Scraping API PricesExa vs Linkup
The search-depth boundary between Exa and Linkup, including their recurring account credits.
Exa
Linkup
The difference
Both paths, one ruler
Exa
Successes you want
100,000 standard searches
Your stated workload. Every vendor on this site is priced against this same number.
- ÷ 1
Attempts you are billed for
100,000 standard searches
Exa bills failed fetches. This workload assumes none fail, so nothing is added here.
- × 1
What the meter counts
100,000 requests
One attempt is one billed unit for this workload.
- =
Metered cash this month
$700.00 /mo
Search. Cheapest of every eligible purchase option, not the first plan that fits.
Bars share one linear scale across the 3 counted stages, so a multiplier shows as length. Units differ by stage and are labelled. Cash is not on that scale.
Linkup
Successes you want
100,000 standard searches
Your stated workload. Every vendor on this site is priced against this same number.
- × 1
Attempts you are billed for
100,000 standard searches
Linkup does not bill failed fetches, so failures cost nothing here.
- × 1
What the meter counts
100,000 requests
One attempt is one billed unit for this workload.
- =
Metered cash this month
$500.00 /mo
Fast or Standard Search Results. Cheapest of every eligible purchase option, not the first plan that fits.
Bars share one linear scale across the 3 counted stages, so a multiplier shows as length. Units differ by stage and are labelled. Cash is not on that scale.
Both ladders share one linear scale, topping out at 100,000 counted units, so a longer bar means more billed work rather than a different drawing.
These figures are for one stated workload: 100,000 standard search calls with one default-depth result set per call. The comparison below names where the answer changes.
Decision boundary: for standard raw search results, Linkup is cheaper at every published volume. Its eligible accounts are topped back to $20 each month, covering 4,000 standard raw searches, and additional calls cost $5 per 1,000. Exa supplies $10 in recurring monthly credit, covering 1,428 whole standard searches, then charges $7 per 1,000. The answer flips with depth: for raw deep search, both recurring credits cover the first 400 calls, then Exa is cheaper from call 401 because Exa charges $12 per 1,000 deep searches while Linkup charges $50 per 1,000. (Exa pricing, Linkup pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Output shape adds a second condition. Exa’s base Search, Deep Search, and Deep-Reasoning Search include up to ten results, then extra results, page contents, and AI summaries have separate meters. Linkup charges $0.001 more for a standard sourced or structured response than for raw results, and $0.005 more for the corresponding deep response. A buyer comparing raw Exa results with a composed Linkup answer is comparing different work even before the price changes. (Exa pricing, Linkup pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Billing models side by side
Exa is pay as you go by selected search type. Standard Search is $7 per 1,000 requests, Deep Search is $12, and Deep-Reasoning Search is $15. Each includes up to ten results. Additional results above ten cost $1 per 1,000, page Contents cost $1 per 1,000 pages, and AI summaries cost $1 per 1,000 pages. New accounts receive signup credit, and the pricing page publishes $10 of recurring monthly credit. (Exa pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Linkup deducts each successful call from a prepaid dollar balance. Fast or standard raw results cost $0.005, standard sourced or structured output costs $0.006, deep raw results cost $0.05, and deep sourced or structured output costs $0.055. Eligible professional-email accounts are topped back to $20 monthly. The optional x402 payment route uses the same nominal rates but applies a $0.01 minimum per call, so the boundary above assumes normal API-key billing. (Linkup pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Failure treatment is asymmetric in the public record. Linkup says it does not deduct credit for missing parameters, internal errors, or a response with no relevant result. Exa’s reviewed pricing page does not state whether failed Search calls are billed. This page counts requested Exa searches at the public rate and does not create a vendor-specific failure assumption. (Linkup pricing, Exa pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)
What each provides that the other does not
Exa is the only one of this pair whose reviewed price table exposes Deep-Reasoning Search, per-page Contents and highlights, AI page summaries, Monitors, and an asynchronous Agent product. Enterprise can also add larger result counts, custom indexes or datasets, custom rate limits, and zero data retention. (Exa pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Linkup is the only one of this pair whose reviewed Search meter directly offers raw results, a sourced answer, or caller-defined structured output at the same selected depth. The same platform also publishes Fetch and Research prices, a Tasks wrapper, an Extract beta, and an accountless x402 purchase route. (Linkup pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Who should pick which
Pick Linkup for standard raw retrieval, or when its sourced and structured response removes an application step. Pick Exa when the query needs the reviewed deep-search class and volume exceeds 400 calls under recurring credits, or when Contents, summaries, monitoring, and additional-result controls match the job. Price each output type separately instead of applying the standard-search line to deep or composed results. (Exa pricing, Linkup pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Exa Search failure billing and self-serve rate limits were not verified. Linkup’s paid-credit expiry and public rate limits were also not found in the reviewed pricing documentation. Those unknowns can affect operations but do not change the published per-call arithmetic used here. (Exa pricing, Linkup pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)