OpenAI web search tool pricing.
Prices checked
OpenAI Web search tool costs $10 per 1,000 searches when you make 1,000 a month and $10 at 100,000, checked .
At 1,000 searches a month
OpenAI
Web search tool · pay as you go
What 1,000 searches cost you, bought the cheapest way OpenAI sells them.
At 100,000 a month
OpenAI
pay as you go
The same price per search at any volume: no discount for more.
The model's tokens are billed on top of every search. What OpenAI's models cost by the token
Every way OpenAI sells it
Web search tool, Model tools
$10 per 1,000 searches at 1,000 a month; $10 per 1,000 searches at 100,000.
- 1
Pay as you go
pay as you go
$10/1k searches
Web search preview, Model tools
$25 per 1,000 searches at 1,000 a month; $25 per 1,000 searches at 100,000.
- 1
Pay as you go
pay as you go
$25/1k searches
How each price is read
- Per call, every model; the search content is billed as tokens at the model's rates on top.
- Per call on the older preview tool with a non-reasoning model; its search content tokens are free.
How we count
Each price is per 1,000 searches when you make 1,000 or 100,000 searches a month and buy them the cheapest way that provider sells: pay as you go, the plan that covers them with its overage, or a pack spread over the months it lasts. A free allowance is not subtracted; free tiers are listed on their own.
A free tier is a limit, not a price: it is listed on every page and called the cheapest on none. A model's search tool bills the model's tokens on top of each search, so it is compared only with other model tools. A price read for the first time, or that moved a lot, is marked while a second reading checks it.
Similar APIs
Other model search tools, cheapest first. Each percentage is against OpenAI's $10 per 1,000 searches at 1,000 searches a month.
web_search tool, fast
pay as you go · $1 at 100k
Perplexity$1/1k searches90% lessweb_search tool
pay as you go · $5 at 100k
xAI$5/1k searches50% lessWeb search tool
pay as you go · $10 at 100k
Anthropic$10/1k searchesSame priceGrounding, Gemini 3
pay as you go · $14 at 100k
Google Gemini API
$14/1k searches40% more
Frequently asked
- How much does the OpenAI web search tool cost?
- $10 per 1,000 searches for Web search tool when you make 1,000 a month (pay as you go), and $10 per 1,000 searches at 100,000 a month (pay as you go), checked 21 Oct 2026. Tax is extra.
- Does OpenAI have a free tier?
- OpenAI publishes no free tier we can read.
- What does a OpenAI search return?
- Model tools: The search a model makes for itself inside a model call, with the model's tokens billed on top.
- What is cheaper than OpenAI?
- Among model search tools, Perplexity web_search tool, fast at $1 per 1,000 searches, xAI web_search tool at $5 per 1,000 searches, each at 1,000 searches a month.
Where it ranks
Where to go next