Exa vs Valyu

Valyu is best suited for knowledge work that combines web search, specialist datasets and a team's information base. Its DeepResearch API turns that evidence into cited reports and structured outputs. Exa focuses on web search, helping agents find and retrieve online content.

TL;DR

Choose Valyu when your AI needs specialist data, live web search, covered licensed publications and internal documents, then needs to turn its research into a cited report or structured result. Exa focuses on web search and online content retrieval. Valyu also supports reusable research briefs through its Workflows API, currently in Beta.

Exa vs Valyu at a glance

DeepResearch benchmark results

In Valyu's published DRACO evaluation, Valyu DeepResearch (Heavy) scored 72.7%, compared with 25.9% for Exa Deep Reasoning — a 46.8-percentage-point lead. DRACO grades 100 long-form research tasks across 10 professional domains against expert-written rubrics. The results are reported in Introducing DeepResearch.

DRACO research scores and cost per 1,000 requests, from Valyu's published launch evaluation.

For the knowledge-work tasks described below, retrieval needs to lead to a report that brings financial and scientific evidence together, supports its conclusions and makes remaining questions visible. DRACO evaluates completed research against expert-written criteria, adding a synthesis-quality comparison to the source and document differences above. The Exa result is for its tested Deep Reasoning mode, not its standard web search. View the methodology, raw outputs and evaluations.

Bring the right sources into the research

An analyst checking a company's growth claims needs its filings and financial figures alongside current announcements. A researcher assessing a scientific finding needs the methods and results behind the abstract. The evidence required depends on the assignment.

Valyu's data catalogue includes SEC filings, financial statements, academic papers, clinical trials, patents and biological records. Teams can select the sources their research needs and use them alongside the web.

For biomedical research, Valyu brings together sources such as PubMed, arXiv, ClinicalTrials.gov, ChEMBL, Open Targets and NCBI records.

For licensed collections, Wiley Health & Life Sciences adds passages from covered full-text publications, with citations and preserved tables. HLS access is enabled per organisation, and coverage is limited to its included publications.

Turn research instructions into cited reports

Valyu DeepResearch lets teams define the question, select search sources and specify the report structure. It conducts the investigation and returns a cited report or structured data. PDF reports are supported, and Word documents or Excel workbooks can be generated with code execution enabled.

A team reviewing several targets can save the questions and evidence requirements in a versioned research workflow. Fill in the next target's inputs and run the same brief again. Workflows is in Beta. Pinning a version preserves the instructions; the sources and findings can still change.

This gives reviewers a consistent set of questions and a familiar report structure, with the evidence and remaining uncertainties available for inspection.

Bring the firm's knowledge too

DeepResearch accepts supported PDF, Word and Excel files directly. A research team can bring its lab report into the investigation; an investment team can bring a deal presentation and forecast workbook. The instructions explain how those documents should be used alongside external sources.

For continuing archives, Valyu's enterprise offering includes private indexes for internal research and documents, with Forward Deployed Engineers who build around the team's workflow. Past memos, portfolio reporting and scientific research can become part of the evidence available to the firm's AI.

Keep current web information in the research

Valyu also provides live web search and page extraction through its Contents API. An agent can check a new company announcement or product page alongside a filing, paper or internal report. Fresh web information and source-specific records can contribute to the same investigation.

Which should you choose?

Exa is a fit for web search and online content retrieval. Choose Valyu for AI knowledge work that needs specialist and licensed sources, the firm's own documents, and cited research reports or reusable workflows.

Test Valyu on an actual research assignment. Select the required sources, supply the relevant documents and request the report your team uses. Review the citations and check whether the result answers the questions that matter for the next decision.

Try Valyu or talk to the team about an AI knowledge-work workflow. To use Valyu in an existing agent, follow the MCP setup guide.