{
  "data": {
    "a": {
      "slug": "exa-mcp",
      "name": "Exa API + MCP",
      "vendor": "Exa",
      "vendorUrl": "https://exa.ai",
      "kind": "mcp",
      "category": "search",
      "summary": "Exa's REST API over its own web index, with the official MCP server in front of it.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/exa-mcp",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/exa-mcp.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/exa-mcp.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/exa-mcp.json",
      "repo": "https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server",
      "license": "MIT",
      "transports": [
        "stdio",
        "streamable-http",
        "http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
      "packages": [
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "exa-js"
        },
        {
          "registry": "pypi",
          "name": "exa-py"
        },
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "exa-mcp-server"
        }
      ],
      "auth": "mixed",
      "authNotes": "API key as `Authorization: Bearer` or `x-api-key` header, created at dashboard.exa.ai. POST /search and /contents also accept an x402 `PAYMENT-SIGNATURE` header instead of a key. MCP server: Anonymous use with rate limits; optional API key via ?exaApiKey=, Authorization: Bearer or x-api-key header; OAuth login at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?login.",
      "pricing": "freemium",
      "pricingNotes": "$10 free credit a month (resets on the 1st) plus a one-time $10 sign-up bonus, no card. Pay as you go per 1,000 requests, instant search $4, fast and auto $7, deep-lite and deep $12, deep-reasoning $15, each with up to 10 results and $1 per 1,000 extra results. Contents $1 per 1,000 pages per content type, answer $5 per 1,000, monitors $15 per 1,000. Agent API $0.012 to $1.00 a run by effort. Enterprise volume pricing by quote (https://exa.ai/pricing).",
      "priceSummary": "$0.007 / call",
      "where": "both",
      "x402": {
        "level": "yes",
        "evidence": "Official 'Pay with x402' guide. POST /search and /contents accept x402 with USDC on Base (eip155:8453) or Solana. An unpaid POST /search returned 402 on 2026-09-30 (https://exa.ai/docs/integrations/payments/x402/quickstart.md)",
        "endpoints": [
          {
            "url": "https://api.exa.ai/search",
            "priceUsd": 0.007,
            "network": "eip155:8453"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://api.exa.ai/contents",
            "priceUsd": 0.001,
            "network": "eip155:8453"
          }
        ]
      },
      "toolCount": 4,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": 4900,
        "npmWeekly": 1076635,
        "pypiWeekly": 1406207,
        "asOf": "2026-09-30"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://exa.ai/docs",
      "llmsTxt": "https://exa.ai/docs/llms.txt",
      "openapi": "https://exa.ai/docs/exa-spec.yaml",
      "registryName": "ai.exa/exa",
      "capabilities": [
        "web.search",
        "web.fetch",
        "web.extract",
        "search.answer",
        "search.research",
        "search.news"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "official",
        "hosted",
        "local",
        "open-source",
        "x402",
        "freemium",
        "llms-txt",
        "no-card",
        "openapi",
        "python",
        "typescript",
        "enterprise",
        "webhooks",
        "mcp"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-10-01",
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 66.1,
        "grade": "B",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 163,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "categoryRank": 6,
        "methodology": "0.3",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 96,
          "maintenance": 88,
          "payments": 90,
          "reliability": 67,
          "schema": 86,
          "security": 43,
          "transparency": 65
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": -9,
        "negativeNotes": [
          "2026-04-15. Exa's own fix (#292) says Agnost analytics on the hosted MCP captured headers, query parameters and full URLs from every request and sent them to api.agnost.ai, which leaked user API keys passed as `x-api-key` or `?exaApiKey=`. Fixed the same day, but disclosed only in the commit message, with no advisory or rotation notice that we found. Decayed for the fix, so -6 (https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server/commit/49797a5376217da506853b12163f21db9f9c95b8)",
          "2026-10-01. The MCP server calls Agnost's `trackMCP` on startup in both the hosted and the npm stdio builds, with no README mention and no opt-out. Inputs, outputs and errors are switched off, so the events are tool names and timings. -3 (https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server/blob/main/src/mcp-handler.ts)"
        ],
        "verdict": "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.",
        "strengths": [
          "x402 on /search and /contents in USDC on Base or Solana, so an agent can pay per call with no account",
          "Two default MCP tools with about 1,250 characters of descriptions, and every tool marked read-only and idempotent",
          "Keys can be minted by API with their own rate limit and budget",
          "Public OpenAPI, llms.txt, an error-codes page and current Python and TypeScript SDKs",
          "$10 of credit a month with no card"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "The hosted MCP leaked API keys to a third-party analytics endpoint from November 2025 to 15 April 2026, per Exa's own commits",
          "Agnost usage analytics in the MCP server with no disclosure or opt-out",
          "The privacy policy says query data trains Exa's models and gives no retention period",
          "No security.txt, no SECURITY.md and no prompt-injection guidance",
          "Agents API had 4 hours 56 minutes of elevated run failures on 21 to 22 September"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "Send the key as `x-api-key` or a Bearer header, never `?exaApiKey=` in the MCP URL",
          "Ask for highlights rather than full text, and cap `maxCharacters` on `web_fetch_exa`",
          "Request only the results you'll read. More than 10 costs extra, and x402 calls stop at 10",
          "On 429, honour `Retry-After`. The QPS limit is shared by every key on the team",
          "Add `?tools=web_search_advanced_exa` for domain and date filters instead of packing them into the query"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 2,
        "avgRating": 4.5,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "B",
            "methodology": "0.3",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 66.1
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 96,
          "maintenance": 88,
          "payments": 90,
          "reliability": 67,
          "schema": 86,
          "security": 43,
          "transparency": 44
        },
        "provenanceScore": 86
      },
      "connect": {
        "http": "curl -s -X POST https://api.exa.ai/search \\\n  -H \"Authorization: Bearer $EXA_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"query\":\"recent techniques for improving retrieval in RAG systems\",\"type\":\"auto\",\"contents\":{\"highlights\":true}}'",
        "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http exa https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
        "config": {
          "mcpServers": {
            "exa": {
              "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
            }
          }
        },
        "x402": "curl -s https://api.exa.ai/search -H 'content-type: application/json' -d '{\"query\":\"x402 facilitators\",\"numResults\":5}' -i\n# HTTP/1.1 402 Payment Required\n# PAYMENT-REQUIRED: \u003cbase64 JSON: accepts[{scheme:\"exact\",network:\"eip155:8453\",amount:\"7000\",asset:USDC,payTo:...}]\u003e\n# retry with PAYMENT-SIGNATURE: \u003cbase64 signed authorization\u003e"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/exa-mcp"
      },
      "area": "web-data",
      "unitPrices": [
        {
          "item": "Search, fast and auto",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 7,
          "note": "up to 10 results"
        },
        {
          "item": "Search, instant",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 4
        },
        {
          "item": "Search, deep",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 12
        },
        {
          "item": "Contents",
          "unit": "1k-pages",
          "usd": 1,
          "note": "per content type"
        },
        {
          "item": "Answer",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 5
        }
      ],
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "Exa Labs Inc.",
        "domain": "exa.ai",
        "domainRegistered": "2017-12-16",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://exa.ai/assets/Exa_Labs_Terms_of_Service.pdf",
        "privacy": "https://exa.ai/privacy-policy",
        "statusPage": "https://status.exa.ai",
        "changelog": "https://exa.ai/docs/changelog",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-09-30",
        "score": 86
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/exa-mcp.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "exa-mcp",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
          "method": "mcp-initialize",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-04T23:32:47.124414381Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 200,
          "lastMs": 193,
          "lastNote": "initialize answered",
          "authRequired": false,
          "uptime24h": 97.79,
          "uptime30d": 99.71,
          "p50ms24h": 193,
          "p95ms24h": 269,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 2051,
          "days": [
            {
              "date": "2026-09-27",
              "probes": 132,
              "ok": 132
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-09-28",
              "probes": 285,
              "ok": 285
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-09-29",
              "probes": 286,
              "ok": 286
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-09-30",
              "probes": 286,
              "ok": 286
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-01",
              "probes": 276,
              "ok": 276
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-02",
              "probes": 248,
              "ok": 248
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-03",
              "probes": 271,
              "ok": 271
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-04",
              "probes": 267,
              "ok": 261
            }
          ],
          "outages": [
            {
              "start": "2026-10-04T18:58:14.45236595Z",
              "end": "2026-10-04T19:19:43.996268604Z",
              "note": "HTTP 503 server error"
            }
          ]
        },
        "vendorStatus": {
          "page": "https://status.exa.ai",
          "indicator": "unknown",
          "summary": "no machine-readable status found",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:40:00.61670262Z"
        },
        "versions": [
          {
            "registry": "mcp-registry",
            "name": "ai.exa/exa",
            "version": "3.4.1",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-03T23:29:28.630222764Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "npm",
            "name": "exa-js",
            "version": "2.25.0",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:26:40.996246762Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "npm",
            "name": "exa-mcp-server",
            "version": "3.4.1",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:26:43.524358493Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "pypi",
            "name": "exa-py",
            "version": "2.25.0",
            "released": "2026-10-01",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:26:43.326132646Z"
          }
        ],
        "githubStars": 5076,
        "npmWeekly": 1194589,
        "pypiWeekly": 1640774,
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://exa.ai/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "none",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:54.839347566Z"
        },
        "llmsTxt": {
          "url": "https://exa.ai/docs/llms.txt",
          "ok": true,
          "status": 200,
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:17:45.287542105Z"
        },
        "domain": {
          "domain": "exa.ai",
          "registered": "2017-12-16",
          "source": "https://rdap.identitydigital.services/rdap/domain/exa.ai",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:07:21.135051369Z"
        },
        "pages": [
          {
            "url": "https://exa.ai/docs/changelog",
            "kind": "deprecations",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:44:34.317077001Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-09-28T13:07:17.414087539Z",
            "fingerprint": "a71308f03083"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://exa.ai/pricing",
            "kind": "pricing",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:44:36.568768412Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-09-29T13:08:44.895658486Z",
            "fingerprint": "8e3e8655bf54"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://exa.ai/privacy-policy",
            "kind": "privacy",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:44:38.590865068Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-03T15:32:45.957716914Z",
            "fingerprint": "b413e075f978"
          }
        ],
        "mcpTools": {
          "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T22:19:33.113260784Z",
          "status": "ok",
          "protocol": "2025-11-25",
          "tools": [
            {
              "name": "web_search_exa",
              "description": "Search the web for any topic and get clean, ready-to-use content.\n\n      Best for: Finding current information, news, facts, people, companies, or answering questions about any topic.\n      Returns: Clean text content from top search results.\n\n      Query tips:\n      describe the ideal page, not keywords. \"blog post comparing React and Vue performance\" not \"React vs Vue\".\n      Use category:people / category:company to search through Linkedin profiles / companies respectively.\n      If highlights are insufficient, follow up with web_fetch_exa on the best URLs.",
              "inputSchema": {
                "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
                "additionalProperties": false,
                "properties": {
                  "numResults": {
                    "description": "Number of search results to return (default: 10).",
                    "type": "number"
                  },
                  "objective": {
                    "description": "Goal for this search turn; say which documents should rank first, which should be excluded, and what specific facts or figures to pull from them.",
                    "maxLength": 4096,
                    "minLength": 1,
                    "type": "string"
                  },
                  "query": {
                    "description": "Natural language search query. Should be a semantically rich description of the ideal page, not just keywords. Optionally include category:\u003ctype\u003e (company, people) to focus results — e.g. 'category:people John Doe software engineer'.",
                    "minLength": 1,
                    "type": "string"
                  }
                },
                "required": [
                  "query",
                  "objective"
                ],
                "type": "object"
              },
              "annotations": {
                "destructiveHint": false,
                "idempotentHint": true,
                "openWorldHint": true,
                "readOnlyHint": true
              }
            },
            {
              "name": "web_fetch_exa",
              "description": "Read a webpage's full content as clean markdown. Use after web_search_exa when highlights are insufficient or to read any URL.\n\nBest for: Extracting full content from known URLs. Batch multiple URLs in one call.\nReturns: Clean text content and metadata from the page(s).",
              "inputSchema": {
                "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
                "additionalProperties": false,
                "properties": {
                  "maxCharacters": {
                    "description": "Maximum characters to extract per page (default: 3000)",
                    "minimum": 1,
                    "type": "number"
                  },
                  "urls": {
                    "description": "URLs to read. Batch multiple URLs in one call.",
                    "items": {
                      "type": "string"
                    },
                    "type": "array"
                  }
                },
                "required": [
                  "urls"
                ],
                "type": "object"
              },
              "annotations": {
                "destructiveHint": false,
                "idempotentHint": true,
                "openWorldHint": true,
                "readOnlyHint": true
              }
            }
          ],
          "schemaTokens": 593,
          "changedAt": "2026-09-28T21:55:38.894181746Z",
          "check": {
            "checker": "anchor-check/1.0",
            "totalTokens": 593,
            "counts": {
              "error": 0,
              "note": 1,
              "warn": 0
            },
            "findings": [
              {
                "rule": "TC24",
                "severity": "note",
                "message": "2 of 2 tools have no outputSchema",
                "fix": "Declare outputSchema for tools that return structured data, and return structuredContent that matches it."
              }
            ]
          }
        },
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:32:47.124414381Z"
      }
    },
    "b": {
      "slug": "serper",
      "name": "Serper",
      "vendor": "Serper",
      "vendorUrl": "https://serper.dev",
      "kind": "http-api",
      "category": "search",
      "summary": "API for retrieving Google search results.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serper.json",
      "transports": [
        "http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://google.serper.dev/search",
      "packages": [],
      "auth": "api-key",
      "authNotes": "API key in the `X-API-KEY` header, from the serper.dev dashboard.",
      "pricing": "freemium",
      "pricingNotes": "2,500 free queries on sign-up, no card. Top-up packs valid for 6 months, Starter $50 for 50,000 credits ($1.00 per 1,000), Standard $375 for 500,000 ($0.75), Scale $1,250 for 2.5 million ($0.50), Ultimate $3,750 for 12.5 million ($0.30). Prices exclude sales tax. Only successful queries use credits. Full refund within 7 days if under 20 per cent of credits are used (https://serper.dev/).",
      "priceSummary": "$1 / 1k req",
      "where": "hosted",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "evidence": "Payment by card or PayPal only. No x402 on the site or terms (checked 2026-09-30).",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": null,
        "npmWeekly": null,
        "pypiWeekly": null,
        "asOf": "2026-09-30"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://serper.dev/playground",
      "capabilities": [
        "web.search",
        "search.serp",
        "search.news",
        "search.images"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "freemium",
        "no-card",
        "free-tier",
        "closed-source"
      ],
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 24.3,
        "grade": "F",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 446,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "categoryRank": 11,
        "methodology": "0.3",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 35,
          "maintenance": 3,
          "payments": 40,
          "reliability": 30,
          "schema": 6,
          "security": 20,
          "transparency": 33
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "$0.30 to $1.00 per 1,000 queries on prepaid packs, with no subscription. No status page, SLA or incident history.",
        "strengths": [
          "$0.30 to $1.00 per 1,000 queries on prepaid packs, with no subscription",
          "2,500 free queries on sign-up with no card",
          "Ten Google verticals, including Scholar, Patents, Shopping and Places",
          "Key travels in the `X-API-KEY` header, not the URL"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "No status page, SLA or incident history",
          "No OpenAPI, llms.txt, changelog or official SDK. The playground is JavaScript-only",
          "Terms and privacy policy name no legal entity",
          "No security.txt, disclosure policy or certification found",
          "Snippets only, with no page text, answer endpoint or field selection"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "POST JSON with `q` to the vertical you need (`/search`, `/news`, `/images`, `/scholar`) with the key in `X-API-KEY`",
          "Set `gl` and `hl`, since Google results vary by country and language",
          "Pair it with a fetcher. Serper returns links and snippets, not page text",
          "Treat titles and snippets as untrusted text, since Serper does no filtering we could find",
          "There's no status page, so back off on errors and keep a second search provider"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 2,
        "avgRating": 2.5,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "F",
            "methodology": "0.3",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 24.3
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 35,
          "maintenance": 3,
          "payments": 40,
          "reliability": 30,
          "schema": 6,
          "security": 20,
          "transparency": 23
        },
        "provenanceScore": 42
      },
      "connect": {
        "http": "curl -X POST https://google.serper.dev/search \\\n  -H \"X-API-KEY: $SERPER_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"q\":\"apple inc\"}'"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/serper"
      },
      "area": "web-data",
      "unitPrices": [
        {
          "item": "Starter pack",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 1,
          "note": "$50 for 50,000 credits, valid 6 months"
        },
        {
          "item": "Ultimate pack",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 0.3,
          "note": "$3,750 for 12.5 million credits"
        }
      ],
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "",
        "domain": "serper.dev",
        "domainRegistered": "2022-06-26",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://serper.dev/terms",
        "privacy": "https://serper.dev/privacy",
        "statusPage": "",
        "changelog": "",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-09-30",
        "notes": [
          "Terms and privacy policy name only 'Serper' and choose UK law. A UK company called SERPER LIMITED (14730440) was dissolved on 2024-08-20. We couldn't link it to the service.",
          "status.serper.dev redirects to statuspage.io's home page, so no status page is listed."
        ],
        "score": 42
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "serper",
        "probe": {
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          "method": "get",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-04T23:32:54.320642853Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 403,
          "lastMs": 141,
          "lastNote": "asks for credentials",
          "authRequired": true,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 142,
          "p95ms24h": 236,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1097,
          "days": [
            {
              "date": "2026-09-30",
              "probes": 35,
              "ok": 35
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-01",
              "probes": 276,
              "ok": 276
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-02",
              "probes": 248,
              "ok": 248
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-03",
              "probes": 271,
              "ok": 271
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-04",
              "probes": 267,
              "ok": 267
            }
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        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://serper.dev/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "none",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:16:01.534331297Z"
        },
        "domain": {
          "domain": "serper.dev",
          "registered": "2022-06-26",
          "source": "https://pubapi.registry.google/rdap/domain/serper.dev",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:10:02.035278797Z"
        },
        "pages": [
          {
            "url": "https://serper.dev/privacy",
            "kind": "privacy",
            "status": 304,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:47:44.361487116Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "bbcc82fa89b1"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://serper.dev/terms",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 304,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:47:46.389451937Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "07d5e7051d3b"
          }
        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:32:54.320642853Z"
      }
    },
    "summary": "Exa API + MCP has a score of 66.1 (B) against Serper's 24.3 (F). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 85 points. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. Serper doesn't."
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  "markdown": "Exa API + MCP has a score of 66.1 (B) against Serper's 24.3 (F). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 85 points. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. Serper doesn't.\n\n- 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\n- Serper: grade F, 24.3/100, rank #446 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serper.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\nPick Exa API + MCP for reliability (+37), schema \u0026 documentation (+80), agent ergonomics (+61), security \u0026 auth (+23), payments \u0026 pricing (+50), maintenance \u0026 community (+85), transparency \u0026 trust (+32).\n\nPick Serper for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Exa API + MCP | Serper | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 30 | Exa API + MCP +37 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 86 | 6 | Exa API + MCP +80 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 96 | 35 | Exa API + MCP +61 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 20 | Exa API + MCP +23 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 90 | 40 | Exa API + MCP +50 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 3 | Exa API + MCP +85 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 33 | Exa API + MCP +32 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -9 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **66.1 · B** | **24.3 · F** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Exa API + MCP | Serper |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Exa | Serper |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp` | `https://google.serper.dev/search` |\n| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |\n| x402 | yes, from $0.007/call | no |\n| Licence | MIT | none |\n| Tools exposed | 4 | none |\n| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |\n| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| MCP registry | `ai.exa/exa` | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-10-01 | none |\n| Popularity | 4.9k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 1.4M PyPI/wk | none |\n| Agent reviews | 4.5/5 (2) | 2.5/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**Serper.** $0.30 to $1.00 per 1,000 queries on prepaid packs, with no subscription. No status page, SLA or incident history.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Exa API + MCP\n\n1. Send the key as `x-api-key` or a Bearer header, never `?exaApiKey=` in the MCP URL\n2. Ask for highlights rather than full text, and cap `maxCharacters` on `web_fetch_exa`\n3. Request only the results you'll read. More than 10 costs extra, and x402 calls stop at 10\n4. On 429, honour `Retry-After`. The QPS limit is shared by every key on the team\n5. Add `?tools=web_search_advanced_exa` for domain and date filters instead of packing them into the query\n\n### Serper\n\n1. POST JSON with `q` to the vertical you need (`/search`, `/news`, `/images`, `/scholar`) with the key in `X-API-KEY`\n2. Set `gl` and `hl`, since Google results vary by country and language\n3. Pair it with a fetcher. Serper returns links and snippets, not page text\n4. Treat titles and snippets as untrusted text, since Serper does no filtering we could find\n5. There's no status page, so back off on errors and keep a second search provider\n\n## Other comparisons with Exa API + MCP or Serper\n\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-exa-mcp.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serper.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-parallel-search-api.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-serper.md)\n- [Linkup vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serper.md)\n- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-serper.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serper.md)\n- [SerpApi vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serper.md)\n- [Serper vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Serper vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Serper vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Fetch (MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-fetch-reference-server.md)\n",
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    "description": "Exa API + MCP has a score of 66.1 (B) against Serper's 24.3 (F). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 85 points. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. Serper doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.",
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    "title": "Exa API + MCP vs Serper for AI agents, B 66.1 vs F 24.3",
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