The right replacement for an AI search API depends on which part of your current setup is hurting. If it's the bill shape, look at prepaid or single-meter APIs; if it's stale page text, look at APIs that fetch pages live; if it's privacy, run a metasearch engine yourself.
You built a search step into your agent, it worked, and then three things started to nag. The bill has more lines than you expected, the search type names in your code are now labelled legacy, and the fast mode doesn't read pages live. That's the moment most people start looking at Exa alternatives.
This page is a switching map, not a league table. Each group below answers one specific complaint, so you can jump to yours. The nine options are in no particular order, and I'm not crowning one, because the right pick depends on what your agent asks the web for.
Why one search call can show up as several meters
Here's the detail most comparison pages miss. Exa's own plans page bills Search per request, Contents per page and content type, Agent per run and Monitors per request. So a single job your agent thinks of as one step, search and then read the top pages, lands on more than one meter.
Then there's the naming shift. Exa's changelog from 19 Oct 2026 names lite, auto and deep as the recommended search types and marks fast, instant and deep-reasoning as legacy. The old names still work, so nothing breaks today, but older code now points at types the vendor no longer recommends. The same entry says the new Lite type serves page content from Exa's cache and doesn't fetch pages live.
Put those together and the honest comparison isn't search versus search. It's the whole call your agent makes, search plus page text, fresh or cached, measured end to end on every API you shortlist. A smaller looking search line can lose that comparison, and so can a richer one. Zero data retention also sits under Exa's Enterprise plan with an annual commitment rather than the self-serve tiers, which matters if your security team asks.
One handy detail for the tinkerers: the docs of one open source metasearch project on this list name an Exa engine alongside engines for Brave, Jina, Kagi and Marginalia. That means a self-hosted metasearch layer can sit in front of several of these services at once.
Match your complaint to a group
The bill has too many lines
If you want one clear way to buy search, start here. Brave Search API runs on its own independent index and sells prepaid credits with no subscription, per its page. Mojeek also runs its own index, on European infrastructure, and its page describes pay as you go with no minimum commitment. You.com sells a web search API with Contents, Answer and Research APIs beside it, and its sample response shows a per-call line, so you can see what one call adds up to before you scale.
I need the page read live, not from a cache
This group treats reading the page as part of the job. Tavily bundles Search, Extract, Crawl, Research and Map endpoints in one API. Firecrawl searches and scrapes pages live and returns markdown, JSON or screenshots; if you're weighing it up, our guide to other web data APIs for agents goes deeper on that side. Linkup has a Fetch endpoint for a given page, and freshness and sources are settings you control.
My agent does research, not lookups
When your agent runs long research or watches a topic over time, plain search isn't the bottleneck. Parallel sells Research, Monitor, Search and Extract products for agents that reason over the web. Valyu searches the web plus specialist sources such as licensed filings, earnings and company data, which suits finance and science work where open-web pages aren't enough.
I want control over data and retention
If retention terms are the sticking point, SearXNG is free, open source software you host yourself, so no vendor bill or retention policy applies; you own the upkeep instead. The European index in the first group is the hosted middle ground, with its own stated retention terms and zero retention on request.
The nine at a glance
| Tool | Type | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Brave Search API | Independent-index search API | Prepaid credits on its own index, no subscription |
| Firecrawl | Search and scrape API | Live page fetching as markdown, JSON or screenshots |
| Linkup | Search and fetch API | Sources and freshness as settings, plus a Fetch endpoint |
| Mojeek | Independent-index search API | Own index on European infrastructure, stated retention terms |
| Parallel | Agent web infrastructure | Long research and monitoring runs for agents |
| SearXNG | Self-hosted metasearch | Run it yourself, no vendor bill or retention policy |
| Tavily | Search, extract and crawl API | Searching and page reading in one product |
| Valyu | Specialist-source search API | Filings, earnings and company data beside the open web |
| You.com | Web search API suite | Live web and news results with citations and timestamps |
Nine search APIs, in no particular order
Brave Search API
Best for: Agent builders who want results from an index the vendor says has no Google or Bing dependency, bought as prepaid credits rather than a subscription.
Firecrawl
Best for: Pipelines that need the page itself, searched and scraped live and handed back as markdown, JSON or screenshots, from a project that's also open source.
Linkup
Best for: Teams that want to pick sources and freshness themselves, fetch a named page on demand and, per the vendor, deploy inside their own cloud.
Mojeek
Best for: Privacy-minded products wanting an independent index run on European infrastructure, with the vendor's stated retention terms and zero retention on request.
Parallel
Best for: Agents that search, extract, monitor and reason over the web on long research jobs, with separate Research, Monitor, Search and Extract products.
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I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
SearXNG
Best for: Developers happy to host a free, open source metasearch engine that gathers results from many engines without tracking, under their own retention rules.
Tavily
Best for: Builders who'd rather search, extract, crawl and map sites through one API than stitch a search call to a separate contents call.
Valyu
Best for: Finance and research work needing licensed filings, earnings and company data next to web results, with a deep research agent that returns cited reports.
You.com
Best for: Apps wanting live web and news results with snippets, citations and timestamps, plus Contents, Answer and Research APIs from the same vendor.
Advice before you rewrite your search layer
Don't switch on a hunch. Take the five queries your agent runs most, run each one end to end on two or three of these, and compare the whole job: the search, the page text, how fresh the text was and how long it took. If your current setup wins that test, the fix might just be moving your code to the recommended search types and keeping a live-fetch tool for the pages that need it.
If it loses, pick the group that matches your complaint and stay disciplined about it. Wrap search behind one small function in your own code, so the next switch is an afternoon, not a sprint. For broader shortlists, our roundups of Google results APIs and web scraping APIs cover the neighbouring tools.
- Fresh or cached? Check whether each API fetches pages live or serves stored copies, and which mode does which.
- One meter or several? Read how search and page reading are billed, on the vendor's page, before you model your monthly usage.
- Whose index? An independent index, a metasearch layer and a Google results API return different shapes of result.
- What's kept? Ask where retention terms sit and which plan they're on. Data protection rules vary by country, so check your regulator's guidance too.
Do you make a search or web data API for AI agents? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.
Frequently asked questions
What is Exa used for?
It's a web search API for AI agents, with Search, Contents, Agent and Monitors products, according to its own home page. Developers use it to give agents and RAG features fresh web results and page text.
Why would I look for an Exa alternative?
The usual reasons are the bill shape, since searching and reading pages are billed separately, the search types renamed in the 19 Oct 2026 changelog, and the Lite type serving page text from a cache rather than fetching live.
Do I need to change my code after the new search types?
Not straight away. The changelog says the legacy types still work, but new code should use lite, auto or deep. Plan the change before you build anything new on the old names.
Which search APIs read pages live?
Several APIs on this list combine search with live page fetching or extraction. Check each vendor's docs for which endpoint fetches live and which returns stored content.
Can I run AI search on my own servers?
Yes. An open source metasearch engine you host yourself can gather results from many engines without tracking. You take on hosting and upkeep in return for control.
Is a free tier enough for a production agent?
Usually not for long. Free allowances suit testing, and limits change, so check the vendor's page for current terms before you rely on one in production.
