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# Exa pricing: $4 to $15 per 1,000 searches, and $1 on SpecStream

Compared on Nov 12, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/exa-pricing

Exa charges per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results: $4 on `lite`, $7 on `auto`, the default, and $12 to $15 on deep types. Each result above 10 adds $1 per 1,000, and `/contents` costs $1 per 1,000 pages per content type.

SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. It answers Exa's own `/search` call at $1 per 1,000 searches on every fast type, and `/contents` at $0.80 per 1,000 pages.

[Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-exa-pricing&utm_source=alternatives-md&utm_campaign=exa-pricing&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fsearch%3Froute%3Dexa) New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. It covers 10,000 searches.

## Every Exa price, and what SpecStream charges for the same job

| | SpecStream | Exa |
|---|---|---|
| Search, per 1,000 calls of up to 10 results | $1 on `lite`, `auto` and every other fast type, at `https://api.specstream.ai/exa/search`. $5 on `deep-lite`, `deep` and `deep-reasoning`, which run the default search | $4 on `lite`, $7 on `auto`, the default type, $12 on `deep-lite` and `deep`, and $15 on the legacy `deep-reasoning` |
| More than 10 results | Each started block of 10 more adds $0.0012, so `numResults: 100` costs $0.0118 a call | $1 per 1,000 results above 10, so `numResults: 100` on `auto` costs $0.097 a call |
| Page text with the search | `contents.text` gives each result the text of its page closest to the query, up to about 3,500 characters, in the price of the search | Text and highlights for the first 10 results are included. AI page summaries add $1 per 1,000 pages |
| Contents, per 1,000 pages | $0.80 on `/exa/contents`, up to 20 URLs a call, one price per page whatever you ask for. A page with no text is not charged | $1 per 1,000 pages per content type, so `text` and `highlights` on the same page count as two: $2 per 1,000 |
| An answer to a question | $5 per 1,000 on `/v1/web-search`, with `answer`, the `page` it was read from and its read time, and the results read | `/answer` costs $5 per 1,000 requests |
| Lists and research | Deep Search: every match on the live web as rows that meet each condition you wrote, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, plus 5¢ for an email and 15¢ for a phone. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts | Agent: $0.012 to $1.00 a request at a fixed effort, or metered at $0.10 per compute unit and $0.005 per search, up to $5 on `auto` and $20 on `ultra` by default. $0.02 an email, $0.07 a phone |
| Scheduled searches | A saved request reruns hourly to yearly, each row labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching. A changed row costs half its rate, an unchanged row 1¢ | Monitors cost $2 per 1,000 requests, plus $1 per 1,000 results above 10 |
| Free use | $10 of credit on a new account, no card: 10,000 searches or 12,500 pages | $10 in credits on sign up, up to 2,500 `lite` searches, reset to $10 on the first of every month, no payment method, and $10 more once after onboarding |
| Zero data retention | A setting on any API key: a search made with it keeps no request text and no answer after the reply | With Enterprise. The annual Enterprise plan costs $12,000 paid upfront and includes Zero Data Retention, $12,000 in API credits and 25 QPS |
| What answers the call | The whole live web, read at the moment of the call. 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct) and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks | Exa's own index, which tracks over 2 trillion URLs and serves 100 billion pages as of October 2026 |
| A failed call | A `429` with `Retry-After` charges nothing, and a search that returns no results costs nothing. With an `Idempotency-Key`, a retried call is charged once | Each API call is a request, priced per 1,000 requests |

## What the Exa price list means for your bill

### What 100,000 searches a month cost

100,000 searches of 10 results cost $700 on `auto`, the type a request gets when it names none, and $400 on `lite`. Ask for 30 results and each `auto` call costs $0.027, $2,700 for the month.

On SpecStream the same calls cost $100 through Exa's own call shape, and $340 with 30 results, at $0.0034 a call. A call that names no type is a fast search at $0.001.

### Contents billed once per page

Exa's `/contents` bills each content type separately, so 100,000 pages with `text` and `highlights` cost $200. On SpecStream `/exa/contents` reads the same 100,000 pages for $80 in Exa's reply shape, and a page with no text is not charged.

### The most accurate web search API

The SpecStream Search API scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, 978 of them correct, and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. Every score and its method are on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=exa-pricing) page.

### Agent runs and rows

Exa Agent bills $0.012 to $1.00 a request at a fixed effort, or meters compute units and searches up to a $5 cap on `auto`. Deep Search prices the result in place of the run: 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a delivered row, with the most a run can cost approved before it starts, and a run that finds nothing costs nothing. The [Exa Agent pricing](https://specstream.ai/exa-agent-pricing?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=exa-pricing) page has every Agent rate.

## Other search API prices next to Exa

### SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. The Search API costs $1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results on the fast tier and every drop-in address, and $5 with the answer. The Extract API reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000, and Deep Search delivers full datasets at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

### Tavily

Pay as you go is $0.008 per credit. A basic search costs 1 credit and an advanced search 2, so 1,000 searches cost $8 to $16, with 1,000 free credits every month. SpecStream answers Tavily's own call at $1 per 1,000.

### Brave Search API

Search costs $5 per 1,000 requests, with $5 in free credits every month. SpecStream answers Brave's own `/res/v1/web/search` call at $1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results.

### Parallel

Search starts at $1 per 1,000 requests, and Extract costs $1 per 1,000 URLs. SpecStream answers Parallel's own search call at $1 per 1,000 in every mode but `advanced`, and reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000.

### Firecrawl

Monthly credit plans from $19 for 5,000 credits. A search costs 2 credits per 10 results and a scraped page 1. SpecStream answers Firecrawl's own calls at $1 per 1,000 searches and $0.80 per 1,000 pages.

## How to move your Exa calls to SpecStream

Change one line. `https://api.specstream.ai/exa` answers the calls your code sends to `https://api.exa.ai` today, in Exa's JSON, so the code that reads `results[]` stays as it is. Send a SpecStream key in `x-api-key` or as a Bearer token.

```
# Before
curl -X POST https://api.exa.ai/search \
  -H "x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "Series A fintech companies in Spain", "numResults": 10}'

# After
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/exa/search \
  -H "x-api-key: $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "Series A fintech companies in Spain", "numResults": 10}'
```

In the official Python SDK, set the base address and keep the rest of your code:

```
from exa_py import Exa

exa = Exa(api_key=SPECSTREAM_KEY, base_url="https://api.specstream.ai/exa")
results = exa.search("Series A fintech companies in Spain", num_results=10)
pages = exa.get_contents(["https://example.com"], text=True)
```

`query`, `numResults`, `includeDomains`, `excludeDomains`, `startPublishedDate`, `endPublishedDate` and `contents.text` work as before, and `costDollars.total` shows what each call cost. Every field is in the [Exa migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/exa?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=exa-pricing) and the [Contents guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/exa-contents?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=exa-pricing).

On MCP, your agent calls `search_web` with `{"q": ...}` and `read_pages` with `{"urls": [...]}` at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does the Exa API cost?

Search costs $4 per 1,000 requests on `lite`, $7 on `auto`, $12 on `deep-lite` and `deep` and $15 on `deep-reasoning`, for up to 10 results. Contents costs $1 per 1,000 pages per content type, Answer $5 per 1,000 and Monitors $2 per 1,000.

### Is Exa free?

The free tier gives $10 in credits a month, up to 2,500 `lite` searches, with no payment method, and $10 more once after onboarding. SpecStream gives a new account $10 of credit with no card, which covers 10,000 searches through Exa's own call.

### What does an Exa search with no type cost?

$7 per 1,000, because `auto` is the default type. Through SpecStream's Exa address the same call costs $1 per 1,000.

### How much does Exa charge for more than 10 results?

$1 per 1,000 results above 10, so a call with `numResults: 100` on `auto` costs $0.097. On SpecStream it costs $0.0118.

### How much does Exa Contents cost?

$1 per 1,000 pages per content type, so `text` and `highlights` on one page are billed twice, and AI summaries add $1 per 1,000 pages. SpecStream reads pages on Exa's `/contents` call at $0.80 per 1,000, one price per page.

### Is there a cheaper alternative to Exa?

Yes. SpecStream answers Exa's own `/search` call at $1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, in Exa's JSON. The change is the base address `https://api.specstream.ai/exa` and the key.

### Does SpecStream have an API and an MCP server?

Yes. The Search API is `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search` at $5 per 1,000 searches, or $1 with `speed=fast`, and the MCP server is at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp` over Streamable HTTP, with OAuth or an API key.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each Exa price comes from Exa's own pricing docs and pricing page, read on Nov 12, 2026.

- [SpecStream pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa pricing docs](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa search quickstart](https://exa.ai/docs/search/quickstart.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa pricing update](https://exa.ai/docs/changelog/pricing-update.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Exa FAQ](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/faqs.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Tavily credits](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Parallel pricing](https://parallel.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Parallel pricing docs](https://docs.parallel.ai/getting-started/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026
- [Firecrawl pricing](https://www.firecrawl.dev/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026