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📖 The AI Tool Bible

Exa vs LlamaIndex

A side-by-side look at pricing, capabilities, pros, cons, and our editorial scores.

 Exa logo
Exa
RAG
LlamaIndex logo
LlamaIndex
RAG
TaglineWeb search API built for AI agents, with structured outputs and token-efficient highlights.Data framework for connecting LLMs to your data.
CategoryRAGRAG
PricingFreemium· Free Tier: Free · Search: $7/1k requests · Agent: $0.012–$1.00/run · Contents: $1/1k pages per content type · Deep Search: $12–15/1k requestsFreemium· Free open-source; LlamaCloud paid
ModelProprietary neural + keyword searchBYO (Claude / GPT / open)
Editorial score8.0 / 108.7 / 10
Use cases
agent-web-searchrag-retrievalcompany-researchpeople-searchcode-searchdeep-research
RAGdata ingestionindexing
Pros
  • Purpose-built for LLM/agent use, not retrofitted consumer search
  • Highlights mode dramatically cuts tokens sent to the model
  • Structured JSON outputs against custom schemas
  • Vertical indexes for companies, people, and code
  • SOC 2 Type II with zero-retention enterprise option
  • Focused on retrieval (not general agent stuff)
  • Many ingestion connectors
  • Strong production patterns
  • LlamaCloud for managed ingestion
Cons
  • Proprietary, closed source
  • Pricing not transparent on homepage beyond the free playground
  • Coverage and freshness depend on Exa's crawl, not yours
  • API surface is large
  • Documentation can be hard to navigate
Websiteexa.aiwww.llamaindex.ai
Pick Exa if
  • ✅ Purpose-built for LLM/agent use, not retrofitted consumer search
  • ✅ Highlights mode dramatically cuts tokens sent to the model
  • ✅ Structured JSON outputs against custom schemas
  • ✅ Vertical indexes for companies, people, and code
Pick LlamaIndex if
  • ✅ Focused on retrieval (not general agent stuff)
  • ✅ Many ingestion connectors
  • ✅ Strong production patterns
  • ✅ LlamaCloud for managed ingestion
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