Brave Search MCP Server
Web search powered by Brave Search API for real-time information retrieval
Brave Search MCP Server connects AI assistants to the Brave Search API, enabling real-time web search, news queries, and summarized answers. Unlike generic fetch-based approaches, it returns structured search results with titles, descriptions, and URLs, giving AI models up-to-date information from the indexed web without relying on training data cutoffs.
Brave Search MCP Server Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"brave-search": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"],
"env": {
"BRAVE_API_KEY": "your_brave_api_key_here"
}
}
}
}How to setup Brave Search MCP Server?
- 1
Go to https://brave.com/search/api/ and sign up for a Brave Search API account.
- 2
Choose a plan (Free tier includes 2,000 queries/month).
- 3
Copy your API key from the dashboard.
- 4
Replace 'your_brave_api_key_here' in the config above with your actual key.
- 5
Add to Claude Desktop config, restart, and test by asking a current-events question.
Is Brave Search MCP Server free?
The server itself is free, but the Brave Search API requires an API key. The free tier provides 2,000 queries per month, which is sufficient for personal use. Paid plans start at $3/month for 2,000 additional queries.
How to setup Brave Search MCP Server?
Sign up at brave.com/search/api, get your API key, add it to the environment variables in your Claude Desktop config, and restart. Setup takes under 2 minutes.
How is Brave Search different from regular web browsing?
Brave Search returns structured JSON results with relevance scores, making it easier for AI to process. It also has an independent index (not reliant on Google), provides built-in summarization, and respects user privacy by default.
Brave Search MCP Server vs Competitors
| Feature | Brave Search MCP Server | Competitor |
|---|---|---|
| Independent Index | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Free Tier | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| News Search | ✅ Yes | ❌ Partial |
| Summarized Answers | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| No Rate Limit (Free) | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
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