Exa is a search API built specifically for AI applications — you send a query, it returns semantically relevant results, and can extract page content on top. If you're comparing it to askFinz, it's a closer match than most: both run search infrastructure aimed at LLMs rather than at a browser tab. The difference is what you get at the end of the call — an API result to wire into your own application, or a workspace where the answer is already the product.
What each one is
Exa is a developer-facing search API. Its standard search returns up to 10 results per request from its own index of the web, tuned for semantic relevance rather than keyword matching; separate tiers cover a lower-cost answer mode and deeper, multi-step research search. Content extraction — pulling the actual page text behind a result — is priced separately, on top of the search call.
askFinz doesn't sell search as an API call to wire into your own application. It runs its own crawled web index underneath a Search workspace, a browser extension and research agents — so instead of returning ranked results for you to fetch and read yourself, it returns the matched passage and an answer directly.
Side-by-side
| Dimension | Exa | askFinz |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Search API for your own application | Search workspace, extension, and agents |
| What a call returns | Ranked results; page content is a separate charge | The matched passage and an answer, together |
| Rate (per 1,000 searches) | $5.00 answer mode · $7.00 standard search (up to 10 results) · $12.00–$15.00 deep/reasoning search | $0.75 top-up · $1.00 with the extension · $3.50 standalone |
| Content extraction | $1.00 per 1,000 pages, on top of the search rate | Included — the matched passage comes with every result |
| Freshness | Exa's own index, refreshed on its schedule | Continuous reading, not a scheduled rebuild |
| Content structure | Ranked links and snippets | Filed as what it is — a filing, a standard, a listing |
Exa rates as published on its own pricing page, verified 12 August 2026 — check its current page before relying on these figures. askFinz rates are as published on pricing.
What Exa does well
Exa built genuinely good semantic search for developers who want to wire search directly into an LLM application — its embeddings-based ranking finds results a keyword search would miss, and its API is a clean, well-documented way to add that capability to your own product. For teams building an agent or app that needs to call out to search programmatically, it's a strong, purpose-built option.
Where the work diverges
Exa gives you results to fetch and read; getting the actual page text back is a second call at a second price. askFinz collapses that into one step — the matched passage comes back with the answer, because the index has already been read rather than being fetched on demand. Exa also owns its index, which puts it in different company from most competitors in this space — but it sells that index as an API you build on, while askFinz builds the product on top of its own index rather than selling index access as a standalone feed.
Looking for an Exa alternative?
If what you need is search results to wire into your own application, Exa's API is a real, capable tool for that. If you'd rather the search, the reading, and the answer all happened somewhere you don't have to build and maintain — askFinz is worth a look, inside Search and the workspaces built on it.
Which should you choose?
If you're building an application that needs to call search programmatically and handle the results yourself, Exa is a well-built API for that job. If you want the answer without owning the pipeline — search, extraction, and ranking already done — askFinz is the better fit.
See how the index works or read the fuller case for owning an index.
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