unlob vs Grounding with Google Search
Google’s first-party grounding gives Gemini the best index in the world at $14 per 1,000 search queries — 35× unlob, and only usable from Gemini.
Verified 5 August 2026·Figures from vendors' own pages
On the headline rate that is 35× — $14 per 1,000 against $0.40. Both figures are computed from the published plan tables rather than typed into this page, so they follow the vendors rather than drifting from them.
Price
- unlob$0.40
- Grounding with Google Search$14
| Provider | Own index? | $ / 1,000 queries | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
$14 per 1,000 search queries on Gemini 3.x after 5,000 free prompts per month. Gemini 2.5 models use the older scheme at $35 per 1,000. One prompt can trigger several billed queries. | Yes Google's index | $14 | Gemini API pricing |
$29 per month for 50,000 requests. | Yes Our own crawl and index | $0.58 | This page |
$199 per month for 500,000 requests. | Yes Our own crawl and index | $0.40 | This page |
When Grounding with Google Search is the better choice
A comparison page that cannot name a scenario where the competitor wins is an advertisement. Here are the real ones.
Choose Grounding with Google Search
- Retrieval quality on broad consumer queries. It is Google’s index; nothing else in this market matches it for coverage.
- You are already committed to Gemini and want zero integration work.
- The 5,000 free prompts a month are generous for low-volume applications.
- First-party support and billing through an existing Google Cloud relationship.
Choose unlob
- Price: $0.40 against $14, and against $35 on Gemini 2.5 models.
- Model independence — the same API works with Claude, GPT, open models or none.
- Control over retrieval: around 30 filters, three modes, explicit sorting and deduplication.
- Graph traversal and coverage auditing, neither of which grounding provides.
The substantive differences
| Grounding with Google Search | unlob | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing shape | Per search query on top of token costs. One prompt can trigger several billed queries, so real cost exceeds the headline. | One request is one request, whatever it does. |
| Lock-in | Gemini only. Changing model means changing retrieval. | A plain HTTP API and an MCP server — retrieval and model are independent choices. |
| Control | The model decides what to search for and what to use. You see citations, not a result set. | You issue the query and the filters; the agent sees exactly what you asked for. |
| Auditability | Citations for what was used; nothing about what was excluded. | why_not explains absence, and assemble_context attaches a reason to every included passage. |
Sources
Every figure on this page was read from the vendor's own pricing page or funding announcement on the date shown.
- Grounding with Google Search: Gemini API pricingread 5 August 2026
Frequently asked questions
How much does Google Search grounding cost?
$14 per 1,000 search queries on Gemini 3.x models after 5,000 free prompts per month. Gemini 2.5 models use an older scheme at $35 per 1,000 grounded prompts after 1,500 free requests a day. Note that a single prompt can trigger multiple billed search queries.
Can I use Google grounding with Claude or GPT?
No. Grounding with Google Search is a Gemini feature. If you need retrieval that survives a model change, you need a standalone search API.
Check the claims yourself
The free tier is 10,000 requests a month with no card. That is enough to test coverage, latency and result quality against your own queries — which is a better comparison than this page.