SearXNG vs exa
SearXNG is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by 88plug. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). exa is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by exa-labs. Marketplaces we read that list it: 5 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-official, Official MCP Registry, Docker MCP Catalog, Claude: knowledge-work-plugins, Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-16. 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 |  SearXNG |  exa |
|---|---|---|
| Community marketplace 88plug/claude-code-plugins | Not seen in the last pass Version: 2026.9.62 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 4 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-official | Not listed | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 403 Stars (GitHub): 5 133 Not marked · First seen |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 403 Stars (GitHub): 5 133 Not marked · First seen |
| Docker MCP Catalog | Not listed | Listed Version: sha256:d88edd571d98 Forks (GitHub): 403 Pulls (Docker Hub): 36 425 Stars (Docker Hub): 7 Stars (GitHub): 5 133 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude: knowledge-work-plugins | Not listed | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 403 Stars (GitHub): 5 133 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 | SearXNG | exa |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 5 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 4 (worse) | 5 133 (better) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | No figure on Docker Hub | 36 425 |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 0 (worse) | 403 (better) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Installs as a plugin bundle | Remote server or your machine |
| Transport (differs) | Not stated | Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | Not published | 2 |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 0 | 1, secrets among them: 1 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | 1 | 3 |
| Licence (differs) | FSL-1.1-ALv2 | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/88plug/searxng-mcp | github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 2 | 0 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | no remote endpoint we check | not checked yet |
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
SearXNG
Fast, token-efficient MCP for SearXNG metasearch. Privacy-respecting search across 70+ engines with stdio + streamable-http transports, Docker, and optional rendered (Playwright) fetch for JS-heavy pages. Self-hostable. The underlying server is also usable independently of Claude Code via `uvx --from git+https://github.com/88plug/searxng-mcp searxng-mcp`.
exa
Exa AI web search, deep research, and content extraction. Provides MCP tools and research skills for comprehensive web search, people discovery, company research, academic papers, and more.
How to run each
SearXNG As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add 88plug/claude-code-plugins
/plugin install searxng@88plugexa As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin install exa@claude-plugins-officialCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of SearXNG publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only SearXNG asks for
SEARXNG_MCP_BASE_URL
Only exa asks for
EXA_API_KEY (secret)
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: SearXNG · What it can do: exa · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. 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 the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.