# Brave Search API + MCP vs Linkup (slim)

> Linkup has a score of 69.1 (B) against Brave Search API + MCP's 68.1 (B). Both do web search. The largest gap is security & auth, 26 points. Linkup accepts x402. Brave Search API + MCP doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-linkup.md (~1,700 tokens) · this version ~330 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-linkup.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-linkup
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-04

Linkup has a score of 69.1 (B) against Brave Search API + MCP's 68.1 (B). Both do web search. The largest gap is security & auth, 26 points. Linkup accepts x402. Brave Search API + MCP doesn't.

- Brave Search API + MCP: B 68.1, rank #132 of 452 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp.min.md
- Linkup: B 69.1, rank #116 of 452 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkup.min.md
- Pick Brave Search API + MCP for security & auth (+26), transparency & trust (+18). Pick Linkup for reliability (+15), schema & documentation (+16), payments & pricing (+10).

| Category | Brave Search API + MCP | Linkup |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 55 | 70 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 72 | 88 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 72 | 76 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 58 | 32 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 70 | 80 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 87 | 83 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 82 | 64 |