Head to head
Exa vs Perplexity API Platform (moved to ai.perplexity/mcp-server)
Same numbers we show everywhere else, lined up. Ratings come from users, the grade comes from our scanner, adoption comes from public registries.
No reviews yet
Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research.
Full listing
The short version
Neither has been reviewed yet, so the comparison rests on the scan and the public usage numbers. Both score close on the safety scan (88 and 94 out of 100). Exa is hosted and callable through the gateway; Perplexity API Platform (moved to ai.perplexity/mcp-server) runs on your own machine. Perplexity API Platform (moved to ai.perplexity/mcp-server) has noticeably more public adoption.
| Exa | Perplexity API Platform (moved to ai.perplexity/mcp-server) | |
|---|---|---|
| User rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Safety grade | A88/100 | A94/100 |
| Adoption | Established | Widely used |
| GitHub stars | 5.0k | 2.5k |
| Downloads / week | – | 34k |
| Runs where | Hosted (remote) | Your machine (local) |
| Gateway-ready | Yes | No |
| Tools | 2 | 4 |
| Write actions | — | — |
| Price per call | Free | Free |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Last release | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-25 |
| Category | Web search | Web search |