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Brave Search MCP server

Setup, tools, price and a hosted option.

Brave's official MCP server, @brave/brave-search-mcp-server, runs on your machine through npx or Docker and needs a BRAVE_API_KEY. Its searches bill the Brave Search API: $5 per 1,000 requests, with $5 in free credits a month.

SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. Its hosted MCP server, https://api.specstream.ai/mcp, gives your agent the most accurate web search API in the world from $1 per 1,000 searches, with nothing to install and $10 of free credit.

Get an API key

New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. It covers 10,000 fast searches.

SpecStream and the two Brave Search MCP servers, side by side

SpecStreamBrave Search MCP server (official)server-brave-search (archived)
Install line or addresshttps://api.specstream.ai/mcp over Streamable HTTP, with OAuth or an API keynpx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server, or the mcp/brave-search Docker image. STDIO by default, HTTP with --transport httpnpx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search, the server older guides show
Key and accountA free account, no card. A client that signs in with OAuth opens the browser once, and no key sits in a fileA Brave Search API account and BRAVE_API_KEY, or a key file in BRAVE_API_KEY_FILEBRAVE_API_KEY
Where it runsOn SpecStream's servers. Nothing runs on your machineOn your machine or your server. In HTTP mode it binds 127.0.0.1:8080, and its README says the HTTP endpoint is unauthenticatedOn your machine. The repository is archived and no longer maintained, and npm marks the package no longer supported
Tools your agent getssearch_web, read_pages, and Deep Search through compile, quote_capacity_work and authorize_capacity_workbrave_web_search, brave_local_search, brave_video_search, brave_image_search, brave_news_search, brave_summarizer, brave_place_search and brave_llm_contextbrave_web_search and brave_local_search
Results per search1 to 100 with num, and page continues the same ranked list for up to 10 pagescount 1 to 20 on web search, 10 by default, and offset up to 9Brave's web search, through the same Brave key
What a search costs$5 per 1,000 searches with the answer and its page, $1 per 1,000 with speed=fast. $10 of credit to start, no cardBrave's API price: $5 per 1,000 requests on the Search plan, with $5 in free credits every month. Answers costs $4 per 1,000 requests plus $5 per million tokensBrave's API price. Its README names a free tier of 2,000 queries a month; Brave's pricing page today shows $5 in free credits a month
Reading whole pagesread_pages reads up to 20 URLs a call, PDF, Word and Excel included, as Markdown, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. A page with no text is not chargedbrave_llm_context returns text Brave extracted for the query, 512 to 8,192 tokens per URLNo page reading tool
From a question to a datasetDeep Search: every match as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with the most a run can cost quoted before it startsUp to 20 web results a callUp to 20 web results a call

Why agents search through SpecStream's MCP server

One line in Claude Code, nothing to run

Run this and sign in to SpecStream when the browser opens. There is no Node.js, no Docker image and no Brave key to keep in a config file:

claude mcp add --transport http specstream https://api.specstream.ai/mcp

Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT and the other clients take the same address. The MCP client guides show where each one keeps it.

Brave's server calls Brave and nothing else

The official server builds every request on https://api.search.brave.com, written into its source, and has no setting for another address. Moving your agent's search means moving the MCP server, and SpecStream's is hosted.

Code of your own that calls Brave's API moves with one line: SpecStream answers GET /res/v1/web/search at https://api.specstream.ai, in Brave's JSON, at $1 per 1,000 searches. See the Brave migration guide.

The most accurate web search API in the world, as one tool call

search_web runs SpecStream's Search API. It scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct), and 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. The Extract API behind read_pages scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. The scores and the method are on the benchmarks page.

A results list hands your agent links to open. The default search hands it the answer, with the page it was read from and the read time, when the results agree on a value, and null when they do not.

Whole pages, PDFs included

brave_llm_context returns the passages Brave chose for the query. read_pages reads the pages your agent names, up to 20 a call, PDF, Word and Excel files included, and returns each page's main text as Markdown with its title, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages.

Your agent asks for data and gets rows

When the job is a list, the same connection runs Deep Search. compile reads the request into conditions and facts you can edit, quote_capacity_work prices it, and authorize_capacity_work runs it under the maximum you approve. Rows cost 5¢, 15¢ or $1 each. Source URL and read time on every value, and a run that finds nothing costs nothing.

Other Brave Search MCP alternatives

SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. One hosted MCP server for search from $1 per 1,000, page reading at $0.80 per 1,000 and every match as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with $10 of credit to start.

You.com MCP

A hosted server with 100 Web Search queries a day free, with no key and no account. Past that, calls cost the API rate: $5 per 1,000. SpecStream's search through its own You.com address costs $1 per 1,000.

Exa MCP

Hosted at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp, with search and fetch at a free rate limit and no key. Past it, search costs from $4 per 1,000 requests. SpecStream's fast search costs $1 per 1,000.

Tavily MCP

Hosted at https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/, with 1,000 free credits a month on a free key and $0.008 a credit after that, 1 credit a basic search. SpecStream answers Tavily's own call at https://api.specstream.ai/tavily for $0.001 a search.

DuckDuckGo MCP

Community servers that run on your machine with no key, at 30 searches a minute by default. See DuckDuckGo MCP servers for their install lines and limits.

How SpecStream scores

The same numbers as the benchmarks page, from the official tasks and scorers.

SpecStreamParallelExaTavilyPerplexity
Web researchWideSearch, GPT-5.6 Luna60.945.553.047.947.0
Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Luna9694919494
Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Sol9997919295

How to move from the Brave Search MCP server to SpecStream

1. Sign up at specstream.ai. The account starts with $10 of credit, no card.

2. In Claude Code, remove the Brave server and add SpecStream, then sign in when the browser opens. Use the name your Brave server has in claude mcp list:

claude mcp remove brave-search
claude mcp add --transport http specstream https://api.specstream.ai/mcp

3. In Claude Desktop, delete the brave-search entry from claude_desktop_config.json and add https://api.specstream.ai/mcp as a custom connector.

4. In VS Code, replace the brave-search server in .vscode/mcp.json with this. VS Code asks for the key once and keeps it out of the file:

{
  "inputs": [
    { "type": "promptString", "id": "specstream-key", "description": "SpecStream API key", "password": true }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "specstream": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.specstream.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:specstream-key}" }
    }
  }
}

5. In Cursor, create a key under Agents & API in the workspace, put it in SPECSTREAM_API_KEY, and replace the Brave entry in mcp.json with this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "specstream": {
      "url": "https://api.specstream.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:SPECSTREAM_API_KEY}" }
    }
  }
}

6. Your agent calls search_web where it called brave_web_search or brave_news_search, and read_pages where it called brave_llm_context.

Get an API key

Frequently asked questions

Something we didn't answer? Talk to a human

Is there an official Brave Search MCP server?
Yes: @brave/brave-search-mcp-server, published by Brave under the MIT License on GitHub as brave/brave-search-mcp-server. The older @modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search is archived, and npm marks it no longer supported.
How do I install the Brave Search MCP server?
Add it to your client's config with npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server and your key in BRAVE_API_KEY, or run the mcp/brave-search Docker image. It talks over STDIO by default; --transport http serves it at http://127.0.0.1:8080/mcp.
Does the Brave Search MCP server need an API key?
Yes. It stops at start without BRAVE_API_KEY or BRAVE_API_KEY_FILE, and the key comes from a Brave Search API account. SpecStream's hosted server needs a free account, and a client that signs in with OAuth needs no key.
Is the Brave Search MCP server free?
The server is free software under the MIT License. Each search bills the Brave Search API at $5 per 1,000 requests, and Brave includes $5 in free credits every month, about 1,000 searches. The 2,000 free queries a month in older guides come from the archived server's README.
Can the Brave Search MCP server use another search API?
No. Its source builds every request on https://api.search.brave.com, with no setting for another address. To change provider, change the MCP server: SpecStream's is one line, claude mcp add --transport http specstream https://api.specstream.ai/mcp.
What does SpecStream's MCP search cost?
$1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results with speed=fast, $5 per 1,000 with the answer and its page, and $0.80 per 1,000 pages read. New accounts get $10 of credit with no card.

Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each install line, tool name, limit and price comes from the project's own README or source, or the company's own page, read on Nov 12, 2026.

  1. Brave Search MCP server READMEgithub.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server, read Nov 12, 2026
  2. Brave Search MCP server source, BraveAPI/index.tsgithub.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server/blob/main/src/BraveAPI/index.ts, read Nov 12, 2026
  3. Archived server-brave-search READMEgithub.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers-archived/tree/main/src/brave-search, read Nov 12, 2026
  4. server-brave-search on npmnpmjs.com/package/@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search, read Nov 12, 2026
  5. Brave Search APIbrave.com/search/api/, read Nov 12, 2026
  6. You.com pricingyou.com/pricing, read Nov 12, 2026
  7. Exa MCPdocs.exa.ai/reference/exa-mcp, read Nov 12, 2026
  8. Exa pricingexa.ai/pricing, read Nov 12, 2026
  9. Tavily MCPdocs.tavily.com/documentation/mcp, read Nov 12, 2026
  10. Tavily pricingtavily.com/pricing, read Nov 12, 2026
  11. duckduckgo-mcp-server READMEgithub.com/nickclyde/duckduckgo-mcp-server, read Nov 12, 2026
  12. SpecStream benchmarksspecstream.ai/benchmarks, read Nov 12, 2026
  13. SpecStream for agentsspecstream.ai/agents.md, read Nov 12, 2026