# Mojeek Web Search API vs NewsCatcher

> NewsCatcher scores 67.5 (B) to Mojeek Web Search's 36.4 (F) for web search. NewsCatcher is cheaper for web search, $1 against $2.68 per 1,000 requests. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mojeek-vs-newscatcher
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mojeek-vs-newscatcher.md (~5,800 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

NewsCatcher scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do web search. NewsCatcher is cheaper for web search, $1 against $2.68 per 1,000 requests.

- Mojeek Web Search API: grade F, 36.4/100, rank #1365 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mojeek.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mojeek.json
- NewsCatcher: grade B, 67.5/100, rank #321 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/newscatcher.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/newscatcher.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

### Mojeek Web Search API (F)

Good for: Agents and products that want a second, independent index beside Google-derived results, or European data handling with no sub-processors.

Watch for: The API key is documented only as a URL query parameter, and rotating a key means emailing the API team

### NewsCatcher (B)

Good for: Agents that need current news across languages, grouped into stories, or tables of events and company news on a schedule.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 67 against 45
- Schema & documentation, 94 against 29
- Agent ergonomics, 84 against 66
- Security & auth, 45 against 15
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 76 against 10
- Transparency & trust, 79 against 68

Also in its favour:
- Cheaper for web search, $1 against $2.68 per 1,000 requests
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: The current News API and agent launched on 30 October 2026 and the MCP repository went public on 6 November 2026


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: NewsCatcher +66

- Mojeek Web Search API (10): Read for a closed service. No API changelog, release notes or dated API change were found, and the blog's posts since 2024 are about search in general, so the last change can't be dated (0). No dated changes in the 90 days from 8 August (0). A staff member answered API questions on the community forum within a day in December 2025 and October 2026, and support is by email; no public changelog (10 of 15). No official SDKs or MCP server (0). No public packages or CI to measure (0). 0 + 0 + 10 + 0 + 0 = 10.
- NewsCatcher (76): Read for a closed service, with the MCP repository read as code. News API 1.1.0 and Agent 1.5.0 on 4 November 2026, MCP server 0.1.0 on 6 November and v3 News API 3.25.0 on 6 November (30). In the 90 days from 8 August, the 30 October launch, News API 1.1.0, Agent 1.5.0, MCP 0.1.0 and v3 releases 3.19.0 to 3.25.0 (20). Public dated changelogs, support by email and Pylon, and a security policy with a 3-business-day target. The MCP repository is a day old, so there are no issues to judge (10 of 15). The CatchAll MCP server is in the official registry under the verified namespace com.newscatcherapi, but the new server isn't, and no official SDK for the current API was found; the Enterprise APIs list libraries (8 of 15). The MCP repository runs its test suite in CI with a read-only token; pass state not read (8 of 10). 30 + 20 + 10 + 8 + 8 = 76.

### Schema & documentation: NewsCatcher +65

- Mojeek Web Search API (29): No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract (0). No llms.txt (404) and no Markdown pages for agents (0). The parameters page states what each parameter does, with notes on when not to use `reg` and `clufmt`, but nothing on when another endpoint fits better (12 of 20). Every parameter has a type, defaults and valid ranges (tlen 0 to 127, dlen 0 to 511, rbb and lbb 1 to 100, up to 25 domains), though `reg` is called an enum without listing its values (11 of 15). One curl example and annotated JSON and XML response formats; errors appear only as a `status` string with one example (6 of 15). No API version, changelog or dated release notes, and the quickstart and the parameters page give different hosts (0). 0 + 0 + 12 + 11 + 6 + 0 = 29.
- NewsCatcher (94): OpenAPI 3.1 for the News API (version 1.3.9, 4 paths) and the agent (version 1.5.1, 33 paths), linked from llms.txt, and typed JSON Schema on every MCP tool through Pydantic (25). llms.txt, a Markdown copy of every page and a docs MCP server (10). MCP tool descriptions say when to use each and which tool to use instead, such as `list_articles` for older news; the REST reference explains each endpoint and the 'Choose an API' page compares them (17 of 20). Inputs are typed with enums for effort, mode and dimensions, length and range limits such as a 500-character query and limit 1 to 100, and required fields marked (13 of 15). Runnable examples in curl, Python and JavaScript, and an error table with retry advice for every status. The agent spec carries no response examples (14 of 15). Versioned APIs with a dated changelog, the latest entries on 4 November 2026, and separate changelogs for the v3 News API and CatchAll (15). 25 + 10 + 17 + 13 + 14 + 15 = 94.

### Security & auth: NewsCatcher +30

- Mojeek Web Search API (15): One key per account, documented only as the `api_key` query parameter, and rotation or revocation is by email to the API team (a staff reply of 22 October 2026 on the community forum asks for the key's last 8 digits). One all-powerful key (10) less 10 for the key in the URL (0). Search is read-only and there is nothing to write, but no scoped or restricted key (10 of 20). Results are third-party titles and snippets, with no prompt-injection guidance found (0). No audit log or per-call usage view was found in the docs; the FAQ mentions budget alerts on the account (0 of 15). security.txt names security@mojeek.com, with no Expires field. No bug bounty, disclosure policy, SOC 2 or ISO 27001 found; the API page claims compliance with European rules such as the EU Data Act without a certification (5 of 20). 0 + 10 + 0 + 0 + 5 = 15.
- NewsCatcher (45): API keys in the `x-api-key` header, several per account, revocable in the platform, with advice to keep one per application. A 403 for 'a key that may not use this API' suggests per-key API access, but no scopes are documented (20). The MCP server documents `?apiKey=` on the server URL for Claude.ai custom connectors, with a warning, so less 10 (10 of 30). The MCP repository's SECURITY.md says URL keys are rejected unless the operator enables them, which the hosted server does per the docs. Toolsets let an operator load only the read-only `news` tools, write tools carry destructiveHint, and the server tells the assistant to confirm large or hourly agent jobs (14 of 20). Results are third-party article text and summaries, and no prompt-injection guidance was found in the docs or the MCP server's instructions (0 of 15). Every response carries a Correlation-ID, `GET /subscription` shows usage and balance, and runs are listed in the platform. No per-call audit log for the customer was found (7 of 15). The security page and footer claim SOC 2 Type II and link a trust centre on Oneleet, which wasn't read. A vulnerability disclosure policy covers the MCP server. No security.txt (404) and no bug bounty found (14 of 20). 10 + 14 + 0 + 7 + 14 = 45.

### Reliability: NewsCatcher +22

- Mojeek Web Search API (45): Read with the hosted lines. status.mojeek.com is a Site24x7 StatusIQ page with Search, Website, Blog and Community components. It is drawn by script, so only its RSS feed could be read, which shows each component's current state (Search operational since 7 September 2026) and no incident entries (15 of 20). No readable incident history (5). Rate limits are published per plan, 5 a second and 100,000 a day on Startup, 10 a second and 400,000 a day on Business (15). Over the daily limit the JSON `status` reads 'ERROR: Daily Limit Reached'; no HTTP 429, Retry-After or backoff guidance was found (0). No SLA, and the API terms say the service is provided as is and may be interrupted without notice (0). Generally available, with only the `lr` parameter marked beta (10). 15 + 5 + 15 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 45.
- NewsCatcher (67): Read with the hosted lines, for the News API, the agent and the hosted MCP server. status.newscatcherapi.com (Hyperping) shows one News API component with 99.820% uptime from August to November 2026 and an incident history. The agent and the MCP server have no component of their own (20). In the 90 days from 8 August, one incident, on 1 September 2026, when the vendor wrote that for about four hours a higher-than-usual number of requests to the production News API timed out because of one client's queries. Read as one major (10). Rate limits published per plan, 1 request a second free and up to 10 on pay as you go, with exact limits from the free `GET /subscription` (15). 429 carries Retry-After with instructions to retry the same request, 503 carries Retry-After, and failed or refused requests are not charged. Agent runs and monitor creation have no idempotency keys (12 of 15). An uptime SLA exists only in signed Enterprise agreements; none is published (0). Generally available since 30 October 2026, with OAuth for the MCP server announced as coming soon (10). 20 + 10 + 15 + 12 + 0 + 10 = 67.

### Agent ergonomics: NewsCatcher +18

- Mojeek Web Search API (66): Responses can be sized with `t` (up to 10, 40 or 100 results by plan), `tlen`, `dlen` and opt-in date and size fields (22 of 25). `s` for paging, `since` and `before`, `site`, included and excluded domains, region and language boosting and safe search (20). Errors are a free-text `status` with no documented codes, which an agent can't branch on reliably (5 of 20). Searches only read, so a retry is safe, but no page says whether failed or empty requests are billed (12 of 20). Only `q` and `api_key` are required, with recommended values for the boosts. No official SDK in any language (7 of 15). 22 + 20 + 5 + 12 + 7 = 66.
- NewsCatcher (84): 15 MCP tools in four toolsets, chosen per connection with `?tools=`, and tools return compact text rather than the full JSON. 15 for 11 to 30 tools plus 7 for toolsets (22 of 25). `limit`, `search_window`, effort, language, country, publisher, coverage and content-type filters, sorting, and paging on `/articles`; agent tables come back up to 200 rows at a time over MCP (20). Every status is documented with whether to retry; the agent returns stable `code` values, while the News API body has a `status_code` and a message meant for people (17 of 20). Every tool carries readOnlyHint and idempotentHint, writes carry destructiveHint, `start_research` has a free `dry_run`, and refused or failed calls aren't charged. No idempotency key for starting runs (17 of 20). Only `q` is required, with medium effort and a 7-day window as defaults. No official SDK for the current API was found; the docs show raw HTTP in three languages (8 of 15). 22 + 20 + 17 + 17 + 8 = 84.

### Transparency & trust: NewsCatcher +11

- Mojeek Web Search API (68): Closed service with API terms naming Mojeek Limited under English law (15 of 30). The API page states 90-day retention, zero retention on request, no sub-processors and that Mojeek is the processor and the customer the controller, while the API terms say both parties are independent controllers under GDPR, and the privacy policy of 2 February 2022 covers only the website (12 of 30). The terms promise 30 days' notice of material changes and of price changes, but there is no deprecation policy or dated notices (5 of 20). The API page says there are no sub-processors and infrastructure is owned and run in Europe, in a UK data centre per the about page (18 of 20). 15 + 12 + 5 + 18 = 50.
- NewsCatcher (79): The API is closed under terms of 2 November 2026 naming NewsCatcher, Inc., and the MCP server is MIT, so between the two bands (20 of 30). The terms say inputs and generated data are not used to train models, a DPA applies automatically, and the privacy policy gives retention periods (server logs 7 days, API logs with query text 90 days, then archived indefinitely, billing records about seven years). They agree with each other, but indefinite archives of query logs hold it back (22 of 30). The terms promise 30 days' email notice before a paid product or API version is discontinued, with refunds of unused credits, and the v3 News API has a migration guide (15 of 20). A sub-processor list dated 2 November 2026 with each provider's location and the data it handles. The MCP repository deploys to Vercel and can send pseudonymised analytics to PostHog, and neither appears on the list (16 of 20). 20 + 22 + 15 + 16 = 73.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Mojeek Web Search API | NewsCatcher | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 67 | NewsCatcher +22 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 29 | 94 | NewsCatcher +65 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 84 | NewsCatcher +18 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 15 | 45 | NewsCatcher +30 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 30 | NewsCatcher +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 10 | 76 | NewsCatcher +66 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 79 | NewsCatcher +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **36.4 · F** | **67.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Mojeek Web Search API | NewsCatcher |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Mojeek Limited | NewsCatcher, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://mcp.newscatcherapi.com/mcp` |
| Transports |  | Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| Price for web search | $2.68 per 1,000 requests | $1 per 1,000 requests |
| x402 | no | no |
| Tools exposed | 0 | 15 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | none | 2026-11-06 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-11-02 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2022-02-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |

## Verdicts

**Mojeek Web Search API.** Mojeek sells search over its own independent index at published per-request prices, with region, language, date and domain controls and storage rights on the Business plan. The key travels only in the URL, rotation is by email, a card is needed to start, and there is no OpenAPI, changelog, 429 handling or SLA.

**NewsCatcher.** One key and one credit balance cover a ranked news search, a background research agent and a hosted MCP server with toolsets and annotated tools, under OpenAPI 3.1 specs and a dated changelog. The current API launched on 30 October 2026, the MCP server accepts the key in its URL, and no SLA is published below Enterprise.

## Before you call either

### Mojeek Web Search API

1. Send `fmt=json`, since the default response is XML
2. Read `response.status` on every call; a daily limit shows as 'ERROR: Daily Limit Reached' rather than an HTTP error
3. Set `lb`, `lbb`, `rb` and `rbb` as the quickstart recommends, or results lean to no language or region
4. Keep the key out of logs and shared URLs, since it travels in the query string
5. On the Startup plan, don't keep results for more than an hour

### NewsCatcher

1. Send the key in the `x-api-key` header, and use a separate key for the MCP server so it can be revoked alone
2. Call `start_research` with `dry_run` first, since agent runs cost 1,000 to 6,000 credits
3. Use `effort=low` for quick lookups; the default `medium` costs five times as much
4. Use `/articles` or `list_articles` for news older than 30 days or exact counts; `/search` covers 30 days only
5. On 429 or 503 wait for Retry-After, and quote the Correlation-ID header to support

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Mojeek Web Search API or NewsCatcher?

NewsCatcher scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against Mojeek Web Search API's 36.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Which is cheaper for web search, Mojeek Web Search API or NewsCatcher?

NewsCatcher, at $1 per 1,000 requests against $2.68 per 1,000 requests for Mojeek Web Search API. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

### Do Mojeek Web Search API and NewsCatcher need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Mojeek Web Search API and NewsCatcher without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Mojeek Web Search API. NewsCatcher has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.newscatcherapi.com/mcp.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Mojeek Web Search API or NewsCatcher

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

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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