# Alternatives to You.com

You.com is an AI search engine and assistant that answers queries with citations and multiple AI modes.

You.com ranks #6 of 6 in AI search engines, with an Alt Score of 62. 8 of 13 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/you-com/
Category: AI search engines

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: You.com now primarily targets developers and enterprises building AI agents, RAG pipelines, and research tools, rather than positioning itself as a mainstream consumer search engine. It also offers a sign-in-gated Chat Platform and an enterprise research agent (Ari) for business research use cases.
- **What you get**: A family of usage-priced web intelligence APIs (Web Search, Contents, Research, and Finance Research) that return LLM-ready, citation-backed results, plus a web-based Chat Platform and Custom Agents that let users pick an underlying AI model, upload private documents or connect data sources like Google Drive and SharePoint, and get cited answers.
- **How it works**: Developers query the APIs (or connect via an MCP server) to retrieve real-time web results, extracted page content, or multi-step research syntheses with inline source citations, which they feed into their own LLM prompts; a limited free tier and $100 in trial credits are available before moving to pay-as-you-go, usage-based pricing.

## Profile

- **License**: ?
- **Pricing model**: Usage-based (verified 2026-07-16)
- **Starts at**: $1.00 per 1,000 pages (Contents API) (verified 2026-07-16)
- **Platforms**: ?
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-16)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Felo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/felo.md) | 86 | ? | Web, iOS, Android, Browser extension |
| 2 | [Genspark](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/genspark.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS |
| 3 | [iAsk](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/iask.md) | 72 | ? | Web, iOS, Browser extension |
| 4 | [Andi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/andi.md) | 62 | Proprietary | Web, Browser extension |
| 5 | [Perplexica](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/perplexica.md) | 62 | MIT | Linux, macOS, Windows, Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| AI search engines checklist | You.com | Felo | Genspark | iAsk | Andi | Perplexica |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Free | Free |
| Starts at | $1.00 per 1,000 pages (Contents API) | $14.99/month | $19.9/month | $7.95/month (billed annually; $9.95/month billed monthly) | Free | Free |
| License | ? | ? | Proprietary | ? | Proprietary | MIT |
| Platforms | ? | Web, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Web, iOS, Browser extension | Web, Browser extension | Linux, macOS, Windows, Web |
| Cited sources / references | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Follow-up conversational search | ? | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | ? |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Choice of underlying LLM | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
| File / document upload | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Image generation | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No |
| Code-focused answers | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| API access | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Mobile app | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? |
| Ad-free | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Custom / focus modes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data not used for training | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Partial |

## Sources

Sources for You.com. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Usage-based — <https://you.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Quote: “Pay-as-you-go Start experimenting today with low-cost, usage-based pricing. No minimums.”
- **Starts at**: $1.00 per 1,000 pages (Contents API) — <https://you.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Note: Cheapest of the listed usage-based API tiers (Web Search API is $5.00/1k calls, Research API from $12.00/1k calls, Finance Research API from $110.00/1k calls). No consumer subscription plans are liste
  - Quote: “Contents API $1.00 /1k pages”
- **Status**: active — <https://you.com/docs/changelog> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Quote: “Jul 15, 2026 ... Removed authors Field from Web Search API and Answer API Responses”
- **Cited sources / references**: Yes — <https://you.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Quote: “Cited, source-backend answers with inline references”
- **Free tier**: Yes — <https://you.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Quote: “$100 free credit to get started”
- **Choice of underlying LLM**: Yes — <https://you.com/resources/5-game-changing-you-com-features-you-need-to-try-today> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Note: Stated in the context of Custom Agents, where users creating an agent can choose the underlying AI model.
  - Quote: “Personalization: Choose your preferred AI model and define its capabilities, such as live web access or task-specific instructions.”
- **File / document upload**: Yes — <https://you.com/resources/5-game-changing-you-com-features-you-need-to-try-today> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Quote: “Upload private files directly or connect organizational data from platforms like Google Drive, OneDrive, and SharePoint.”
- **API access**: Yes — <https://you.com/apis> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Quote: “Try it free — no API key required Connect any MCP-enabled tool (Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, JetBrains, and more) to https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free and use you-search with no signup or credenti”
- **Ad-free**: Partial — <https://you.com/legal/privacy> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Note: Ads are shown to free users but not to Paid Subscribers or Enterprise Customers.
  - Quote: “Advertising allows us to provide, support, and improve some of our products, when using our Services without a paid subscription. ... Neither Enterprise Customers nor Paid Subscribers are subject to t”
- **Custom / focus modes**: Yes — <https://you.com/resources/5-game-changing-you-com-features-you-need-to-try-today> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Quote: “You.com empowers you to create Custom Agents tailored to your specific needs. Whether you're automating workflows, conducting specialized research, or generating creative content in your brand voice, ”
- **Data not used for training**: Yes — <https://you.com/legal/privacy> (verified 2026-07-16)
  - Quote: “This data will not be used for developing, improving, or training third party AI and/or ML models.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/