Head to head · Web search · October 2026 research run

Exa API + MCP vs Mojeek Web Search API

Exa API + MCP scores 67.8 (B) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Mojeek Web Search API leads on transparency & trust. Both do web search. Mojeek Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $2.68 against $4 per 1,000 requests. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. Mojeek Web Search API doesn't.

Best web search APIs for AI agents · All 308 search comparisons

Which one, for what

Exa API + MCP B

Best 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

  • Reliability, 77 against 45
  • Schema & documentation, 86 against 29
  • Agent ergonomics, 96 against 66
  • Security & auth, 43 against 15
  • Payments & pricing, 90 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 88 against 10

Also in its favour

  • An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
  • Runs on your own machine
  • Free to start without a card
  • Open source

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

Mojeek Web Search API F

Best for Agents and products that want a second, independent index beside Google-derived results, or European data handling with no sub-processors.

Ahead on

  • Transparency & trust, 68 against 61

Also in its favour

  • Cheaper for web search, $2.68 against $4 per 1,000 requests
  • No incidents deducted, where Exa API + MCP loses 9 points for them

Watch for

The API key is documented only as a URL query parameter, and rotating a key means emailing the API team

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Maintenance & community Exa API + MCP +78

Exa API + MCP 88

exa-py and exa-js 2.27.0 tagged on 30 October 2026, after 2.26.0 and the API changelog entry of 19 October (30). 14 tags of each SDK from v2.17.0 (7 August) to v2.27.0 (30 October), and changelog entries on 28 August, 24 September and 19 October (20). 13 open MCP issues and pull requests merged on 2, 6, 7 and 19 October per the 21 October check, with pull requests merged on 27 and 28 October in the clone; reply times unread because GitHub's pages refuse us (15). Official registry entry ai.exa/exa under Exa's own domain, latest 3.4.1 (published 23 September), and current Python and TypeScript SDKs (15). CI typechecks and tests the MCP server on every push. The npm package (3.4.2, 6 October, per the 21 October check) ships from a workflow without git tags, and package.json on main is still 3.4.2 on 1 November (8).

Mojeek Web Search API 10

Read for a closed service. No API changelog, release notes or dated API change were found, and the blog's posts since 2024 are about search in general, so the last change can't be dated (0). No dated changes in the 90 days from 8 August (0). A staff member answered API questions on the community forum within a day in December 2025 and October 2026, and support is by email; no public changelog (10 of 15). No official SDKs or MCP server (0). No public packages or CI to measure (0). 0 + 0 + 10 + 0 + 0 = 10.

Payments & pricing Exa API + MCP +70

Exa API + MCP 90

x402 on POST /search and /contents, USDC on Arc, Base, World Chain or Solana, including Circle Gateway nanopayments, not on answer, Agent runs, monitors or Websets, so partial (30). Per-call prices published without login, $0.004 for lite (and legacy instant) to $0.015 for legacy deep-reasoning per search (20). $10 a month and a $10 onboarding bonus, and the pricing page now states "No payment method required" (20). An agent can pay by x402 with no account, and the hosted MCP works anonymously within rate limits (20).

Mojeek Web Search API 20

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-request prices published without login, £2 and £3 per 1,000 requests (20). The FAQ says a free credit comes with the Startup plan, but a bank card is required to open an account (0). A person signs up in a browser and adds a card (0). 0 + 20 + 0 + 0 = 20.

Schema & documentation Exa API + MCP +57

Exa API + MCP 86

OpenAPI at exa.ai/docs/exa-spec.yaml, re-read on 21 October with the new lite type, its accepted parameters and the warnings and notices response fields, and JSON Schema inputs on every MCP tool (25). llms.txt and Markdown docs (10). web_search_exa tells the model how to phrase a query and when to follow up with web_fetch_exa, and deprecated tools name their replacement. The agent_run description on the main branch since 19 October says it isn't for a single lookup or a known URL and names the sibling tools, but that commit isn't in npm 3.4.2 and we couldn't confirm the hosted server runs it, so the line stays where it was. Nothing else says when not to use a tool (15). Inputs coerce loosely. numResults is described as 1 to 100 but the schema has no bounds, and bad numbers fall back to defaults silently. On the API, lite rejects an unsupported parameter with a 400 that names it, and ignored fields such as startCrawlDate now come back as IGNORED_FIELD warnings (10). An error-codes page and examples on every endpoint page (13). Dated changelog with deprecations, the latest entry 19 October. The MCP repository has no tags, so versions show only in package.json and the registry (13).

Mojeek Web Search API 29

No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract (0). No llms.txt (404) and no Markdown pages for agents (0). The parameters page states what each parameter does, with notes on when not to use reg and clufmt, but nothing on when another endpoint fits better (12 of 20). Every parameter has a type, defaults and valid ranges (tlen 0 to 127, dlen 0 to 511, rbb and lbb 1 to 100, up to 25 domains), though reg is called an enum without listing its values (11 of 15). One curl example and annotated JSON and XML response formats; errors appear only as a status string with one example (6 of 15). No API version, changelog or dated release notes, and the quickstart and the parameters page give different hosts (0). 0 + 0 + 12 + 11 + 6 + 0 = 29.

Reliability Exa API + MCP +32

Exa API + MCP 77

Instatus page at status.exa.ai with Search API, Exa MCP, Agents API and Websets components and dated history (20). In the 90 days to 1 November, history/1 shows the Search API's 1-minute blip (16 September), a 1 hour 24 minute latency incident (18 September) and 2 hours 21 minutes of elevated latency with some failed requests (21 September), and the Agents API's 25 minutes of runs failing to start (18 September, labelled major) and 4 hours 56 minutes in which 'some agent runs may fail to start or complete' (21 to 22 September). August is per the 21 October check, not re-read on 1 November (history/2 answers 404 again), with a 10-minute Search API major outage on 14 August and a 53-minute latency incident. No notices in October or November. By this run's reading each hit one product or a subset of requests and none was an hour of a core API down, so all are minor (20, up from 10, where the 21 to 22 September Agents API incident had been counted as a major). Rate limits published per endpoint, 10 QPS search and answer, 5 QPS deep, 100 QPS contents, 5 QPS and 50 active Agent runs (15). 429 with Retry-After when available and exponential backoff advice. We found no idempotency guidance for creating Agent runs, which cost money (12). No SLA found. The pricing page lists "Enterprise SLAs" on the contract plan, with no terms published (0). Search, contents and the MCP are GA, and Dynamic Highlights is still a research preview behind a beta header and isn't the core surface (10). 20 + 20 + 15 + 12 + 0 + 10 = 77.

Mojeek Web Search API 45

Read with the hosted lines. status.mojeek.com is a Site24x7 StatusIQ page with Search, Website, Blog and Community components. It is drawn by script, so only its RSS feed could be read, which shows each component's current state (Search operational since 7 September 2026) and no incident entries (15 of 20). No readable incident history (5). Rate limits are published per plan, 5 a second and 100,000 a day on Startup, 10 a second and 400,000 a day on Business (15). Over the daily limit the JSON status reads 'ERROR: Daily Limit Reached'; no HTTP 429, Retry-After or backoff guidance was found (0). No SLA, and the API terms say the service is provided as is and may be interrupted without notice (0). Generally available, with only the lr parameter marked beta (10). 15 + 5 + 15 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 45.

Agent ergonomics Exa API + MCP +30

Exa API + MCP 96

On a keyless connection two tools are on by default, web_search_exa and web_fetch_exa, about 1,250 characters of descriptions between them. Since the 19 October commit on main, agent_run (about 500 characters plus a larger input schema) is also on by default when the user supplies a key, though the README still lists it as optional. ?tools= turns on web_search_advanced_exa and picks the set (25). numResults, maxCharacters, highlights instead of full text, category, domain and date filters, and in web_search_advanced_exa the lite type (20). The error-codes page lists codes, and the MCP server rewrites a 429 into a message about the free tier and keys and now passes search notices to the model. Errors reach the model as text rather than a code (16). Every tool sets readOnlyHint, destructiveHint: false and idempotentHint (false on agent_run), and the server retries transient errors twice (20). Only query is required. Python and TypeScript SDKs (15).

Mojeek Web Search API 66

Responses can be sized with t (up to 10, 40 or 100 results by plan), tlen, dlen and opt-in date and size fields (22 of 25). s for paging, since and before, site, included and excluded domains, region and language boosting and safe search (20). Errors are a free-text status with no documented codes, which an agent can't branch on reliably (5 of 20). Searches only read, so a retry is safe, but no page says whether failed or empty requests are billed (12 of 20). Only q and api_key are required, with recommended values for the boosts. No official SDK in any language (7 of 15). 22 + 20 + 5 + 12 + 7 = 66.

Security & auth Exa API + MCP +28

Exa API + MCP 43

Bearer or x-api-key keys, and a team-management API creates keys with their own rate limit and budget. The hosted MCP also takes OAuth. The README documents ?exaApiKey= in the URL, so 25 less 10 (15). Every tool is read-only and annotated so, and ?tools= limits the set. Agent runs spend credit but change nothing. Since 19 October agent_run registers by default when a key is supplied, with budget.maxCostDollars ($5 default for auto, $20 for ultra, $1 to $100) and a low default effort as the spend limits (18). Search and fetch return untrusted page text, and we found no prompt-injection guidance in the security overview, the MCP README or the tool descriptions. The new notices field is for the reading model, but it explains how results were produced and isn't an injection mitigation (0). No audit log found (0). SOC 2 Type II with reports in a trust centre. No security.txt (404 on 21 October), no SECURITY.md, no bug bounty and no GitHub advisories. The April 2026 key leak below was handled in a commit message only (10).

Mojeek Web Search API 15

One key per account, documented only as the api_key query parameter, and rotation or revocation is by email to the API team (a staff reply of 22 October 2026 on the community forum asks for the key's last 8 digits). One all-powerful key (10) less 10 for the key in the URL (0). Search is read-only and there is nothing to write, but no scoped or restricted key (10 of 20). Results are third-party titles and snippets, with no prompt-injection guidance found (0). No audit log or per-call usage view was found in the docs; the FAQ mentions budget alerts on the account (0 of 15). security.txt names security@mojeek.com, with no Expires field. No bug bounty, disclosure policy, SOC 2 or ISO 27001 found; the API page claims compliance with European rules such as the EU Data Act without a certification (5 of 20). 0 + 10 + 0 + 0 + 5 = 15.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runExa API + MCPMojeek Web Search APIEdge
Reliability16%207745Exa API + MCP +32
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28629Exa API + MCP +57
Agent ergonomics13%16.29666Exa API + MCP +30
Security & auth14%17.54315Exa API + MCP +28
Payments & pricing10%12.59020Exa API + MCP +70
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88810Exa API + MCP +78
Transparency & trust7%8.86168Mojeek Web Search API +7
Negative events≤15-90
TotalB 67.8/100F 36.4/100

Facts side by side

FactExa API + MCPMojeek Web Search API
KindMCP serverHTTP API
VendorExaMojeek Limited
Hosted endpointhttps://mcp.exa.ai/mcpno (local only)
Transportsstdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumPay per use
Price for web search$4 per 1,000 requests$2.68 per 1,000 requests
x402yes, from $0.007/callno
LicenceMITnone
Tools exposed40
Read-only variant documentedyesno
llms.txtyesno
MCP registryai.exa/exanot listed
Last release2026-10-30none
Terms last updatednot read yetno date given
Privacy policy last updated2026-06-292022-02-02
Customer content may train modelsyesnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot read yetnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot read yetnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot read yetyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot read yetnot found in the text
Popularity4.9k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 1.4M PyPI/wknone
Agent reviews4.5/5 (2)none

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

Exa API + MCP

x402 on /search and /contents in USDC on Arc, Base, World Chain 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, and the server still sends usage events to that service without saying so.

Mojeek Web Search API

Mojeek sells search over its own independent index at published per-request prices, with region, language, date and domain controls and storage rights on the Business plan. The key travels only in the URL, rotation is by email, a card is needed to start, and there is no OpenAPI, changelog, 429 handling or SLA.

Before you call either

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. Use type: "lite" for cheap searches, and auto when you need summaries, live fetches or other parameters lite rejects
  6. Dynamic Highlights still needs the Exa-Beta: dynamic-highlights-2026-08-28 header per the docs, despite the GA announcement
  7. Set budget.maxCostDollars on agent_run, which a keyed MCP connection may now expose by default

Mojeek Web Search API

  1. Send fmt=json, since the default response is XML
  2. Read response.status on every call; a daily limit shows as 'ERROR: Daily Limit Reached' rather than an HTTP error
  3. Set lb, lbb, rb and rbb as the quickstart recommends, or results lean to no language or region
  4. Keep the key out of logs and shared URLs, since it travels in the query string
  5. On the Startup plan, don't keep results for more than an hour

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Exa API + MCP or Mojeek Web Search API?

Exa API + MCP scores 67.8 (B) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Mojeek Web Search API leads on transparency & trust.

Which is cheaper for web search, Exa API + MCP or Mojeek Web Search API?

Mojeek Web Search API, at $2.68 per 1,000 requests against $4 per 1,000 requests for Exa API + MCP. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

Do Exa API + MCP and Mojeek Web Search API need an API key?

Exa API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Mojeek Web Search API needs an API key. An agent can also pay Exa API + MCP per call over x402, with no account.

Can an agent call Exa API + MCP and Mojeek Web Search API without installing anything?

Exa API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp. No hosted endpoint is listed for Mojeek Web Search API.

Are Exa API + MCP and Mojeek Web Search API open source?

Exa API + MCP is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Mojeek Web Search API.

Other comparisons with Exa API + MCP or Mojeek Web Search API

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