# Linkup vs Tavily API + MCP (slim)

> Tavily API + MCP has a score of 77.2 (BB) against Linkup's 69.1 (B). Both do web search. The largest gap is reliability, 20 points. Linkup accepts x402. Tavily API + MCP doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-tavily-mcp.md (~1,700 tokens) · this version ~330 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-tavily-mcp.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linkup-vs-tavily-mcp
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-04

Tavily API + MCP has a score of 77.2 (BB) against Linkup's 69.1 (B). Both do web search. The largest gap is reliability, 20 points. Linkup accepts x402. Tavily API + MCP doesn't.

- Linkup: B 69.1, rank #116 of 452 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkup.min.md
- Tavily API + MCP: BB 77.2, rank #20 of 452 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/tavily-mcp.min.md
- Pick Linkup for payments & pricing (+5). Pick Tavily API + MCP for reliability (+20), agent ergonomics (+5), security & auth (+20).

| Category | Linkup | Tavily API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 70 | 90 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 88 | 89 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 76 | 81 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 32 | 52 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 80 | 75 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 83 | 85 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 64 | 65 |