Tavily
A web search API that returns full-page text well, but usually buries the best result.
Content API that ranks badly and extracts well
- You need the answer-bearing passage in the payload, not just links or snippets.
- You can tolerate weaker top-3 ranking in exchange for more complete text extraction.
- You want an error-free search run across a fixed query set.
- You need strong top-3 ordering or the best ambiguity handling.
Our take
Tavily’s strongest trait in this run was extraction: the advanced tier reliably carried answer-bearing passages and materially outperformed basic on content completeness. But its ranking is still weak, especially at top-3, and advanced does not fix that — it is slower, pricier, and only clearly better on text coverage. If you want a search API that feeds an agent usable page text, Tavily is credible; if you need the supporting page to land near the top, it is a mixed fit.
In-Depth Review
Our detailed analysis of Tavily — features, performance, and real-world testing.
Feature-by-Feature Breakdown
Live Web Retrieval and Ranking▾
Feature tested: Live Web Retrieval and Ranking
Result: Partial
Expected behavior: Tavily takes a plain-text query and returns ranked live-web results for agent use. In the 47 answerable queries, the supporting page usually appeared in the candidate set, though placement was weaker near the top of the ranking.
Test case: Text/code file → Text/code file
Input type: Text/code file
Input used: Input artifact (Text/code file): Ground-truth query set — QUERY-SET-ground-truth.csv
Observed output: Output artifact (Text/code file): Fixed 52-query ground-truth run across tavily/basic and tavily/advanced, with 0 errors. The export supports the reported retrieval metrics: top-1 13% in both modes, top-3 31.9% basic vs 27.7% advanced, and top-10 66% for both. — TAVILY-scored-run-export.csv
Input artifact: Input artifact (Text/code file): Ground-truth query set — QUERY-SET-ground-truth.csv
Output artifact: Output artifact (Text/code file): Fixed 52-query ground-truth run across tavily/basic and tavily/advanced, with 0 errors. The export supports the reported retrieval metrics: top-1 13% in both modes, top-3 31.9% basic vs 27.7% advanced, and top-10 66% for both. — TAVILY-scored-run-export.csv
What changed: Text/code file transformed into Text/code file
Why it matters / Conclusion: Supporting pages usually appear in the candidate set, but Tavily is much less reliable at ordering them near the top.
Tavily takes a plain-text query and returns ranked live-web results for agent use. In the 47 answerable queries, the supporting page usually appeared in the candidate set, though placement was weaker near the top of the ranking.
Full-Page Content Extraction▾
Feature tested: Full-Page Content Extraction
Result: Passed
Expected behavior: Tavily returns usable page text rather than just snippets, with the advanced tier extracting more deeply. The evidence cites larger payloads and a clearer answer-bearing passage being carried into the returned content.
Test case: Text prompt → Text/code file
Input type: Text prompt
Input used: Input artifact (Text prompt): INPUT
Observed output: Output artifact (Text/code file): Q37 shows the content-depth win: advanced returned 92,217 characters and preserved all five GDPR Article 17(3) exceptions. Across the run, Tavily’s median payload was about 44,894 characters on basic and 49,982 on advanced. — TAVILY-per-query-output.md
Input artifact: Input artifact (Text prompt): INPUT
Output artifact: Output artifact (Text/code file): Q37 shows the content-depth win: advanced returned 92,217 characters and preserved all five GDPR Article 17(3) exceptions. Across the run, Tavily’s median payload was about 44,894 characters on basic and 49,982 on advanced. — TAVILY-per-query-output.md
What changed: Text prompt transformed into Text/code file
Why it matters / Conclusion: This is Tavily’s best capability: it carries the answer-bearing passage into the payload, and advanced materially improves that coverage.
Tavily returns usable page text rather than just snippets, with the advanced tier extracting more deeply. The evidence cites larger payloads and a clearer answer-bearing passage being carried into the returned content.
Measured list pricing from the run
Two tested tiers; advanced costs 2× basic.
From the report: basic is listed at 1 credit / $8 per 1,000 queries, advanced at 2 credits / $16 per 1,000 queries.
Featured in Rankings
Independent rankings where Tavily was tested and rated.
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