Fetch (Reference) vs Serena

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

	Fetch (Reference) Official MCP reference server that fetches a URL and returns its content as clean Markdown, with chunking. Verified stdio (local) No auth Python	Serena LSP-powered coding agent toolkit: semantic symbol search, references and structural edits. Verified stdio (local) No auth Python
Category	Search & Web	Developer Tools
Language	Python	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	87k	12k
Last commit	10 days ago	13 days ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`uvx mcp-server-fetch`	`uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Fetch (Reference) if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Pick Serena if you need the broadest set of tools.

Add Fetch (Reference)

Install / run

uvx mcp-server-fetch

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fetch-reference": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-fetch"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

Add Serena

Install / run

uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serena": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena",
        "serena",
        "start-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

FAQ

Fetch (Reference) or Serena — which is better?

Pick Fetch (Reference) if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option. Pick Serena if you need the broadest set of tools.

Can I use both Fetch (Reference) and Serena?

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 Fetch (Reference) and Serena work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View Fetch (Reference) →View Serena →More comparisons →