A side-by-side look at the Open WebSearch and Search1API MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Open WebSearch for search & data extraction work as a local process; choose Search1API for search & data extraction as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
search, fetchLinuxDoArticle, fetchCsdnArticle.SEARCH1API_KEY.search, news, crawl.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search & Data Extraction | Search & Data Extraction |
| Quality signal | 71/100 · Great | 67/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | No auth required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | SEARCH1API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 1,867 | 173 |
| Directory activity | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 6 | 7 |
| Full listing | View Open WebSearch | View Search1API |
searchSearch the web using multiple engines (e.g., Baidu, Bing, DuckDuckGo, CSDN, Exa, Brave, Juejin(掘金), Startpage, Sogou(搜狗)) with no API key required. searchMode meanings: omit or set auto to use the server configured SEARCH_MODE; request forces request-based search; playwright forces browser-based search.fetchLinuxDoArticleFetch full article content from a linux.do post URLfetchCsdnArticleFetch full article content from a csdn post URLfetchGithubReadmeFetch README content from a GitHub repository URLfetchWebContentFetch content from a public HTTP(S) URL (supports Markdown files and normal web pages)fetchJuejinArticleFetch full article content from a Juejin(掘金) post URLsearchSearch the live public web when the user needs current information, sources, or research. Returns citable results with id, title, URL, and text. Each result includes a URL that can be read in full.newsSearch current news when the user asks about recent events, announcements, or coverage. Returns citable article results with title, URL, snippet, and optional extracted text.crawlExtract the readable title and full text from a public URL supplied by the user or returned by search.sitemapDiscover related public links from a page or domain when the user wants to explore a site's structure or available pages.trendingList currently trending repositories or stories from GitHub or Hacker News when the user asks what is popular now.askDescribe what you are looking for in natural language when you do not know which source to search. Search1API picks up to five engines (web, Hacker News, Reddit, GitHub, X, arXiv, Wikipedia, and more), infers a time window from phrases such as "this week", and returns at most 10 relevant results ranked by relevance. Costs 5 credits; use search when you already know the engine.render_resultsPresent already retrieved source results as source cards when the host supports UI, with a complete readable text list otherwise. Use when the user wants to browse sources or a visual list helps the task. Pass existing results in the desired order; never invent source URLs or factual titles. Does not search, crawl, fetch URLs, verify sources, or consume search credits. Do not call for intermediate research results or when a text answer is sufficient.Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
{
"mcpServers": {
"aas-ee-open-websearch": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"open-websearch@latest"
]
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"search1api": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"search1api-mcp"
],
"env": {
"SEARCH1API_KEY": "YOUR_SEARCH1API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}