Exa vs Perplexity (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Perplexity grades higher than Exa: 2.8 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Exa grades higher on the free plan. Perplexity grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Perplexity
AI search assistant that answers questions with cited sources
Which one is for you
Pick Exa if
- Fits if you're building an AI agent that needs to search the live web
- Works for developers who want search results returned as page contents
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want an app to read or take notes in, as it's an API
- Tight if you go past $10 of credits a month, when billing is by usage with no fixed price
- Pricey if you need zero data retention, which is Enterprise with a $12,000 annual credit commitment
- Watch out: Starter allows 10 searches per second and 50 agent concurrency
Pick Perplexity if
- Fits if you want the sources behind an answer, not just the answer
- Works for questions that lead to more questions, since follow-ups build on the same thread
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you won't check citations, as some users report sources that don't back the answer
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $20 on the US App Store against $17 a month billed annually, and Max is $167
- Not for you if you need the free limits up front, because the plans page doesn't give them
- Not for you if it's for a company, as Pro and Max are described as for personal use only and Enterprise has no price
- Watch out: credits are sold on top, from $5.00 for 500, and there's no desktop app or image generation listed
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAExaFair | 2.8GPAPerplexityGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo fixed monthly price: search from $4 per 1,000 requests, contents $1 per 1,000 pages and agent runs $0.012 to $1.00 each. It's a different kind of thing from a reading app, so it sits at C, and the bill depends on usage. | CPro is $17 a month billed annually, and $20 a month on the US App Store, against a category middle of about $12. Deep Research, the choice of models and the higher limits all sit up there, and Max is another world again at $167 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe Starter plan is $10 of credits every month plus a $10 onboarding bonus, with no payment method needed. A solo developer testing can live on that. | CFree use gets cited answers, follow-up threads, a library and sync across devices, which covers the odd question. The plans page never states the free limits, though, so you only learn where they are by hitting them. |
| Features | CSearch, Contents, Agent and Monitors APIs plus agent tooling. A developer building block rather than a research tool, and zero data retention needs a $12,000 annual Enterprise commitment. | BIt covers its job: answers from live web pages with the sources listed, Pro Search and Deep Research for longer digs, Labs turning a request into a finished report, an Assistant that drafts email and books things, and voice. No image generation on the listing, and nothing it connects to. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. You need code, an API key and a client to use it, so it's a D. | A4.8 from about 512,500 App Store ratings, the highest in this category by some way. Type a question, read the answer, ask the next one. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb API with Claude, ChatGPT and MCP hooks. No desktop or mobile apps, as the listing says. | BWeb, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, with your threads synced across them. No desktop app, and the listing names no integrations. |
| Best for | giving AI agents a web search API | research answers with the sources shown |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Exa and Perplexity. How we grade
Where they differ
- Exa also covers AI agents and research.
- Perplexity also covers chat assistant.
At a glance
| Exa | Perplexity | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $17 per month when billed annually ($20 a month on the US App Store) |
| Free plan | Starter: $10 in credits every month plus a $10 onboarding bonus, no payment method required. | Free to use, with cited answers, follow-up threads and sync across devices. Perplexity's plans page does not spell out the free plan's limits. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Exa Labs Inc. | Perplexity AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | exa.ai | perplexity.ai |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 4, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Exa
- The free Starter allowance is $10 of credits per month; past that, the Developer plan bills by usage with no fixed monthly price.
- Per-request prices: search from $4 per 1,000 requests, contents $1 per 1,000 pages, monitors $2 per 1,000 requests, agent runs $0.012 to $1.00 each.
- Zero data retention is an Enterprise option with a $12,000 annual commitment in API credits.
- It is an API for developers, not a reading or note-taking app; it has no desktop or mobile apps.
Perplexity
- The plans page quotes annual-billing prices only: Pro at $17 and Max at $167 a month. The US App Store lists monthly subscriptions at $20.00 for Pro and $200.00 for Max.
- Pro and Max are described as for personal use only.
- Credits are sold separately in packs from $5.00 for 500 to $50.00 for 5,000.
Key features
Exa
- Search API
- Returns web results with page text and highlights, with latency settings from about 450 ms to 10 seconds and categories such as news, companies, research papers and people.
- Contents API
- Fetches full page contents or token-efficient highlights for use as model context, with configurable live-crawl policies.
- Agent API
- Runs asynchronous deep-research tasks that return structured output with citations.
- Monitors API
- Runs searches on a schedule and sends updates by webhook.
- Agent tooling
- The Starter plan lists an MCP server, a Claude connector, a ChatGPT plugin and more than 50 integrations.
Perplexity
- Cited answers
- Responds to questions with answers drawn from current web content and lists the sources used for each one.
- Pro Search and Deep Research
- Guided AI search modes for exploring a question in more depth than a single answer.
- Thread follow-ups
- Ask follow-up questions in the same thread so later answers build on earlier ones. Past threads are kept in your Library.
- Assistant
- Handles tasks such as drafting emails, scheduling appointments and booking reservations.
- Perplexity Labs
- Turns a request into a finished report or project rather than a short answer.
- Voice
- Ask questions by speaking instead of typing and get up-to-date answers back.
Plans
Exa
Starter$0
$10 of credits each month, access to all endpoints, 10 search queries per second and 50 agent concurrency.
EnterpriseCustom
Zero data retention, custom MSA and DPA, SSO and SCIM, SLAs and custom indexes, sold through sales.
Perplexity
Free$0
Cited answers, follow-up threads, a library of past searches and sync across devices.
Pro$17
per month, or equivalent, when billed annually
Deep research, a choice of AI models, expanded Computer access, document and app creation, and higher usage limits and memory.
Max$167
per month, or equivalent, when billed annually
Everything in Pro with the highest usage limits, 10,000 monthly credits, frontier models and priority access to new features.
EnterpriseCustom
Listed alongside Pro and Max on the plans page; pricing is not shown.
Ways to pay less
Exa
No public discounts listed.
Perplexity
- Annual discount
Lower monthly cost with annual billing
Perplexity's plans page prices Pro at the equivalent of $17 a month when billed annually; the US App Store lists the monthly subscription at $20.00.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Exa or Perplexity?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Exa publishes no starting price, and Perplexity starts at $17 per month when billed annually ($20 a month on the US App Store).
Which has a free plan, Exa or Perplexity?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Exa and Perplexity have a free plan.
Which platforms do Exa and Perplexity run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Perplexity lists iOS and Android apps and a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.