AI Plugin IndexHex Research vs exa
Hex Research and exa are both search and web MCP servers. exa scores higher (100 vs 85 out of 100). exa has more GitHub stars (5.1k), and exa was updated more recently (4 days ago). The table compares them side by side.
| Hex Research | exa | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 85 / 100 | 100 / 100 |
| What it does | Research graph MCP for hypotheses, goals, runs, source quality, audits, and generated maps. | Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research. |
| Publisher | Community: levnikolaevich | Verified: exa.ai |
| Grades | Maintenance A, Licence A, Quality A | Maintenance A, Licence A, Quality A |
| npm downloads a week | Not on npm | Not on npm |
| Runs | Local | Remote |
| Works with | Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, VS Code, Windsurf | Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, VS Code, Windsurf, ChatGPT |
| GitHub stars | 582 | 5,142 |
| Last commit | 18 Oct 2026 | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Listed since | 19 Oct 2026 | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Install Hex Research | Install exa |
Questions
Is Hex Research or exa more popular?
exa has more GitHub stars: 5,142.
Can I use Hex Research and exa together?
Yes. AI assistants can load several MCP servers at once. Install both and the assistant picks the right one for each task.