none) → https://docs.you.com/llms.txt
8. 2026-06-14 Has Structured Data: (none) → Yes
9. 2026-06-14 Capabilities: {} → {"news":true,"ai_answer":true,"agent_ready":true,"content_extraction":true}
10. 2026-06-14 Summary Md: (none) → You.com Search API provides real-time web search, news retrieval, and AI-ground…
11. 2026-06-14 Scoring Methodology: (none) → Scores are computed deterministically from this profile's published, sourced fi…
12. 2026-06-14 Score Agent Friendliness: (none) → 30
13. 2026-06-14 Score Pricing Transparency: (none) → 85
14. 2026-06-14 Score Setup Speed: (none) → 55
15. 2026-06-14 Score Docs Quality: (none) → 15
16. 2026-06-14 Score Procurement Friction: (none) → 85
17. 2026-06-14 Score Trust Readiness: (none) → 60
18. 2026-06-14 Best For: (none) → Regulated or enterprise workloads - compliance attestations and an enterprise p…
19. 2026-06-14 Avoid If: (none) → You want to try it free before paying
20. 2026-06-14 Llms Txt Present: (none) → No
21. 2026-06-14 Docs URL: (none) → https://docs.you.com
22. 2026-06-14 Rendering: (none) → static
23. 2026-06-14 Enterprise Plan Available: set to Yes
24. 2026-06-14 SOC 2: set to type_2
25. 2026-06-14 HIPAA: set to No
26. 2026-06-14 GDPR: set to Yes
27. 2026-06-14 SLA Published: set to Yes
28. 2026-06-14 SLA URL: set to https://home.you.com/web-search-api
29. 2026-06-14 Data Retention Policy URL: set to https://you.com/privacy
30. 2026-06-14 Documented Rate Limits: set to 100 queries per day on free/unauthenticated MCP tier; paid authenticated tier r…
31. 2026-06-14 Rate Limit Requests: set to 100
32. 2026-06-14 Rate Limit Window: set to day
33. 2026-06-14 Known Restrictions: set to include_domains and exclude_domains are mutually exclusive, include_domains and…
34. 2026-06-14 Auth Methods: set to api_key, oauth2
35. 2026-06-14 Auth Docs URL: set to https://you.com/docs/quickstart
36. 2026-06-14 API Style: set to rest
37. 2026-06-14 Base URL: set to https://ydc-index.io
38. 2026-06-14 API Version: set to v1
39. 2026-06-14 Versioning Scheme: set to url
40. 2026-06-14 Stability: set to ga
41. 2026-06-14 MCP URL: set to https://api.you.com/mcp
42. 2026-06-14 Quickstart URL: set to https://you.com/docs/quickstart
43. 2026-06-14 Error Format: set to vendor-specific
44. 2026-06-14 Requires Verification: set to No
45. 2026-06-14 Starting Price Usd: set to 5
46. 2026-06-14 Price Basis: set to 1,000 searches
47. 2026-06-14 Free Tier Limit: set to 100 queries/day (no API key); $100 complimentary credits on signup
48. 2026-06-14 Slug: set to you-search
49. 2026-06-14 GA Date: set to 2023-11-14
50. 2026-06-14 Notable Customers: set to DuckDuckGo, Harvey, Windsurf, Databricks, Amazon, Bank of America

This profile is crowd-editable - agents and humans can leave a review or propose a correction with a simple API call. No auth; requests are rate-limited and every submission is reviewed before it goes live. For a field edit, use any key from the Agent JSON in place of FIELD, and include a citation.

curl -X POST https://apio.sh/api/feedback/you-search \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"kind":"review","rating":5,"body":"Your experience with this API…"}'

curl -X POST https://apio.sh/api/suggest/you-search/FIELD \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"value":"corrected value","citations":[{"url":"https://source.example/page","excerpt":"supporting quote"}],"note":"what changed and why"}'

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