DuckDuckGo Search vs Fetch (Reference)

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

	DuckDuckGo Search Popular no-API-key MCP server for DuckDuckGo web search plus page fetching and parsing. Verified stdio (local) No auth Python	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	Python	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	1.2k	87k
Last commit	1 month ago	10 days ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`uvx duckduckgo-mcp-server`	`uvx mcp-server-fetch`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick DuckDuckGo Search if you prefer its approach (popular no-api-key mcp server for duckduckgo web search plus page fetching and parsing).

Pick Fetch (Reference) if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Add DuckDuckGo Search

Install / run

uvx duckduckgo-mcp-server

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "duckduckgo-search": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "duckduckgo-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

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

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

Pick DuckDuckGo Search if you prefer its approach (popular no-api-key mcp server for duckduckgo web search plus page fetching and parsing). Pick Fetch (Reference) if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Can I use both DuckDuckGo 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 DuckDuckGo 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 DuckDuckGo Search →View Fetch (Reference) →More comparisons →