> **For coding agents and LLMs:** This is one Social Fetch marketing page (markdown export). For API orientation start with [`/llms.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.txt); for auth and crawl rules use [`/agents.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/agents.txt); for every operation use [`/llms-endpoints.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-endpoints.txt). ## This page - **On-site (HTML):** - **Markdown (.mdx) URL:** --- # Social Fetch vs Tavily Tavily answers "what does the web say about X?" with ranked, LLM-ready search results. Social Fetch answers "what is this TikTok or Instagram account right now?" with normalized profile JSON. Agent builders often need both; they are not substitutes. ## At a glance | | Social Fetch | Tavily | | --- | --- | --- | | Primary job | Structured social media lookups | Real-time web search for AI agents | | Output | Normalized social JSON + meta envelope | Ranked search results / extracted passages | | Pricing | From $1.35/1k; PAYG credits never expire | 1,000 free credits/mo; PAYG ~$0.008/credit; Project plan ~$30/mo | | Instagram profile by handle | Dedicated REST route | Search the web — not a social schema | | Open-web research query | Wrong tool (use web fetch sparingly) | Core product | | Social catalog | 264 ops / 25 platforms | Web index — not a social endpoint catalog | ## Pricing (last verified 2026-07-21) **Search credits vs social lookup credits.** Tavily: 1,000 free credits/mo; basic search ~1 credit, advanced ~2; PAYG ~$0.008/credit. Social Fetch: ~$1.64/1k social lookups on non-expiring packs. Different unit of work. | | Social Fetch | Tavily | Note | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1,000 basic web searches | N/A — not a search API | ~$0–$8 (free tier then ~$0.008/credit) | | | 1,000 TikTok profile lookups | ~$1.64 | N/A as structured social — search + hope | | | Credits roll over? | Yes on PAYG packs | Monthly allotment resets | | | Best fit workload | Entity lookups on social networks | Agent research across the open web | | Tavily pricing from tavily.com/pricing (July 2026). Project plan slider and enterprise quotes vary; confirm credit costs for basic vs advanced search in their docs before budgeting. ## Feature matrix | Feature | Social Fetch | Tavily | | --- | --- | --- | | Synchronous REST JSON (no actor run polling) | Yes | Yes | | One API key for all platforms | Yes | Yes | | Unified schema across platforms | Yes | No | | Public OpenAPI specification | Yes | Partial | | Official TypeScript SDK | Yes | Yes | | Interactive API playground | Yes | Partial | | TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, X in one vendor | Yes | No | | Pay-as-you-go without required monthly subscription | Yes | Yes | | PAYG credits never expire | Yes | No | | Web fetch (markdown/HTML) in same product | Yes | Partial | | Scheduled account / feed monitors | Yes | No | | Signed webhooks when watched accounts post | Yes | No | ## Search API and social API solve different questions Tavily is optimized for agents that need fresh web context: deduplicated results, tunable search depth, content shaped for tokens. That is why it shows up in LangChain defaults and agent frameworks. Social Fetch is optimized for entities that live on social networks. You already know the handle or URL. You need followers, bios, posts, comments, transcripts — fields with types, not a paragraph the model paraphrases from a SERP snippet. If you ask Tavily for "charli d'amelio follower count," you might get a page that mentions a number. If you ask Social Fetch for the TikTok profile, you get a typed field from a live lookup. Accuracy and product UX diverge immediately. ## Most serious agents should use both A support agent researching a brand: Tavily for news and docs, Social Fetch for the brand's LinkedIn and Instagram state. A creator CRM: Social Fetch for roster enrichment, Tavily for "what did the press say this week." Buying only Tavily and scraping social URLs out of search results is how you re-implement a worse social API. Buying only Social Fetch and hoping it answers open-web questions is how you stretch web fetch past its job. ## Do not rank vendors by dollars per thousand blindly Tavily at ~$8 per 1,000 basic searches and Social Fetch at $1.64 per 1,000 social lookups are not competing SKUs. One thousand Tavily credits will not produce one thousand Instagram profile objects. One thousand Social Fetch credits will not produce one thousand web research answers. Budget each line for the workload that consumes it. Ownership note for procurement: Tavily was acquired by Nebius in 2026 — roadmap and packaging can shift under a new parent. Social Fetch remains a focused social API vendor. ## When Tavily is the better choice - AI agents that need open-web search with LLM-ready snippets - Research / RAG flows where the query is a question, not a social handle - Framework defaults that already wire Tavily as the search tool ## When Social Fetch is the better choice - Known social entities: profiles, posts, comments, transcripts - Product UIs that need typed fields, not search prose - Multi-platform social coverage under one key and envelope ## Verdict: Search vs social — pick for the question you ask Tavily is a strong AI search API. Social Fetch is a strong social data API. Use Tavily when the input is a research question. Use Social Fetch when the input is a social handle or post URL. Agents that need both should call both — not force one vendor to fake the other's job. ## FAQ ### Can Tavily replace Social Fetch? No for structured social data. Search can surface pages about a creator; it does not replace a profile endpoint with normalized metrics and lookupStatus. ### Can Social Fetch replace Tavily? No for open-web agent search. Our web utilities fetch pages you already have URLs for; they are not a ranked web search index. ### Which should I put in my agent by default? If the tool argument is a search query, Tavily (or Exa). If the tool argument is a social handle or post URL, Social Fetch.