# Brave Search API + MCP vs Serper (slim)

> Brave Search API + MCP has a score of 68.1 (B) against Serper's 24.3 (F). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 84 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serper.md (~1,650 tokens) · this version ~380 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serper.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serper
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-04

Brave Search API + MCP has a score of 68.1 (B) against Serper's 24.3 (F). Both do web search. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 84 points.

- Brave Search API + MCP: B 68.1, rank #132 of 452 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brave-search-mcp.min.md
- Serper: F 24.3, rank #446 of 452 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serper.min.md
- Pick Brave Search API + MCP for reliability (+25), schema & documentation (+66), agent ergonomics (+37), security & auth (+38), payments & pricing (+30), maintenance & community (+84), transparency & trust (+49). Pick Serper for nothing in particular.

| Category | Brave Search API + MCP | Serper |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 55 | 30 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 72 | 6 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 72 | 35 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 58 | 20 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 70 | 40 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 87 | 3 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 82 | 33 |