# Web search MCP servers: how to pick one for your agent

Web search MCP servers compared by what they return, how they sign in and what a search costs, with a live price table and one setup for Claude Code.

## Summary

A web search MCP server lets an agent search the web the way it calls any other tool. You add one URL to Claude Code, Cursor or Codex, and the agent gets a `search` tool that returns titles, links and snippets. The hard part is choosing one, because MCP server lists now hold dozens of them and they return different things.

This guide sorts web search MCP servers into three kinds, shows what each provider returns through looot's catalog, and gives the live price per search. It ends with one setup that works in Claude Code.

Last checked 2026-10-16, against looot's live catalog and one real search run.

## What does a web search MCP server do?

A web search MCP server exposes a search tool over the Model Context Protocol. The agent sends a query, the server calls a search engine or its own index, and returns results as tool output. Most also offer a second tool: read a page, get a direct answer, or crawl a site. The [MCP server explainer](https://looot.ai/blog/what-is-an-mcp-server) covers the protocol itself.

Here is a real run from 2026-10-16. We searched "web search mcp server" through looot's `web.search` job. It returned 10 results in about one second, each with a title, URL, snippet and position, and the provider it picked charged nothing for the call.

## The three kinds of web search MCP server

| Kind | What you install | Key | What breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted, no key | an open-source server on your machine | none | it scrapes a search engine directly, so a layout change or a block stops it |
| One provider's server | the provider's hosted URL | that provider's key or sign-in | one index, one bill, one outage |
| One server for many providers | looot's URL | one sign-in, one prepaid balance | you depend on looot as well as the provider |

Self-hosted servers are free to try. The [web-search-mcp](https://github.com/mrkrsl/web-search-mcp) project on GitHub, the first result above, says it needs no API keys. A one-provider server is the simplest paid route when you already know which index you want. A multi-provider server makes sense when the agent also needs other data, such as company records or a page as markdown, and you want one key and one bill for all of it.

## Which providers can a web search MCP server call?

These providers run `web.search` in looot's catalog today. What each one adds is from the catalog's capability list, not from a test of quality. Each has its own page with the jobs it covers.

| Provider | Also does, in the catalog | looot page |
|---|---|---|
| Exa | direct answers, similar pages, article text | Exa |
| Tavily | crawl a site, map a site's URLs | Tavily |
| Linkup | direct answers, deeper research | Linkup |
| Firecrawl | crawl, site map, structured scrape | Firecrawl |
| Jina | read a page as markdown | Jina |
| Brave Search | news, image and video search | none yet |

Live price per search, read from the catalog when this page loads:

Web search through looot, live price per call. Prices read on 2026-10-16 from the live looot catalog. They change when a provider changes its price.

| Option | Cheapest provider | Price per call |
|---|---|---|
| Search the web, cheapest provider | Context.dev | $0.00025 per call |
| Search with Exa | Exa | $0.0070 per call |
| Search with Tavily | Tavily Search and Extract API | $0.0080 per call |
| Search with Linkup | Linkup | $0.0050 per call |
| Search with Brave | Brave Search | $0.0050 per call |

Some endpoints charge per result rather than per call, so a query that asks for 20 results can cost more than one that asks for 5. The [web search API pricing post](https://looot.ai/blog/web-search-api-pricing) works through what a search costs at volume.

## What is the best web search MCP server for Claude Code?

The best one is the one your agent needs for its real task, and that is usually one server, not four. Claude Code loads tool definitions on demand with tool search, which is on by default, and warns when one tool's output passes 10,000 tokens ([Claude Code MCP docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp), read 2026-10-16). Long result lists still cost context, so ask for 5 to 10 results, not 50.

Three questions settle it:

1. Do you want links, or an answer? A plain search returns links. Exa and Linkup also return a direct answer.
2. Will the agent read the pages? Pick a server that can also fetch a page as markdown, or the agent needs a second server.
3. Does it need more than search? Company data, emails or Google rankings come from other providers. One multi-provider server saves you a key per vendor.

To add looot to Claude Code:

The [web search API page](https://looot.ai/use-cases/web-search-api) lists the job's inputs and output fields.

## What it cannot do

- looot does not keep its own search index. Results come from the provider that served the run.
- We have not compared result quality across providers. The tables above list what the catalog says each one does.
- It cannot search inside private accounts or behind a login.
- A search that should repeat needs scheduled runs, not available yet.

## Questions

### What is a web search MCP server?

It is an MCP server that gives an agent a search tool. The agent sends a query and gets back titles, links and snippets as tool output, and many servers also read pages or return answers.

### What is the best web search MCP server for Claude Code?

Pick one server that matches the task: links only, links plus page text, or answers with sources. Install one, test it on real queries, and add a second only for a gap.

### Is there a free web search MCP server?

Yes. Self-hosted open-source servers search without a key by scraping a search engine, and some catalog providers charge nothing for some calls. Free servers break when the engine changes or blocks them.

### Where can I find an MCP server list?

The MCP project and several directories keep lists. looot's own pages, one per provider, show which jobs each one covers and how to connect it. Start from the provider pages linked in the table above.

### How much does a web search through MCP cost?

The MCP protocol itself is free. Each search is billed by the provider behind it. The live price table above shows the current price per call through looot.

### Can one web search MCP server use several search engines?

Yes, if it routes between providers. looot's `web.search` job picks a provider that can answer now, and with fallback on it tries the next one when the first misses.

## For agents

### Code (json)

```json
{
  "query": "web search mcp server",
  "results": [
    { "position": 1, "title": "A simple, locally hosted Web Search MCP server for use with ...", "url": "https://github.com/mrkrsl/web-search-mcp", "site_name": "github.com" }
  ],
  "total_results": 10
}
```

### Code (bash)

```bash
claude mcp add --scope user --transport http looot https://api.looot.ai/mcp
claude mcp login looot
```

### Search the web from your agent

```text
Use looot to search the web for "web search mcp". First set up https://looot.ai/skill.md and connect the MCP server https://api.looot.ai/mcp. Search the catalog for "search the web", tell me the three cheapest endpoints and their prices, then run job:web.search with fallback on and a limit of 5 results. Read the top result as markdown with job:web.scrape.markdown. Stop if one call would cost more than $0.02.
```