Best web search MCP servers

We installed and handshake-tested 8 tested agent tools and MCP servers for web search. Short answer: Firecrawl (100/100). This list includes paid and keyed servers; servers that need a key are labelled, and we have not tested any of them with real credentials.

Last tested 2026-10-22

How we test: methodology. Not tested by us: security, output quality, and behaviour with real credentials.

Ranked by test score

Server	Score	Status	Tools	Schema tokens (est.)	Functional tasks	GitHub stars
Firecrawl `firecrawl-mcp`	100	working	26	~16,479	Not measured	7,667
arXiv `arxiv-mcp-server`	100	working	19	~3,663	Not measured	3,228
Tavily `tavily-mcp`	100	working	5	~1,612	Not measured	2,452
Exa `exa-mcp-server`	93	working	2	~414	Not measured	5,158
DuckDuckGo Search `duckduckgo-mcp-server`	90	working	3	~958	Not measured	1,550
Wikipedia `wikipedia-mcp`	80	working	22	~1,554	Not measured	300
Simple arXiv `mcp-simple-arxiv`	80	working	5	~1,062	Not measured	201

Ranked by score, then GitHub stars. Failed = did not complete the MCP handshake without credentials or a backing service.

Don't use (deprecated or archived)

Brave Search (legacy reference) (@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search), legacy score 45: Package no longer supported. Contact Support at https://www.npmjs.com/support for more info.

Free only: free-only web search MCP servers.

FAQ

What is the best web search MCP server?

In our 2026-10-22 tests, Firecrawl (firecrawl-mcp) ranked first with 100/100 and 26 tools listed. Ranking uses our test score, then GitHub stars as a tie-break.

Which web search MCP server uses the least context?

Exa lists 2 tools at about 414 schema tokens, the lowest among maintained servers here that we measured.

Which web search MCP servers are deprecated?

Brave Search (legacy reference) (@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search): Package no longer supported. Contact Support at https://www.npmjs.com/support for more info.