{
  "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": 132,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "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.",
        "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": "2026-10-04T23:48:05.752231641Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 422,
          "lastMs": 392,
          "authRequired": false,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 395,
          "p95ms24h": 420,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1100,
          "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": 270,
              "ok": 270
            }
          ]
        },
        "vendorStatus": {
          "page": "https://status.brave.app",
          "indicator": "unknown",
          "summary": "no machine-readable status found",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:39:52.323054222Z"
        },
        "versions": [
          {
            "registry": "github",
            "name": "brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
            "version": "v2.1.4",
            "released": "2026-09-17",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:22:44.217062681Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "mcp-registry",
            "name": "io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
            "version": "2.1.3",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T23:42:40.113054682Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "npm",
            "name": "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
            "version": "2.1.4",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:22:43.730484655Z"
          }
        ],
        "githubStars": 1484,
        "npmWeekly": 30874,
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://brave.com/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "valid",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:38.826160997Z"
        },
        "llmsTxt": {
          "url": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/llms.txt",
          "ok": true,
          "status": 200,
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:17:21.910433141Z"
        },
        "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": "2026-10-04T15:41:09.246937639Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-09-30T13:09:37.196019706Z",
            "fingerprint": "8c41a50b5a60"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/terms-of-service",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:41:11.393064605Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "e74eb26bd7c7"
          }
        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:48:05.752231641Z"
      }
    },
    "b": {
      "slug": "searchapi-io",
      "name": "SearchAPI.io",
      "vendor": "SearchApi",
      "vendorUrl": "https://www.searchapi.io",
      "kind": "http-api",
      "category": "search",
      "summary": "SERP scraping API returning parsed JSON from Google and its verticals, Bing, Baidu, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, YouTube, Amazon, TikTok, ad libraries and travel sites, over 150 engine endpoints behind one GET URL.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/searchapi-io",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/searchapi-io.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/searchapi-io.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/searchapi-io.json",
      "transports": [
        "http",
        "streamable-http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search",
      "packages": [],
      "auth": "mixed",
      "authNotes": "API key as the `api_key` query parameter or `Authorization: Bearer`. The hosted MCP uses OAuth in the browser, or an `X-MCP-Token` header for programmatic clients.",
      "pricing": "freemium",
      "pricingNotes": "100 free requests on signup, no card. Developer $40 a month for 10,000 searches ($4 per 1,000), Production $100 for 35,000, BigData $250 for 100,000, Scale $500 for 250,000, Octo tiers from $900 for 500,000 down to $1 per 1,000 at 5M. Only successful (HTTP 200) searches are charged (https://www.searchapi.io/pricing).",
      "priceSummary": "$4 / 1k req",
      "where": "hosted",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "evidence": "No x402 on pricing, docs or MCP pages (checked 2026-09-30).",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": null,
        "npmWeekly": null,
        "pypiWeekly": null,
        "asOf": "2026-09-30"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://www.searchapi.io/docs/google",
      "openapi": "https://www.searchapi.io/openapi/google.yaml",
      "registryName": "io.searchapi/mcp",
      "capabilities": [
        "web.search",
        "search.serp",
        "search.news",
        "search.images"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "freemium",
        "no-card",
        "mcp",
        "closed-source"
      ],
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 51.4,
        "grade": "D",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 351,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "categoryRank": 10,
        "methodology": "0.3",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 52,
          "maintenance": 15,
          "payments": 30,
          "reliability": 90,
          "schema": 59,
          "security": 28,
          "transparency": 62
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "99.9% SLA on every plan and no incidents on the status page since August. MCP exposes over 100 tools with no toolsets.",
        "strengths": [
          "99.9% SLA on every plan and no incidents on the status page since August",
          "Only HTTP 200 searches are billed",
          "$4 per 1,000 on the entry plan, falling to $1 at 5 million a month",
          "Over 150 engine endpoints, including ad libraries, TikTok and travel sites",
          "OpenAPI 3.0 for the Google engine with typed enums"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "MCP exposes over 100 tools with no toolsets",
          "API key accepted as `api_key` in the query string, and the registry entry puts the MCP token in the URL",
          "No changelog, no llms.txt and no official SDKs",
          "No x402 and no per-call option. Every account starts with a browser signup",
          "Returns SERP snippets only, and no prompt-injection guidance for scraped AI answers"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer`, not `api_key=` in the URL",
          "Connect the MCP through OAuth or the `X-MCP-Token` header, not the registry's `?token=` URL",
          "Call the REST API with `engine=` when context is tight. The MCP loads over 100 tool definitions",
          "Page Google results with `page`. `num` is fixed at 10",
          "Pace bursts. One hour can use at most 20 per cent of the plan's monthly searches"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 2,
        "avgRating": 3,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "D",
            "methodology": "0.3",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 51.4
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 52,
          "maintenance": 15,
          "payments": 30,
          "reliability": 90,
          "schema": 59,
          "security": 28,
          "transparency": 48
        },
        "provenanceScore": 76
      },
      "connect": {
        "http": "curl -G https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search -H \"Authorization: Bearer $SEARCHAPI_API_KEY\" -d engine=google --data-urlencode \"q=chatgpt\"",
        "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http searchapi https://www.searchapi.io/mcp"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/web.search",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/searchapi-io"
      },
      "area": "web-data",
      "unitPrices": [
        {
          "item": "Developer plan, per 1,000 searches",
          "unit": "1k-requests",
          "usd": 4,
          "note": "10,000 searches for $40 a month"
        },
        {
          "item": "Developer plan",
          "unit": "month",
          "usd": 40,
          "note": "10,000 searches"
        },
        {
          "item": "Production plan",
          "unit": "month",
          "usd": 100,
          "note": "35,000 searches, includes Legal Protection Guarantee"
        },
        {
          "item": "BigData plan",
          "unit": "month",
          "usd": 250,
          "note": "100,000 searches"
        },
        {
          "item": "Scale plan",
          "unit": "month",
          "usd": 500,
          "note": "250,000 searches"
        }
      ],
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "SearchApi, LLC",
        "domain": "searchapi.io",
        "domainRegistered": "2017-12-13",
        "domainNote": "Registered in 2017 and transferred on 2022-05-26.",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://www.searchapi.io/legal/terms",
        "privacy": "https://www.searchapi.io/legal/privacy",
        "statusPage": "https://status.searchapi.io",
        "changelog": "",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-09-30",
        "score": 76
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/searchapi-io.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "searchapi-io",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search",
          "method": "get",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-04T23:48:15.813438188Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 401,
          "lastMs": 116,
          "lastNote": "asks for credentials",
          "authRequired": true,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 111,
          "p95ms24h": 262,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1100,
          "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": 270,
              "ok": 270
            }
          ]
        },
        "vendorStatus": {
          "page": "https://status.searchapi.io",
          "indicator": "unknown",
          "summary": "no machine-readable status found",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:40:28.607098613Z"
        },
        "versions": [
          {
            "registry": "mcp-registry",
            "name": "io.searchapi/mcp",
            "version": "1.0.0",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T23:42:40.113054682Z"
          }
        ],
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://searchapi.io/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "none",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:59.936201596Z"
        },
        "domain": {
          "domain": "searchapi.io",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:07:29.137009821Z"
        },
        "pages": [
          {
            "url": "https://www.searchapi.io/pricing",
            "kind": "pricing",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:52:17.446104265Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-02T15:28:20.315693963Z",
            "fingerprint": "3be8bb617e50"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.searchapi.io/legal/privacy",
            "kind": "privacy",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:52:12.801220906Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-02T15:28:15.609308863Z",
            "fingerprint": "e5068628eb11"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.searchapi.io/legal/terms",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:52:15.401485994Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-02T15:28:18.274981242Z",
            "fingerprint": "6c89ffbef6cb"
          }
        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:48:15.813438188Z"
      }
    },
    "summary": "Brave Search API + MCP has a score of 68.1 (B) against SearchAPI.io's 51.4 (D). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 72 points."
  },
  "kind": "anchor.page",
  "links": {
    "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json",
    "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-searchapi-io",
    "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.json",
    "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt",
    "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.md",
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  "markdown": "Brave Search API + MCP has a score of 68.1 (B) against SearchAPI.io's 51.4 (D). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 72 points.\n\n- Brave Search API + MCP: grade B, 68.1/100, rank #132 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/brave-search-mcp.json\n- SearchAPI.io: grade D, 51.4/100, rank #351 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/searchapi-io.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/searchapi-io.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\nPick Brave Search API + MCP for schema \u0026 documentation (+13), agent ergonomics (+20), security \u0026 auth (+30), payments \u0026 pricing (+40), maintenance \u0026 community (+72), transparency \u0026 trust (+20).\n\nPick SearchAPI.io for reliability (+35).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Brave Search API + MCP | SearchAPI.io | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 90 | SearchAPI.io +35 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 59 | Brave Search API + MCP +13 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 52 | Brave Search API + MCP +20 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 58 | 28 | Brave Search API + MCP +30 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 70 | 30 | Brave Search API + MCP +40 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 15 | Brave Search API + MCP +72 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 62 | Brave Search API + MCP +20 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **68.1 · B** | **51.4 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Brave Search API + MCP | SearchAPI.io |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Brave | SearchApi |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search` | `https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search` |\n| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |\n| x402 | payer tooling only | no |\n| Licence | MIT | none |\n| Tools exposed | 8 | none |\n| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |\n| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| MCP registry | `io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server` | `io.searchapi/mcp` |\n| Last release | 2026-09-17 | none |\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**SearchAPI.io.** 99.9% SLA on every plan and no incidents on the status page since August. MCP exposes over 100 tools with no toolsets.\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### SearchAPI.io\n\n1. Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer`, not `api_key=` in the URL\n2. Connect the MCP through OAuth or the `X-MCP-Token` header, not the registry's `?token=` URL\n3. Call the REST API with `engine=` when context is tight. The MCP loads over 100 tool definitions\n4. Page Google results with `page`. `num` is fixed at 10\n5. Pace bursts. One hour can use at most 20 per cent of the plan's monthly searches\n\n## Other comparisons with Brave Search API + MCP or SearchAPI.io\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 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 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- [Exa API + MCP vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Firecrawl MCP vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Linkup vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-searchapi-io.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serpapi.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serper.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-tavily-mcp.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-valyu.md)\n- [SearchAPI.io vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-you-com-api.md)\n",
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    "description": "Brave Search API + MCP has a score of 68.1 (B) against SearchAPI.io's 51.4 (D). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 72 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.",
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    "title": "Brave Search API + MCP vs SearchAPI.io for AI agents, B 68.1 vs D 51.4",
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