Head to head
ContactOut vs Exa
As a ai candidate sourcing tools API, Exa rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 84.8 to 55, a 29.8-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
84.8ABI / 100
Developers and AI agents that want semantic people discovery across the open web, not exact-field recruiter filters
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | ContactOut | Exa |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 55.0 | 84.8 |
Specifications
| ContactOut | Exa | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | LinkedIn-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales | Developers and AI agents that want semantic people discovery across the open web, not exact-field recruiter filters |
| Free tier | 5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included | $10 credits for new accounts, reset monthly, no card required |
| Pricing | Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan | Pay-as-you-go per 1,000 requests; enterprise custom |
| Official SDKs | 4 languages | 5 languages |
Is ContactOut better than Exa?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, Exa rates higher (84.8 vs 55). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
Exa leads by 29.8 points (84.8 vs 55) and wins 4 of 4 criteria.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 70 | 86 | |
| Reliability | 58 | 80 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 50 | 84 | |
| Accessibility | 35 | 90 |
Choose ContactOut if… / choose Exa if…
- →your use case matches its focus: linkedin-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (86 vs 70)
- →reliability matters most to you (80 vs 58)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (84 vs 50)
- →accessibility matters most to you (90 vs 35)
- →you need broad SDK coverage (5 official SDKs vs 4)
- →your use case matches its focus: developers and ai agents that want semantic people discovery across the open web, not exact-field recruiter filters
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan
- Free tier
- 5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included
- Free$0
- Email~$49-$99/mo (sources conflict)
- Email + Phone~$99-$199/mo (sources conflict)
- Team / APICustom quote
- Model
- Pay-as-you-go per 1,000 requests; enterprise custom
- Free tier
- $10 credits for new accounts, reset monthly, no card required
- Free credits$10 / month
- Search$4-$7 per 1k requests
- Deep search$12-$15 per 1k requests
- EnterpriseCustom
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-10-07 (ContactOut) and 2026-10-22 (Exa).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 1
REST API (token header auth)
Only ContactOut · 3
Webhooks for async bulk v2Third-party MCP via Composio and viaSocketNo official SDKs or OpenAPI spec found
Only Exa · 4
Python (exa-py)JavaScript (exa-js)MCP server (hosted)Agent skill (npx skills add exa-labs/agent-skills)
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Public API reference with auth, endpoint credit rules and per-endpoint rate limits
- +Bulk enrichment up to 1,000 profiles per v2 job with webhook delivery
- +Boolean search, decision-maker and company endpoints plus email and phone verification
- –API is not on self-serve plans; Team/API requires a custom quote
- –Free app plan (5/5/5 per day) does not include API access
- –962 outages tracked by StatusGator over the past year, with a minor outage on the verification date
- +$10 free credit that resets monthly, no card needed
- +Published pay-as-you-go pricing
- +Python and JavaScript SDKs plus a hosted MCP without an API key
- –No structured title/seniority/geography filters (vendor-reported)
- –Websets and people search have no dedicated public price
- –Third-party monitors show frequent short incidents
ContactOut vs Exa: questions
- Which has better documentation, ContactOut or Exa?
- Exa scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 86 vs 70 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, ContactOut or Exa?
- Exa scores higher on reliability: 80 vs 58 out of 100.
- Do ContactOut and Exa have a free tier?
- ContactOut: yes (5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included). Exa: yes ($10 credits for new accounts, reset monthly, no card required).
- How are ContactOut and Exa priced?
- ContactOut: Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan. Exa: Pay-as-you-go per 1,000 requests; enterprise custom.
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Exa lists 5 official SDKs, ContactOut lists 4.