You.com

What is You.com?

You.com is a web search API platform built for developers who need to connect AI agents and large language models to real-time web data. The platform offers three distinct APIs, each targeting a specific data retrieval need: searching the web, extracting page content, and generating source-backed answers. It is designed for teams building agentic applications that require grounded, accurate information rather than relying solely on a model's training data. Enterprises including OpenAI, Amazon, Alibaba, and Databricks are listed among its users.

Key Features

• Search API: Delivers real-time web search results at high speed, with support for 1 to 100 results per call, LLM-ready snippets with rich metadata, country and language targeting filters, and a live crawl option at no extra charge.
• Contents API: Fetches full page text for multiple URLs in a single request, returning clean Markdown or raw HTML, which removes the need to manage custom scraping infrastructure.
• Research API: Provides cited, source-backed answers using a multi-step search and synthesis pipeline, with higher tiers offering more sources and deeper reasoning. You.com reports it ranks first on the DeepSearchQA benchmark.
• News Search Endpoint: Included at no extra cost with the Search API, giving applications access to current news results without a separate subscription.
• Python SDK, MCP Server, and REST API: Developers can access all APIs through multiple interfaces, supporting a range of integration patterns.
• SOC 2 Certification: All APIs operate under SOC 2 certification, and You.com states it does not use customer data for model training.

Use Cases

• Developers building agentic applications: Teams integrate the Search API to ground AI agent outputs in live web data, reducing hallucinations and keeping responses current.
• AI researchers and data teams: The Research API supports rapid, cited fact retrieval, giving researchers access to source-backed answers without manually aggregating results from multiple queries.
• Content aggregation pipelines: The Contents API allows teams to pull full page text from large batches of URLs in a single call, useful for summarization, monitoring, or competitive analysis workflows.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths:

• Rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2 across 142 reviews, with users citing reliability as a key advantage over competing providers.
• The Research API holds a reported first-place position on the DeepSearchQA benchmark, indicating strong performance on factual retrieval tasks.
• Each API starts with $100 in free credit, lowering the cost to evaluate the platform before committing to production usage.
• Full page content is included with the Search API live crawl parameter at no additional charge, which reduces the need for a separate content extraction service.

Weaknesses:

• Some users report issues with API access, according to G2 review data.
• Public documentation on advanced features is limited, which may slow down implementation for teams with complex requirements.

Pricing

Each API comes with $100 in free credit to start. Pricing is usage-based with no publicly listed subscription tiers.

• Search API: $5.00 per 1,000 calls. Includes 1-100 results per call, LLM-ready snippets, country and language targeting, news endpoint, and full page contents via live crawl, all at no extra charge. SOC 2 certified, no model training.
• Contents API: $1.00 per 1,000 pages. Supports batching multiple URLs per request, returns clean Markdown or raw HTML, and is accessible via Python SDK, MCP Server, or REST API.
• Research API: $6.50 per 1,000 calls. Includes cited answers with inline source references and a multi-step search pipeline. Higher usage tiers provide access to more sources and deeper reasoning for improved accuracy.

FAQ

What is You.com?

You.com is a web search API platform that gives AI agents and LLMs real-time access to web data through three APIs: Search, Contents, and Research.

Who is You.com designed for?

It is built primarily for developers and engineering teams who are integrating web search or content extraction into AI applications, agentic workflows, or LLM-powered products.

What APIs does You.com offer?

You.com offers three APIs: the Search API for real-time web results, the Contents API for full page text extraction, and the Research API for cited, multi-step answer generation.

How does the Research API work?

The Research API uses a multi-step search and synthesis pipeline to return answers with inline source citations. Higher usage tiers access more sources and apply deeper reasoning to improve accuracy.

Is You.com free to use?

Each API includes $100 in free credit when you sign up so you to test and build before incurring usage costs.

How much does the Search API cost?

The Search API is priced at $5.00 per 1,000 calls. Full page contents via live crawl and the news endpoint are included at no extra charge.

How much does the Contents API cost?

The Contents API costs $1.00 per 1,000 pages and supports batching multiple URLs in a single request.

Does You.com train models on customer data?

You.com states it does not use customer data for model training. All APIs are SOC 2 certified.

What programming languages and interfaces does You.com support?

You.com supports Python and JavaScript, and provides access via a Python SDK, MCP Server, and REST API.

Which companies use You.com?

You.com lists OpenAI, Amazon, Alibaba, Databricks, Windsurf, Harvey, and Latham and Watkins among the enterprises using its APIs.

How does You.com compare to other web search API providers?

Based on G2 reviews, users rate You.com highly for reliability and cite it as outperforming major competing providers. The Research API is reported to rank first on the DeepSearchQA benchmark.

What is the DeepSearchQA benchmark?

DeepSearchQA is a benchmark for evaluating the accuracy of research-oriented search and retrieval systems. You.com reports its Research API ranks first on this benchmark.

Are there known issues with You.com?

Some users on G2 report difficulties with API access. Documentation on advanced features is noted as limited in available review data.

What are alternatives to You.com?

The dossier does not specify named alternatives. You.com positions itself against other web search API providers, but specific competitor names are not publicly listed in the available research.

How do I get started with You.com?

You can sign up through the API Platform at you.com/platform, receive $100 in free credit for each API, and access developer documentation at docs.you.com.