Exa vs Kagi

Comprehensive side-by-side comparison — features, pricing, performance, and more.

Data last refreshed October 2026

Exa

EXA LABS INC.

Web search, built for AI agents

Freemium

78% verification coverage

Kagi

Kagi Inc.

Reclaim the web, restore your privacy — ad-free private search

Paid

55% verification coverage

Trust & Reliability

Exa

Uptime:99.97%Status page

Users:100K-1M

Customers (per vendor):Cognition, Cursor, StackAI +7

GDPR

SOC 2

HIPAA

Kagi

Uptime:99.99%Status page

Users:10K-100K

Overall Winner: Exa

7.8/10 vs Kagi at 4.5/10

Leads in:

Integration

Performance

Support

Scores are AI-estimated from publicly available data — not an independent test or a verified user rating. How we rank →

AI Comparison Summary

Exa

7.8

avg score

Kagi

4.5

avg score

Exa leads overall — particularly in Customization and Support and 3 more.

Based on 6 dimensions

Scores are AI-estimated from publicly available data — not an independent test or a verified user rating. How we rank →

Overall Winner

Exa

7.8 / 10

Exa

Best For

AI agents requiring real-time web data

Developers building AI applications needing web search

Mid-market product teams enriching CRM records

Enterprise teams needing custom data indexing and compliance

Kagi

* Verdict is based on our algorithmic scoring of publicly available data. Learn about our methodology

Exa is best for

🔍Research7.5💬Chat & Conversation5.0💻Coding & Dev4.0

Kagi is best for

🔍Research8.0✍️Writing & Content7.0🤖Automation & Agents7.0

Filter by your use case:

Limitations

Exa

Cons

Pricing for enterprise features like SSO, SCIM, and custom SLAs requires contacting sales
Zero data retention is available on Enterprise plans only
HIPAA compliance mode is available on Enterprise plans only for eligible cached retrieval requests

Kagi

Cons

No cons listed yet.

Weighted Score — Adjust What Matters to You

Pick a profile or drag sliders — scores and radar update instantly on the right.

Quick profiles:

Ease of Use5

Customization5

Support5

Integration5

Compliance & Data Protection5

Performance5

Planning Quality5

Dimension Comparison

Exa

7.8

/ 10

Clear winner

Kagi

4.5

/ 10

Dimension Breakdown

Ease of Use

How intuitive is onboarding, UI navigation, and day-to-day usage for the target audience?

Exa

6.0▲ +1.0

Kagi

5.0

Customization

Calculated

How much can users tailor workflows, settings, prompts, or outputs to their needs?

Exa

7.0▲ +2.0

Kagi

5.0

Support

How strong is the documentation, customer support, community, and learning resources?

Exa

9.0▲ +3.0

Kagi

6.0

Integration

Calculated

How well does it connect with other tools, APIs, and workflows?

Exa

10.0▲ +7.0

Kagi

3.0

Compliance & Data Protection

Calculated

Compliance certifications and data-protection posture, counted from ten verified signals: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR compliance, HIPAA, WCAG AA/AAA, PII redaction, licensed-only training, a published sub-processor list, a downloadable DPA, not training on user data, and a documented deletion path

Exa

5.0▲ +2.0

Kagi

3.0

Performance

Calculated

Latency + throughput speed

Exa

10.0▲ +5.0

Kagi

5.0

Planning Quality

Calculated

Multi-step planning depth + replanning capability

Exa

—

Kagi

—

Calculated = derived from structured signals (integration count, API/open-source config, compliance certs, response-time). AI = LLM-assessed from public website content. Methodology

Task Performance

Exa

Task

Kagi

9.0

Search Accuracy

9.0

7.0

Answer Extraction

8.0

9.0

Source Attribution

8.0

9.0

Real Time Indexing

8.0

9.0

Semantic Understanding

8.0

3.0

Multi Modal Search

7.0

8.0

Filter Refinement

10.0

2.0

Personalization

8.0

1.0

Content Detection

7.0

5.0

Knowledge Graph

6.0

* Task scores (1–10) are algorithmically generated from publicly available data.

Data is sourced from public information and vendor websites. It may not always be up-to-date — verify pricing and features directly with the vendor before purchasing.Report inaccuracy

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main differences between Exa and Kagi?

Exa — "Web search, built for AI agents". Kagi — "Reclaim the web, restore your privacy — ad-free private search". The Features section on this page compares them side by side.

How does the pricing of Exa compare with Kagi?

Exa is freemium, includes a free plan. Kagi is paid, includes a free plan, paid plans start at $5/month. Always verify current pricing with the vendor.

Does Exa or Kagi have a free plan?

Exa has a free plan. Kagi has a free plan. Always verify current pricing with the vendor.

Do Exa and Kagi offer an API?

Exa offers a public API. Kagi offers a public API.

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