exa vs Free Search
exa is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by exa-labs. Marketplaces we read that list it: 4 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-official, Official MCP Registry, Docker MCP Catalog, Claude: knowledge-work-plugins). Free Search is an MCP server published by sweetcornna. Marketplaces we read that list it: 3 (Official MCP Registry, PyPI (MCP servers), Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-11-05. 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 |   Free Search |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-official | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 409 Stars (GitHub): 5 212 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 409 Stars (GitHub): 5 212 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: 0.18.0 Downloads/month (PyPI): 3 409 Downloads/week (PyPI): 1 518 Forks (GitHub): 19 Stars (GitHub): 175 Not marked · First seen |
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:d88edd571d98 Forks (GitHub): 409 Pulls (Docker Hub): 37 638 Stars (Docker Hub): 7 Stars (GitHub): 5 212 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude: knowledge-work-plugins | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 409 Stars (GitHub): 5 212 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| PyPI (MCP servers) | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.18.0 Downloads/month (PyPI): 3 409 Downloads/week (PyPI): 1 518 Forks (GitHub): 19 Stars (GitHub): 175 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 | Free Search |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 4 (better) | 3 (worse) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 5 212 (better) | 175 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 37 638 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 409 (better) | 19 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-10-31 |
| Where it runs (differs) | Remote server or your machine | On your machine (free-search-mcp) |
| Transport (differs) | Streamable HTTP, stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 2 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 3, secrets among them: 1 |
| Parts of the bundle | 3 | 3 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server | github.com/sweetcornna/free-search-mcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 3 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | Responded less than an hour 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.
Free Search
No-API-key web search, page fetching and document reading across many engines. Local-first.
How to run each
exa As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin install exa@claude-plugins-officialFree Search As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "SEARCH_MCP_PROXY=<YOUR_SEARCH_MCP_PROXY>" --transport stdio free-search-mcp -- uvx free-search-mcpRequires: SEARCH_MCP_PROXY (secret)
Commands 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 Free Search publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only exa asks for
EXA_API_KEY (secret)
Only Free Search asks for
SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIRSEARCH_MCP_PROXY (secret)SEARCH_MCP_REGION
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: exa · What it can do: Free Search · 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. Package data comes from the Python Package Index (pypi.org). 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.