Grok real-time search in 2026: web search, X search, citations, pricing, and API tools
Updated: 2 days ago
Grok's real-time research stack now has two distinct first-party search tools: Web Search and X Search. They are server-side agent tools that Grok can call while reasoning, rather than static knowledge baked into the model.
Grok 4.6 supports both tools together with code execution and other agentic capabilities. The API can return citations and tool-call metadata, while costs combine model tokens with server-side tool usage.
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WEB SEARCH AND X SEARCH ARE DIFFERENT TOOLS
Web Search retrieves current information from the broader internet and can browse pages. X Search is specialized for X, including keyword search, semantic search, user search and thread retrieval. A research workflow can use either tool or combine both.
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Tool | Search surface | Current API pricing |
|---|---|---|
Web Search | Open web pages and search results | $5 per 1,000 calls |
X Search | X posts, users and threads | $5 per 1,000 calls before Sep 21, 2026 |
Attachment Search | Files attached to a request | $10 per 1,000 calls |
Collections Search | Persistent uploaded document collections | $2.50 per 1,000 calls |
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GROK 4.6 CAN DECIDE WHEN TO SEARCH DURING AN AGENT LOOP
When server-side tools are enabled, Grok can analyze the question, make one or more searches, inspect results, continue reasoning and then produce a final answer. Deeper research generally means more tool turns, higher latency and higher cost.
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CITATIONS ARE PART OF THE SEARCH RESPONSE PIPELINE
The API can return citations associated with web and X retrieval. Developers can also request tool-call outputs for inspection, which is useful when an application needs to audit what Grok searched rather than only displaying the final synthesis.
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SEARCH COST IS MODEL TOKENS PLUS TOOL USAGE
A search-enabled request is billed for the model's input, reasoning and output tokens plus server-side tool usage. Web Search currently costs $5 per 1,000 calls. X Search is changing on September 21, 2026 from a call-based charge to pricing tied to posts and user profiles fetched, so applications that rely heavily on X should re-check cost assumptions after that date.
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IMAGE UNDERSTANDING CAN BE ADDED TO SEARCH
Web Search can enable image search and image understanding. Images found during research can then be inspected by the model, with visual processing billed through image-token usage rather than a separate ordinary search call alone.
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DOMAIN FILTERS MAKE WEB RESEARCH MORE CONTROLLED
The Web Search API supports allowed-domain and excluded-domain filters, with up to five allowed domains in the documented configuration. This makes it possible to restrict research to primary sources or remove low-value domains from a workflow.
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REAL-TIME SEARCH IS NOT THE SAME AS MODEL KNOWLEDGE
Grok 4.6 has a published knowledge cutoff, while search tools retrieve newer external information at request time. For time-sensitive work, the freshness therefore comes from the search layer and citations, not from assuming the base model already contains today's information.
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