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ConfigCat vs Exa

ConfigCat logo

ConfigCat

Developer Tools

Feature flag service priced per flag and environment with unlimited seats and unlimited monthly active users

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit ConfigCatFull review
Exa logo

Exa

Business Intelligence

Web search, built for AI agents

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit ExaFull review

The short version

  • Free plans on both; paid from $110/mo and $7/mo.
  • 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 ConfigCat and Exa actually diverge.

Attributes where ConfigCat and Exa differ
AttributeConfigCatExa
Pricing modelPer month by feature flag and environment countUsage-based
PlatformsWeb, API, iOS, Android, WindowsWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsBusiness Intelligence

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

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in ConfigCat

  • Feature flags and configuration
  • Percentage rollouts
  • Targeting rules and segments
  • Unlimited seats
  • Global CDN delivery
  • Audit log
  • Public API and webhooks
  • SDKs across languages

Only in Exa

Nothing recorded that ConfigCat does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

ConfigCat

  • A consumer or mobile app with millions of users where per-MAU flag pricing would cost more than the flags are worthnot Exa
  • A team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seatnot Exa
  • Decoupling deployment from release with percentage rollouts and a kill switch, without buying an experimentation platformnot Exa
  • A small team that needs ten flags permanently and can run indefinitely on the free tiernot Exa

Exa

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

Where each one falls short

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

ConfigCat

  • There is no experimentation or statistical analysis engine, so teams wanting real A/B tests with significance testing must buy and integrate a separate analytics or experimentation product
  • Pricing by flag count punishes exactly the hygiene you want: the Pro tier caps at 100 flags, so teams that do not aggressively retire stale flags are pushed to the 325 dollar Smart tier for housekeeping reasons rather than growth
  • The free tier allows only 2 environments, which does not cover the common development, staging and production split, so almost any real deployment starts on a paid plan
  • It is a smaller vendor than the category incumbents, so enterprise procurement teams will find less depth in compliance attestations, contractual terms and reference architecture than LaunchDarkly offers
  • Flag evaluation relies on SDK-side caching of a CDN-delivered config, which is fast but means propagation of a change is eventually consistent rather than instant, something to understand before relying on it as an emergency kill switch

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

ConfigCat

Free
  • Forever FreeFree
    • 10 feature flags
    • 2 environments and 2 products
    • 2 segments
  • Pro$110/mo
    • 100 feature flags
    • 3 environments and 3 products
    • Unlimited seats and MAUs
  • Smart$325/mo
    • Unlimited feature flags
    • Unlimited environments, products and segments
    • Unlimited seats and MAUs
  • Enterprise$900/mo
    • Everything in Smart
    • Enterprise support and controls
    • Unlimited everything on flag counts

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 ConfigCat if

  • You need feature flags and configuration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want percentage rollouts.
ConfigCat review

Choose Exa if

  • You want to start without paying.
Exa review

Questions people ask

Is ConfigCat or Exa better?
Neither clearly leads. ConfigCat 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, ConfigCat or Exa?
ConfigCat starts at Free and Exa at Free.
Does ConfigCat or Exa run on more platforms?
ConfigCat runs on Web, API, iOS, Android, Windows. Exa runs on Web.
Can I use ConfigCat for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is ConfigCat best used for?
ConfigCat is most often used for a consumer or mobile app with millions of users where per-mau flag pricing would cost more than the flags are worth, a team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seat, decoupling deployment from release with percentage rollouts and a kill switch, without buying an experimentation platform, a small team that needs ten flags permanently and can run indefinitely on the free tier. Of those, a consumer or mobile app with millions of users where per-mau flag pricing would cost more than the flags are worth and a team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seat are not what Exa is typically brought in for.
What can ConfigCat do that Exa cannot?
ConfigCat covers Feature flags and configuration, Percentage rollouts, Targeting rules and segments, Unlimited seats.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ConfigCat: How is ConfigCat priced?

By feature flag, environment and product count. Seats, monthly active users and flag reads are unlimited on every plan.

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
ConfigCat: Is the free tier usable?

For small projects yes, but at 10 flags and 2 environments it will not cover a dev, staging and production setup.

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
ConfigCat: Can it run A/B tests?

It can split traffic, but there is no statistics engine. You need a separate analytics tool to decide a winner.

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
ConfigCat: How fast does a flag change take effect?

SDKs poll and cache, so changes propagate on the polling interval rather than instantly.

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