AI Plugin IndexBrave Search vs exa
Brave Search and exa are both search and web MCP servers. exa scores higher (100 vs 30 out of 100). exa has more GitHub stars (5.1k), and exa was updated more recently (4 days ago). The table compares them side by side.
| Brave Search | exa | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 30 / 100 | 100 / 100 |
| What it does | Brave Search MCP — independent web index (no Google/Bing dependency) | Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research. |
| Publisher | Community: pipeworx-io | Verified: exa.ai |
| Grades | Maintenance A, Licence A, Quality C | Maintenance A, Licence A, Quality A |
| npm downloads a week | Not on npm | Not on npm |
| Runs | Remote | Remote |
| Works with | Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, VS Code, Windsurf, ChatGPT | Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, VS Code, Windsurf, ChatGPT |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 5,142 |
| Last commit | 25 Sept 2026 | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Listed since | 19 Oct 2026 | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Install Brave Search | Install exa |
Questions
Is Brave Search or exa more popular?
exa has more GitHub stars: 5,142.
Can I use Brave Search and exa together?
Yes. AI assistants can load several MCP servers at once. Install both and the assistant picks the right one for each task.