Comparisons / Google Search API

Google Custom Search JSON API alternative: Clair compared

The Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers and stops working on January 1, 2027, and engines created since January 2026 can only search up to 50 chosen sites. Clair returns the real google.com results page with the SERP features Custom Search never had. On price, Custom Search is cheaper up to about 13,000 searches a month thanks to its 100 free searches a day; above that Clair costs less. Until the shutdown, an existing Custom Search engine that searches the whole web and stays under the free allowance has no reason to move early.

Published by Clair. Google Custom Search API facts checked September 28, 2026 against the sources listed below.

Cost

Monthly cost at the same volume

Searches	Clair	Google Custom Search API	Clair as share
3,000 / month	$15.90 (Pay as you go)	$0 (free allowance)	–
10,000 / month	$49 (Pro)	$35	140%
30,000 / month	$105 (Pro)	$135	78%
100,000 / month	$265.91 (Ultra)	$485	55%
250,000 / month	$525 (Mega)	$1,235	43%

Clair: the cheapest Google Search API plan for each volume, fee plus overage. Google Custom Search API: list price per request after the monthly free allowance. USD, before tax.

Custom Search gives 100 queries a day free, taken here as 3,000 over a 30-day month, then $5 per 1,000, up to 10,000 queries a day.
It is available only to existing customers, and only until January 1, 2027. There is no price for a new project, because a new project cannot sign up.
Clair prices the cheapest of its plans for that volume. Requests that fail on Clair's side (5xx) are refunded.

Request

The same search on each

Clair

curl "https://api.clair.im/v1/search?engine=google_search&q=albert+einstein&country=us&language=en" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLAIR_API_KEY"

Google Custom Search API

curl "https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1?key=$GOOGLE_API_KEY&cx=$ENGINE_ID&q=albert+einstein&gl=us&hl=en"

Custom Search needs a Programmable Search Engine id (cx) as well as a key, and returns items[] with link. Clair returns results[] with url and position, plus knowledge_graph, people_also_ask, related_searches, local_results, and videos when Google shows them. Both page 10 results at a time: start=11 there, page=2 on Clair. The full Clair response is on the Google Search API page.

Features

What each returns and supports

	Clair	Google Custom Search API
Open to new customers	Yes	No
Available after January 1, 2027	Yes	No
What it searches	The google.com results page	A Programmable Search Engine; new engines are limited to 50 sites
Results per request	10	Up to 10
Deepest result	100 (10 pages)	100
Knowledge graph, People also ask, local pack, videos	Yes	No
Country and language	country, language	gl, cr, lr, hl
Free usage	200 requests a month	100 queries a day
Official Google product	No	Yes

Verdict

When to pick each

Pick Clair when

You are starting a new project: Custom Search does not accept new customers.
You run Custom Search today and need to move before January 1, 2027, or your engine was created after January 2026 and can no longer search the whole web.
You need the SERP blocks Google shows, such as the knowledge graph and People also ask, or positions as they appear on google.com.
You search more than about 13,000 times a month, where Clair costs less in the table above.

Pick Google Custom Search API when

You already have a whole-web engine, stay within 100 queries a day, and are fine migrating later: it is free until the shutdown.
You search a fixed set of your own sites, which is what Programmable Search Engine is designed for.
Each search sits on a user's request path. Clair fetches a live page per call and takes seconds.

FAQ

Common questions

When does the Custom Search JSON API stop working?

Google's documentation gives existing customers until January 1, 2027 to move to another solution. It is already closed to new customers.

How hard is it to migrate?

The request is similar: a query, a country, a language, and a page. Map items[].link to results[].url and start to page, and you have the organic results. The SERP blocks are new fields you can ignore or start using.

What does Google suggest instead?

Google's documentation recommends Vertex AI Search for searching up to 50 domains, and asks customers who need the full web to contact Google about its full web search solution. Neither is a self-serve replacement for whole-web results.

Sources

Where the numbers come from

Competitor details read from these pages on September 28, 2026. Plans change; check the source before deciding.

Try Google Search API free

200 requests a month on the free tier, no card. Compare the output on your own queries.

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