A Google Custom Search JSON API alternative

How they differ

Google's overview page says: "The Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers." Existing customers "have until January 1, 2027 to transition to an alternative solution."

Google recommends Vertex AI Search as an alternative for searching up to 50 domains, and asks teams that need full web search to contact Google. Vertex AI Search searches the sites you configure, so it is not a drop-in replacement if your code relies on public Google web results.

CrawlerData's Google Search API returns public Google results in any of 31 countries: organic results with title, link and snippet, as the Custom Search JSON API did, plus AI Overview, People Also Ask, ads, the local pack and more. It costs $1.00 to $0.30 per 1,000 requests, with no daily cap.

At a glance

List prices in USD, excluding tax, as published on October 13, 2026. "Not published" means we could not find it on Custom Search JSON API's public pages. Per-1,000 figures marked "our arithmetic" divide a plan price by its volume.

Moving from Custom Search JSON API

The core fields carry over. items[] becomes organic_results[], and title, link and snippet keep their names. Instead of an API key and a cx in the query string, you send a JSON body with a Bearer token.

const url = new URL('https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1');
url.search = new URLSearchParams({ key: API_KEY, cx: SEARCH_ENGINE_ID, q: 'best crm software', gl: 'us', hl: 'en' });
const data = await (await fetch(url)).json();
const results = (data.items ?? []).map((i) => ({ title: i.title, url: i.link, snippet: i.snippet }));

const res = await fetch('https://api.crawlerdata.com/v1/jobs', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY', 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ endpoint: 'google-search', params: { query: 'best crm software', country: 'us', language: 'en' }, queue: 'live' }),
});
const { job, result } = await res.json(); // job.status "failed" => result is null, 0 credits
const results = (result?.organic_results ?? []).map((r) => ({ title: r.title, url: r.link, snippet: r.snippet }));

• link is the real destination URL in both APIs, so stored URLs and deduplication keep working.
• Results are Google's public results for the query, as a searcher in the country you choose sees them.
• For batches, use the fast or regular queue and receive results by webhook, at the same price as live.

Full request and response schemas are in the OpenAPI spec, with runnable code in the examples repo. AI clients can connect to the MCP server at https://api.crawlerdata.com/mcp with the same API key.

Sources

All checked on October 13, 2026 (as of Oct 2026). Spotted something out of date? Email contact@crawlerdata.com and we will correct it.

• Google: Custom Search JSON API overview (closure, pricing, alternatives) (developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview)
• Google: cse.list reference (num, start, gl, hl, searchType) (developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/reference/rest/v1/cse/list)
• Google: Search response reference (items, searchInformation) (developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/reference/rest/v1/Search)
• Google: Using REST to invoke the API (developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/using_rest)
• CrawlerData pricing