# Kagi Search API vs Tavily API + MCP (slim)

> Tavily scores 76.8 (BB) to Kagi Search's 48.7 (D) for web search. Tavily is cheaper for web search, $7.50 against $12 per 1,000 requests. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tavily-mcp.md (~2,900 tokens) · this version ~830 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tavily-mcp.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kagi-search-vs-tavily-mcp
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

Tavily API + MCP scores 76.8 (BB) 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 and transparency & trust. Both do web search. Tavily API + MCP is cheaper for web search, $7.50 against $12 per 1,000 requests.

- Kagi Search API: D 48.7, rank #807 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kagi-search.min.md
- Tavily API + MCP: BB 76.8, rank #26 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/tavily-mcp.min.md
- Kagi Search API, 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 52; Transparency & trust, 69 against 60.
- Tavily API + MCP, good for An agent that needs search plus page text in one call and has no account yet. Ahead on Reliability, 90 against 8; Schema & documentation, 89 against 71; Agent ergonomics, 81 against 75; Payments & pricing, 75 against 20; Maintenance & community, 85 against 41. Also Cheaper for web search, $7.50 against $12 per 1,000 requests; Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; Free to start without a card; Open source.

| Category | Kagi Search API | Tavily API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 8 | 90 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 71 | 89 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 75 | 81 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 64 | 52 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 20 | 75 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 41 | 85 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 69 | 60 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Kagi Search API | Tavily API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Kagi | Tavily |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://kagi.com/api/v1/search` | `https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<key>` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Price for web search | $12 per 1,000 requests | $7.50 per 1,000 requests |
| x402 | no | payer tooling only |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Kagi API Terms of Service. The MCP server is MIT and the OpenAPI file states Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 5 |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-08-21 | 2026-09-18 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-22 | 2026-05-04 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2025-11-24 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 535 stars | 2.4k stars, 452k npm/wk, 1.6M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.6/5 (8) |