Firecrawl
MCP server · Official · firecrawl
The Firecrawl MCP server lets an AI assistant search, scrape, and interact with web content, plus search papers.
Hosted · Runs locally★ 7,635
MCP servers for research
3 MCP servers that connect an AI assistant to the apps you use for research: all official, each published by the app’s own company. 3 offer a hosted server and 1 run on your own machine; Firecrawl has the most GitHub stars (7,635).
3 servers, official first
Exa
MCP server · Official · exa-labs
The Exa MCP server lets AI assistants search the web, read webpage content, and carry out multi-step research.
Hosted★ 5,138
Tavily
MCP server · Official · tavily-ai
The Tavily MCP server lets an AI assistant run real-time web searches and extract data from web pages.
Hosted★ 2,439
Side by side
| Server | Made by | How it runs | Sign-in | Setup documented for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firecrawl | Official · firecrawl | Hosted, Runs locally | API key (local server) | Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Claude Desktop |
| Exa | Official · exa-labs | Hosted | OAuth sign-in (hosted server); No sign-in (hosted server) | Claude, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Zed |
| Tavily | Official · tavily-ai | Hosted | API key; OAuth sign-in (hosted server) | Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop |