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Business Intelligence · head to head

Exa vs Glean

Exa logo

Exa

Business Intelligence

Web search, built for AI agents

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Glean logo

Glean

Business Intelligence

Work AI that Works

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Exa has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Exa usage-based pricing can be unpredictable without volume discounts upfront; Glean no pricing published on website; enterprise sales model requires demo request
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Exa and Glean actually diverge.

Attributes where Exa and Glean differ
AttributeExaGlean
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedquote
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Business Intelligence).

What people use each for

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

Exa

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

Glean

  • Onboarding new employees across distributed teams to company knowledgenot Exa
  • Maintaining centralized searchable intranet for compliance requirementsnot Exa
  • Surfacing historical archived content for editorial and sales teamsnot Exa
  • Creating AI agents through natural language without engineersnot Exa
  • Reducing language model costs by filtering unnecessary datanot Exa

Where each one falls short

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

Exa

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

Glean

  • No pricing published on website; enterprise sales model requires demo request

Pricing, plan by plan

Exa

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

Glean

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Glean review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Exa if

  • You want to start without paying.
Exa review

Choose Glean if

Nothing in the data separates Glean from Exa on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Glean review

Questions people ask

Is Exa or Glean better?
Neither clearly leads. Exa starts at Free and Glean at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Exa or Glean?
Exa has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Exa and On request for Glean.
Does Exa or Glean run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Exa for free?
Yes. Exa has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Glean starts at On request.
What is Exa best used for?
Exa is most often used for web search and research apis, content extraction and analysis, real-time monitoring and alerts. Of those, web search and research apis and content extraction and analysis are not what Glean is typically brought in for.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Glean: How much does Glean cost?

Glean does not publish pricing on its website. The platform uses an enterprise sales model where customers request a demo and pricing is determined through direct consultation with the sales team.

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
Glean: Does Glean offer a free tier or trial?

No free tier information is available on Glean's website. Interested users must request a demo to learn about trial options and pricing.

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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