# Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Kagi Search API

> Fetch scores 57.5 (C) to Kagi Search's 48.7 (D) for fetching pages. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search.md (~2,700 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Fetch (MCP reference server) scores 57.5 (C) 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 fetching pages.

- Fetch (MCP reference server): grade C, 57.5/100, rank #606 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fetch-reference-server.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/fetch-reference-server.json
- 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
- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md
- All 129 search comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Fetch (MCP reference server) (C)

Good for: Reading a known URL as Markdown in a local or sandboxed agent, at no cost.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 53 against 8
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 20

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: Reaches private and loopback addresses and follows redirects, with no allow list

### Kagi Search API (D)

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 30

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: Public preview since 21 May 2026. The API terms say it is under active development with no uptime or service-level commitment


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Fetch (MCP reference server) | Kagi Search API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 53 | 8 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +45 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 71 | Kagi Search API +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 75 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 30 | 64 | Kagi Search API +34 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 20 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 42 | 41 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +1 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 69 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **57.5 · C** | **48.7 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Fetch (MCP reference server) | Kagi Search API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | MCP project (reference servers) | Kagi |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://kagi.com/api/v1/search` |
| Transports | stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT and Apache-2.0 | Proprietary service under the Kagi API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the OpenAPI file states Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 1 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-08-18 | 2026-08-21 |
| Terms last updated | 2021-09-08 | 2026-09-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2023-03-15 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 90k stars, 118k PyPI/wk | 535 stars |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Fetch (MCP reference server).** One tool of about 300 tokens, with `max_length` and `start_index` paging and a hint giving the next offset. Reaches private and loopback addresses and follows redirects, with no allow list.

**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.

## Before you call either

### Fetch (MCP reference server)

1. Fetch with the 5,000-character default and continue from the `start_index` the truncation note gives
2. Expect empty bodies from JavaScript-rendered sites and switch to a browser tool
3. Treat a robots.txt refusal as final for autonomous calls and tell the user
4. Use `raw: true` only for non-HTML content. It skips the Markdown conversion and returns the page as served

### Kagi Search API

1. Send `POST https://kagi.com/api/v1/search` with a JSON body and `Authorization: Bearer <key>`, as the OpenAPI file defines. Only `query` is required
2. Set `limit` to cap results returned. In the mixed `search` workflow the MCP tool applies the cap to each result category separately
3. Use `extract.count` (1 to 10) only when page text is needed. Extraction is billed at the Extract rate on top of the search
4. Do not store results. The API terms allow only the transient caching an application needs, and require deletion on termination
5. On 429 back off before retrying. The response covers both rate limiting and an exhausted usage limit, and no `Retry-After` header is documented

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Fetch (MCP reference server) or Kagi Search API?

Fetch (MCP reference server) scores 57.5 (C) 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.

### Do Fetch (MCP reference server) and Kagi Search API need an API key?

Fetch (MCP reference server) needs no key. Kagi Search API needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Fetch (MCP reference server) and Kagi Search API without installing anything?

Fetch (MCP reference server) runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Kagi Search API has a hosted endpoint at https://kagi.com/api/v1/search.

### Are Fetch (MCP reference server) and Kagi Search API open source?

Fetch (MCP reference server) is open source (MIT and Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Kagi Search API.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "fetch-reference-server", "b": "kagi-search"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare fetch-reference-server kagi-search`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/fetch-reference-server.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kagi-search.json

## Other comparisons with Fetch (MCP reference server) or Kagi Search API

- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-kagi-search.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-kagi-search.md)
- [Exa API + MCP vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-kagi-search.md)
- [Firecrawl MCP vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-kagi-search.md)
- [Grep AI vs Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grep-ai-vs-kagi-search.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-linkup.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-parallel-search-api.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs SearchAPI.io](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-searchapi-io.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs SerpApi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serpapi.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs Serper](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serper.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serpkite.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tinyfish-search.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-valyu.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [Exa API + MCP vs Fetch (MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-fetch-reference-server.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-linkup.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Parallel Search and Task APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-parallel-search-api.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-serpkite.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-tinyfish-search.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-valyu.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-you-com-api.md)

## Disclosure

- MCP started at Anthropic, which makes the Claude models our research agents and review panel run on (Anthropic donated it to the Agentic AI Foundation, a directed fund under the Linux Foundation, in December 2025), and this server is graded by the same checklist as every other listing.