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Tavily MCP server

Setup, tools, limits and search at $1 per 1,000.

Tavily's MCP server runs hosted at https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/ or locally with npx -y tavily-mcp@latest, and gives your agent search, extract, crawl, map and research tools. Every call spends Tavily credits: 1,000 free a month, then $0.008 a credit.

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 at $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.

Tavily's two MCP servers and two hosted servers, side by side

SpecStreamTavily remote MCPtavily-mcp (npm)Exa MCP
Install line or addresshttps://api.specstream.ai/mcp over Streamable HTTP, with OAuth or an API keyhttps://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/, or claude mcp add tavily --transport http https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/ in Claude Codenpx -y tavily-mcp@latest, with Node.js 20 or higherhttps://mcp.exa.ai/mcp
Key and accountA free account, no card. A client that signs in with OAuth opens the browser once, and no key sits in a fileOAuth sign in, or the key as ?tavilyApiKey= in the URL or as a Bearer token. The X-Tavily-Access-Mode: keyless header runs search and extract with no accountTAVILY_API_KEY in the client's configNone at the free rate limit. From IPv6 or a proxied network, sign in with OAuth or add a key
Where it runsOn SpecStream's servers. Nothing runs on your machineOn Tavily's servers. A client that takes only local servers connects through npx -y mcp-remoteOn your machine, calling api.tavily.comOn Exa's servers
Tools your agent getssearch_web, read_pages, and Deep Search through compile, quote_capacity_work and authorize_capacity_worktavily_search, tavily_extract, tavily_crawl, tavily_map and tavily_research. Keyless gives search and extract onlyThe same five, plus tavily_feedbackSearch and fetch. Exa Agent needs sign in or a key
LimitsThe spending limit you set on each key100 requests a minute on the free plan, 1,000 with pay as you go. /crawl and /map 100 a minute, /research 20Your Tavily plan's limitsA free rate limit
What a search returnsRanked sources with title, URL and snippet. The default search adds the answer with the page it was read from and the read timeTitles, URLs, content snippets and optional imagesTitles, URLs, content snippets and optional imagesSearch results, and page text through fetch
What it costs$1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results on the fast search, $5 with the answer, $0.80 per 1,000 pages read. $10 of credit to start, no card1,000 free credits a month, then $0.008 a credit. A basic, fast or ultra-fast search is 1 credit, advanced 2, and 5 pages extracted 1Free software under the MIT License. Calls spend your Tavily creditsFree at the rate limit. Past it, from $4 per 1,000 requests

Why agents search through SpecStream

$1 per 1,000 searches, where Tavily's pay as you go is $8

Each tavily_search call spends 1 credit, or 2 at advanced, and pay as you go bills $0.008 a credit. That is $8 per 1,000 basic searches and $16 per 1,000 advanced ones. search_web on SpecStream costs $1 per 1,000 on the fast search and $5 per 1,000 with the answer, from the first call, and a search that returns nothing costs nothing.

One line in Claude Code

Run this and sign in to SpecStream when the browser opens. There is no Node.js and no mcp-remote bridge to install:

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.

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

search_web runs SpecStream's Search API. It scores 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.

Whole pages, PDFs included

tavily_extract costs 1 credit for every 5 successful URLs on basic, $1.60 per 1,000 pages on pay as you go. read_pages reads up to 20 URLs a call, PDF, Word and Excel files included, and returns each page's main text as Markdown with its title and the date it says it was published, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. A page with no text is not charged.

Code that calls Tavily moves too

The MCP server is one place your agent reaches Tavily. Code that calls the Tavily API moves by its base address: TavilyClient(api_key=<key>, api_base_url="https://api.specstream.ai/tavily") answers search and extract in Tavily's own JSON at $1 per 1,000 searches. See moving off Tavily.

Your agent asks for data and gets rows

Where tavily_research returns a report, the same SpecStream 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, with the source URL and read time on every value, and a run that finds nothing costs nothing.

Other Tavily MCP alternatives

Exa MCP

Exa's hosted server at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp runs search and fetch with no key at a free rate limit. Past it, Lite search costs $4 per 1,000 requests. SpecStream's fast search is $1 per 1,000, with page reading on the same server.

Parallel MCP

Parallel's hosted server at https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp needs no account and no key, and web_search, web_fetch and web_decisions are free at lower rate limits. SpecStream's free start is $10 of credit with no daily allowance, spent at $1 per 1,000 fast searches.

Brave Search MCP

Brave's official server runs on your machine and needs a BRAVE_API_KEY. The Search API costs $5 per 1,000 requests and includes $5 in free credits every month. SpecStream's fast search is $1 per 1,000, hosted, with nothing to install.

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 Tavily MCP to SpecStream

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

2. In Claude Code, remove the Tavily server and add SpecStream, then sign in when the browser opens:

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

3. In Claude Desktop, disconnect the Tavily connector and add https://api.specstream.ai/mcp as a custom connector.

4. In Cursor, create a key under Agents & API in the workspace, put it in SPECSTREAM_API_KEY, and replace the tavily or tavily-remote-mcp entry in mcp.json with this:

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

5. Your agent calls search_web where it called tavily_search, and read_pages where it called tavily_extract.

Get an API key

Frequently asked questions

Something we didn't answer? Talk to a human

Is there an official Tavily MCP server?
Yes. Tavily publishes tavily-mcp under the MIT License, hosted at https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/ and on npm as tavily-mcp.
How do I add Tavily MCP to Claude Code?
Run claude mcp add tavily --transport http https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/ and sign in to Tavily when a new session starts. To use a key, put it in the URL as ?tavilyApiKey=.
Is Tavily MCP free?
The server is free, and each call spends Tavily credits: 1,000 free a month, then $0.008 a credit. With the X-Tavily-Access-Mode: keyless header, search and extract run with no account at a rate limit Tavily does not publish.
What tools does Tavily MCP give my agent?
Five: tavily_search, tavily_extract, tavily_crawl, tavily_map and tavily_research. The local npm server adds tavily_feedback.
Does Tavily MCP need Node.js?
The hosted server needs nothing installed in a client that takes a remote server. The local server and the mcp-remote bridge need Node.js 20 or higher.
What does SpecStream's MCP search cost?
$1 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results on the fast search, $5 per 1,000 with the answer, 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, limit and price comes from the project's own README or the company's own page, read on Nov 12, 2026.

  1. Tavily MCP docsdocs.tavily.com/documentation/mcp.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  2. tavily-mcp READMEraw.githubusercontent.com/tavily-ai/tavily-mcp/main/README.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  3. tavily-mcp sourceraw.githubusercontent.com/tavily-ai/tavily-mcp/main/src/index.ts, read Nov 12, 2026
  4. Tavily credits and pricingdocs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  5. Tavily rate limitsdocs.tavily.com/documentation/rate-limits.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  6. Tavily keyless accessdocs.tavily.com/documentation/keyless.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  7. Exa MCPdocs.exa.ai/reference/exa-mcp, read Nov 12, 2026
  8. Exa pricingexa.ai/docs/admin/pricing.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  9. Parallel MCPparallel.ai/mcp, read Nov 12, 2026
  10. Brave Search APIbrave.com/search/api/, read Nov 12, 2026
  11. Brave Search MCP servergithub.com/brave/brave-search-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