AI Plugin Indexref-tools-mcp vs brave
ref-tools-mcp and brave are both search and web MCP servers. brave scores higher (95 vs 88 out of 100). brave has more GitHub stars (1.5k), and brave was updated more recently (4 days ago). The table compares them side by side.
| ref-tools-mcp | brave | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 88 / 100 | 95 / 100 |
| What it does | Token efficient search for coding agents over public and private documentation. | Visit https://brave.com/search/api/ for a free API key. Search the web, local businesses, images,… |
| Publisher | Community: ref-tools | Verified: smithery.ai |
| Grades | Maintenance A, Licence A, Quality A | Maintenance A, Licence A, Quality A |
| npm downloads a week | 611 | Not on npm |
| Runs | Local | Remote |
| Works with | Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, VS Code, Windsurf | Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, VS Code, Windsurf, ChatGPT |
| GitHub stars | 1,183 | 1,510 |
| Last commit | 1 Oct 2026 | 17 Oct 2026 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Listed since | 19 Oct 2026 | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Install ref-tools-mcp | Install brave |
Questions
Is ref-tools-mcp or brave more popular?
brave has more GitHub stars: 1,510.
Can I use ref-tools-mcp and brave together?
Yes. AI assistants can load several MCP servers at once. Install both and the assistant picks the right one for each task.