Tavily Web Search in NanoGPT: BYOK-friendly real-time browsing
Web search is the fastest way to keep answers current, but it also adds cost. We added Tavily as a second web search provider so you can keep using NanoGPT while tapping into Tavily's generous free tier via BYOK (bring your own key). The result: more real-time answers for subscribers without extra platform charges.
Why Tavily
Tavily is built specifically for AI web search. It offers a clean credit-based model and a free monthly allotment that makes it a great fit for BYOK users who want fresh information without turning web search into a recurring bill.
From Tavily's docs:
- Free plan: 1,000 API credits per month, no credit card required.
- Pay-as-you-go: $0.008 per credit.
- Search depth: basic searches cost 1 credit, advanced searches cost 2 credits.
(See the Tavily credits and pricing details here: https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits)
How the integration works
When you enable web search and choose Tavily, we call Tavily's /search endpoint and inject results into the prompt so the model can answer with today's information. Standard search maps to Tavily's basic search depth, while deep search maps to Tavily's advanced search depth.
Pricing inside NanoGPT (and how BYOK changes it)
If you use our hosted Tavily key, web search is billed at:
- $0.008 per standard search
- $0.016 per deep search
If you bring your own Tavily key, we skip platform charges for web search. That means subscribers can use their Tavily free tier (1,000 credits/month) on top of their NanoGPT subscription.
How to use Tavily in NanoGPT
In the app
- Add your Tavily API key in BYOK settings: https://nano-gpt.com/byok
- Go to Settings and select Tavily as your web search provider.
- Toggle web search on in your chat and ask a question that benefits from fresh info.
In the API
Append a web search suffix to the model you want to use:
- Standard Tavily search:
:online/tavily - Deep Tavily search:
:online/tavily-deep
Example model IDs:
gpt-4o:online/tavilygpt-4o:online/tavily-deep
When to use standard vs deep
- Standard: quick checks, headlines, recent releases, fast verification.
- Deep: research-heavy questions, multi-source synthesis, or when you need more comprehensive coverage.
Why this makes sense
Tavily gives us a second high-quality web search option and gives you control over costs. If you're a subscriber, BYOK lets you add up-to-date web results without extra spend. If you prefer our hosted key, the pricing is still competitive and predictable.
If you want more search options, we still default to Linkup, so you can pick the provider that fits each use case best.
