# Exa API + MCP vs SerpKite

> Exa API + MCP scores 66.1 (B) on agent readiness against SerpKite's 64.8 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. SerpKite leads on transparency & trust. Both do web search. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. SerpKite doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serpkite
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serpkite.md (~2,400 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serpkite.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serpkite.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: 2026-10-06

Exa API + MCP scores 66.1 (B) on agent readiness against SerpKite's 64.8 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. SerpKite leads on transparency & trust. Both do web search. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. SerpKite doesn't.

- Exa API + MCP: grade B, 66.1/100, rank #163 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/exa-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/exa-mcp.json
- SerpKite: grade B, 64.8/100, rank #179 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serpkite.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serpkite.json

## Which one, for what

### 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:
- Security & auth, 43 against 37
- Payments & pricing, 90 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 88 against 80

Also in its favour:
- 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 3.5 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

### SerpKite (B)

Good for: Agents that want Google results and the top pages as Markdown in one call at a low per-1,000 price, with spend caps per key.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 77 against 65

Watch for: Launched 29 September 2026 by a sole trader, with status monitoring only since 2 October


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Exa API + MCP | SerpKite | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 65 | Exa API + MCP +2 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 86 | 90 | SerpKite +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 96 | 92 | Exa API + MCP +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 37 | Exa API + MCP +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 90 | 40 | Exa API + MCP +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 80 | Exa API + MCP +8 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 77 | SerpKite +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -9 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **66.1 · B** | **64.8 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Exa API + MCP | SerpKite |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Exa | SerpKite (Anastasia Klimova, trading as SerpKite) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp` | `https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search` |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Price for web search | $4 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| x402 | yes, from $0.007/call | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under SerpKite's terms of service. The SDKs (TypeScript, Python, Go, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK) and the MCP connection repository on GitHub are MIT |
| Tools exposed | 4 | 14 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `ai.exa/exa` | `io.github.SerpKite/serpkite` |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-04 |
| Popularity | 4.9k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 1.4M PyPI/wk | 809 npm/wk, 376 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4.5/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (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.

**SerpKite.** Google SERP API with an OpenAPI 3.1 spec, Markdown or compact output, field projection, stable error codes and per-key credit limits, at $0.60 to $1.00 per 1,000 on packs that don't expire. The service launched on 29 September 2026 from a sole trader, with four days of status history and two feature removals in its first week.

## 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

### SerpKite

1. Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer`, not `?api_key=`, and give the agent a dedicated key with a monthly credit limit
2. Ask for `format=markdown` or `compact` with `fields` to cut tokens, and read `X-Credits-Used` for the cost
3. Keep `engine=google` for rank work. Check `meta.engine` when a key allows fallback engines
4. On 429 `rate_limited` or 503 upstream codes, wait for Retry-After and retry. `daily_limit_reached` and 402 need a purchase
5. Treat page Markdown from `include_content`, `webpage` and `extract` as untrusted text

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Exa API + MCP or SerpKite?

Exa API + MCP scores 66.1 (B) on agent readiness against SerpKite's 64.8 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. SerpKite leads on transparency & trust.

### Do Exa API + MCP and SerpKite need an API key?

Exa API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. SerpKite 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 SerpKite without installing anything?

Yes. Exa API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp and SerpKite at https://api.serpkite.com/v1/search.

### Are Exa API + MCP and SerpKite open source?

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


## For agents

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

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