Perplexity API Platform vs io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp
Perplexity API Platform is an MCP server published by perplexity.ai. Marketplaces we read that list it: 3 (Official MCP Registry, Docker MCP Catalog, Community GitHub marketplaces). io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp is an MCP server published by tavily-ai. Marketplaces we read that list it: 3 (Official MCP Registry, Docker MCP Catalog, npm registry (MCP servers)). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-26. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |   Perplexity API Platform |  io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp |
|---|---|---|
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 1.2.1 Downloads/month (npm): 102 467 Downloads/week (npm): 16 084 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: 0.2.15 Downloads/month (npm): 89 437 Downloads/week (npm): 11 971 Forks (GitHub): 306 Stars (GitHub): 2 460 Not marked · First seen |
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:7816f45a6f26 Forks (GitHub): 387 Pulls (Docker Hub): 80 959 Stars (Docker Hub): 17 Stars (GitHub): 2 589 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: sha256:e8bbe2860c85 Forks (GitHub): 306 Pulls (Docker Hub): 56 653 Stars (Docker Hub): 8 Stars (GitHub): 2 460 Not marked · First seen |
| npm registry (MCP servers) | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.2.22 Downloads/month (npm): 89 437 Downloads/week (npm): 11 971 Forks (GitHub): 306 Stars (GitHub): 2 460 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | Perplexity API Platform | io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 3 | 3 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 2 589 (better) | 2 460 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 80 959 (better) | 56 653 (worse) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 387 (better) | 306 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | 2026-10-17 | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (@perplexity-ai/mcp-server) | On your machine (tavily-mcp) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 3 | 5 |
| Environment variables it asks for | 2, secrets among them: 1 | 2, secrets among them: 1 |
| Hooks it runs (differs) | 1 | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | 2 | Not a bundle |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/ppl-ai/modelcontextprotocol | github.com/tavily-ai/tavily-mcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 2 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
Perplexity API Platform
Real-time web search, reasoning, and research through Perplexity's API
io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp
MCP server for advanced web search using Tavily
How to run each
Perplexity API Platform As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --transport stdio perplexity-api-platform -- npx -y @perplexity-ai/mcp-serverio.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --env "TAVILY_API_KEY=<YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY>" --transport stdio tavily-mcp -- npx -y tavily-mcpRequires: TAVILY_API_KEY (secret)
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
Only Perplexity API Platform declares
perplexity_askperplexity_reasonperplexity_research
Only io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp declares
tavily_crawltavily_extracttavily_maptavily_researchtavily_search
Both declare
None
Tool names as each marketplace publishes them. More tools is not better in itself: compare what each needs for the job.
Settings each asks for
Only Perplexity API Platform asks for
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY (secret)PERPLEXITY_TIMEOUT_MS
Only io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp asks for
DEFAULT_PARAMETERSTAVILY_API_KEY (secret)
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Perplexity API Platform · What it can do: io.github.tavily-ai/tavily-mcp · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Package data comes from the public npm registry (registry.npmjs.org). Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.