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POST /v1/search · engine=duckduckgo

DuckDuckGo Search API

DuckDuckGo's full web results list as JSON, the part its Instant Answer API doesn't give you. Add engine: "duckduckgo" to /v1/search.

Get a free API key Try in playground
1 credit per page of results 2,500 free credits, no card Failed calls are free

Overview

What the DuckDuckGo Search API does

DuckDuckGo's web results come largely from Bing's index; its news, images and videos come from its own feeds. Use it for DuckDuckGo's results without scraping it yourself, or as a fallback with broad image and video coverage.

/v1/search with engine: "duckduckgo" returns DuckDuckGo's organic results: title, link, domain, displayed_link and snippet, plus related_searches. Snippets are DuckDuckGo's full-length descriptions.

What you get

results[] array
Organic results: position, title, link (the destination URL), domain, displayed_link, snippet, and date / published_at when the engine shows one.
related_searches[] array
Related queries, when the engine shows them.
meta object
request_id, credits_used, cached, latency_ms, parse_quality, engine (the provider that answered) and route (each provider attempt with outcome and ms).

Request

curl https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERPKITE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"q":"espresso machine","engine":"duckduckgo"}'

Response (live response, trimmed)

200 OK · DuckDuckGo web search · live response, trimmed 
{
  "request": {
    "country": "us",
    "endpoint": "search",
    "engine": "duckduckgo",
    "language": "en",
    "num": 10,
    "page": 1,
    "q": "espresso machine"
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "displayed_link": "www.amazon.com/Espresso-Machines-Coffee-Tea-Kitchen/b?node=289748",
      "domain": "amazon.com",
      "link": "https://www.amazon.com/Espresso-Machines-Coffee-Tea-Kitchen/b?node=289748",
      "position": 1,
      "snippet": "Discover Espresso Machines on Amazon.com at a great price. Our Small Appliances category offers a great selection of Espresso Machines and more. Free Shipping on Prime eligible orders.",
      "title": "Amazon.com: Espresso Machines: Home & Kitchen: Super-Automatic Espresso ..."
    },
    {
      "displayed_link": "www.seriouseats.com/best-espresso-machines-5185482",
      "domain": "seriouseats.com",
      "link": "https://www.seriouseats.com/best-espresso-machines-5185482",
      "position": 2,
      "snippet": "We tested 41 home espresso machines to find which 16 pulled the best shots, steamed latte art-worthy microfoam, and were easy to use. We have top picks at all prices.",
      "title": "The 16 Best Espresso Machines of 2026, Tested & Reviewed"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "req_01J8ZK4M6Q2V7",
    "credits_used": 1,
    "cached": false,
    "engine": "duckduckgo",
    "route": [
      {
        "provider": "duckduckgo",
        "outcome": "ok",
        "ms": 1382
      }
    ],
    "latency_ms": 1438,
    "parse_quality": "ok"
  }
}

Every response also carries X-Credits-Used, X-Credits-Remaining, X-Cache and X-Tokens-Estimate headers. Run this query in the playground

One key, many engines

DuckDuckGo through SerpKite

  • Same key, same envelope and the same SDK call as Google: only engine changes.
  • meta.engine names the provider that answered and meta.route lists every attempt. A result is never relabelled.
  • engine: "auto" keeps Google first and falls back to DuckDuckGo and the other engines only when Google fails. How fallback works
  • Failed, blocked and empty attempts are free; you pay only for the provider that answered.

Everything DuckDuckGo serves on SerpKite

See all engines on the multi-engine search page or in the providers reference.

engine=auto answered by DuckDuckGo (illustrative)

meta.route 
{
  "request": {
    "endpoint": "search",
    "engine": "auto",
    "q": "espresso machine"
  },
  "meta": {
    "engine": "duckduckgo",
    "route": [
      {
        "provider": "google",
        "outcome": "blocked",
        "ms": 2140
      },
      {
        "provider": "duckduckgo",
        "outcome": "ok",
        "ms": 640
      }
    ]
  }
}

Reference

Parameters

The parameters /v1/search accepts, in the JSON body or the query string.

DuckDuckGo Search API parameters
Name Type Default Description
q required string – The search query. Required. Up to 2,048 characters.
engine string | string[] google "duckduckgo" for this page. "auto" tries Google first and falls back to other engines; a list such as ["google", "duckduckgo"] limits the route to those engines.
country string us Country to search from, as a two-letter ISO code (us, gb, de, in…). Defaults to the country a location ends in.
language string en Interface language, as a language code with an optional region (en, de, pt-BR, zh-TW…).
num integer 10 Results per call, 1–100. Up to 10 returns one page of 10 (1 credit); above 10 on search and news fetches whole pages as a depth bundle, and 100 costs 7 credits instead of 10. On images a page holds up to 100 images and num (default all) is how many of them come back.
page integer 1 Results page, 1–10. Each page is billed separately.
include_domains string[] – Only results from these sources, up to 20: a domain (example.com, subdomains match), a path prefix (github.com/org) or a TLD (.gov). Compiled to site: operators and enforced on the results. Search, news, images, videos.
exclude_domains string[] – Drop results from these sources, up to 20, same formats as include_domains. Search, news, images, videos.
format string json Response format. markdown is LLM-ready prose; compact is JSON with only the fields agents need. Values: json, compact, markdown.
fields string – Comma-separated projection, e.g. results.title,results.link,knowledge_graph. Cuts tokens.
max_age integer – Accept a cached result up to this many seconds old. Cache hits cost 50% of the credits.

Full reference, error codes and headers are in the /v1/search reference. Queue up to 100 requests at half price with POST /v1/batches.

Use cases

What people build with the DuckDuckGo Search API

01

Media search

DuckDuckGo images and videos return large result sets per page, with dimensions, durations and channels.

02

Fallback for agents

engine=auto answers from DuckDuckGo when Google and the engines before it are unavailable.

03

Privacy-minded products

Show DuckDuckGo's results in a product that promises users a non-Google source.

Pricing

DuckDuckGo Search API pricing

Cost per call

1 credit

per page of results

  • From $0.60 per 1,000 calls at volume.
  • Credits never expire. No subscription.
  • Failed, empty and blocked calls are refunded.
  • 2,500 free credits = 2,500 calls, then 1,000 credits a month.

For reference: Serper lists Google searches at $1.00 per 1k on its entry tier and $0.30 at its best tier, and its credits expire after 6 months. SerpKite credits cost $1.00 to $0.60 per 1k.

See all pricing
DuckDuckGo Search API cost per pack
Pack Price Per 1k credits Per 1k calls Calls per pack
Starter $10 $1.00 $1.00 10,000
Growth $50 $0.80 $0.80 62,500
Pro $300 $0.60 $0.60 500,000

FAQ

DuckDuckGo Search API: common questions

Keep exploring

Related APIs and integrations

DuckDuckGo News API DuckDuckGo news: articles with exact timestamps and images. DuckDuckGo Image Search API DuckDuckGo images: full-size URL, thumbnail, size and source page. DuckDuckGo Video Search API DuckDuckGo videos: channel, duration, date, description. Google Search API Organic results, knowledge graph, answer box, PAA and related searches.

Use it from

Start building

Start with the DuckDuckGo Search API

2,500 free credits, then 1,000 every month. No credit card.

Get a free API key Try in playground