# Brave Search API + MCP vs Kagi Search API (slim)

> 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.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.md (~2,900 tokens) · this version ~730 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

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 & auth. Both do web search. Brave Search API + MCP is cheaper for web search, $5 against $12 per 1,000 requests.

- Brave Search API + MCP: B 68, rank #231 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp.min.md
- Kagi Search API: D 48.7, rank #807 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kagi-search.min.md
- Brave Search API + MCP, good for Agents that want an independent, non-Google index at a flat price, or that want page text in one call through LLM Context. Ahead on Reliability, 55 against 8; Payments & pricing, 70 against 20; Maintenance & community, 87 against 41; Transparency & trust, 81 against 69. Also Cheaper for web search, $5 against $12 per 1,000 requests; Open source.
- Kagi Search API, good 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. Ahead on Security & auth, 64 against 58.

| Category | Brave Search API + MCP | Kagi Search API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 55 | 8 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 72 | 71 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 72 | 75 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 58 | 64 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 70 | 20 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 87 | 41 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 81 | 69 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Brave Search API + MCP | Kagi Search API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Brave | Kagi |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search` | `https://kagi.com/api/v1/search` |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Price for web search | $5 per 1,000 requests | $12 per 1,000 requests |
| x402 | payer tooling only | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under the Kagi API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the OpenAPI file states Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 8 | none |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | `io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-21 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-01 | 2026-09-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-25 | no date given |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 1.4k stars, 22k npm/wk | 535 stars |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |