A side-by-side look at the Apify MCP Server and Brightdata MCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Apify MCP Server for search & data extraction work as a local process; choose Brightdata MCP for search & data extraction as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
title, readOnlyHint, true.API_TOKEN.GROUPS, TOOLS, search_engine.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search & Data Extraction | Search & Data Extraction |
| Quality signal | 64/100 · Good | 68/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Freemium |
| Required env vars | None listed | API_TOKEN |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 10,672 | 2,671 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 10 | 8 |
| Full listing | View Apify MCP Server | View Brightdata MCP |
titlereadOnlyHinttrueget-datasetfetch-actor-detailsapify--web-fetchopenWorldHintcall-actorsearch-actorsfetch-apify-docsGROUPSTOOLSsearch_enginesearch_engine_batchscrape_as_markdownscrape_batchdiscovercustomPaste 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": {
"apify-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@apify/actors-mcp-server"
]
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"luminati-io-brightdata-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@brightdata/mcp"
],
"env": {
"API_TOKEN": "YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE"
}
}
}
}