Exa

Search engine and API built for AI apps, returning clean web results and page content.

Free + PaidAI Search & Research#7 in Search & Researchby Exa Labs

What is Exa?

Exa is a web search engine designed to be used by AI systems and developers. Its API finds pages by meaning, returns their full text and can run deeper research tasks. Developers use it to ground chatbots and agents in fresh web data, and there is also a web search interface.

Best for: Developers building AI apps or agents that need live web results.

What you can do with Exa

Give a chatbot access to current web pages
Find companies or papers matching a description
Feed clean page text into an AI pipeline

Key features

Meaning-based web search API
Returns full page text and highlights
Filters by domain, date and content type
Research endpoint for deeper answers

Exa pros and cons

Pros

Results are easy for AI models to use
Good developer documentation

Cons

Mainly aimed at developers rather than casual users

Exa pricing

Free + PaidFree credits to start; pay as you go after

Exa has a free plan, with paid plans that add more usage or features. Plans change often, so check the official site for current prices.

How to get started

Open exa.ai and create a free account.
Try one real task first: give a chatbot access to current web pages.
Compare the result with Scite or SciSpace, then keep the one that fits how you work.

Compare Exa

Side-by-side comparisons of features, pricing, pros and cons.

Exa alternatives

Other tools that do a similar job, ranked by our editors.

Scite
Free trial
Shows how research papers are cited, including whether later work supports or disputes them.
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SciSpace
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AI research assistant that finds papers, explains them and helps with literature reviews.
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Brave Search
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Private search engine with its own index and AI answers that summarise results.
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Connected Papers
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Builds a visual map of papers related to one you choose, so you can explore a field fast.
AI Search & ResearchVisit
ResearchRabbit
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Literature discovery tool that suggests related papers and authors from your collections.
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Liner
Free + Paid
AI search and research assistant that answers with sources and helps you highlight the web.
AI Search & ResearchVisit

Top AI research tools

How Exa compares with the best in AI Search & Research.

1. Perplexity
Free + Paid
An answer engine that searches the web and cites its sources.
2. NotebookLM
Free + Paid
Upload your sources and ask questions grounded only in them.
3. Consensus
Free + Paid
Search what scientific research says about a question.
4. Elicit
Free + Paid
An AI research assistant for finding and analysing papers.
5. You.com
Free + Paid
An AI search and research assistant with several models to choose from.

See all 16 AI research tools

Exa FAQ

What is Exa?

Is Exa free?

Exa has a free plan, with paid plans that add more usage or features. Free credits to start; pay as you go after. Check the official site for current limits and prices.

What can you do with Exa?

With Exa you can give a chatbot access to current web pages; find companies or papers matching a description; feed clean page text into an AI pipeline.

Who is Exa best for?

Developers building AI apps or agents that need live web results.

Does Exa have an app?

Exa runs as web app and api; we know of no dedicated phone or desktop app.

Who makes Exa?

Exa is made by Exa Labs.

What are the best alternatives to Exa?

Popular alternatives include Scite, SciSpace, Brave Search and Connected Papers. See the full ranking on our AI Search & Research page.

AltFTool is not affiliated with Exa. This summary was written by our editors from the tool's public information. Browse all 451 AI tools