Brave Search vs Fetch (Reference)

A side-by-side comparison of two Search & Web servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	Brave Search Official Brave Search MCP server: web, local, image, video, news search and AI summarization. Verified stdio (local) API key TypeScript	Fetch (Reference) Official MCP reference server that fetches a URL and returns its content as clean Markdown, with chunking. Verified stdio (local) No auth Python
Category	Search & Web	Search & Web
Language	TypeScript	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	API key	None
GitHub stars	1.2k	87k
Last commit	5 days ago	10 days ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server`	`uvx mcp-server-fetch`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Brave Search if you need the broadest set of tools.

Pick Fetch (Reference) if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you want zero-setup with no API key.

Add Brave Search

Install / run

npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
        "--transport",
        "stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAVE_API_KEY": "<your-brave-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add Fetch (Reference)

Install / run

uvx mcp-server-fetch

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fetch-reference": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-fetch"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Requires `uv` (the Python package runner). Install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/ if `uvx` is not found.

FAQ

Brave Search or Fetch (Reference) — which is better?

Pick Brave Search if you need the broadest set of tools. Pick Fetch (Reference) if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you want zero-setup with no API key.

Can I use both Brave Search and Fetch (Reference)?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do Brave Search and Fetch (Reference) work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View Brave Search →View Fetch (Reference) →More comparisons →