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| What matters | 🔎 Exa | 🔎 Tavily |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Exa provides search and content APIs for applications that need relevant web documents. | Tavily supplies search, extraction and crawl APIs for research applications. |
| Best for | Semantic web search in developer applications | Search and extraction APIs for AI research |
| Pricing model | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid |
| Free-plan limits | The free tier lists USD 10 in credits/month plus onboarding credits, with no payment method required. Pay-as-you-go and larger plans apply after limits; endpoint rates vary. | Free access includes 1,000 API credits/month, reset monthly, with no card required. Pay-as-you-go is listed at USD 0.008/credit; endpoint consumption varies. |
| Platforms | API, Web | API, Web |
| Key capabilities | Web search API Page contents Semantic search Company search People search | Search API Content extraction Crawl API Source URLs Python SDK |
| Strengths | Semantic retrieval can search beyond exact keyword phrasing Content endpoints connect a search result to material your app can inspect MCP access offers another route for compatible research assistants | An API fits repeatable research inside an application Search and extraction can be used separately to control scope Source URLs let your application show where a claim came from |
| Limitations | A relevant result is not automatically an authoritative source Search and content usage must be budgeted separately from model inference | Freshness and coverage depend on the available web sources Advanced operations can use more credits than a basic query |
| No signup required | Not verified | Not verified |
| No credit card required | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not verified | Not verified |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Access details reviewed | 2026-10-09 | 2026-10-09 |
| Official pricing / source | Check pricingAccess source | Check pricingAccess source |
| Next step | Explore Exa | Explore Tavily |