Google Custom Search API: the shutdown, and what to use instead
Closed to new signups, gone January 1, 2027. Here are your options.
The Custom Search JSON API is winding down
The overview page at developers.google.com now says it directly. Checked July 27, 2026.
Google's Custom Search JSON API, the programmatic side of Programmable Search Engine, is closed to new customers, and existing customers have until January 1, 2027 to move. If your product calls this API today, it has a hard deadline.
What did Custom Search cost?
For everyone migrating, here is the baseline being replaced, from Google's own documentation.
| Term | Custom Search JSON API |
|---|---|
| Price | $5.00 per 1,000 queries after the free allowance |
| Free allowance | 100 queries per day |
| Hard ceiling | 10,000 queries per day, total |
| Results per request | 10 maximum |
| Results per query | Never more than 100; paging past that errors |
Those limits shaped a lot of products: the 10-result page, the 100-result wall, the daily ceiling you could not buy your way past. Whatever replaces it should clear that bar, not just match it.
Hitting the Custom Search API's limits?
Two walls catch most teams. The free tier stops at 100 searches a day, and even on the paid plan Google will not serve past 10,000 a day. That cap is fixed; you cannot buy your way past it.
CrustAPI's type=web endpoint is built for the workloads that outgrow those numbers.
There is no hard daily ceiling. Use your paid funds at your own pace. Paid funds never expire; the free allowance resets monthly.
Every result carries title, link, snippet, date, and position, plus people-also-ask and related searches. You pay the applicable price per successful search, and a search that returns nothing is free.
To be fair to Google: Custom Search is still a good fit for search restricted to your own site, and if you run only a handful of queries a day it stays free right up to your 2027 deadline. This swap is for teams that need open web results at volume.
Organic results as CSV, exactly as returned · PULLED LIVE FROM THE API, AUGUST 12, 2026
| title | link | position |
|---|---|---|
| What project management tools do you guys recommend? | https://www.reddit.com/r/projectmanagement/comments/1jwjw9s/what_project_management_tools_do_you_guys/ | 2 |
| Top 10 Project Management Software I Tested & ... | https://project-management.com/top-10-project-management-software/ | 3 |
| 20+ Best Project Management Software for 2026 | https://www.paymoapp.com/blog/project-management-software/ | 4 |
| The best free project management software in 2026 | https://zapier.com/blog/free-project-management-software/ | 5 |
| Best Project Management Software for Small Teams in 2026 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CPcky1KQJo&vl=en-US | 6 |
| Best Project Management Software: User Reviews from ... | https://www.g2.com/categories/project-management | 7 |
And one result as JSON, content included:
The same response also carried people-also-ask entries like What's the most popular project management software? and What are the big 3 in project management?, plus related searches such as Best project management software free and Top 10 project management tools. The Custom Search API never returned those.
What replaces the Custom Search API?
One GET request, clean JSON back, one charge per search. No engine IDs to configure, no daily ceiling on your funds.
CrustAPI's web endpoint returns Google organic results with title, link, snippet, date, and position, plus extras the old API never carried: people-also-ask entries and related searches on the same response.
Google Search costs $1.00 per 1,000 successful requests at standard prices, down to $0.20 for the largest deposit. Empty and failed searches are free. Every eligible account gets $6 of free usage monthly. Paid funds never expire. $1.00 per 1,000 successful Google searches at standard prices, and the free tier renews monthly instead of 100 a day.
Unused queries vanish at midnight, and the paid ceiling stops hard at 10,000 a day.
Spend them any day of the month. Paid funds on top never expire, with no daily ceiling.
A 50,000-query month, both ways
The migration math at a common workload.
How much does the replacement cost?
You pay the applicable price per successful search, flat. A search that returns nothing costs nothing, and paid funds never expire.
| Deposit | Google Search / 1,000 requests | Maps / 1,000 businesses | LinkedIn reads / 1,000 requests | People, Jobs, Refresh / 1,000 units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10+ | $1.00 | $1.96 | $6.00 | $1.96 |
| $149+ | $0.76 | $1.49 | $4.50 | $1.49 |
| $549+ | $0.56 | $1.10 | $3.30 | $1.10 |
| $1,999+ | $0.41 | $0.80 | $2.45 | $0.80 |
| $6,500+ | $0.33 | $0.65 | $1.95 | $0.65 |
| $27,500+ | $0.28 | $0.55 | $1.65 | $0.55 |
| $50,000+ | $0.26 | $0.50 | $1.50 | $0.50 |
| $100,000+ | $0.20 | $0.40 | $1.50 | $0.40 |
Every eligible account gets $6 of free usage monthly. Each deposit keeps its prices until spent; paid funds never expire. People and Jobs bill per successful search, Refresh per accessible profile. Full profiles in People use the read rate per full profile. See all billing details.
Larger deposits unlock lower endpoint prices. Each deposit keeps its prices until spent. See the full deposit table on the pricing page. Prices in USD, ex-tax.
One request, real response
The organic results as CSV first:
Sample rows as CSV, exactly as exported
| title | link | position |
|---|---|---|
| Light Electric Bike Reviews | EBR | https://electricbikereview.com/category/light/ | 1 |
| Best Electric Bikes 2026 - Don't Buy Until You Read This! | https://electricbikereport.com/best-electric-bikes/ | 2 |
| Electric Bike Review | Unbiased, In-Depth Analysis of the Best ... | https://electricbikereview.com/ | 3 |
| I want your electric bike reviews. What are your top picks ... | https://www.reddit.com/r/ebikes/comments/1hh3ymr/i_want_your_electric_bike_reviews_what_are_your/ | 4 |
| Best Electric Bikes of 2026: 16 Editor-Tested E-Bikes | https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a22132137/best-electric-bikes/ | 5 |
| ElectricBikeReview.com | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcJGe_WM6xKnB_J8ynIYx2A | 6 |
And one record as JSON:
How do you migrate?
Test the swap before you touch your code:
- 1
Create a free account. Try it free, no card needed.
- 2
Run one of your real queries in the playground. Compare the results with what Custom Search gave you.
- 3
Swap the URL in your code. Copy your key from the dashboard, run the curl above, and map title, link, snippet.
Old API vs the replacement
The comparison that matters for a migration plan.
| Custom Search JSON API | CrustAPI web search | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Closed to new customers; ends Jan 1, 2027 | Live |
| Price per 1,000 | $5.00 | $1.00 entry, falling to about $0.20 |
| Free volume | 100 / day, use it or lose it | $6 of free usage each month |
| Daily ceiling | 10,000 queries / day | Spend your funds at your pace |
| Setup | API key + search engine ID | API key |
| Extras on the response | Results only | People-also-ask, related searches |
If your usage is tiny, do not rush: under 100 queries a day, the old API stays free until your deadline, and a calm migration beats a hurried one. Also, if what you actually used was site-restricted search over your own domain, test that use case specifically before you switch anything.
Who migrates to this?
- SaaS builders. Products with a search feature on Custom Search keep shipping results, with no 10,000-a-day ceiling.
- AI and RAG teams. Fresh Google results as clean JSON, with snippets ready to feed a model.
- SEO and research tools. Rank checks and SERP pulls at volume, at $1.00 per 1,000 instead of $5.00.
- Agencies and analysts. Run searches in the playground and export the rows, no engine IDs to configure.
Related: Google Search API · SERP API · Web Search API · SerpApi alternative
Common questions
Yes. Google's documentation states the Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers and that existing customers have until January 1, 2027 to transition to an alternative. Checked July 27, 2026.
$5.00 per 1,000 queries after a free allowance of 100 queries per day, with a hard ceiling of 10,000 queries per day.
At most 10 results per request, and never more than 100 results for any query. Requesting past 100 produced an error.
Any API that returns Google organic results as JSON. CrustAPI's web endpoint returns title, link, snippet, date, and position per result, plus people-also-ask and related searches, at one charge per search.
Google Search costs $1.00 per 1,000 successful requests at standard prices, down to $0.20 for the largest deposit. Empty and failed searches are free. Every eligible account gets $6 of free usage monthly. Paid funds never expire.
One GET endpoint with a q parameter returning clean JSON. Most migrations are a URL swap and a field mapping, and you can test real queries in the playground without writing code.
No. As of August 2026 the Custom Search JSON API gives 100 free searches a day and will not serve past 10,000 searches a day even on the paid plan. CrustAPI has no daily ceiling. Use your paid funds at your own pace. Paid funds never expire.
Clay
Move before the deadline moves you
Point one request at the new endpoint and compare the JSON before January 2027 arrives. a free plan.
Try for free