What is the main functional difference between Unsplash MCP and Pexafy?

Unsplash MCP is categorized under Search & Data Extraction and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Pexafy belongs to Search & Data Extraction and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Pick Unsplash MCP for search & data extraction work and Pexafy for search & data extraction.

How do I install Unsplash MCP or Pexafy in Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf?

Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client. Unsplash MCP has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.

Are Unsplash MCP and Pexafy free to use, or do they require API keys?

Unsplash MCP is bring-your-own-key: usage is billed by the API provider you supply a key for. Auth: api key required. Pexafy has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.

Can I run both Unsplash MCP and Pexafy at the same time in my AI client?

Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add cevatkerim-unsplash-mcp and pexafy as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.

Which MCP server has higher directory engagement and quality ratings?

On AllMCPs, Unsplash MCP has a quality signal of 41/100 (Fair) with 3 views, 0 installs and 30 GitHub stars. Pexafy has 56/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.

Unsplash MCP vs Pexafy — MCP Server Comparison

Unsplash MCP vs Pexafy — MCP Server Comparison | AllMCPs

Feature & specification comparison

Rows where the two servers differ are marked.

Spec	Unsplash MCP	Pexafy
Category	Search & Data Extraction	Search & Data Extraction
Quality signal	41/100 · Fair	56/100 · Good
Install command	Not confirmed yet	Confirmed
Transport	—	Remote HTTP/SSE
Auth	API key required	Not declared
Pricing	BYOK (pay the provider)	Not declared
Required env vars	`UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY`	None listed
Verified owner	Community listing	Community listing
GitHub stars	30	0
Directory activity	3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes	0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes
Tools	3	5
Full listing	View Unsplash MCP	View Pexafy

Tools & capabilities

Unsplash MCP tools 3

search_photosSearch for photos by keyword with optional filters.
get_random_photosGet random photos, optionally filtered by keyword.
track_downloadTrack a photo download (required by Unsplash API guidelines).

Pexafy tools 5

search_photosUse this when the user asks for a real photograph, or states a need that a photograph fills, and the picture is not already in the conversation. Call it when they ask outright: “find me photos of…”, “show me images of…”, “I need a picture of…”, “do you have a photo of…”, “where can I find free photos of…”, in any language. Call it when they describe the need without asking to search: “I'm writing an article and need a header image”, “my landing page needs a hero image”, “I need something to illustrate this”. Call it when they ask for something meant to carry photographs: “write an article with pictures”, “a deck with images”. Call it when they name only the picture, with no reason given: “a photo of a white mug”, “a train in Japan”. If the user is working on something that usually carries photographs — an article, a page, a deck, a post — without asking for any, you may offer to look for some; call it only once they accept. This covers requests for photographs for articles, blog posts, websites, landing pages, products, slides, documents, reports, social posts, ads, newsletters, banners, thumbnails, covers, posters, backgrounds, wallpapers and mood boards; photographs that illustrate a concept, explain a subject or accompany a piece of writing; and any request for free, stock, royalty-free, commercially usable, real or documentary photographs. A request for a visual is not always a request for a photograph: this tool finds photographs that already exist — not illustrations, drawings, logos, icons, diagrams or screenshots — and it does not generate, edit or upscale an image, nor look for a named person. It searches Pexafy's own index of millions of free-to-use photographs from stock libraries such as Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay, matched to the scene described. Each result carries a `rank`, a `photo_id`, its licence, the credit line to display and an image link; the file itself comes from get_photo_file_by_photo_id. In a host that renders it, the grid shows them; the answer omits image links.
search_photos_by_imageUse this when the user wants photographs that look like a picture, rather than ones described in words: a picture they link to, one the host passes to the tool as a file, or a Pexafy photo already found or liked in the grid. Call it for “find images like this”, “something similar to this photo”, “find a free alternative to this image”, “I need this but royalty-free”, “photos in this style”, “more like the second one”, whether or not they say “search by image”. Give exactly one reference: `photo_id` for a Pexafy photo from an earlier result or liked in the grid; `image_url` for a picture at a public URL, such as a link the user pasted; `image_file` when the host passes the user's uploaded image to the tool; `image_base64` for image bytes a client already holds. Sending two is refused. A picture that is only visible in the conversation — not linked, not passed to the tool — is not a reference this tool can receive; its scene can be searched in words with `search_photos`. Words are optional, in `english_search_sentence`: with a `photo_id`, the words that photograph was found under; with an image, only what the user wants changed or kept (“like this but at night”). It finds free stock photographs in Pexafy's index that visually match the reference. The reference image is sent to Pexafy only to run the search; it is not stored. Each result carries a `rank`, a `photo_id`, its licence, the credit line to display and an image link. In a host that renders it, the grid shows them; the answer omits image links.
get_photo_file_by_photo_idReturns one photograph from an earlier Pexafy result as an image file, identified by its `photo_id`. A result's link points to the image; this tool returns the image itself, so the person does not need to send the photograph again. Use it when the user wants a photograph found here as a file: to place it in a document, a slide or a post, to attach, send or download it, or to have it cropped, captioned or otherwise edited with the host's own tools. It is for a photograph the person picked: where the Pexafy grid is shown, the photographs of a search are already on screen and need no file to be seen. The answer contains the photograph, at most 1280 pixels wide, and a line giving its file name, size, licence, source, `photo_id`, page at the source and the credit line to display. One photo per call; the file stays in the conversation afterwards. This server does not edit images: what can be done to the file next depends on the host's own tools. Its licence and credit line apply to this photograph only.
get_grid_selected_photosReturns the photographs the person liked (hearted) in the Pexafy results grid. Use it when the person refers to that selection rather than asking for new photos — for example “the images I selected”, “the ones I chose”, “my selection”, “the photos I hearted”, “the photos I liked”, “use the ones I picked”, “put my selection in the document”, “download the ones I chose”, or “write the article around my photos”. The selection is held by the grid and the server, not by the conversation: this tool is how it is read, and search results are not the selection. It takes no arguments and returns every liked photograph with its rank, photo_id, photographer, source library, licence, pixel size, orientation, description, page URL and credit line, and `selection_count`, the number of them. To get one of them as an image file, pass its photo_id to get_photo_file_by_photo_id. `rank` is the person's order, #1 first: the order the photos were liked in, unless the person rearranged them by dragging in the grid. Where the grid is rendered, that number is drawn on each liked photograph, so it is the number the person sees and names them by (“#2”). The `rank` of a search result is only its position in that answer and is not drawn on the grid. An empty selection means nothing is liked in the grid currently on screen; a photograph is liked with the heart on it. A selection expires an hour after its last change, and a new search replaces the grid it belongs to.
connect_accountAsks the host to offer its own flow for connecting a Pexafy account, when none is attached. Use it when the person asks to connect, link or sign in to a Pexafy account — including from the account button in the Pexafy grid — or wants more searches than the daily allowance available without an account. When no account is attached, it returns an error result that carries an account-connection request for the host: the error is how that request is delivered, not a failure. A host that supports it shows its own account-connection prompt, which the person completes or dismisses; other hosts show only the result's text. Calling it again returns the same request. When an account is already attached, it says so and starts nothing. It does not search, and searching does not require calling it. `check_only` is set by the Pexafy grid to read the state without opening a prompt; leave it unset when the person wants to connect or sign in.

Ready-to-paste client configs

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.

Unsplash MCP

No confirmed install command for Unsplash MCP yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.

Pexafy

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pexafy": {
      "url": "https://pexafy.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

Unsplash MCP vs Pexafy

Which MCP server should you choose?

Choose Unsplash MCP when

Choose Pexafy when

Feature & specification comparison

Tools & capabilities

Unsplash MCP tools 3

Pexafy tools 5

Ready-to-paste client configs

Unsplash MCP

Pexafy

Frequently asked questions

Choose Unsplash MCP when

Choose Pexafy when

Unsplash MCP tools 3

Pexafy tools 5

Unsplash MCP

Pexafy

Frequently asked questions

What is the main functional difference between Unsplash MCP and Pexafy?

How do I install Unsplash MCP or Pexafy in Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf?

Are Unsplash MCP and Pexafy free to use, or do they require API keys?

Can I run both Unsplash MCP and Pexafy at the same time in my AI client?

Which MCP server has higher directory engagement and quality ratings?

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