# Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs Exa API + MCP

> Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore scores 74.3 (BB) to Exa's 66 (B) for web search. Exa is cheaper for web search, $4 against $7 per 1,000 requests. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-17

Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore scores 74.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Exa API + MCP's 66 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Exa API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do web search. Exa API + MCP is cheaper for web search, $4 against $7 per 1,000 requests. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore doesn't.

- Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore: grade BB, 74.3/100, rank #76 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/agentcore-web-search.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/agentcore-web-search.json
- Exa API + MCP: grade B, 66/100, rank #332 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/exa-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/exa-mcp.json
- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md
- All 163 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore (BB)

Good for: A team already on AWS that wants agents to search the web through a governed MCP gateway, with owner-set domain lists, IAM or OAuth control and queries kept inside AWS.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 90 against 67
- Security & auth, 85 against 43
- Transparency & trust, 77 against 63

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No incidents deducted, where Exa API + MCP loses 9 points for them

Watch for: No error responses for the tool are documented. The only response example has `isError` false

### Exa API + MCP (B)

Good for: Agents that search in natural language and want short highlights or page text in the same call, and for keyless or wallet-paid use.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 86 against 78
- Agent ergonomics, 96 against 69
- Payments & pricing, 90 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 88 against 80

Also in its favour:
- Cheaper for web search, $4 against $7 per 1,000 requests
- An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 4.5 against 3.3 out of 5

Watch for: The hosted MCP leaked API keys to a third-party analytics endpoint from November 2025 to 15 April 2026, per Exa's own commits


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore | Exa API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 90 | 67 | Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore +23 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 86 | Exa API + MCP +8 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 96 | Exa API + MCP +27 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 85 | 43 | Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore +42 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 90 | Exa API + MCP +60 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 80 | 88 | Exa API + MCP +8 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 63 | Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore +14 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -9 | |
| **Total** | | **74.3 · BB** | **66 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore | Exa API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | Amazon Web Services | Exa |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://{gateway-id}.gateway.bedrock-agentcore.{region}.amazonaws.com/mcp` | `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Price for web search | $7 per 1,000 requests | $4 per 1,000 requests |
| x402 | no | yes, from $0.007/call |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the AWS Customer Agreement and Service Terms, with an acceptable-use section on the tool's documentation page | MIT |
| Tools exposed | 1 | 4 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `ai.exa/exa` |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-10-01 |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-18 | 2026-06-29 |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Popularity | none | 4.9k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 1.4M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.3/5 (4) | 4.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore.** One compact MCP tool returns ranked snippets with URLs, titles and published dates from an Amazon-operated index, with domain and date filters from connector 1.2.0, at $7 per 1,000 queries. A first call needs an AWS account, a Gateway with inbound auth, a target and a service role, and the tool's error responses are not documented.

**Exa API + MCP.** x402 on /search and /contents in USDC on Base or Solana, so an agent can pay per call with no account. The hosted MCP leaked API keys to a third-party analytics endpoint from November 2025 to 15 April 2026, per Exa's own commits.

## Before you call either

### Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore

1. Call `tools/list` on the gateway and take the tool's name from it. AWS's call examples name gateway tools by target and tool
2. Keep `query` to 200 characters and `maxResults` between 1 and 25 (default 10). The published schema states these limits only in descriptions
3. Check the target's connector version before sending `filters`. Version 1.1.0, the default, exposes only `query` and `maxResults`
4. Keep each result's URL and title with any answer built from it. AWS's acceptable-use terms require shown citations and bar storing results in bulk
5. On a throttled request, wait the `retryAfter` seconds in the error body. The default quota is 10 Web Search requests a second, adjustable

### Exa API + MCP

1. Send the key as `x-api-key` or a Bearer header, never `?exaApiKey=` in the MCP URL
2. Ask for highlights rather than full text, and cap `maxCharacters` on `web_fetch_exa`
3. Request only the results you'll read. More than 10 costs extra, and x402 calls stop at 10
4. On 429, honour `Retry-After`. The QPS limit is shared by every key on the team
5. Add `?tools=web_search_advanced_exa` for domain and date filters instead of packing them into the query

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore or Exa API + MCP?

Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore scores 74.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Exa API + MCP's 66 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Exa API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

### Which is cheaper for web search, Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore or Exa API + MCP?

Exa API + MCP, at $4 per 1,000 requests against $7 per 1,000 requests for Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

### Do Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore and Exa API + MCP need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in. An agent can also pay Exa API + MCP per call over x402, with no account.

### Can an agent call Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore and Exa API + MCP without installing anything?

Yes. Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore has a hosted endpoint at https://{gateway-id}.gateway.bedrock-agentcore.{region}.amazonaws.com/mcp and Exa API + MCP at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp.

### Are Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore and Exa API + MCP open source?

No open-source release is listed for Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore. Exa API + MCP is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "agentcore-web-search", "b": "exa-mcp"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare agentcore-web-search exa-mcp`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/agentcore-web-search.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/exa-mcp.json

## Other comparisons with Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore or Exa API + MCP

- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs Brave Search API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-brave-search-mcp.md)
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- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-searchapi-io.md)
- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-serpapi.md)
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- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-serpkite.md)
- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-tinyfish-search.md)
- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-valyu.md)
- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-exa-mcp.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-exa-mcp.md)
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- [Exa API + MCP vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-linkup.md)
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