Exa

AI-native search API that understands meaning, not just keywords

by Exa

United States🌐US-based cloud infrastructure

TrustKit ScoreRated across 5 compliance dimensions: data residency, legal jurisdiction, data retention, certifications, and regulatory fit.Caution

About Exa

Exa (formerly Metaphor) is a San Francisco-based AI search company founded in 2021 that provides a neural search API designed specifically for AI applications. Unlike traditional keyword-based search engines, Exa uses transformer-based embeddings to understand the semantic meaning of queries, returning results that match the intent rather than just matching keywords. The platform is primarily used by developers building AI agents, research tools, and content discovery applications. Exa's API enables applications to search the web with natural language queries and retrieve structured content including text, links, and metadata. It supports filtering by domain, date, content type, and other parameters. Exa has gained significant traction in the AI developer community and is used by companies building RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) applications, research assistants, and market intelligence tools. The platform indexes billions of web pages and updates its index continuously. Exa is backed by prominent investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Y Combinator. The platform offers a generous free tier (1,000 requests/month) and usage-based pricing for higher volumes. Data is processed on US-based infrastructure.

TrustKit Score Breakdown

?40% Caution

Data Residency

Where is your data stored and processed?

US-based infrastructure. No EU hosting option. Indexes public web content.

2/5

Legal Jurisdiction

Which laws govern the company and your data?

US Delaware corporation. Subject to US jurisdiction. Early-stage company with standard US privacy practices.

2/5

Data Retention & Training

Is your data used for model training?

Search queries logged for service improvement. No customer data used for training proprietary search models. API usage logs retained per standard practices.

3/5

Certifications

ISO 27001, SOC 2, Cyber Essentials, etc.

No security certifications publicly disclosed. Early-stage startup focused on product development.

1/5

Regulatory Fit

Suitability for regulated industries and professional services

Developer tool for search functionality. Regulatory fit depends on the application built on top. Not suitable for handling sensitive data directly.

2/5

Pricing

Usage BasedFree tier

FreeFree1,000 requests/month · Neural and keyword search · Content retrieval

ProContact SalesUsage-based pricing · Higher rate limits · Priority support · …

Full pricing details →

Quick Facts

Starting PriceFree tier / Pay-per-useData HostingUS-based cloud infrastructureTrains on Your DataSearch queries not used for model training. Public web data indexed.Founded2021Employees11-50

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Exa GDPR compliant?

Exa has a TrustKit compliance score of 40% (Caution). Data Residency: US-based infrastructure. No EU hosting option. Indexes public web content.. Legal Jurisdiction: US Delaware corporation. Subject to US jurisdiction. Early-stage company with standard US privacy practices..

Where does Exa store data?

Exa hosts data in: US-based cloud infrastructure. US-based infrastructure. No EU hosting option. Indexes public web content.

Does Exa train on user data?

Exa: Search queries not used for model training. Public web data indexed.. Search queries logged for service improvement. No customer data used for training proprietary search models. API usage logs retained per standard practices.