Tavily

ship

Search API optimized for LLM agents with structured, sourced answers.

Visit tavily.com →Add to kit Open in Noemium

ledger entry · observed by @whysanesanders

Purpose-built for retrieval-augmented generation: clean JSON, source citations, and fast response times. The default for agent search. Result quality drops on obscure technical queries.

Strengths

Search API built for agents: clean JSON, citations, fast enough for RAG.
Default agent-search pick when you want structured, sourced hits.

Known limitations

Free tier has tight rate limits.
Some obscure queries return thin results.
Advanced reranking requires paid plans.

Use it when

Retrieval for LLM agents that must return sources.
Light production search on the paid plan after the free cap.

Skip it when

Free-tier rate limits would be the production path.
The queries are obscure and come back thin.
You need paid reranking and will not pay from $30/mo.

Floor guide

Install

Create a Tavily key and call the Search API. Most agent frameworks have a first-party Tavily tool.

Requirements

An API key
A job that needs sourced web snippets, not a full crawl

Cost

Free 1k calls/mo, then from $30/mo on the public list. Reranking sits on paid plans.

Security

Queries leave for Tavily. Do not put customer secrets in the search string.

Breaks when

The query is obscure and the snippets come back thin.
You needed site-wide markdown — that is Firecrawl, not this.

Buy-check

·Price — freemium, free tier (1k calls/mo); paid from $30/mo as of 2026-09-01. Open the pricing page, not a screenshot.
·Free tier — Free tier exists — burn it first.
·Cancel fallout — What happens to your data/projects on cancel — check the ToS, not the FAQ.
·Seat math — Per-seat pricing multiplies quietly. Count seats before the annual plan.
·Who skips it — Also skipped when: Free-tier rate limits would be the production path.; The queries are obscure and come back thin..