Brave Search vs DuckDuckGo Search

A side-by-side comparison of two Search & Web servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	Brave Search Official Brave Search MCP server: web, local, image, video, news search and AI summarization. Verified stdio (local) API key TypeScript	DuckDuckGo Search Popular no-API-key MCP server for DuckDuckGo web search plus page fetching and parsing. Verified stdio (local) No auth Python
Category	Search & Web	Search & Web
Language	TypeScript	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	API key	None
GitHub stars	1.2k	1.2k
Last commit	3 days ago	1 month ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server`	`uvx duckduckgo-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Brave Search if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Pick DuckDuckGo Search if you want zero-setup with no API key.

Add Brave Search

Install / run

npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
        "--transport",
        "stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAVE_API_KEY": "<your-brave-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add DuckDuckGo Search

Install / run

uvx duckduckgo-mcp-server

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "duckduckgo-search": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "duckduckgo-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Requires `uv` (the Python package runner). Install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/ if `uvx` is not found.

FAQ

Brave Search or DuckDuckGo Search — which is better?

Pick Brave Search if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you need the broadest set of tools. Pick DuckDuckGo Search if you want zero-setup with no API key.

Can I use both Brave Search and DuckDuckGo Search?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do Brave Search and DuckDuckGo Search work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View Brave Search →View DuckDuckGo Search →More comparisons →