How do I sign up for Exa and get an API key for the free tier (1,000 requests/month)?

Getting started with Exa’s free tier is quick and only takes a few minutes. Once you create an account, you can access your API key from the Exa dashboard and start using up to 1,000 requests per month on the free plan.

Below is a step‑by‑step guide to signing up, finding your API key, and using it correctly in your code.

---

1. Create your Exa account

1. Go to the Exa website: https://exa.ai
2. Click Sign Up or Get started.
3. Sign up with your work or personal email (or any other supported sign‑in method).
4. Verify your email if prompted.
5. After verification, you’ll be redirected into the Exa Dashboard.

Once you’re in the dashboard, your account is automatically on the free tier by default (which currently includes 1,000 requests/month, subject to Exa’s latest pricing and quota policy).

---

2. Access the dashboard and free tier usage

From the Exa dashboard:

1. Look for a Usage, Billing, or Plan section in the sidebar or top navigation.
2. Confirm that you’re on the Free plan (1,000 requests/month).
   • The dashboard typically shows your monthly quota and how many requests you’ve used so far.
3. If you need more capacity later, you can upgrade to a paid tier from the same area.

Even if you plan to build a more advanced integration, you can safely start experimenting on the free tier and stay within the 1,000 requests/month limit.

---

3. Get your Exa API key

Your API key is what authenticates your requests to Exa’s Search API.

In the Exa dashboard:

1. Navigate to the API Keys, Developer, or Settings section.
2. Click Create API Key or Generate Key if you don’t already have one.
3. Give the key a descriptive name (for example: dev-local, staging-backend, or prod-app).
4. Copy the generated API key and store it securely (for example in an environment variable or a secrets manager).

You’ll use this key in your requests either via:

• x-api-key header, or
• Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY header

The documentation confirms:

“API key can be provided either via x-api-key header or Authorization header with Bearer scheme.”

Never hard‑code this key directly into client‑side code or public repos.

---

4. Use the API key in your code

Once you have the key, you can start calling the Exa Search API from your app. Here’s a minimal example showing how to authenticate correctly.

Example: Using x-api-key header (JavaScript/TypeScript)

const API_KEY = process.env.EXA_API_KEY; // store this in an environment variable

async function searchExa(query) {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.exa.ai/search', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'x-api-key': API_KEY,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ query }),
  });

  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new Error(`Exa request failed: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
  }

  const data = await response.json();
  return data;
}

Example: Using Authorization: Bearer header (Python)

import os
import requests

EXA_API_KEY = os.getenv("EXA_API_KEY")

def search_exa(query: str):
    url = "https://api.exa.ai/search"
    headers = {
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {EXA_API_KEY}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    }
    payload = {"query": query}

    resp = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return resp.json()

In both examples, replace the endpoint and body fields as needed based on the specific Exa Search API features you’re using (e.g., neuralSearch, deepSearch, deepReasoningSearch, or additional options).

---

5. Use Dashboard Onboarding for a ready‑made integration

If your project doesn’t have a working Exa integration yet and you’re using an AI coding assistant or building from scratch, Exa strongly recommends using the Dashboard Onboarding flow:

1. Go to: https://dashboard.exa.ai/onboarding
2. Choose:
   • Your tech stack (e.g., Node, Python, etc.)
   • Your use case (e.g., RAG, grounding, content search)
3. The dashboard will generate:
   • A complete integration snippet for your stack
   • Tested sample code that already includes correct authentication and headers

From Exa’s own docs:

“Use Exa’s Dashboard Onboarding to generate a perfect integration prompt for your coding agent in under one minute.”

Copy that snippet into your project, set your EXA_API_KEY environment variable, and you’re ready to use the free tier immediately.

---

6. Respecting the free tier limits (1,000 requests/month)

To stay within the free tier (1,000 requests/month), it helps to:

• Cache frequent queries so you don’t repeatedly call Exa with identical inputs.
• Batch operations when possible, instead of calling the API many times for tiny tasks.
• Monitor usage in the Exa dashboard under Usage/Billing.
• Throttle or rate‑limit calls in your application if you approach the monthly limit.

The Exa pricing reference shows per‑request and per‑page pricing details (e.g., neuralSearch_1_10_results, deepSearch, etc.), which become more important if you upgrade beyond the free tier.

---

7. Safety, security, and best practices

When working with your free‑tier API key:

• Keep it secret: store it in .env files, environment variables, or secret managers.
• Do not commit it to GitHub or expose it in client‑side JavaScript.
• Rotate or regenerate keys in the Exa dashboard if you suspect exposure.
• Use different keys for dev, staging, and production for easier monitoring and revocation.

---

8. When to contact Exa

If you:

• Need higher limits than 1,000 requests/month
• Have questions about pricing or enterprise usage
• Want to integrate Exa deeply into a product or platform

You can reach out directly at sales@exa.ai or use the Talk to Exa form from the website. Provide details like company size, main product interest (API vs Websets), and how they can help.

---

Summary

To sign up for Exa and get an API key for the free tier (1,000 requests/month):

1. Create an account on https://exa.ai and log into the dashboard.
2. Confirm you’re on the free plan and review your monthly quota.
3. Generate an API key in the dashboard’s API/Developer/Settings section.
4. Use that key in your code via:
   • x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY, or
   • Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
5. (Recommended) Run the Dashboard Onboarding at https://dashboard.exa.ai/onboarding to get tested integration code tailored to your stack and use case.

Once these steps are done, you can immediately start experimenting with Exa’s Search API within your free 1,000 requests/month budget.