Exa
Neural web search API for finding people and pages.
From $4/1k searches Free tier MCP server API
Bottom line
Web, people and company search API built for AI agents. Free plan with $10 in credits each month; paid search starts at $4 per 1,000 requests.
Stands out for: Hosted MCP server on the free plan, with people and company indexes alongside the web index.
Watch out for: Pay-as-you-go has no monthly floor, but Deep Search, Agent runs and phone lookups are billed separately. Free is a small monthly credit, not unlimited.
Overview
Exa is a search API built for AI agents. It returns web pages, people, companies and scholarly works, plus page contents, monitors and an Agent product for deeper research. The Free plan gives a $10 onboarding bonus and $10 in credits every month with no card, MCP server access, Claude and ChatGPT connectors, and 10 search queries per second. Paid use is pay-as-you-go on the same endpoints.
Teams pick Exa when they need live web and people search inside an LLM loop rather than a contact database UI. Search per 1,000 requests is $4 for Lite and $7 for Auto, for up to 10 results, and contents are $1 per 1,000 pages. Deep Search is $12 per 1,000 requests. Agent runs cost $0.012 to $1.00 each depending on effort, with email enrichment at $0.02 and phone at $0.07. Enterprise is custom.
Who it's for
Best for
- Builders putting web search inside coding or research agents
- GTM teams enriching people and companies through an API
- Teams that want search inside Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT
- Startups living on free monthly credits before paying
Not ideal for
- Recruiters who want a point-and-click sourcing UI
- Teams that need a fixed-price annual seat license
MCP server
https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp
First-party MCP at mcp.exa.ai. Official vendor-hosted server. Connect Claude or ChatGPT with your own login.
Setup steps and live status MCP Directory Check your stack in the MCP readiness checker
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $10 in credits a month plus a $10 onboarding bonus, no card |
| Lite Search | $4 per 1,000 requests | Pay as you go, up to 10 results |
| Auto Search | $7 per 1,000 requests | Pay as you go, up to 10 results |
| Deep Search | $12 per 1,000 requests | Pay as you go |
| Contents | $1 per 1,000 pages | Per content type |
| Agent runs | $0.012 to $1.00 each | Priced per run |
Free plan: $10 in credits every month plus a $10 onboarding bonus, no card. Pay-as-you-go search per 1,000 requests is $4 for Lite, $7 for Auto and $12 for Deep, with $1 per extra result above 10; contents are $1 per 1,000 pages. Agent runs are $0.012 to $1.00 each. Enterprise is custom. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.
Checked 4 Nov 2026. Vendors change prices without notice.
Is Exa expensive?
Exa starts at $4/1k searches. We list 260 lead generation tools in total. 75 have a free tier, and those with a public price typically start around $49 a month.
- 31 quote-based
- 75 free tier
- 211 public price
Worked out automatically from every lead generation listing, so it updates as the directory changes.
Pros and cons
Pros
- $10 in free credits every month, no card
- Hosted MCP server on the free plan
- People and company indexes besides web search
Cons
- Phone lookups cost $0.07 each on Agent
- Free credits cover light testing only
- SSO and zero data retention need Enterprise
Integrations
Claude ChatGPT Cursor VS Code
What's new at Exa
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How Exa compares
See all Exa alternatives, with what each one does differently and a head to head for every pairing.
| Tool | Free tier | From | MCP | API | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ✓ | $4/1k searches | ✓ | ✓ | |
| | ✓ | $16/mo | ✓ | ✓ | Compare |
| | ✓ | $19/mo | ✓ | ✓ | Compare |
| | ✓ | $98/mo | – | ✓ | Compare |
| | ✓ | $185/mo | ✓ | ✓ | Compare |
$16/mo Free tier MCP API
Crawl-and-scrape API if you need page contents more than a search index.
$19/mo Free tier MCP API
Scraper marketplace if the job is site-specific scrapers rather than search.
$98/mo Free tier API
Person and company data API if you want a database match, not live search.
$185/mo Free tier MCP API
Spreadsheet orchestration if search is one column among many enrichers.
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