kitio.aiExa vs AskNews
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Exa starts at See pricing page and AskNews starts at $7.99/mo. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
At a glance
Best for
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Semantic web search
- Full page contents
- Research API
- Websets
- Similar page search
- Live and historical news search
- DeepNews research agent
- Scheduled alerts
- Web, Reddit and X search
- SDKs and MCP server
- CLI
| Feature | Exa | AskNews |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Search engine built for AI apps, with deep research and Websets | Licensed news API and research agent that gives LLMs cited context |
| Category | Research & search | Research & search |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | See pricing page | $7.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Made by | Exa Labs | AskNews |
| Based in | United States | – |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
Exa starts at See pricing page and AskNews starts at $7.99/mo. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
4 plans
Starter
Free
- $10 free credits every month
- $10 onboarding bonus
- All endpoints, 10 QPS
Search
From $4 / 1K requests
- Web search for agents
- Up to 10 results per request
Contents
$1 / 1K pages
- Full page contents for LLMs
- Configurable livecrawl
Agent
$0.012–$1.00 / run
- Async deep research runs
- Structured outputs with citations
5 plans
Pay as you go
Free
- 25 credits included
- Pay for extra usage
- No initial top-up
Pro
$7.99/mo
- 500 credits per month
- 2M bonus tokens
- 20% cheaper recharges
Spelunker
$250/mo
- 20,000 credits per month
- Double rate limit
- X, charts and web search tools
Analyst
$1000/mo
- 110,000 credits
- 4x rate limit
- Reddit search tool
Enterprise
Contact sales
- Commercial licensing
- SLAs and custom deployment
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Exa
- Built for AI use cases
- Returns full content
- Websets finds niche lists
- Mainly for developers
- Usage costs add up at scale
AskNews
- Licensed news sources
- Many integration options
- Cheap personal plan
- Credit and token billing is complex
- Some sources only on pricier plans
- Professional tier costs $1,000 a month
Which one should you choose?
Choose Exa if you want:
- Built for AI use cases
- Returns full content
- Websets finds niche lists
Watch out: mainly for developers.
Choose AskNews if you want:
- Licensed news sources
- Many integration options
- Cheap personal plan
Watch out: credit and token billing is complex.
Exa vs AskNews FAQ
What is the difference between Exa and AskNews?
Exa: Search engine built for AI apps, with deep research and Websets. AskNews: Licensed news API and research agent that gives LLMs cited context. Both are research & search tools.
Is Exa or AskNews cheaper?
Exa starts at See pricing page and AskNews starts at $7.99/mo. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Do Exa and AskNews have free plans?
Exa: Yes. AskNews: Yes.
Who makes Exa?
Exa is made by Exa Labs, based in United States.
Who makes AskNews?
AskNews is made by AskNews.
Which should I choose, Exa or AskNews?
Choose Exa if you value built for ai use cases and returns full content. Choose AskNews if you value licensed news sources and many integration options.