--- title: "Exa API: pricing, rate limits & MCP | ONEGTMLAB" description: "Exa API: AI-native web search API with its own index: search, page contents, cited answers, scheduled monitors, async research Agent, and Websets for…" canonical: https://www.onegtmlab.dev/tool-directory/research-and-scraping/exa --- # Exa API: pricing, rate limits & MCP | ONEGTMLAB [](/) [ Book a call ](/book) ![](/_astro/exa.rOWjsHOa_ZXBMo2.webp) API review # Exa API review AI-native web search API with its own index: search, page contents, cited answers, scheduled monitors, async research Agent, and Websets for verified entity lists. Best for agent web search and RAG grounding with token-efficient contents. Verified 25 Oct 2026 · 70 endpoints listed · Official MCP server [ See pricing ](#pricing)[ Exa API docs ](https://exa.ai/docs/reference) At a glance Category Research, Scraping, Sourcing Pricing model Usage-based Free tier DOCS: $10 credits available the day you sign up, reset to $10 on the 1st of each… Auth API key Official MCP Yes Best for Agent web search and RAG grounding with token-efficient contents [exa.ai ↗](https://exa.ai)[Pricing page ↗](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/pricing) ## What a call costs The actions you pay for, as Exa prices them. Action Cost Per /search lite or instant $4 1k requests (up to 10 results) /search auto or fast $7 1k requests /search deep-lite or deep $12 1k requests /search deep-reasoning $15 1k requests Results above 10 $1 1k results AI page summary $1 1k pages (docs pricing table shows no summary price for lite search; public pricing page lists $1 for Lite too) /contents $1 1k pages per content type (text, highlights, summary billed separately) /answer $5 1k requests Show all 18 priced actionsHide the rest Action Cost Per /monitors $15 1k requests Agent fixed effort $0.012 / $0.025 / $0.10 / $0.50 / $1.00 run (minimal/low/medium/high/xhigh) Agent metered compute $0.10 ACU Agent search tool call $0.005 search Agent email enrichment $0.02 email found Agent phone enrichment $0.07 phone found Exa Connect: Fiber.ai $0.02 provider credit Startup/education grant up to $1,000 free credits one-off Exa Connect: Baselayer $0.10-$4.00 order, depending on operation Keyless /search via x402 (USDC) $0.007 search (HTTP 402 payment offer returned to a keyless call) ## Pricing, plan by plan US dollars, as Exa's pricing page shows them on 25 Oct 2026. Monthly and annual billing are shown apart. Free tier DOCS: $10 credits available the day you sign up, reset to $10 on the 1st of each month (no rollover, first team only), plus a one-time $10 bonus for completing dashboard onboarding; 'No payment method required'. LIVE APP: plan reads 'Free $10 credits per month' but balance is $0.00 with banner 'Your free credits are pending payment verification. Add a non-prepaid payment method that hasn't been used to unlock another team's credits.' The live app wins for what a new user actually gets: in practice the free credits need a card. Free tier excludes Exa Snapshot. ### Free $0 Free $10 credits/month (+$10 one-time onboarding bonus) per docs; live app holds them at $0 until a non-prepaid card is verified API includedPlan details 402 Payment Required when exhausted ### Pay as you go One-off pack Prepaid dollar credits via Stripe (card or bank account), no subscription or minimum; auto recharge $5-$10,000 per top-up with optional monthly cap API includedPlan details Per-request rates; auto recharge optional ### Enterprise Custom quote Custom volume pricing, postpaid invoicing, up to 1,000 results/search, ZDR, SLAs API included ### Websets plans [Price not verified](https://exa.ai/docs/websets/api/overview) Websets credits, separate from API credits; rates and plan prices only on logged-in [websets.exa.ai/billing](https://websets.exa.ai/billing) (exa.ai/websets/pricing and websets.exa.ai/pricing return 404 on 2026-10-25). API includedPlan details Free plan caps a webset at 25 verified results. ## Rate limits Team-wide QPS across all keys (docs): /search, /answer, /chat/completions 10 QPS; deep-lite/deep/deep-reasoning 5 QPS; /contents 100 QPS; /agent/runs and /responses 5 QPS + 50 active runs (each run start counts as 2 requests; polling GETs free); /websets/\* 20 QPS. Limit Free Pay as you go Enterprise MCP keyless Limit 10 QPS search/answer, 50 concurrent agent runs; dashboard shows Contents 110 QPS (docs: 100) 10 QPS; auto-raised to 25 QPS for 90 days after PURCHASING $1,000 credits within any 30 days (pricing page: 'Up to 25 Search QPS') Custom QPS and concurrency 3 QPS and 150 calls/day (changelog entry 'Highlights, content freshness, and MCP updates'); agent\_run not available keyless More on limitsLess The live dashboard Usage page shows Contents 110 QPS (docs say 100). 429 with RATE\_LIMIT\_EXCEEDED or CONCURRENCY\_LIMIT\_REACHED; honour Retry-After. ## How to get an API key Exa uses API key. The steps below follow Exa's own docs. 1. Create a Exa account. The Free plan includes API access. 2. Create at [dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys](https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys). Creating a key needs no card (docs), but on a new account the free credits stay at $0.00 'pending payment verification' until a non-prepaid card not used by another Exa team is added. Team Management API (admin-api.exa.ai) uses a separate service key from the 'Service keys' tab, enabled per team on request 3. Send it with every request: header: x-api-key: or Authorization: Bearer (core spec securitySchemes apiKey + bearer); Websets and Team Management specs declare x-api-key only. 4. Make a first call: Web search (types: lite, auto, fast/instant legacy, deep-lite, deep, deep-reasoning); optional contents, categories company/people/news/etc. Keep the key in an environment variable, never in the command. ``` curl -X POST "https://api.exa.ai/search" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXA_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{}' ``` ## Where the docs live What Where Documentation [exa.ai/docs](https://exa.ai/docs) API reference [exa.ai/docs/reference](https://exa.ai/docs/reference) OpenAPI spec [exa.ai/docs/exa-spec.yaml](https://exa.ai/docs/exa-spec.yaml) llms.txt [docs.exa.ai/llms.txt](https://docs.exa.ai/llms.txt) Changelog [exa.ai/docs/changelog](https://exa.ai/docs/changelog) Base URL `https://api.exa.ai` MCP server `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp` SDKs exa-py (Python), exa-js (JavaScript/TypeScript), OpenAI SDK compatibility, Agent skill: npx skills add exa-labs/agent-skills ## Strengths and limits ### Where it fits - Agent web search and RAG grounding with token-efficient contents - Company and people search via category=company / category=people (1B+ public profiles claimed) - Async list building and enrichment via Exa Agent with fixed per-run price - Scheduled web monitoring with webhooks (Monitors) ### Where it falls short - Verified B2B contact data at scale (contact enrichment is a paid Agent add-on, $0.02/email, $0.07/phone) - Google-SERP-exact rank tracking (own index, not a Google wrapper) - Websets via API without a separate paid Websets plan ### Worth knowing - Websets API needs a separate paid Websets plan; Websets credits are separate from API credits and their rates are not public. - /contents bills each content type separately: text + highlights on one page = 2 billable units. - numResults above 10 adds $1/1k results; 25+ results per request is Enterprise-only. - Rate limits are per team across all keys, not per key. - 25 QPS is triggered by credits purchased ($1,000 in 30 days), not credits spent, and lasts 90 days. 8 moreShow fewer - Free $10/month does not roll over; only a user's first team receives it. - Agent auto mode can bill up to a $5 cap per run, ultra up to $20, unless you set a fixed effort. - Changelog: category 'linkedin' was replaced by 'people'; instant/fast/deep-reasoning are legacy types. - Free credits are not usable on a new account until a non-prepaid card (not used by another Exa team) is added: the dashboard shows $0.00 'pending payment verification', although the docs and pricing page say 'No payment method required'. - Dashboard usage lags: 'Recent usage can take a few hours to show up here.' Track live cost from costDollars in each API response. - type=lite accepts only a fixed parameter subset (query, category, numResults, contents.text/highlights, domain/date filters, userLocation, moderation, compliance...); any other parameter returns 400 naming it. - Team Management API is enabled per team on request and needs a service key from the 'Service keys' tab, not a normal API key. - Websets paths are listed with their /websets prefix, so join them to base\_url `https://api.exa.ai` only; Team Management endpoints are listed as full URLs on admin-api.exa.ai. ## Who should use it Use Exa for Agent web search and RAG grounding with token-efficient contents Look elsewhere for Verified B2B contact data at scale (contact enrichment is a paid Agent add-on, $0.02/email, $0.07/phone) ## If Exa is not the answer Other Research and scraping tools in this directory, each with its own review. [ ![](/_astro/dataforseo.lmwMYLks_Z1hF8Bv.webp) DataForSEO Research and scraping Best for cheap bulk SERP pulls via the Standard queue. DataForSEO API review →](/tool-directory/research-and-scraping/dataforseo)[ ![](/_astro/parallel-ai.DNKGhCFf.svg) Parallel AI Research and scraping Free planOfficial MCP Best for row-level account/contact research and enrichment with per-field citations and confidence. Parallel AI API review →](/tool-directory/research-and-scraping/parallel-ai)[ ![](/_astro/tavily.zLOQxnbo.svg) Tavily Research and scraping Free planOfficial MCP Best for agent web search with LLM-ready snippets at 1-2 credits per query. Tavily API review →](/tool-directory/research-and-scraping/tavily) ### Compare Exa with - [![](/_astro/tavily.zLOQxnbo.svg)Tavily side by side](/tool-directory/compare/exa-vs-tavily) ## Before you build Four things to settle first, each read off Exa's own pages. - **Confirm the API is on your plan**The Free plan includes API access. Free tier: DOCS: $10 credits available the day you sign up, reset to $10 on the 1st of each month (no rollover, first team only), plus a one-time $10…. - **Keep the key out of your code**API key. It is sent as: header: x-api-key: or Authorization: Bearer (core spec securitySchemes apiKey + bearer); Websets and Team Management specs declare x-api-key only. - **Design around the rate limit**Team-wide QPS across all keys (docs): /search, /answer, /chat/completions 10 QPS; deep-lite/deep/deep-reasoning 5 QPS; /contents 100 QPS; /agent/runs and /responses 5 QPS + 50 active runs (each run start counts as 2 requests; polling GETs free); /websets/\* 20 QPS. - **Know the catch before you scale**Websets API needs a separate paid Websets plan; Websets credits are separate from API credits and their rates are not public. ## Want us to build it for you? Tell us what you want Exa to do in your stack. We will show you how we would wire it into your data, outbound or CRM, and what we would check first. [ Book a call ](/book)[ See case studies ](/case-studies) Read from [exa.ai/docs/admin/pricing](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/pricing), [exa.ai/docs/reference](https://exa.ai/docs/reference) and [exa.ai/docs/admin/billing](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/billing). Verified 25 Oct 2026. All 70 endpointsFor developers: method, path, what it does and what it costs. **Base URL:** `https://api.exa.ai` **Bulk and async:** Batch API (beta): submit many /search or /agent/runs requests, poll, download JSONL; header Exa-Beta: batches-2026-06-06 **Webhooks:** Yes: Websets webhooks (/websets/v0/webhooks with attempts log) and Monitors deliver to webhooks Filter endpoints 70 endpoints Method Path What it does Cost POST `/search` Web search (types: lite, auto, fast/instant legacy, deep-lite, deep, deep-reasoning); optional contents, categories company/people/news/etc. lite/instant $4 per 1k requests; auto/fast $7 per 1k; deep-lite/deep $12 per 1k; deep-reasoning $15 per 1k; base covers 10 results, +$1 per 1k extra results; AI summaries +$1 per 1k pages POST `/contents` Page contents for known URLs (text, highlights, summary) $1 per 1k pages per content type; summary +$1 per 1k pages POST `/answer` LLM answer with citations $5 per 1k requests POST `/findSimilar` Find links similar to a URL Not stated POST `/monitors` Create a scheduled search monitor (webhook delivery) $15 per 1k monitor runs, +$1 per 1k results above 10, +$1 per 1k summaries GET `/monitors` List monitors Not stated POST `/monitors/batch` Batch action on monitors Not stated GET `/monitors/{id}` Get a monitor Not stated PATCH `/monitors/{id}` Update a monitor Not stated DELETE `/monitors/{id}` Delete a monitor Not stated POST `/monitors/{id}/trigger` Trigger a monitor run now $15 per 1k requests GET `/monitors/{id}/runs` List monitor runs Not stated GET `/monitors/{id}/runs/{runId}` Get a monitor run Not stated POSTasync `/agent/runs` Start an async Exa Agent run (research, list building, enrichment) Fixed effort: minimal $0.012, low $0.025, medium $0.10, high $0.50, xhigh $1.00 per run; auto/ultra metered: $0.10/ACU, $0.005/search call, $0.02/email, $0.07/phone; default caps $5 (auto) / $20 (ultra) GET `/agent/runs` List agent runs Not stated GETasync `/agent/runs/{id}` Get an agent run Not stated DELETE `/agent/runs/{id}` Delete an agent run Not stated POST `/agent/runs/{id}/cancel` Cancel an agent run Not stated POST `/agent/runs/{id}/stop` Stop an agent run Not stated GETasync `/agent/runs/{id}/events` List agent run events Not stated POSTasync `/batches` Create a batch of /search or /agent/runs requests, results as JSONL (beta, header Exa-Beta: batches-2026-06-06) Not stated GET `/batches` List batches Not stated GETasync `/batches/{id}` Get a batch Not stated DELETE `/batches/{id}` Delete a batch Not stated POST `/batches/{id}/cancel` Cancel a batch Not stated GET `/websets/v0/teams/me` Get team info (incl. Websets concurrency limits) Not stated POSTasync `/websets/v0/websets` Create a Webset Websets credits (separate from API credits); rates only on logged-in [websets.exa.ai/billing](https://websets.exa.ai/billing) GET `/websets/v0/websets` List Websets Not stated GET `/websets/v0/websets/{id}` Get a Webset Not stated POSTasync `/websets/v0/websets/{id}` Update a Webset Websets credits (separate from API credits); rates only on logged-in [websets.exa.ai/billing](https://websets.exa.ai/billing) DELETE `/websets/v0/websets/{id}` Delete a Webset Not stated POST `/websets/v0/websets/{id}/cancel` Cancel a running Webset Websets credits (separate from API credits); rates only on logged-in [websets.exa.ai/billing](https://websets.exa.ai/billing) POSTasync `/websets/v0/websets/preview` Preview a Webset Websets credits (separate from API credits); rates only on logged-in [websets.exa.ai/billing](https://websets.exa.ai/billing) POSTasync `/websets/v0/websets/{webset}/searches` Create a Webset search Websets credits (separate from API credits); rates only on logged-in [websets.exa.ai/billing](https://websets.exa.ai/billing) GET `/websets/v0/websets/{webset}/searches/{id}` Get a Webset search Not stated POST `/websets/v0/websets/{webset}/searches/{id}/cancel` Cancel a Webset search Websets credits (separate from API credits); rates only on logged-in [websets.exa.ai/billing](https://websets.exa.ai/billing) POSTasync `/websets/v0/websets/{webset}/enrichments` Create an enrichment Websets credits (separate from API credits); rates only on logged-in [websets.exa.ai/billing](https://websets.exa.ai/billing) PATCH `/websets/v0/websets/{webset}/enrichments/{id}` Update an enrichment Not stated GET `/websets/v0/websets/{webset}/enrichments/{id}` Get an enrichment Not stated DELETE `/websets/v0/websets/{webset}/enrichments/{id}` Delete an enrichment Not stated [](/) © 2026 ONEGTMLAB Private Limited. All rights reserved. COMPANY [ Why Us ](/#why-us)[ Process ](/#timeline)[ Blogs ](/blogs)[ About ](/about)[ Clients ](/clients)[ Free resources ](/free-resources)[ Newsletter ](/newsletter) Services [ GTM Engineering ](/ai-gtm-engineering)[ Account-Based Marketing ](/services/account-based-marketing)[ Paid Media ](/services/paid-media)[ Content Engineering ](/linkedin-personal-branding)[ RevOps ](/services/revops)[ SEO, AEO & GEO ](/services/seo-aeo-geo)[ All services ](/services) ![](/_astro/wordmark-3d.CMEfGdYr.svg)