{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "brave-search-mcp", "name": "Brave Search API + MCP", "vendor": "Brave", "vendorUrl": "https://brave.com/search/api/", "kind": "http-api", "category": "search", "summary": "REST API over Brave's independent index with web, news, image, video and local search, an LLM Context endpoint with pre-extracted page content and an Answers endpoint with citations.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/brave-search-mcp.json", "repo": "https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "license": "MIT", "transports": [ "stdio", "streamable-http", "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server" }, { "registry": "oci", "name": "mcp/brave-search" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "API key in the `X-Subscription-Token` header. The x402 proxy at search.agent.s.brave.app takes a signed payment instead of a key. An `Api-Version` header pins dated response versions. MCP server: BRAVE_API_KEY (or BRAVE_API_KEY_FILE) environment variable.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Search plan $5 per 1,000 requests with $5 free credit a month, 50 QPS. Answers plan $4 per 1,000 requests plus $5 per million tokens, $5 free credit a month, 2 QPS. A card is required for the free credit. Storing results needs an Enterprise plan with storage rights. Enterprise custom (https://brave.com/search/api/).", "priceSummary": "$5 / 1k req", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "partial", "evidence": "Brave's docs link a pay-per-request proxy at search.agent.s.brave.app. Web, LLM Context, news, video, image and local paths cost $0.005 in USDC on Base. Answers, Suggest and Spellcheck aren't sold. An unpaid web search returned 402 with a PAYMENT-REQUIRED header on 2026-09-30 (https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/guides/agent-payments)", "endpoints": [ { "url": "https://search.agent.s.brave.app/res/v1/web/search", "priceUsd": 0.005, "network": "eip155:8453" }, { "url": "https://search.agent.s.brave.app/res/v1/llm/context", "priceUsd": 0.005, "network": "eip155:8453" } ] }, "toolCount": 8, "popularity": { "githubStars": 1400, "npmWeekly": 22398, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation", "llmsTxt": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/llms.txt", "registryName": "io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "capabilities": [ "web.search", "web.extract", "search.answer", "search.news", "search.images" ], "tags": [ "official", "local", "open-source", "usage-priced", "hosted", "card-required", "x402", "llms-txt", "enterprise", "mcp" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-17", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 68.1, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 131, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 460, "categoryRank": 5, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 87, "payments": 70, "reliability": 55, "schema": 72, "security": 58, "transparency": 82 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "x402 proxy sells web, LLM Context, news, video, image and local search at $0.005 a call, and a failed search isn't charged. The status page marks the Search API \"not monitored\" and shows no incident history.", "bestFor": "Agents that want an independent, non-Google index at a flat price, or that want page text in one call through LLM Context.", "strengths": [ "x402 proxy sells web, LLM Context, news, video, image and local search at $0.005 a call, and a failed search isn't charged", "$5 per 1,000 searches at 50 QPS on the self-serve Search plan", "SOC 2 Type II, a HackerOne bounty and a valid security.txt", "Dated response versions through the `Api-Version` header", "MIT MCP server with five releases since July, tests in CI and a GitHub-verified registry entry" ], "weaknesses": [ "The status page marks the Search API \"not monitored\" and shows no incident history", "A card is required even for the $5 monthly credit", "No public OpenAPI for the keyed API and no API changelog", "No SLA on self-serve plans, and Answers is limited to 2 QPS", "No prompt-injection guidance, though LLM Context returns raw page text" ], "agentNotes": [ "Call /res/v1/llm/context when you need page text rather than links. It saves a separate fetch", "Treat \"No web results found\" from the MCP server as an empty result, not an outage", "On 429, wait for `X-RateLimit-Reset` seconds. There's no `Retry-After` header", "Skip `brave_summarizer`. The Summarizer is deprecated and the x402 proxy doesn't sell it", "Pin `Api-Version` to a date, since requests without it get the latest version" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 68.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 87, "payments": 70, "reliability": 55, "schema": 72, "security": 58, "transparency": 63 }, "provenanceScore": 100 }, "connect": { "http": "curl \"https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search?q=brave+search\u0026count=5\" \\\n -H \"Accept: application/json\" -H \"X-Subscription-Token: $BRAVE_API_KEY\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add brave-search -e BRAVE_API_KEY=${BRAVE_API_KEY} -- npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "config": { "mcpServers": { "brave-search": { "args": [ "-y", "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server" ], "command": "npx", "env": { "BRAVE_API_KEY": "${BRAVE_API_KEY}" } } } }, "x402": "purl --max-amount 5000 'https://search.agent.s.brave.app/res/v1/web/search?q=rust'\n# unpaid requests get HTTP 402 with a PAYMENT-REQUIRED header, USDC on eip155:8453" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/brave-search-mcp" }, "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Search plan", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5 }, { "item": "Answers plan", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 4, "note": "plus $5 per million tokens" }, { "item": "x402 search, per call", "unit": "call", "usd": 0.005, "note": "USDC on Base, no account" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Brave Software, Inc.", "domain": "brave.com", "domainRegistered": "1995-09-18", "domainNote": "brave.com was registered in 1995, before Brave bought it.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.brave.app", "changelog": "https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server/releases", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-01", "notes": [ "The x402 proxy runs on search.agent.s.brave.app, not brave.com. Brave's API docs link it as official.", "status.brave.app lists the Brave Search API but marks it \"not monitored\" and shows no incident history. The API docs keep a separate status log whose last entry is 27 March 2025 (https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/resources/status-updates/)." ], "score": 100 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp.json", "live": { "slug": "brave-search-mcp", "probe": { "target": "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-06T01:46:26.707674962Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 422, "lastMs": 405, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 397, "p95ms24h": 431, "samples24h": 273, "samples30d": 1395, "days": [ { "date": "2026-09-30", "probes": 35, "ok": 35 }, { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 276, "ok": 276 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.brave.app", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-06T01:25:48.586246461Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "version": "v2.1.4", "released": "2026-09-17", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T16:48:12.450965747Z" }, { "registry": "mcp-registry", "name": "io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "version": "2.1.3", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T23:55:54.568086057Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "version": "2.1.4", "seenAt": "2026-10-05T16:48:11.540556658Z" } ], "githubStars": 1487, "npmWeekly": 31461, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://brave.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T15:16:36.222135655Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T15:18:32.838940874Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "brave.com", "registered": "1995-09-18", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/brave.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:07:28.958526087Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T15:53:23.503929289Z", "changedAt": "2026-09-30T13:09:37.196019706Z", "fingerprint": "8c41a50b5a60" }, { "url": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T15:53:25.645530765Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "e74eb26bd7c7" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-06T01:46:26.707674962Z" } }, "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP scores 68.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "b": { "slug": "cloudflare-web-search", "name": "Cloudflare Web Search API", "vendor": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.cloudflare.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "search", "summary": "Cloudflare's web search endpoint, in open beta since 2 October 2026, routes a query through AI Gateway to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, by REST or from a Worker's AI binding.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json", "license": "Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "A Cloudflare API token as a Bearer header, with Account \u003e Workers AI \u003e Read and Account \u003e AI Gateway \u003e Read. Inside a Worker the `AI` binding needs no token. Provider keys stored on the gateway (BYOK) are selected by `byokAlias` and never sent in the request. The OpenAPI operation also accepts the legacy global API key with an email header.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Billed per search from prepaid AI Gateway credits at the provider's list price, Ceramic.ai $0.25, Linkup $5.00 and Exa $7.00 per 1,000 requests. Credits carry a 5 per cent purchase fee and need a payment method on the account. With a stored provider key the provider bills you directly. No free allowance found (https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/providers/, checked 2026-10-05).", "priceSummary": "$0.25 / 1k req", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "AI Gateway Machine Payments (x402, beta since 30 September 2026) covers only POST /ai/run for four open models, US accounts with a card on file. The Web Search API pages, the providers page and the OpenAPI operation mention no x402, MPP or L402 (https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/features/machine-payments/, checked 2026-10-05).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-05" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-search/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cloudflare/api-schemas/main/openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "web.search" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "beta", "openapi", "llms-txt", "typescript", "status-page", "bug-bounty" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-02", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 62.1, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 226, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 460, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 71, "payments": 20, "reliability": 55, "schema": 81, "security": 71, "transparency": 75 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-05" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It's an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters, and no machine payment route.", "bestFor": "Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.", "strengths": [ "Three providers behind one request shape, switched by the `provider` parameter", "Ceramic.ai at $0.25 per 1,000 searches, at the provider's list price", "Every search lands in AI Gateway logs, with per-request headers to skip storing payloads", "Typed error body with category, code and a `retryable` flag", "Providers commit to verified-bot crawling and a source link on every result" ], "weaknesses": [ "Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway", "Credits need a payment method and carry a 5 per cent purchase fee. No free allowance", "At most 10 results a call, with no pagination, domain or date filters", "No x402. Machine Payments covers only /ai/run", "The changelog and the providers page disagree on whether Exa searches have Zero Data Retention" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `options.gateway.id`. Every account has a gateway named `default`", "Pass `provider` explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result", "Set `limit` to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10", "Set `byokAlias` when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits", "Send `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 62.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 71, "payments": 20, "reliability": 55, "schema": 81, "security": 71, "transparency": 50 }, "provenanceScore": 100 }, "connect": { "http": "curl https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID/ai/websearch/ \\\n --request POST \\\n --header \"Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN\" \\\n --header \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n --data '{\n \"query\": \"What are some fun things to do in Salt Lake City as fall approaches?\",\n \"provider\": \"ceramic\",\n \"limit\": 5,\n \"options\": {\n \"gateway\": { \"id\": \"default\" }\n }\n }'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/cloudflare-web-search" }, "sameCompany": [ "cloudflare-sandbox-sdk", "cloudflare-mcp", "cloudflare-r2", "cloudflare-clef" ], "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Search, Ceramic.ai", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 0.25 }, { "item": "Search, Linkup", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5 }, { "item": "Search, Exa", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 7 } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "domain": "cloudflare.com", "domainRegistered": "2009-02-17", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://cloudflare.com/terms/", "privacy": "https://cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/", "statusPage": "https://www.cloudflarestatus.com", "changelog": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/changelog/", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-05", "notes": [ "Legal entity, domain date, terms and privacy follow the Cloudflare MCP listing's check. We didn't re-read them for this listing.", "www.cloudflare.com/.well-known/security.txt, read on 5 October 2026, names HackerOne and a disclosure policy and carries no Expires field.", "The endpoint is on api.cloudflare.com. Searches are forwarded to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup." ], "score": 100 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json", "live": { "slug": "cloudflare-web-search", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://www.cloudflarestatus.com", "indicator": "major", "summary": "Partial System Outage", "checkedAt": "2026-10-06T01:47:08.690984366Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-06T01:47:08.690984366Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Brave", "b": "Cloudflare, Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Pay per use", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "$5 per 1,000 requests", "b": "$0.25 per 1,000 requests", "name": "Price for web search" }, { "a": "payer tooling only", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT", "b": "Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "8", "b": "none", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "b": "not listed", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-09-17", "b": "2026-10-02", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "1.4k stars, 22k npm/wk", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3.5/5 (2)", "b": "3/5 (2)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP scores 68.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Brave Search API + MCP or Cloudflare Web Search API?" }, { "answer": "Cloudflare Web Search API, at $0.25 per 1,000 requests against $5 per 1,000 requests for Brave Search API + MCP. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.", "question": "Which is cheaper for web search, Brave Search API + MCP or Cloudflare Web Search API?" }, { "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Cloudflare Web Search API needs an API key.", "question": "Do Brave Search API + MCP and Cloudflare Web Search API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search. No hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API.", "question": "Can an agent call Brave Search API + MCP and Cloudflare Web Search API without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API.", "question": "Are Brave Search API + MCP and Cloudflare Web Search API open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Agent ergonomics, 72 against 63", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 70 against 20", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 87 against 71", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 82 against 75" ], "also": [ "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install", "Runs on your own machine", "Open source", "Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5" ], "goodFor": "Agents that want an independent, non-Google index at a flat price, or that want page text in one call through LLM Context.", "slug": "brave-search-mcp", "watchFor": "The status page marks the Search API \"not monitored\" and shows no incident history" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 81 against 72", "Security \u0026 auth, 71 against 58" ], "also": [ "Cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $5 per 1,000 requests" ], "goodFor": "Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.", "slug": "cloudflare-web-search", "watchFor": "Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway" } ], "job": { "capability": "web.search", "name": "Web search" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-exa-mcp.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Exa API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-exa-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-firecrawl-mcp.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Firecrawl MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-firecrawl-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-linkup.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Linkup", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-linkup" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-parallel-search-api.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Parallel Search and Task APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-parallel-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs SearchAPI.io", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-searchapi-io" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serper.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Serper", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serper" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpkite.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpKite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpkite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-tavily-mcp.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Tavily API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-tavily-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-valyu.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Valyu", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-valyu" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Exa API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Firecrawl MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Linkup", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SearchAPI.io", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Serper", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpKite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Tavily API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Valyu", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api" } ], "scores": [ { "brave-search-mcp": 55, "by": 0, "cloudflare-web-search": 55, "edge": "", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 72, "by": 9, "cloudflare-web-search": 81, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 72, "by": 9, "cloudflare-web-search": 63, "edge": "brave-search-mcp", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 58, "by": 13, "cloudflare-web-search": 71, "edge": "cloudflare-web-search", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 70, "by": 50, "cloudflare-web-search": 20, "edge": "brave-search-mcp", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 87, "by": 16, "cloudflare-web-search": 71, "edge": "brave-search-mcp", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 82, "by": 7, "cloudflare-web-search": 75, "edge": "brave-search-mcp", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Brave Search API + MCP scores 68.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do web search. Cloudflare Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $5 per 1,000 requests.", "verdicts": { "brave-search-mcp": "x402 proxy sells web, LLM Context, news, video, image and local search at $0.005 a call, and a failed search isn't charged. The status page marks the Search API \"not monitored\" and shows no incident history.", "cloudflare-web-search": "One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It's an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters, and no machine payment route." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.min.md" }, "markdown": "Brave Search API + MCP scores 68.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do web search. Cloudflare Web Search API is cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $5 per 1,000 requests.\n\n- Brave Search API + MCP: grade B, 68.1/100, rank #131 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/brave-search-mcp.json\n- Cloudflare Web Search API: grade B, 62.1/100, rank #226 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Brave Search API + MCP (B)\n\nGood for: Agents that want an independent, non-Google index at a flat price, or that want page text in one call through LLM Context.\n\nAhead on:\n- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 63\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 70 against 20\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 87 against 71\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 82 against 75\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n- Runs on your own machine\n- Open source\n- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5\n\nWatch for: The status page marks the Search API \"not monitored\" and shows no incident history\n\n### Cloudflare Web Search API (B)\n\nGood for: Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 81 against 72\n- Security \u0026 auth, 71 against 58\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Cheaper for web search, $0.25 against $5 per 1,000 requests\n\nWatch for: Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Brave Search API + MCP | Cloudflare Web Search API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 55 | even |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 81 | Cloudflare Web Search API +9 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 63 | Brave Search API + MCP +9 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 58 | 71 | Cloudflare Web Search API +13 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 70 | 20 | Brave Search API + MCP +50 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 71 | Brave Search API + MCP +16 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 75 | Brave Search API + MCP +7 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **68.1 · B** | **62.1 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Brave Search API + MCP | Cloudflare Web Search API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Brave | Cloudflare, Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search` | no (local only) |\n| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |\n| Price for web search | $5 per 1,000 requests | $0.25 per 1,000 requests |\n| x402 | payer tooling only | no |\n| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page |\n| Tools exposed | 8 | none |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | `io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server` | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-09-17 | 2026-10-02 |\n| Popularity | 1.4k stars, 22k npm/wk | none |\n| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | 3/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Brave Search API + MCP.** x402 proxy sells web, LLM Context, news, video, image and local search at $0.005 a call, and a failed search isn't charged. The status page marks the Search API \"not monitored\" and shows no incident history.\n\n**Cloudflare Web Search API.** One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It's an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters, and no machine payment route.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Brave Search API + MCP\n\n1. Call /res/v1/llm/context when you need page text rather than links. It saves a separate fetch\n2. Treat \"No web results found\" from the MCP server as an empty result, not an outage\n3. On 429, wait for `X-RateLimit-Reset` seconds. There's no `Retry-After` header\n4. Skip `brave_summarizer`. The Summarizer is deprecated and the x402 proxy doesn't sell it\n5. Pin `Api-Version` to a date, since requests without it get the latest version\n\n### Cloudflare Web Search API\n\n1. Set `options.gateway.id`. Every account has a gateway named `default`\n2. Pass `provider` explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result\n3. Set `limit` to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10\n4. Set `byokAlias` when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits\n5. Send `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Brave Search API + MCP or Cloudflare Web Search API?\n\nBrave Search API + MCP scores 68.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.\n\n### Which is cheaper for web search, Brave Search API + MCP or Cloudflare Web Search API?\n\nCloudflare Web Search API, at $0.25 per 1,000 requests against $5 per 1,000 requests for Brave Search API + MCP. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.\n\n### Do Brave Search API + MCP and Cloudflare Web Search API need an API key?\n\nBrave Search API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Cloudflare Web Search API needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Brave Search API + MCP and Cloudflare Web Search API without installing anything?\n\nBrave Search API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search. No hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API.\n\n### Are Brave Search API + MCP and Cloudflare Web Search API open source?\n\nBrave Search API + MCP is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"brave-search-mcp\", \"b\": \"cloudflare-web-search\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare brave-search-mcp cloudflare-web-search`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/brave-search-mcp.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Brave Search API + MCP or Cloudflare Web Search API\n\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-exa-mcp.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-parallel-search-api.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serper.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serpkite.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Exa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-exa-mcp.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-parallel-search-api.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serper.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serpkite.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-you-com-api.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-06", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.3", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API", "url": "" } ], "description": "Brave Search API + MCP scores 68.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cloudflare Web Search API leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do web search. Cloudflare Web Search API is cheaper…", "facts": [ "Brave Search API + MCP B 68.1", "Cloudflare Web Search API B 62.1", "scores" ], "h1": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.png", "path": "/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API for AI agents", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-06", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2600, "slim": 780 }, "version": 1 }