Cloudflare Web Search API: pricing, providers and when to use it

Cloudflare's new Web Search API, in open beta, puts three search engines, Ceramic.ai, Exa and Linkup, behind one endpoint that runs through its AI Gateway. It looks like a new way to buy search, but the price is not new. Each search is billed at the provider's list price with no markup. What differs is who holds the account, where requests are logged and what the prepaid credits cost.

One format, fewer dials

The point is that an agent can switch engines without rewriting the code that reads the results. You send a query and a provider name, and you get back at most ten results in the same shape whichever engine answered: a URL, a title and a description for each, plus an image, a favicon and a last-modified date when the provider supplies them (how it works).

To make that work, Cloudflare picks the settings for each engine (providers). Exa runs in its auto mode, with page highlights as the description. Linkup runs at fast depth and returns raw results without writing an answer. Ceramic.ai, the default when no provider is named, returns descriptions of up to 8,000 characters.

Those fixed settings are what the convenience costs. Called directly, Exa returns up to 100 results per call, with domain filters, date ranges and deep research modes (Exa reference). Through Cloudflare, a request carries only a query, a provider, a result limit and a key alias. An agent that needs Exa's filters still needs Exa's own API.

To use it you need a Cloudflare account, an API token with Workers AI and AI Gateway read permissions, and an AI Gateway. Every search is billed to that account, drawn either from your AI Gateway credit balance or through a provider key stored on the gateway.

The price per search is the list price

As of 13 October, the providers page lists these rates:

The fee sits on the credits, not on the searches. Cloudflare adds 5% to every credit purchase, so $100 of credits costs $105 (Unified Billing). A thousand Exa searches draw $7.00 from the balance, and that $7.00 of balance cost $7.35 to buy. For Ceramic.ai, the same thousand searches draw $0.25 that cost about $0.26.

Bring your own provider key and you buy no credits, so there is no fee: the provider bills you directly under your own agreement.

The case for Cloudflare's route is real, and it is not about price. A team already running inference through AI Gateway gets search on the same bill, in the same logs and analytics, and behind the same controls over which providers a gateway can use and who can send requests. It suits teams already on Cloudflare; it does not make search cheaper.

Data retention: check the engine and the payment route

Cloudflare's launch documents give three answers on zero data retention. The providers page marks Ceramic.ai and Linkup yes and Exa no. Cloudflare's launch changelog says all three support it for requests made through Cloudflare. Its launch blog post says Cloudflare will identify the providers that do.

The AI Gateway billing page adds that zero data retention applies only to requests paid with Cloudflare-managed credentials, not to your own keys. It also says retention does not switch off AI Gateway's own request logging, which has a separate setting. That page covers the gateway as a whole, not search specifically. Confirm retention for each engine, and Exa above all, before an agent sends it anything sensitive.

The same Exa search, one request at a time

Cloudflare's route sells search against a prepaid balance. We sent one search to Exa in auto mode, asking for five results, and paid for that single request over x402 through Zero, ZeroClick's own payment layer for agents, with no account and no API key. It cost $0.007. That is Exa's list price of $7.00 per 1,000, the same figure Cloudflare charges against credits, with nothing to buy first.

For Exa, the price did not change with the channel. The real choice is about the account. You can hold a Cloudflare account with a prepaid balance and a 5% fee, hold an account with the engine itself under your own agreement, or pay at the request, as our call did. Zero is simply the layer this run paid through, and per-request payment is not tied to it. Cloudflare's own AI Gateway has a Machine Payments beta that lets an x402-compatible client pay for inference from a stablecoin wallet. It does not cover search yet, and that is the change to watch.

What to watch

• Retention wording. Whether Cloudflare reconciles the changelog's "all three" with the providers page's "no" for Exa. The providers page was last updated on 2 October.
• The end of the beta. None of the launch pages gives a date for general availability. Watch the changelog for it, and for any change to the three engines or their prices.

Frequently asked questions

What does Cloudflare's Web Search API cost per search?

Each search costs the provider's list price: $0.00025 for Ceramic.ai, $0.007 for Exa and $0.005 for Linkup ($0.25, $7.00 and $5.00 per 1,000). Buying AI Gateway credits adds a 5% fee to the purchase, and using your own provider key avoids that fee.

Does Cloudflare mark up web search prices?

No. Cloudflare bills each search at the provider's list API price with no markup, and the 5% fee applies only when you buy AI Gateway credits.

Do I need a Cloudflare account to use the Web Search API?

Yes. The API is in open beta and needs a Cloudflare account, an API token with Workers AI and AI Gateway read permissions and an AI Gateway, and it is paid from your credit balance or a provider key stored on the gateway.

Does Exa offer zero data retention through Cloudflare?

Cloudflare's providers page marks Exa no, its launch changelog says all three engines support it through Cloudflare, and the AI Gateway billing page says zero data retention applies only to requests paid with Cloudflare-managed credentials. Confirm with Cloudflare before relying on it.

Can an agent buy one Exa search at a time?

Our run did: it paid for one Exa search request through Zero, ZeroClick's own payment layer for agents, and the wallet paid $0.007.