AI Plugin Indexref-tools-mcp alternatives
The most used alternatives to ref-tools-mcp are exa, brave, Agent Skills Search Server. All are search and web MCP servers with an active GitHub repository, ranked below by GitHub stars and recent activity.
| # | MCP server | What it does | Runs | Updated | Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ref | ref-tools-mcp ref-tools | Token-efficient search for coding agents over public and private documentation. | Remote | 19 days ago | 1.2k |
| 1 | exa exa-labs | Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research. | Remote | yesterday | 5.1k |
| 2 | brave brave | Visit https://brave.com/search/api/ for a free API key. Search the web, local businesses, images,… | Remote | 3 days ago | 1.5k |
| 3 | Agent Skills Search Server agentskills | Search and discover Agent Skills from the skills.sh registry. Powered by HAPI MCP server. | Remote | 2 months ago | 26k |
| 4 | Agent-Native Assets BuilderIO | Digital asset manager - upload, organize, search, and generate on-brand images and videos | Remote | yesterday | 7.4k |
| 5 | AIHOT KKKKhazix | Chinese AI news: search topics, explore hot events, and read daily, weekly and monthly briefs. | Remote | yesterday | 8.1k |
| 6 | Atlassian Rovo MCP Server atlassian | Connect to Atlassian Jira, Confluence, Loom, and more to search, create, and manage your work. | Remote | 10 days ago | 1.1k |
| 7 | Exa Search pollinations | Search the live web and fetch clean content from source pages. | Remote | yesterday | 5.2k |
| 8 | Repomix yamadashy | Pack local or remote codebases into AI-friendly files that LLMs and coding agents can read or search | Local | 2 days ago | 29k |
| 9 | OpenMetadata open-metadata | Official OpenMetadata MCP: 21 read and write tools for search, lineage, data quality, governance. | Remote | yesterday | 16k |
| 10 | JobSpy speedyapply | Search LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor and regional job boards | Local | yesterday | 4.5k |
| 11 | Zotero MCP 54yyyu | Search, read, annotate, and add to your Zotero research library, local or web. | Local | 4 days ago | 5.5k |
| 12 | Ctx7 upstash | Context7 CLI - Fetch documentation context and configure Context7 | Local | today | 63k |
Questions
What is the best alternative to ref-tools-mcp?
By usage, exa is the most popular alternative, with 5.1k GitHub stars. The right choice depends on which features and hosting you need.
Is ref-tools-mcp still maintained?
Its last commit was 19 days ago. You can see current activity on its listing page.