Exa Search vs Met Museum MCP Server

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

	Exa Search Exa's neural web search and crawling MCP server — runs locally via npx or as a hosted remote endpoint. Verified stdio (local) API key TypeScript	Met Museum MCP Server Search and explore The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, including artwork details and images, via natural language. Unverified stdio (local) No auth TypeScript
Category	Search & Web	Search & Web
Language	TypeScript	TypeScript
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	API key	None
GitHub stars	4.6k	30
Last commit	2 months ago	3 months ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`npx -y exa-mcp-server`	`npx -y metmuseum-mcp`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Exa Search if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Pick Met Museum MCP Server if you want zero-setup with no API key.

Add Exa Search

Install / run

npx -y exa-mcp-server

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "exa-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "<your-exa-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add Met Museum MCP Server

Install / run

npx -y metmuseum-mcp

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "met-museum-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "metmuseum-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Exa Search or Met Museum MCP Server — which is better?

Pick Exa Search if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option. Pick Met Museum MCP Server if you want zero-setup with no API key.

Can I use both Exa Search and Met Museum MCP Server?

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 Exa Search and Met Museum MCP Server work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View Exa Search →View Met Museum MCP Server →More comparisons →