> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brightdata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Business Search pricing

> Business Search costs $2 per 1,000 searches in Ludicrous and Instant, up to 100 results each, and $3 in Smart with 10. Rejected requests are not billed.

## What does each mode cost?

| Mode        | Price per 1,000 searches | Results included per search | Additional results                                                   |
| ----------- | ------------------------ | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ludicrous` | \$2                      | 100                         | Each further block of up to 100 costs another \$2 per 1,000 searches |
| `instant`   | \$2                      | 100                         | Each further block of up to 100 costs another \$2 per 1,000 searches |
| `smart`     | \$3                      | 10                          | Each further block of up to 10 costs another \$3 per 1,000 searches  |

There is no separate per-record charge. Ludicrous and Instant carry the same rate today, but they are billed as separate modes.

`limit` is capped at 100 in Ludicrous and Instant and at 10 in Smart, which is the block size, so one request is one block.

## How is a search priced?

Business Search charges on the number of results you request, after defaults and validation are applied, not on the number of results that come back. Requesting 100 results and receiving 40 is billed as one block.

You pay for the depth you ask for, so the cost is predictable before the search runs. A broad query that matches little is not cheaper.

Results are billed in blocks. A block is 100 results in Ludicrous and Instant, and 10 results in Smart. Any part of a block counts as a whole block:

| Mode        | Results requested | Billable blocks | Cost per 1,000 such searches |
| ----------- | ----------------- | --------------- | ---------------------------- |
| `ludicrous` | 10                | 1               | \$2                          |
| `ludicrous` | 100               | 1               | \$2                          |
| `smart`     | 10                | 1               | \$3                          |

Asking for fewer results than the block size does not cost less. Ten requests of `limit: 10` in Instant cost ten blocks; one request of `limit: 100` covering the same ground costs one.

## How do you keep the bill down?

* **Page with the largest `limit` the mode allows** rather than sending many small requests. This also keeps you under the rate limit.
* **Use `view` to control which fields come back.** It does not change the price, but a narrower view keeps responses small and fast.
* **Reserve Smart for requests where the ordering matters**, and run breadth-first work in Instant or Ludicrous.
* **Enrich only the records you keep.** Business Search has no per-record charge, so discarding candidates after discovery adds no cost.

## Which requests are billable?

Billable:

* A valid, completed search that returns a successful response
* A successful search that returns zero matches
* A successful search that returns fewer results than requested
* A Smart search whose ranking step fell back to Instant's ordering

Not billable:

* An invalid request rejected before the search runs
* An authentication or authorization failure
* A request rejected by the rate limit with HTTP 429
* A platform failure or an unsuccessful timeout
* An internal retry
* Duplicate delivery of the same usage event
* A cancellation made before the search begins

A zero-match search is billable because the search ran. A rejected request is not, because it never did. See [Business Search error handling](/products/business-search/error-codes) for how to tell the two apart in your own logging.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Smart cost more than Instant?

Yes. Smart is \$3 per 1,000 searches against \$2 for Instant, and a Smart request returns up to 10 results where an Instant request returns up to 100. Per result, the same number of records costs 15 times more in Smart.

### Does paging through results cost more?

Yes. Each page is a separate search and is billed on the `limit` it requests. Ten pages of 100 Ludicrous results bill 10 searches of one block each.

### Am I charged for a search that returns nothing?

Yes, when the search ran and returned HTTP 200 with an empty `documents` array. You are not charged when the request was rejected before execution.