Exa vs OpenLLM
Exa and OpenLLM are both AI assistants tools. Exa is aimed at developers and enterprise, while OpenLLM is aimed at developers and freelancers. Both have a free plan.
Web search and content API built for AI agents and LLM apps
Routes coding agents through your AI plans, API keys and local models
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium · $30 |
| Starting price | Not published | $30/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | 3 days |
| Built for | Developers, Enterprise, Small businesses | Developers, Freelancers |
| Platforms | web | macos, linux |
| Country | US · 2021 | — |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Exa if
Developers and AI teams who need a fast, controllable web search and content layer for agents, RAG or research products.
- Free $10 monthly credit grant with no card required
- Lite search at $4 per 1,000 requests suits high-volume agents
- Highlights cut token usage and LLM costs compared with full pages
Look elsewhere if: Non-technical users who want a finished answer engine or chat app rather than an API (Perplexity, You.com).
Choose OpenLLM if
Individual developers who pay for several AI plans and want every coding agent to use them through one endpoint with automatic fallback.
- Free tier is generous at 50M non-cached tokens a month
- Existing config such as ~/.claude is left unmodified
- Keeps agents running through rate limits with fallback chains
Look elsewhere if: Teams that need a self-hosted, governed gateway or pay-per-token access to many models without accounts (LiteLLM, OpenRouter).
Exa vs OpenLLM pricing
Exa
- Free$0$10 in credits every month plus a one-time $10 onboarding bonus
- Search Lite$4/1,000 requestsUp to 10 results per request; $1 per 1k extra results
- Search Auto$7/1,000 requestsUp to 10 results per request; AI summaries $1 per 1k pages
- Deep Search$12/1,000 requestsdeep-lite (about 4 seconds) and deep (4 to 15 seconds) types
- Contents$1/1,000 pagesPer content type; prepaid credits, no subscription or minimum
OpenLLM
- Free$050M non-cached tokens/mo included, 2 devices, no card
- Pro$30/moUnlimited tokens, 5 devices, hosted gateway; 3-day trial
Exa · Key features
- Search API with lite, auto, deep-lite and deep types on one independent index
- Dynamic Highlights that pass only the most relevant tokens to the model
- Contents API for full page text, highlights and AI summaries
- Agent API for cited research, list building and enrichment with structured output
- Coverage of people, companies, code, papers, ecommerce listings and local businesses
- Monitors for recurring searches and Websets for verified datasets
Cons
- No flat monthly plan, so spend rises directly with traffic
- Websets API needs a separate paid Websets plan and credits
- Benchmark leadership is reported by Exa itself
OpenLLM · Key features
- One OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible endpoint and key for every connected model
- Use Claude, ChatGPT, Kimi Code and Grok subscriptions from other agents
- Fallback model chains when a model is rate-limited or unavailable
- Auto-detection of local Ollama and LM Studio model servers
- Shared MCP memory across Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build and OpenCode
- Browser-side AES-256-GCM key vault with a user-held recovery phrase
Cons
- No Windows support for the local daemon
- Single-user today, with no team features
- Losing the recovery phrase means re-entering every key
Exa vs OpenLLM: FAQ
Do Exa and OpenLLM have a free plan?
Yes, both Exa and OpenLLM have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Exa or OpenLLM?
Exa lists small businesses as a core audience, while OpenLLM is aimed more at developers and freelancers.