Exa
Web search as an API for AI applications: Exa returns search results, page contents and cited answers you pass straight to language models.
What it does
Exa is a search engine built for software rather than people. You send a query through the API and get matching web pages back with cleaned-up text, short excerpts or summaries. On top of that there is deeper research with several search steps, an answer endpoint with citations, monitors for recurring queries and an agent endpoint. Websets builds lists of companies, people or pages matching your criteria in the browser. An MCP server connects Exa to AI assistants.
Who it suits
Development teams that want to feed chatbots, research agents or RAG applications with current web content, and sales or market research teams that need structured lists from the web.
Data protection for businesses
Exa is based in San Francisco; the vendor does not offer EU data hosting. According to its privacy policy, Exa uses submitted search queries to improve its products and train models; the vendor does not mention a way to switch this off. Zero data retention for queries is available only on the Enterprise plan. Exa provides a data processing agreement and SOC 2 Type II reports in its Trust Center.
Limits
Without programming skills you will mainly use Websets. Costs grow with the number of requests and add-on features. Check results and AI summaries before reusing them.