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Developer Tools · head to head

Cody vs Exa

Cody logo

Cody

Developer Tools

AI coding assistant powered by code search

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit CodyFull review
Exa logo

Exa

Business Intelligence

Web search, built for AI agents

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit ExaFull review

The short version

  • Cody is free; Exa starts at $7/mo.
  • Where Cody falls short: sourcegraph now publishes a single Enterprise plan starting at $16K, with no free or individual Pro tier listed on the pricing page.
  • Where Exa falls short: usage-based pricing can be unpredictable without volume discounts upfront.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cody and Exa actually diverge.

Attributes where Cody and Exa differ
AttributeCodyExa
Pricing modelFreemiumUsage-based
CategoryDeveloper ToolsBusiness Intelligence

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web).

Not yet recorded: founded for Exa.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Cody

  • Code completion and intelligent autocomplete in IDEsnot Exa
  • Developer chat with codebase context awarenessnot Exa
  • Automated debugging and error identificationnot Exa
  • Customizable prompts for workflow automationnot Exa

Exa

  • Web search and research APIsnot Cody
  • Content extraction and analysisnot Cody
  • Real-time monitoring and alertsnot Cody

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Cody

  • Sourcegraph now publishes a single Enterprise plan starting at $16K, with no free or individual Pro tier listed on the pricing page
  • sourcegraph.com/cody redirects to the documentation rather than a Cody product or pricing page
  • AI features are metered as credits included per user, and exceeding the allocation requires buying a higher volume bucket
  • Volume credit buckets are sold as an add-on rather than included
  • A customer success manager and premium support are optional paid extras on top of the Enterprise plan
  • Standard support is 24x5 rather than 24x7, with round-the-clock coverage sold as an upgrade
  • The published $16K figure is a starting price that scales with team size, so the actual cost is quoted rather than listed

Exa

  • Usage-based pricing can be unpredictable without volume discounts upfront
  • Enterprise customers need to contact sales for custom volume discount plans

Pricing, plan by plan

Cody

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cody review.

Exa

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • $20 in free credits (approximately 2,800 searches)
    • $10 in monthly credits after first month
  • Search$7
    • Standard search functionality
  • Deep Search$12
    • In-depth search results
  • Contents$1/per 1000 pages
    • Content extraction

Which should you pick?

Choose Cody if

  • You want to start without paying.
Cody review

Choose Exa if

  • You want to start without paying.
Exa review

Questions people ask

Is Cody or Exa better?
Neither clearly leads. Cody starts at Free and Exa at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cody or Exa?
Cody starts at Free and Exa at Free.
Does Cody or Exa run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Cody for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cody best used for?
Cody is most often used for code completion and intelligent autocomplete in ides, developer chat with codebase context awareness, automated debugging and error identification, customizable prompts for workflow automation. Of those, code completion and intelligent autocomplete in ides and developer chat with codebase context awareness are not what Exa is typically brought in for.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cody: Is Cody free?

Cody offers a free tier for individual developers via VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, and the web app. Unlimited free usage is available for solo developers.

Source
Exa: How much does Exa API cost?

Exa uses pay-as-you-go pricing with no subscription or minimum spend required. Search costs USD$7 per 1000 requests, Deep Search costs USD$12-15 per 1000 requests, and Contents costs USD$1 per 1000 pages. Users load credits and are charged at these published rates.

Source
Cody: What does Cody Enterprise cost?

Cody Enterprise pricing is custom and requires contacting Sourcegraph sales. It is available for Sourcegraph Enterprise customers and must be quoted based on your deployment and usage needs.

Source
Exa: Is there a free tier for Exa?

Yes, new accounts receive USD$20 in free credits (approximately 2,800 searches) plus USD$10 in additional credits every month. This allows developers to test the API before committing to paid usage.

Source
Cody: What LLMs does Cody use?

Cody uses the latest large language models for code completions, chat, and debugging. It leverages Sourcegraph's advanced Search API to pull codebase context from local and remote repositories.

Source
Exa: What other costs are associated with Exa?

Beyond the main API costs, Exa charges USD$1 per 1000 results beyond the first 10 returned, USD$1 per 1000 pages for AI summaries, and USD$0.10 per Agent Compute Unit for autonomous agent usage. Contact enrichment features cost USD$0.02 per email and USD$0.07 per phone number.

Source
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