Recommendations by agent workflow
SerpAPI
Use when an agent must land on the official source in the first few results. It reached 100% Success@3 and 0.933 MRR across the 30-task cohort.
Brave Search API
Use when the agent needs a faster search call and can tolerate a small relevance trade-off. It reached 97% Success@3, 100% Success@10, and 1074 ms median latency.
Tavily
Use a separate evaluation for answer-style research or source synthesis. In this official-docs retrieval test, it had 80% Success@3 and lower first-result precision.
Benchmark snapshot
| Provider | Best fit from this evidence | Success@1 | Success@3 | Success@10 | MRR | Median latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SerpAPI | Highest chance of official docs near the top | 90% | 100% | 100% | 0.933 | 2016 ms |
| Brave Search API | Strong retrieval with lower latency | 83% | 97% | 100% | 0.903 | 1074 ms |
| Tavily | Candidate for separate answer/research tests | 47% | 80% | 100% | 0.635 | 1623 ms |
Source: AgentFirstTools official-docs search API benchmark, 30 tasks run on 12 May 2026. Success@k means at least one expected official source appeared in the top k results.
How to choose safely
- Define the search job before choosing. Official docs retrieval, current pricing lookup, exact error lookup, source diversity, and general research need different tests.
- Log URLs and ranks, not just generated answers. Agents need evidence they can cite and re-check when using search results to write code or make operational changes.
- Keep provider categories separate. SerpAPI wraps Google results, Brave exposes Brave Search, and Tavily is oriented toward answer/research workflows; the right choice depends on the workflow.
- Re-test your own query set. Use the public benchmark as a starting point, then run a small dated cohort against your stack, docs, and failure modes.
Need a private comparison for your stack?
AgentFirstTools can scope a narrow evidence-backed audit for a tool shortlist, search workflow, or agent retrieval failure mode before you standardise on a provider.