Exa
Neural search API built for AI applications
Exa
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What is Exa?
Content last verified May 4, 2026 · by the AI Tools Set Research Team
Exa (formerly Metaphor) is a search engine and API designed for AI applications, using embeddings to find pages by meaning rather than keywords. Developers use it to retrieve high-quality, relevant web content to feed into LLMs and RAG pipelines.
With features like semantic search, content retrieval, and similarity search, it is infrastructure for building AI products that need to search the web intelligently.
Key Features of Exa
- Semantic search: Find pages by meaning using embeddings.
- Content retrieval: Get clean page contents for LLMs.
- Similarity search: Find pages like a given URL.
- Developer API: Built to power AI applications.
Use Cases for Exa
- Power a RAG pipeline
- Retrieve web content for LLMs
- Find similar pages
- Build AI search features
- Research programmatically
Pros & Cons
Pros
✓
Great for AI developers✓
Meaning-based results✓
Clean content API✓
Free tier to startCons
✗
API, not an end-user app✗
Requires developmentPricing
Free
$0 /mo
✓$10 free credits
✓Semantic search
✓Content API
MOST POPULAR
Pro
Usage-based
✓Pay per search
✓Higher rate limits
✓Support
Enterprise
Custom
✓Volume pricing
✓SLA
✓Dedicated support
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