Google Custom Search API Pricing in 2026: Costs, Limits, Shutdown

November 9, 2026

Short answer

Google Custom Search API pricing is 100 free queries a day, then $5 per 1,000 queries, up to 10,000 queries a day, so the most one day can cost is $49.50. These prices apply only to existing customers: Google has closed the Custom Search JSON API to new customers and discontinues it on January 1, 2027.

Every number below comes from Google's own documentation, checked today. The short version: the Custom Search JSON API is cheap, capped and ending. Google's overview page says the pricing "applies only to existing Custom Search JSON API customers until the service discontinuation on January 1, 2027".

Google Custom Search API pricing, line by line

Item	What Google's docs say
Free queries	100 a day
Paid queries	$5 per 1,000, after you sign up for billing in the API Console
Daily ceiling	10,000 queries a day
Results per query	1 to 10 (`num`)
Results per search term	Never more than 100; a `start + num` above 100 is an error
Who can buy	Existing customers only
End date	January 1, 2027

Result limits are from the cse.list reference.

The cost formula

For a day with q queries, where 100 < q ≤ 10,000:

daily cost = (q - 100) x $0.005

The ceiling sets a hard maximum: 9,900 paid queries x $0.005 = $49.50 a day, or $1,534.50 in a 31-day month. Google states the free allowance per day, so budget each day on its own.

Cost at 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000 queries a day

Queries a day	Paid queries	Per day	Per 30-day month	Per year (365 days)
100	0	$0	$0	$0
1,000	900	$4.50	$135	$1,642.50
5,000	4,900	$24.50	$735	$8,942.50
10,000	9,900	$49.50	$1,485	$18,067.50
100,000	n/a	Not available: ten times the 10,000-a-day ceiling

Price per keyword, not per query

One query returns at most 10 results, so the depth you track decides the bill:

Depth per keyword	Queries	Paid cost
Top 10	1	$0.005
Top 30	3	$0.015
Top 100 (the maximum)	10	$0.05

Worked example: 500 keywords tracked to the top 30 every day is 1,500 queries. Less the 100 free, that is 1,400 x $0.005 = $7 a day, about $210 a month. At the top 100 the same list is 5,000 queries a day, $24.50 a day.

The variants: Site Restricted API and Paid Search Element

Site Restricted JSON API. For engines limited to 10 or fewer sites, at $5 per 1,000 with no daily limit. Google's page says it stopped serving traffic on January 8, 2025 and sends customers to Vertex AI Search. This was the only way past 10,000 a day.
Programmable Search Element Paid API. $5 per 1,000 ad-free queries in the search box you embed on your site. It is closed to new customers; existing customers are not affected. Google warns that new projects default to unlimited daily quota and recommends setting one.
Free Programmable Search Element. Still free, with ads, and since January 20, 2026 new engines can search at most 50 domains (Google's announcement).

What 100,000 queries a day costs on Google's replacements

That is about 3,000,000 queries a month. Google's suggested replacement is Vertex AI Search, priced on Google's Agent Search pricing page:

Product	Math	Per month	Note
Vertex AI Search, Standard	2,990,000 x $1.50 / 1,000	$4,485	No website search in this edition
Vertex AI Search, Enterprise	2,990,000 x $4.00 / 1,000	$11,960	Includes website search; plus index storage
Grounding with Google Search, Gemini 3	n/a	n/a	Default cap of 1,500 requests a day
ScrapeIO Google Search endpoint	Six 500,000-credit packs at $497	$2,982	Not a Google product; 300 requests a minute per key

Both Vertex AI figures use the 10,000-query monthly free trial. Vertex AI Search searches the content you index, so it is not a like-for-like swap for open web results.

How to keep the bill predictable

Set a daily quota for the API in the Cloud console, below 10,000 if your budget is smaller.
Watch usage in the API Dashboard, or in Cloud Operations with the filter service = 'customsearch.googleapis.com', as the overview describes.
Always ask for num=10. Fewer results per call means more calls for the same depth.
Stop paging when you reach the depth you need, or when the response has no nextPage.
Cache answers for repeat searches within a day.
Book the migration before December 2026, so the January 1 cutoff is not your test date.

Doing it with ScrapeIO

The google search API costs 1 credit per page of results, with query, region, date_posted and page. Cached repeats within 15 minutes and failed calls are not charged, and there is no daily ceiling beyond 300 requests a minute per key. If you also track ads, the Google ad library advertiser search API costs 1 credit too. See the Google Search platform page, and Google Search API alternatives for other vendors.

FAQ

Is the Google Custom Search API free?

The first 100 queries a day are free for existing customers. After that it costs $5 per 1,000 queries.

What is the daily limit?

10,000 queries a day. The Site Restricted variant had no daily limit, but it stopped serving traffic on January 8, 2025.

How much do 1,000 queries cost?

$5 once you are past the free 100. A day with exactly 1,000 queries costs $4.50.

Can new customers still sign up?

No. Google's overview says the API "is not available for new customers".

What replaces it?

Google points to Vertex AI Search for up to 50 domains and asks you to contact it about full web search.

Sources

Checked on 9 November 2026 from each vendor's own pages. Prices and limits change; follow the links before you decide.

100 free credits, no card. Credits never expire.

Get API key