{ "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, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 231, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 5, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 87, "payments": 70, "reliability": 55, "schema": 72, "security": 58, "transparency": 81 }, "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": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 68 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 87, "payments": 70, "reliability": 55, "schema": 72, "security": 58, "transparency": 63 }, "provenanceScore": 98 }, "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": 98 }, "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": "2026-10-10T03:06:59.699009603Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 422, "lastMs": 422, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 417, "p95ms24h": 469, "samples24h": 249, "samples30d": 2468, "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": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-07", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 268, "ok": 268 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 32, "ok": 32 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.brave.app", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T00:50:10.975991356Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "version": "v2.1.4", "released": "2026-09-17", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:43:29.972502747Z" }, { "registry": "mcp-registry", "name": "io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "version": "2.1.3", "seenAt": "2026-10-10T03:11:32.438759038Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "version": "2.1.4", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:43:29.413399294Z" } ], "githubStars": 1491, "npmWeekly": 25693, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://brave.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T15:39:17.223966077Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T14:01:33.213735944Z" }, "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": "2026-10-09T18:32:29.464963483Z", "changedAt": "2026-09-30T13:09:37.196019706Z", "fingerprint": "8c41a50b5a60" }, { "url": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:32:31.612928151Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "e74eb26bd7c7" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T03:11:32.438759038Z" } }, "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP scores 68 (B) on agent readiness against Kagi Search API's 48.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kagi Search API leads on security \u0026 auth.", "b": { "slug": "kagi-search", "name": "Kagi Search API", "vendor": "Kagi", "vendorUrl": "https://kagi.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "search", "summary": "Kagi's Search API returns results from the Kagi search engine for web, image, video, news and podcast queries, with optional Markdown extraction of the top pages. It is a paid HTTP API in public preview, with a hosted MCP server.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kagi-search", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kagi-search.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kagi-search.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kagi-search.json", "repo": "https://github.com/kagisearch/kagimcp", "license": "Proprietary service under the Kagi API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the OpenAPI file states Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://kagi.com/api/v1/search", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "kagimcp" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Self-serve API key from the portal at kagi.com/api, sent as `Authorization: Bearer \u003ckey\u003e` per the OpenAPI file. Each key can be limited to chosen products and to IP addresses or ranges, and deleted to revoke it. On Family and Team plans only the account owner can open the portal. The hosted MCP server takes the same key as a Bearer header, with no OAuth yet.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "$12 per 1,000 searches and $4 per 1,000 extracted pages, pay as you go, invoiced every 30 days or when usage reaches $100. Prepaid credit and a spending cap are available. No free tier or sandbox. The quick start asks for a Kagi account and a payment method first. Enterprise volume prices are by quote (https://kagi.com/api/pricing, checked 2026-10-09).", "priceSummary": "$12 / 1k req", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the OpenAPI file, the API docs or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-09).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 535, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-09" }, "docsUrl": "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/api/overview.html", "openapi": "https://kagi.com/api/docs/_spec/openapi.yaml", "capabilities": [ "web.search", "web.fetch", "web.extract", "search.news", "search.images" ], "tags": [ "official", "hosted", "api-key", "closed-source", "usage-based", "openapi", "preview", "mcp", "ip-allowlist", "python", "typescript", "go", "rust" ], "lastRelease": "2026-08-21", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 48.7, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 807, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 15, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 75, "maintenance": 41, "payments": 20, "reliability": 8, "schema": 71, "security": 64, "transparency": 69 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-09" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "A public OpenAPI file, typed filters and API keys that can be limited by product and IP address make the API simple to call, at $12 per 1,000 searches. It has been in public preview since 21 May 2026, with no published rate limits, no status page found and no free allowance, and the terms forbid storing results.", "bestFor": "An owner who already pays for Kagi and wants its ranking, lenses and domain rules inside an agent, with page text in the same call.", "strengths": [ "Public OpenAPI 3.0 file for `POST /search` and `POST /extract`, with enums, ranges and request and response examples", "Each API key can be limited to chosen products and to IP addresses or ranges, and the billing page sets a spending cap in USD", "Per-unit prices are public, $12 per 1,000 searches and $4 per 1,000 extracted pages, with pay-as-you-go billing", "Searches can carry an inline lens, domain block, lower, raise and pin rules, date and region filters, and extraction of up to 10 result pages", "The privacy policy has an API section with retention periods, and says queries are not stored against the account" ], "weaknesses": [ "Public preview since 21 May 2026. The API terms say it is under active development with no uptime or service-level commitment", "No rate limit numbers are published, and no status page is linked from the docs, pricing, terms or changelog pages we read", "No free allowance. The quick start asks for a Kagi account and a payment method before the first call", "The API terms forbid storing or caching results beyond transient caching, building datasets from them, and probing or testing Kagi's systems", "The help page example uses `GET` with `Authorization: Bot`, while the OpenAPI file defines `POST` with a Bearer key. The TypeScript client's README names an npm package that returned 404" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send `POST https://kagi.com/api/v1/search` with a JSON body and `Authorization: Bearer \u003ckey\u003e`, as the OpenAPI file defines. Only `query` is required", "Set `limit` to cap results returned. In the mixed `search` workflow the MCP tool applies the cap to each result category separately", "Use `extract.count` (1 to 10) only when page text is needed. Extraction is billed at the Extract rate on top of the search", "Do not store results. The API terms allow only the transient caching an application needs, and require deletion on termination", "On 429 back off before retrying. The response covers both rate limiting and an exhausted usage limit, and no `Retry-After` header is documented" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 48.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 75, "maintenance": 41, "payments": 20, "reliability": 8, "schema": 71, "security": 64, "transparency": 54 }, "provenanceScore": 83 }, "connect": { "install": "uvx kagimcp", "http": "curl -X POST https://kagi.com/api/v1/search \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $KAGI_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"query\":\"steve jobs\",\"workflow\":\"search\"}'", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add kagi https://mcp.kagi.com/mcp --transport http --header \"Authorization: Bearer $(read -sp 'API key: ' k; echo $k)\" --scope user", "config": { "mcpServers": { "kagi": { "args": [ "kagimcp" ], "command": "uvx", "env": { "KAGI_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE" } } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/kagi-search" }, "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Search", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 12, "note": "page extraction inside a search is billed at the Extract rate on top" }, { "item": "Extract", "unit": "1k-pages", "usd": 4, "note": "up to 10 URLs a request" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Kagi Inc.", "domain": "kagi.com", "domainRegistered": "1993-11-18", "domainNote": "kagi.com was registered in 1993, long before Kagi Inc. was founded in 2018.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://kagi.com/privacy/api", "privacy": "https://kagi.com/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://kagi.com/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-09", "notes": [ "The Kagi API Terms of Service (effective and last updated 22 September 2026) govern the Search API and incorporate the privacy policy and a Data Processing Addendum that is not yet published.", "The privacy policy at kagi.com/privacy has a Kagi API section added on 22 September 2026. The same page also holds the general Terms of Service.", "The API terms do not name a legal entity. The docs' company page gives Kagi Inc., and the privacy page describes Kagi as a Delaware public benefit corporation.", "kagi.com/.well-known/security.txt gives security@kagi.com and a bug bounty with a safe harbour policy, and has no Expires field. It is recorded as valid, although RFC 9116 asks for that field.", "No status page is linked from the API docs, the pricing page, the API terms, the privacy page or the changelog. We did not type an address for one.", "The changelog covers every Kagi product. API entries are a few lines inside those posts.", "RDAP for kagi.com gives a registration date of 1993-11-18.", "kagi.com/robots.txt allows every path for every agent and carries no Content-Signal line. help.kagi.com/robots.txt answered 404." ], "score": 83 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kagi-search.json", "live": { "slug": "kagi-search", "probe": { "target": "https://kagi.com/api/v1/search", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T03:07:09.541947511Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 138, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 148, "p95ms24h": 414, "samples24h": 117, "samples30d": 117, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 85, "ok": 85 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 32, "ok": 32 } ] }, "versions": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "kagimcp", "version": "1.0.2", "released": "2026-07-07", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:59:52.360116555Z" } ], "githubStars": 535, "pypiWeekly": 2305, "pages": [ { "url": "https://kagi.com/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:40:38.488692439Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "9d3c4fa83a20" }, { "url": "https://kagi.com/api/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:40:36.463160765Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "7fa5f456db46" }, { "url": "https://kagi.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:40:40.535666583Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "2bfce4b7e89a" }, { "url": "https://kagi.com/privacy/api", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:40:42.496630879Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "5a5c47392cf0" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T03:07:09.541947511Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Brave", "b": "Kagi", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search", "b": "https://kagi.com/api/v1/search", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio", "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": "$12 per 1,000 requests", "name": "Price for web search" }, { "a": "payer tooling only", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT", "b": "Proprietary service under the Kagi API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the OpenAPI file states Apache-2.0", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "8", "b": "none", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "b": "not listed", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-09-17", "b": "2026-08-21", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-09-01", "b": "2026-09-22", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-08-25", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "1.4k stars, 22k npm/wk", "b": "535 stars", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3.5/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP scores 68 (B) on agent readiness against Kagi Search API's 48.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kagi Search API leads on security \u0026 auth.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Brave Search API + MCP or Kagi Search API?" }, { "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP, at $5 per 1,000 requests against $12 per 1,000 requests for Kagi Search API. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.", "question": "Which is cheaper for web search, Brave Search API + MCP or Kagi Search API?" }, { "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Kagi Search API needs an API key.", "question": "Do Brave Search API + MCP and Kagi Search API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Brave Search API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search and Kagi Search API at https://kagi.com/api/v1/search.", "question": "Can an agent call Brave Search API + MCP and Kagi Search API without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "Brave Search API + MCP is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Kagi Search API.", "question": "Are Brave Search API + MCP and Kagi Search API open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 55 against 8", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 70 against 20", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 87 against 41", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 81 against 69" ], "also": [ "Cheaper for web search, $5 against $12 per 1,000 requests", "Open source" ], "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": [ "Security \u0026 auth, 64 against 58" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "An owner who already pays for Kagi and wants its ranking, lenses and domain rules inside an agent, with page text in the same call.", "slug": "kagi-search", "watchFor": "Public preview since 21 May 2026. The API terms say it is under active development with no uptime or service-level commitment" } ], "job": { "capability": "web.search", "name": "Web search" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search" }, { "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-tinyfish-search.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs TinyFish Search", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-tinyfish-search" }, { "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-kagi-search.json", "title": "Cloudflare Web Search API vs Kagi Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-kagi-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-kagi-search.json", "title": "Exa API + MCP vs Kagi Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-kagi-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-kagi-search.json", "title": "Firecrawl MCP vs Kagi Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-kagi-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-kagi-search.json", "title": "Grep AI vs Kagi Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-kagi-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-linkup.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs Linkup", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-linkup" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-parallel-search-api.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-parallel-search-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-searchapi-io.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs SearchAPI.io", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-searchapi-io" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serpapi.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs SerpApi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serpapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serper.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs Serper", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serper" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serpkite.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs SerpKite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serpkite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tavily-mcp.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs Tavily API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tavily-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tinyfish-search.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs TinyFish Search", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tinyfish-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-valyu.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs Valyu", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-valyu" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-you-com-api.json", "title": "Kagi Search API vs You.com APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-you-com-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search.json", "title": "Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Kagi Search API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-grep-ai.json", "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Grep AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-grep-ai" } ], "scores": [ { "brave-search-mcp": 55, "by": 47, "edge": "brave-search-mcp", "kagi-search": 8, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 72, "by": 1, "edge": "brave-search-mcp", "kagi-search": 71, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 72, "by": 3, "edge": "kagi-search", "kagi-search": 75, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 58, "by": 6, "edge": "kagi-search", "kagi-search": 64, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 70, "by": 50, "edge": "brave-search-mcp", "kagi-search": 20, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 87, "by": 46, "edge": "brave-search-mcp", "kagi-search": 41, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "brave-search-mcp": 81, "by": 12, "edge": "brave-search-mcp", "kagi-search": 69, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Brave Search API + MCP scores 68 (B) on agent readiness against Kagi Search API's 48.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kagi Search API leads on security \u0026 auth. Both do web search. Brave Search API + MCP is cheaper for web search, $5 against $12 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.", "kagi-search": "A public OpenAPI file, typed filters and API keys that can be limited by product and IP address make the API simple to call, at $12 per 1,000 searches. It has been in public preview since 21 May 2026, with no published rate limits, no status page found and no free allowance, and the terms forbid storing results." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.min.md" }, "markdown": "Brave Search API + MCP scores 68 (B) on agent readiness against Kagi Search API's 48.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kagi Search API leads on security \u0026 auth. Both do web search. Brave Search API + MCP is cheaper for web search, $5 against $12 per 1,000 requests.\n\n- Brave Search API + MCP: grade B, 68/100, rank #231 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/brave-search-mcp.json\n- Kagi Search API: grade D, 48.7/100, rank #807 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kagi-search.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kagi-search.json\n- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md\n- All 129 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md\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- Reliability, 55 against 8\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 70 against 20\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 87 against 41\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 81 against 69\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Cheaper for web search, $5 against $12 per 1,000 requests\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: The status page marks the Search API \"not monitored\" and shows no incident history\n\n### Kagi Search API (D)\n\nGood for: An owner who already pays for Kagi and wants its ranking, lenses and domain rules inside an agent, with page text in the same call.\n\nAhead on:\n- Security \u0026 auth, 64 against 58\n\nWatch for: Public preview since 21 May 2026. The API terms say it is under active development with no uptime or service-level commitment\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Brave Search API + MCP | Kagi Search API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 8 | Brave Search API + MCP +47 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 71 | Brave Search API + MCP +1 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 75 | Kagi Search API +3 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 58 | 64 | Kagi Search API +6 |\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 | 41 | Brave Search API + MCP +46 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 81 | 69 | Brave Search API + MCP +12 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **68 · B** | **48.7 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Brave Search API + MCP | Kagi Search API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Brave | Kagi |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search` | `https://kagi.com/api/v1/search` |\n| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |\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 | $12 per 1,000 requests |\n| x402 | payer tooling only | no |\n| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under the Kagi API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the OpenAPI file states Apache-2.0 |\n| Tools exposed | 8 | none |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| MCP registry | `io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server` | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-21 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-09-01 | 2026-09-22 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-25 | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 1.4k stars, 22k npm/wk | 535 stars |\n| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |\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**Kagi Search API.** A public OpenAPI file, typed filters and API keys that can be limited by product and IP address make the API simple to call, at $12 per 1,000 searches. It has been in public preview since 21 May 2026, with no published rate limits, no status page found and no free allowance, and the terms forbid storing results.\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### Kagi Search API\n\n1. Send `POST https://kagi.com/api/v1/search` with a JSON body and `Authorization: Bearer \u003ckey\u003e`, as the OpenAPI file defines. Only `query` is required\n2. Set `limit` to cap results returned. In the mixed `search` workflow the MCP tool applies the cap to each result category separately\n3. Use `extract.count` (1 to 10) only when page text is needed. Extraction is billed at the Extract rate on top of the search\n4. Do not store results. The API terms allow only the transient caching an application needs, and require deletion on termination\n5. On 429 back off before retrying. The response covers both rate limiting and an exhausted usage limit, and no `Retry-After` header is documented\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Brave Search API + MCP or Kagi Search API?\n\nBrave Search API + MCP scores 68 (B) on agent readiness against Kagi Search API's 48.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kagi Search API leads on security \u0026 auth.\n\n### Which is cheaper for web search, Brave Search API + MCP or Kagi Search API?\n\nBrave Search API + MCP, at $5 per 1,000 requests against $12 per 1,000 requests for Kagi Search API. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.\n\n### Do Brave Search API + MCP and Kagi Search API need an API key?\n\nBrave Search API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Kagi Search API needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Brave Search API + MCP and Kagi Search API without installing anything?\n\nYes. Brave Search API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search and Kagi Search API at https://kagi.com/api/v1/search.\n\n### Are Brave Search API + MCP and Kagi Search API open source?\n\nBrave Search API + MCP is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Kagi Search API.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"brave-search-mcp\", \"b\": \"kagi-search\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare brave-search-mcp kagi-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/kagi-search.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Brave Search API + MCP or Kagi Search API\n\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.md)\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 TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-tinyfish-search.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 Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-kagi-search.md)\n- [Exa API + MCP vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-kagi-search.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-kagi-search.md)\n- [Grep AI vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-kagi-search.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-linkup.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-parallel-search-api.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serper.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serpkite.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tinyfish-search.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-valyu.md)\n- [Kagi Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-you-com-api.md)\n- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search.md)\n- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Grep AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-grep-ai.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-10", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "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 Kagi Search API", "url": "" } ], "description": "Brave Search scores 68 (B) to Kagi Search's 48.7 (D) for web search. Brave Search is cheaper for web search, $5 against $12 per 1,000 requests. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Brave Search API + MCP B 68", "Kagi Search API D 48.7", "scores" ], "h1": "Brave Search API + MCP vs Kagi Search API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.png", "path": "/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Brave Search vs Kagi Search for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2900, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }