# Exa alternative: live web search with page text, prepaid in crypto

> Exa alternative for 2026: live web search for AI agents with the top 3 pages as Markdown, from $1.20/1K searches, prepaid in crypto, no KYC, no card.

- URL: https://llmwebsearch.com/alternatives/exa/
- Last updated: 2026-10-22
- Publisher: LLMWebSearch (https://llmwebsearch.com)

Exa runs its own index and sells search with page text at one flat price. This page compares it with LLMWebSearch on price, content, payment and data terms, and says plainly where Exa is the stronger choice.

**Quick answer — What is a good Exa alternative for AI agents?**

**LLMWebSearch** is a web search API for AI agents that runs a live search and returns the top 3 pages as Markdown, on prepaid credits paid in crypto with no KYC. As of October 2026, Exa charges $7 per 1,000 auto searches with the text of 10 results at every volume; LLMWebSearch charges $1.85/1K searches down to $1.20/1K searches.

## Exa and LLMWebSearch at a glance

|  | LLMWebSearch (ours) | Exa |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Where results come from | A live web search at the moment of the call | Exa's own index |
| Price per 1,000 searches | $1.85/1K searches to $1.20/1K searches, top 3 pages included | $7 auto or fast; $4 lite; $12 to $15 deep |
| Page text | Top 3 pages as Markdown (4 to 10 pages: 2 credits) | Text of the first 10 results included in search since 2026-03-03 |
| Live fetch | Pages are read at call time | Lite serves cached content only and never fetches live |
| Results per call | Up to 20 | 1 to 100 (each result above 10 costs $1 per 1,000) |
| Filters | Country, language, time range, news, domains (20 each) | Domains (up to 1,200), published dates, categories such as company, news or people, user location |
| Free tier | None | $10 in credits a month, no payment method |
| Payment | BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, prepaid | Card for pay-as-you-go; x402 and MPP in USDC per call, same price as the API |
| Identity checks | None: no ID, no selfie, no documents | None stated |
| Data terms | We do not train on queries or results | Terms give Exa a licence to cache and store input and output; zero data retention on Enterprise plans |
| Rate limit | Per-minute limit shown in the dashboard | 10 requests per second for search; 25 after $1,000 in credits within 30 days |

*Prices checked on October 22, 2026.*

Exa facts from exa.ai/pricing, exa.ai/docs (search reference, billing, rate limits, x402 guide, changelog) and exa.ai/terms, read on 2026-10-22.

## What does one Exa search cost with page text?

$7 per 1,000 searches, with the text of the first 10 results included. Exa's changelog entry of 2026-03-03 says contents for the first 10 results became free inside search. Its pricing page lists `auto` and `fast` at $7 and the new `lite` mode at $4, added on 2026-10-19.

`lite` is cheaper but works differently: Exa's search reference says it serves cached content only and never fetches live. Deep search costs $12, and deep-reasoning $15, per 1,000. The `/contents` endpoint costs $1 per 1,000 pages for each content type you ask for.

## Why do developers look for an Exa alternative?

Mostly for price at volume and for payment. Exa's price is flat: 1,000 searches cost $7 whether you run 10,000 or 1 million a month. Volume discounts are for Enterprise contracts.

Paying needs a card, except per call through x402 or MPP, which take USDC with no account. There is no way to fund an account in Bitcoin or USDT.

Some teams also read the terms. Exa's homepage says queries and results are never stored or trained on. Its terms grant Exa a perpetual licence to cache and store input and output to improve its services, and its zero-data-retention page says ZDR is available on Enterprise plans. Both were online on 2026-10-22.

## When is Exa the better choice?

Exa is stronger when the query is about meaning rather than keywords. Its own index supports semantic search and category filters, such as companies, research papers, news or people. It returns up to 100 results per call and accepts up to 1,200 domain filters.

It also has a $10 free allowance every month with no payment method, a hosted MCP server usable without an API key, and deep search modes. In the Artificial Analysis search index dated 2026-10-19, Exa's auto mode scored 80, among the highest scores listed. For x402 agents, Exa charges the same per call as with an API key.

If those features drive your agent, stay with Exa. If you need live pages at a lower price per search, paid in crypto without a card, LLMWebSearch fits better.

## How do Exa's parameters map to LLMWebSearch?

A typical Exa search call translates directly. Send it to `POST https://llmwebsearch.com/api/v1/search` with your key as a Bearer token.

| Exa | LLMWebSearch | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| query | q | Keyword queries work best; there is no semantic mode |
| numResults | max_results | 1 to 20 |
| contents.text | read | Number of top results whose page is read (0 to 10) |
| contents.text.maxCharacters | max_chars | Per page, 500 to 50,000 |
| includeDomains / excludeDomains | include_domains / exclude_domains | Up to 20 each |
| startPublishedDate | time_range | day, week, month or year instead of exact dates |
| category: "news" | topic: "news" | Other categories have no equivalent |
| userLocation | country | Two-letter country code |

## What does a month of search with page text cost?

One search with at least 5 results and the full text of the top 3 pages, from the price index.

| Searches per month | LLMWebSearch | Exa (auto) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10,000 | $1.85/1K searches | $7.00 per 1,000 |
| 100,000 | $1.45/1K searches | $7.00 per 1,000 |
| 1,000,000 | $1.20/1K searches | $7.00 per 1,000 |

*Prices checked on October 22, 2026.*

Exa includes text for 10 results, more than our 3. Full method on the [price index](https://llmwebsearch.com/data/ai-search-api-price-index-2026/).

## How much does LLMWebSearch cost?

One credit pays for one search: up to 20 ranked results, with the pages of the first 3 read and returned as Markdown. Reading 4 to 10 pages makes it 2 credits. A call that ends in an error costs nothing. Search credits have no expiry date: what you do not use this month is still there next year.

| Plan | Quantity | Price | Price per unit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Try | 5,000 searches | $9.25 | $1.85/1K searches |
| Builder | 25,000 searches | $41.25 | $1.65/1K searches |
| Production | 100,000 searches | $145 | $1.45/1K searches |
| Volume | 1,000,000 searches | $1,200 | $1.20/1K searches |

In every plan: Top 3 pages read as Markdown · Country, language, time and domain filters · Failed calls not charged · Credits never expire

**Before you pay**

- Minimum top-up $25. Top up once in crypto, then buy any plan from your balance.
- Money on your balance does not expire and buys search credits whenever you want. When a pack is cheaper than the minimum top-up, the part you paid only to reach that minimum comes back to you on request within 30 days of payment, in USDT or USDC, provided it is still unspent. The rest of a balance is not returned unless the law requires it.
- Credited once your payment is checked on the blockchain. Typical network confirmation time: BTC ≈ 20 min · USDT TRC-20 ≈ 1 min · USDT ERC-20 ≈ 5 min · USDC ERC-20 ≈ 5 min · ETH ≈ 5 min · SOL ≈ 1 min · LTC ≈ 15 min

## Questions about switching from Exa

### Does Exa include page content in search?

Yes. Since 2026-03-03, auto search at $7 per 1,000 includes the text of the first 10 results, according to Exa's changelog. Its lite mode at $4 serves cached content only.

### Can I pay Exa in crypto?

Per call, through x402 or MPP in USDC, at the same price as the API and with no account. Account credits are bought by card. LLMWebSearch sells prepaid credits paid in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC.

### Is LLMWebSearch a semantic search engine like Exa?

No. Results come from a live web search run at the moment of your call, in the order the search engine ranks them; nothing is served from an old index. For meaning-based search over an own index, Exa is the right tool; for live keyword search with page text, LLMWebSearch is.

### Does Exa have a free MCP server?

Yes. Exa's hosted MCP at mcp.exa.ai/mcp works without an API key under its free rate limits, according to its docs read on 2026-10-22. See [the MCP comparison](https://llmwebsearch.com/best/web-search-mcp-servers/).

## Sources

1. [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
2. [Exa changelog: pricing update](https://exa.ai/docs/changelog/pricing-update) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
3. [Exa changelog](https://exa.ai/docs/changelog) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
4. [Exa search reference](https://exa.ai/docs/reference/search) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
5. [Exa billing](https://exa.ai/docs/reference/billing) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
6. [Exa rate limits](https://exa.ai/docs/reference/rate-limits) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
7. [Exa x402 guide](https://exa.ai/docs/reference/x402-guide) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
8. [Exa zero data retention](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/security/zero-data-retention.md) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
9. [Exa MCP](https://exa.ai/docs/reference/exa-mcp) — Exa (read 2026-10-22)
10. [Search API index](https://artificialanalysis.ai/agents/search-api) — Artificial Analysis (data 2026-10-19)

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LLMWebSearch: LLMWebSearch is a web search API for AI agents that returns ranked results with the content of the top pages in Markdown, paid in crypto with no ID upload. Prepaid credits from $1.20/1K searches never expire. No KYC — no ID, no selfie, no documents. Pay in crypto.