# Exa API + MCP vs SearchAPI.io

> Exa API + MCP has a score of 66.1 (B) against SearchAPI.io's 51.4 (D). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 73 points. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. SearchAPI.io doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-searchapi-io
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.md (~1,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-05

Exa API + MCP has a score of 66.1 (B) against SearchAPI.io's 51.4 (D). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 73 points. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. SearchAPI.io doesn't.

- Exa API + MCP: grade B, 66.1/100, rank #163 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/exa-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/exa-mcp.json
- SearchAPI.io: grade D, 51.4/100, rank #351 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/searchapi-io.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/searchapi-io.json

## Which one, for what

Pick Exa API + MCP for schema & documentation (+27), agent ergonomics (+44), security & auth (+15), payments & pricing (+60), maintenance & community (+73).

Pick SearchAPI.io for reliability (+23).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Exa API + MCP | SearchAPI.io | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 90 | SearchAPI.io +23 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 86 | 59 | Exa API + MCP +27 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 96 | 52 | Exa API + MCP +44 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 28 | Exa API + MCP +15 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 90 | 30 | Exa API + MCP +60 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 15 | Exa API + MCP +73 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 62 | Exa API + MCP +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -9 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66.1 · B** | **51.4 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Exa API + MCP | SearchAPI.io |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Exa | SearchApi |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp` | `https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search` |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | yes, from $0.007/call | no |
| Licence | MIT | none |
| Tools exposed | 4 | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | `ai.exa/exa` | `io.searchapi/mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | none |
| Popularity | 4.9k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 1.4M PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 4.5/5 (2) | 3/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**SearchAPI.io.** 99.9% SLA on every plan and no incidents on the status page since August. MCP exposes over 100 tools with no toolsets.

## 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. Add `?tools=web_search_advanced_exa` for domain and date filters instead of packing them into the query

### SearchAPI.io

1. Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer`, not `api_key=` in the URL
2. Connect the MCP through OAuth or the `X-MCP-Token` header, not the registry's `?token=` URL
3. Call the REST API with `engine=` when context is tight. The MCP loads over 100 tool definitions
4. Page Google results with `page`. `num` is fixed at 10
5. Pace bursts. One hour can use at most 20 per cent of the plan's monthly searches

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