exa vs claude-scholar
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). claude-scholar is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Galaxy-Dawn. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-21. 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 |  exa | |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-official | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 402 Stars (GitHub): 5 158 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 402 Stars (GitHub): 5 158 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:d88edd571d98 Forks (GitHub): 402 Pulls (Docker Hub): 36 654 Stars (Docker Hub): 7 Stars (GitHub): 5 158 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude: knowledge-work-plugins | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 402 Stars (GitHub): 5 158 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Community marketplace galaxy-dawn/claude-scholar | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.0 Forks (GitHub): 461 Stars (GitHub): 5 857 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 | exa | claude-scholar |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 5 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 5 158 (worse) | 5 857 (better) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 36 654 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 402 (worse) | 461 (better) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Remote server or your machine | Installs as a plugin bundle |
| Transport (differs) | Streamable HTTP, stdio | Not stated |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 2 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | Not published |
| Hooks it runs (differs) | Not published | 5 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | 3 | 96 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server | github.com/galaxy-dawn/claude-scholar |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 2 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-19 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | Responded 4 days ago | no remote endpoint we check |
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
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.
claude-scholar
Semi-automated research assistant with skills for literature review, experiments, analysis, writing, and project knowledge management
How to run each
exa As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin install exa@claude-plugins-officialclaude-scholar As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add galaxy-dawn/claude-scholar
/plugin install claude-scholar@claude-scholarCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only exa has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of claude-scholar publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of claude-scholar publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: exa · What it can do: claude-scholar · Compare two other plugins
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. Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.