A side-by-side look at the Tavily MCP Server and MCP Server Tavily MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Tavily MCP Server for search & data extraction work as a local process; choose MCP Server Tavily for search & data extraction over a hosted endpoint. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
TAVILY_API_KEY.tavily_search, tavily_extract, tavily_crawl.TAVILY_API_KEY.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search & Data Extraction | Search & Data Extraction |
| Quality signal | 55/100 · Good | 40/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Remote HTTP/SSE |
| Auth | Not declared | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | BYOK (pay the provider) |
| Required env vars | TAVILY_API_KEY | TAVILY_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 50 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 5 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 5 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Tavily MCP Server | View MCP Server Tavily |
tavily_searchSearch the web for current information on any topic. Use for news, facts, or data beyond your knowledge cutoff. Returns snippets and source URLs.tavily_extractExtract content from URLs. Returns raw page content in markdown or text format.tavily_crawlCrawl a website starting from a URL. Extracts content from pages with configurable depth and breadth.tavily_mapMap a website's structure. Returns a list of URLs found starting from the base URL.tavily_researchPerform comprehensive research on a given topic or question. Use this tool when you need to gather information from multiple sources to answer a question or complete a task. Returns a detailed response based on the research findings. Rate limit: 20 requests per minute.No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
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": {
"tavily-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"tavily-mcp@latest"
],
"env": {
"TAVILY_API_KEY": "YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"tomatio13-mcp-server-tavily": {
"url": "https://api.tavily.com/search"
}
}
}