AI Plugin Indexref-tools-mcp vs exa
ref-tools-mcp and exa are both search and web MCP servers. exa scores higher (100 vs 94 out of 100). exa has more GitHub stars (5.1k), and exa was updated more recently (yesterday). The table compares them side by side.
| ref-tools-mcp | exa | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 94 / 100 | 100 / 100 |
| What it does | Token-efficient search for coding agents over public and private documentation. | Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research. |
| Publisher | Verified: ref.tools | Verified: exa.ai |
| Grades | Maintenance A, Licence A, Quality A | 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 | 1,183 | 5,142 |
| Last commit | 1 Oct 2026 | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Listed since | 19 Oct 2026 | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Install ref-tools-mcp | Install exa |
Questions
Is ref-tools-mcp or exa more popular?
exa has more GitHub stars: 5,142.
Can I use ref-tools-mcp 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.