# Fetch (MCP reference server) vs SERPHouse

> Fetch scores 60.1 (C) to SERPHouse's 42.4 (E) for fetching pages. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-serphouse
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-serphouse.md (~5,100 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Fetch (MCP reference server) scores 60.1 (C) on agent readiness against SERPHouse's 42.4 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do fetching pages.

- Fetch (MCP reference server): grade C, 60.1/100, rank #665 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fetch-reference-server.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/fetch-reference-server.json
- SERPHouse: grade E, 42.4/100, rank #1265 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/serphouse.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/serphouse.json
- Best web search APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/search/index.md
- All 308 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, 55 against 40
- Agent ergonomics, 93 against 64
- Security & auth, 47 against 11
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 72 against 23
- Transparency & trust, 75 against 50

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

Watch for: The address guard doesn't cover DNS rebinding or hosts only a proxy can resolve, per its README

### SERPHouse (E)

Good for: Low-cost Google, Bing and Yahoo result parsing for SEO and rank tracking, with many Google verticals.

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Free to start without a card
- No incidents deducted, where Fetch (MCP reference server) loses 6 points for them

Watch for: The hosted MCP server takes the API key only in its URL path, and the REST API also accepts `api_token` in the query string


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: Fetch (MCP reference server) +49

- Fetch (MCP reference server) (72): 2026.10.28, stamped and tagged v2.2.0 on 28 October 2026, 7 days before this check (30). Releases of this package in the 90 days from 6 August are 2026.8.18 (an SDK pin and a README note), 2026.10.10 (tag v1.0.0), 2026.10.19 (tag v2.0.0), 2026.10.24 (tag v2.1.0) and 2026.10.28, the last four with code changes. Dates come from the repository's tags and CalVer stamps, since pypi.org didn't resolve from our shell today. The package has no separate CLI or plugin (20). Fixes for fetch merged through October cite issues filed for them; reply times on issues couldn't be read (12). Not in the official MCP registry on 4 November (a search for server-fetch returns nothing), though the README carries an `mcp-name` for io.github.modelcontextprotocol/server-fetch (0). Current SDK (`mcp>=2.3,<3`), CI on push, a dependency sweep and a pip-audit step before each release (10). 30+20+12+0+10 = 72.
- SERPHouse (23): Read for a closed service, with its repositories read as code. No changelog or dated API change was found. The newest release is MCP server 1.1.0 on 6 July 2026, 123 days before 6 November, and the last commit in its repository was on 22 July (10). No release or dated change in the 90 days from 8 August; the about page's 2026 entry (Forums, Place Details and Scraper APIs) is undated (0). No changelog; support by email. Issues weren't read, since the GitHub API refused us for its rate limit (5 of 25). Not in the official MCP registry, though the repository's server.json names io.github.SERPHouse/serphouse-mcp. Node.js SDK last changed 24 June 2026, PHP SDK 10 May 2024, and no Python SDK repository was found under the SERPHouse organisation (5 of 15). The MCP repository has an npm publish workflow and no tests (3 of 10). 10 + 0 + 5 + 5 + 3 = 23.

### Security & auth: Fetch (MCP reference server) +36

- Fetch (MCP reference server) (47): No credentials to leak and nothing to scope, so the middle band (20). GET only. Since 2026.10.10 the server refuses private, loopback, link-local and cloud metadata addresses by default and checks the robots.txt request and every redirect hop the same way, with `--allow-private-ips` to turn the guard off. The README says it doesn't cover DNS rebinding between the check and the connection, or a host only a proxy can resolve (15, judgement call). It returns untrusted page text unmarked, and the README has no prompt-injection guidance (0). No call log (0). SECURITY.md, rewritten on 29 September 2026 and on main since the v1.0.0 tag, names fetch in scope, takes private reports through GitHub and publishes advisories once a fixed release is out. No bounty or certification. Graded as the filesystem and sequential-thinking servers (12). OSV holds no advisory for mcp-server-fetch. Three fixes merged on 24 October from branches named for GHSA-66qx-2266-pmj6, GHSA-3jqg-r5pp-rmp2 and GHSA-v38p-wf49-hx2j shipped in 2026.10.24. None is in OSV or in GitHub's own advisory database on 4 November, so none is published as far as can be read and none is counted (as the filesystem server's four). 20+15+0+0+12 = 47.
- SERPHouse (11): One key per account, one account per user, no scopes or rotation found (10). The REST API documents `api_token` in the query string and the hosted MCP server takes the key only in its URL path, less 10 (0 of 30). Searches only read, with no read-only or restricted key (8 of 20). Results are third-party snippets and AI Overview text, with no prompt-injection guidance (0). An account tool shows plan and credit usage; no per-call log was found (3 of 15). No security.txt (404), disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification found (0 of 20). 0 + 8 + 0 + 3 + 0 = 11.

### Agent ergonomics: Fetch (MCP reference server) +29

- Fetch (MCP reference server) (93): One tool, about 1,160 characters of definition, roughly 300 tokens (25). `max_length` and `start_index` page through long documents, and a truncated response names the next `start_index` (20). Invalid input returns INVALID_PARAMS, and a robots.txt or private-address refusal explains why and what the user can do (16). Since 2026.10.19 the tool carries readOnlyHint true, destructiveHint false, idempotentHint true and openWorldHint true, and a GET is safe to repeat (20). Only `url` is required and the defaults are sensible. Python only, plus a Docker image (12). 25+20+16+20+12 = 93.
- SERPHouse (64): 23 MCP tools with no toolsets or filtering (15 of 25). `num_result`, `max_pages`, paging, device, location, language, date and video filters (16 of 20). Status codes are tabulated, but a 200 can also mean an error and the body carries only 'Please try again' (10 of 20). Searches only read and failed requests aren't charged, but the MCP tools carry no readOnlyHint or other annotations (10 of 20). `serphouse_search` needs only `q` and defaults to the US; most other tools need `loc` or `loc_id`. Official Node.js, PHP and Python SDKs are documented (13 of 15). 15 + 16 + 10 + 10 + 13 = 64.

### Transparency & trust: Fetch (MCP reference server) +25

- Fetch (MCP reference server) (75): The package is MIT, inside a repository moving new contributions to Apache-2.0, both OSI licences (28). Local software that keeps nothing and sends nothing beyond the request. There's no written statement, but the source is short and shows it (20). RELEASING.md describes the CalVer scheme and the README states the SDK requirement, but there's no deprecation policy or changelog for this package (8). No telemetry in the code (20). 28+20+8+20 = 76.
- SERPHouse (50): Closed service under terms naming Patoliya Infotech LLP in India, and the MCP server is MIT (18 of 30). The terms give retention periods (JSON results up to 6 months, HTML up to 1 month, search history indefinitely) and say personal data sits on DigitalOcean in India, and they advise EEA users not to use the service. The privacy policy is generic and neither document carries a date (15 of 30). No deprecation policy, and the terms allow products to be discontinued without notice (0 of 20). DigitalOcean in India named for account data; no sub-processor list (6 of 20). 18 + 15 + 0 + 6 = 39.

### Payments & pricing: Fetch (MCP reference server) +20

- Fetch (MCP reference server) (60): Free, self-hosted, nothing to buy, so 20 + 20 + 20. No payment protocol (0).
- SERPHouse (40): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-1,000 prices for SERP, autocomplete and top-100 requests published without login (20). Free trial of 4,000 credits for 7 days, 'No Credit Card Required' (20). A person signs up in a browser and confirms an email (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.

### Reliability: Fetch (MCP reference server) +15

- Fetch (MCP reference server) (55): Scored as a local stdio package. Official PyPI package mcp-server-fetch and the mcp/fetch Docker image, Python 3.10 or later stated (20). The monorepo's python.yml runs ruff, pyright and pytest for fetch on push, with 13 test files for this server. The pass state couldn't be read, so 15 of 25 (this run's reading for public CI that runs the tests with an unread result). The October releases close filed issues, among them #4838 (private addresses), #767, #4988, #5134, #5158, #5181, #5197 and #5199; the open issue list couldn't be read (15). CalVer versions (2026.10.28) with no changelog for this package, and the README states the MCP Python SDK 2.x requirement (5). The classifier still says 4 - Beta and the repository calls its servers reference implementations, not production-ready (0). 20+15+15+5+0 = 55.
- SERPHouse (40): Read with the hosted lines. No status page is linked from the site or docs, and status.serphouse.com did not answer on 6 November 2026 (0). No readable incident history (5). Rate limits published, 60 requests a minute and 60 concurrent on every self-serve plan (15). 429 is documented as 'slow down', and a 200 can carry `"status": "error"` with 'Please try again', with no Retry-After or backoff guidance. Failed requests aren't charged (5 of 15). The pricing page lists a 99.99% uptime SLA on Basic and Regular and the docs a 99.95% one, but no SLA terms or credits were found in the terms (5 of 10). Generally available (10). 0 + 5 + 15 + 5 + 5 + 10 = 40.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Fetch (MCP reference server) | SERPHouse | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 40 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +15 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 66 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 93 | 64 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +29 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 47 | 11 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +36 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 40 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 23 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +49 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 50 | Fetch (MCP reference server) +25 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **60.1 · C** | **42.4 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Fetch (MCP reference server) | SERPHouse |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | MCP project (reference servers) | Patoliya Infotech LLP |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://mcp.serphouse.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp` |
| Transports | stdio | Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT and Apache-2.0 | none |
| Tools exposed | 1 | 23 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-28 | 2026-07-06 |
| Terms last updated | 2021-09-08 | no date given |
| 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 | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 90k stars, 118k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### Fetch (MCP reference server)

- +2.5 on 4 November 2026: security, product, correction, negative event
- no change on 28 October 2026: new evidence
- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: checklist

### SERPHouse

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**Fetch (MCP reference server).** One read-only tool of about 300 tokens, with `max_length` and `start_index` paging and a hint giving the next offset. Since 2026.10.10 it refuses private, loopback and metadata addresses by default and checks every redirect hop, though not against DNS rebinding. Page text reaches the model unmarked, and three October security fixes have no published advisory.

**SERPHouse.** SERPHouse returns parsed Google, Bing and Yahoo results at published prices from $0.62 per 1,000 requests, with a 23-tool MCP server and a 4,000-credit trial without a card. The hosted MCP puts the key in its URL, there is no status page, changelog or security contact, and the terms keep search history indefinitely.

## 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 a refusal for private, loopback and metadata addresses unless the operator started the server with `--allow-private-ips`
3. Expect empty bodies from JavaScript-rendered sites and switch to a browser tool
4. Treat a robots.txt refusal (a disallow, or a 401, 403 or 5xx answer) as final for autonomous calls and tell the user
5. Use `raw: true` only for non-HTML content. It skips the Markdown conversion and returns the page as served

### SERPHouse

1. Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer`, not as `api_token` in the URL
2. Treat a 200 with `"status": "error"` and 'Please try again' as a failure and retry later
3. Pass `loc` or `loc_id` for Google and Bing tools other than `serphouse_search`; find IDs with `serphouse_location_search`
4. Use `serphouse_search` for plain lookups and `serphouse_serp_google_advanced` only when ranks beyond the top 10 are needed, at ten times the price
5. Keep under 60 requests a minute on self-serve plans

## Questions

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

Fetch (MCP reference server) scores 60.1 (C) on agent readiness against SERPHouse's 42.4 (E), and leads in every scored category.

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

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

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

Fetch (MCP reference server) runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. SERPHouse has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.serphouse.com/YOUR_API_KEY/mcp.

### Are Fetch (MCP reference server) and SERPHouse open source?

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


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Fetch (MCP reference server) or SERPHouse

- [Web Search Tool on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-web-search-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Grounding with Bing Search vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bing-grounding-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Cloudflare Web Search API vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-serphouse.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Exa API + MCP vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Kagi Search API vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Linkup vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Mojeek Web Search API vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mojeek-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Parallel Search and Task APIs vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallel-search-api-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Perplexity Search API vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/perplexity-search-api-vs-serphouse.md)
- [SearchAPI.io vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/searchapi-io-vs-serphouse.md)
- [SerpApi vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serpapi-vs-serphouse.md)
- [Serper vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serper-vs-serphouse.md)
- [SERPHouse vs SpecStream](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-specstream.md)
- [SERPHouse vs Tavily API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-tavily-mcp.md)
- [SERPHouse vs TinyFish Search](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-tinyfish-search.md)
- [SERPHouse vs Valyu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-valyu.md)
- [SERPHouse vs You.com APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-you-com-api.md)
- [DeepSeek Search and Fetch API vs Fetch (MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-search-api-vs-fetch-reference-server.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 Kagi Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-kagi-search.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Linkup](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-linkup.md)
- [Fetch (MCP reference server) vs Lordevo Shop](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fetch-reference-server-vs-lordevo-shop.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)
- [NewsCatcher vs SERPHouse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/newscatcher-vs-serphouse.md)
- [SERPHouse vs SerpKite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/serphouse-vs-serpkite.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.

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp