Web Search★★★★4/5
BraveSearchMCP
Brave's official MCP server provides 6 search tools: web search, local business search, video search, image search, news search, and AI-powered summarization. It's the privacy-first alternative to Google-based search integrations.
The free tier gives you 2,000 queries per month — more than enough for personal dev use. Many users report better results for developer-related queries compared to Claude's built-in search. The local business search is a bonus if you're building location-aware features.
Docker support available. API key required but signup is instant.
Pros
- + Official Brave project — well-maintained
- + 6 search tools (web, local, video, image, news, AI summarizer)
- + Free tier: 2,000 queries/month
- + Privacy-first (no tracking)
- + Docker support available
Cons
- - Requires API key (free tier available but limited)
- - Local search and AI summaries require Pro plan
- - Lower adoption than some alternatives
How We Use It
Feeds into the content research pipeline. The KB Miner and Ideas Scout workflows need to understand what's trending and what's already been written about a topic before generating content ideas. Brave's news search is particularly useful — it surfaces recent coverage that Claude's training data doesn't have.
We also use it during development sessions when Claude needs to look up something specific — error messages, library compatibility, recent API changes. The search quality for technical queries is solid, and running 20-30 searches per day stays well within the free tier's 2,000 monthly limit.
searchwebnewsprivacyAPI