# Arcmira vs Tavily API + MCP

> Tavily scores 77 (BB) to Arcmira's 64.2 (B) for research search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-tavily-mcp
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-tavily-mcp.md (~3,050 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-tavily-mcp.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-tavily-mcp.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-10-30

Tavily API + MCP scores 77 (BB) on agent readiness against Arcmira's 64.2 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Arcmira leads on agent ergonomics and security & auth. Both do research search.

- Arcmira: grade B, 64.2/100, rank #420 of 1227. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/arcmira.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/arcmira.json
- Tavily API + MCP: grade BB, 77/100, rank #36 of 1227. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/tavily-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/tavily-mcp.json
- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md
- All 182 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Arcmira (B)

Good for: Agents answering what was said on YouTube shows and podcasts, who was mentioned or appeared where, which brands sponsor a show and how a name's mentions are trending, with timestamped source links, through one connection on a free monthly allowance.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 91 against 81
- Security & auth, 61 against 52

Watch for: No status page, incident history or SLA was found; the terms disclaim uninterrupted service and Enterprise lists priority support without an uptime commitment

### Tavily API + MCP (BB)

Good for: An agent that needs search plus page text in one call and has no account yet.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 90 against 40
- Payments & pricing, 75 against 55

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source
- No incidents deducted, where Arcmira loses 3 points for them

Watch for: x402 covers advanced search only, not extract, map, crawl or research


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Arcmira | Tavily API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 40 | 90 | Tavily API + MCP +50 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 89 | Tavily API + MCP +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 91 | 81 | Arcmira +10 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 61 | 52 | Arcmira +9 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 55 | 75 | Tavily API + MCP +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 85 | Tavily API + MCP +1 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 62 | Tavily API + MCP +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **64.2 · B** | **77 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Arcmira | Tavily API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | Arcmira, Inc. | Tavily |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.arcmira.com/mcp` | `https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<key>` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, HTTP | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | payer tooling only |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Arcmira's Terms of Service. The MCP server's source is public under an all-rights-reserved notice; the Claude Code plugin, the arcmira TypeScript SDK and CLI and the Python SDK are Apache-2.0, and the Famous rankings are CC BY 4.0 | MIT |
| Tools exposed | 4 | 5 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.arcmira/arcmira` | `io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-06 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-10-13 | 2026-05-04 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-02 | 2025-11-24 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 78 stars | 2.4k stars, 452k npm/wk, 1.6M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.6/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**Arcmira.** Four code-mode tools over a documented v1 API, OAuth 2.1 with four scopes, a read-only sign-up key from two API calls and no card, and a 1,000-credit free month. No status page, SLA or security.txt, breaking v1 changes shipped in October with same-day notice, the server is at 0.10.7, and the index covers the shows Arcmira transcribes.

**Tavily API + MCP.** Keyless search and extract, plus a free 1,000 credits a month with no card. x402 covers advanced search only, not extract, map, crawl or research.

## Before you call either

### Arcmira

1. Call `arcmira_describe` once per session and write one program per question for `arcmira_execute_read`; return only the fields the answer needs, since output is cut at 12,000 characters and 3,000 per string.
2. Resolve names with `arcmira.resolve` (free) before any `about`, `by`, `entity_ids` or `channel` filter; a name in a filter fails with `id_required`. Plain keyword search needs no resolver call.
3. Check `arcmira.status()` or GET /v1/me for the plan, scopes and `usage.credits.available` before metered reads; on Free, media newer than 30 days and pages past the first fail with `freshness_requires_paid` and `pagination_gated`.
4. A Premium read of an untranscribed video starts a transcription that uses credits (300 per started 15 minutes) and may return `pending`; read the same video again later, which is never charged twice, and send `retry: true` only when the user asks.
5. Over HTTP send `Authorization: Bearer arc_sk_...`, an `Idempotency-Key` on every POST and PATCH, honour `Retry-After` on 429, and switch on `error.code`, following `unlock.url` on 402 and 403 rather than re-authenticating.
6. Use `arcmira_execute_write` only after listing the user's monitors; it creates, follows and pauses but never deletes, and a connection made before server 0.9.0 answers `insufficient_scope` until reconnected.

### Tavily API + MCP

1. Try `X-Tavily-Access-Mode: keyless` first for search and extract. Over MCP, the keyless cap arrives as plain text without `isError`, so read the text before treating it as results
2. Send the key in `Authorization: Bearer`, not `?tavilyApiKey=` in the MCP URL
3. On 429, wait for `Retry-After`. A 432 or 433 means a spend limit, and retrying won't help
4. Run /map before /crawl to bound the crawl, since crawl is billed as map plus extract
5. Research is async and runs 4 to 250 credits. Create the task, then poll /research/{request_id}

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Arcmira or Tavily API + MCP?

Tavily API + MCP scores 77 (BB) on agent readiness against Arcmira's 64.2 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Arcmira leads on agent ergonomics and security & auth.

### Do Arcmira and Tavily API + MCP need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Arcmira and Tavily API + MCP without installing anything?

Yes. Arcmira has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.arcmira.com/mcp and Tavily API + MCP at https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<key>.

### Are Arcmira and Tavily API + MCP open source?

No open-source release is listed for Arcmira. Tavily API + MCP is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-tavily-mcp.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcmira-vs-tavily-mcp.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "arcmira", "b": "tavily-mcp"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare arcmira tavily-mcp`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/arcmira.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/tavily-mcp.json

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp