Grounder › Guides › Best web search MCP for local LLMs
The best web search MCP servers for local LLMs (2026)
"What local MCP servers do you use for web search?" is one of the most-asked questions in r/mcp - because a local model needs live web data, but most of the obvious options are built for cloud agents. This compares the web-search MCP servers that actually fit a local model (Ollama, LM Studio), and the catch most people miss: fitting results into a small context window.
Disclosure: we build Grounder, one of the options below. It's compared on the same axes as everything else, and every factual claim links to its source. The DIY build-it-yourself path is entirely valid - the full pipeline is in the how-to guide. Verify current prices on each vendor's page - they change.
What matters for a local model (vs a cloud agent)
- It has to fit a small window. A cloud agent has 200k tokens to burn; your local model runs the window that fits your VRAM - often 4k-8k. Results that don't cap to your budget overflow it, and the model returns nothing.
- The real page, not just links. A link is a starting point; the model needs the page's cleaned content to answer.
- Simple, predictable cost. Flat or free beats a per-credit meter you have to model.
- Privacy. You went local to keep your data local.
The options, compared
| Tool | Key / account | Free tier | Returns | Pricing | Fits a small window? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No-key DIY (e.g. web-search-mcp) | None (self-host) | Free | Search results / links | Free, you maintain it | You build it |
| Ollama web search | Free Ollama account | No published cap (as of 2026) | Up to ~10 results | Free w/ account; paid for higher limits | No (results, uncapped) |
| Brave Search MCP | Brave API key | 2,000 queries/mo | Search results | Free tier + paid API | You build it |
| Tavily | API key | 1,000 credits/mo | Results + answer | Metered (~$0.008/credit) | No (uncapped) |
| Exa | API key | No published cap (as of 2026) | Neural/semantic results | Metered | No (uncapped) |
| Firecrawl | API key | Free tier | Clean markdown (scrape+search) | Metered (paid) | No (full-page markdown) |
| Grounder (ours) | Key (email signup) | 1,500 pages/mo | Real page + token-capped cited pack | Flat monthly: $9 / $19 | Yes (max_tokens) |
Which one, and when
No-API-key DIY servers (mrkrsl/web-search-mcp, noapi-google-search-mcp) scrape a search engine directly with no key. Best for zero cost and full privacy. The catch: you run and maintain them, and direct scraping inherits rate-limits and breaks when the engine changes.
Ollama web search is the least work to add if you already live in Ollama. Best for a quick, hosted setup. The catch: it needs a free Ollama account and API key, and returns up to ~10 results (snippets) - not a context-fitted pack, so the "fit it to my window" step is still yours.
Brave Search MCP is the official, cheap, simple option (free 2,000 queries/mo). Best for clean search results. The catch: it returns links - you still build the fetch, rank, and fit-to-window steps.
Tavily and Exa are strong real-time search APIs purpose-built for AI agents, both with an official MCP and free credits to start. Best for a cloud agent that wants the best retrieval (Exa adds neural/semantic recall). The catch: they're cloud-first and per-credit metered, and return results at whatever length - not capped to a local model's window.
Firecrawl is more scrape than search - it turns pages into clean, LLM-ready markdown, with a search that can scrape the top results. Best for content extraction at scale. The catch: it's cloud, paid, and heavier than a local model usually needs.
Grounder (ours) is built for the local case: web_search for links, fetch
for the real page as clean markdown, and deep_search for a cited evidence pack - all
token-capped to your window (max_tokens) so they can't overflow it. One flat monthly
price (every page is one page), free tier 1,500 pages/mo, and it stores no queries. Full parameters are
in the docs.
Try the token-capped one
Grounder returns a token-capped evidence pack sized to your context window, over MCP or REST. Free tier: 1,500 pages a month, email only, no card.
Get a free keyFAQ
Do I need an API key for a web-search MCP server?
Depends on the server. Self-hosted DIY servers that scrape directly need none; hosted ones (Ollama, Brave, Tavily, Exa, Firecrawl, Grounder) need an account or key, most with a free tier.
What's the best free option?
For zero cost + self-host: a no-API-key DIY server (you maintain it). For a hosted free tier: Ollama web search (free account) or Grounder (1,500 pages/mo, email only).
Does this work with LM Studio and Ollama?
Yes - any MCP client can register an MCP server (LM Studio via mcp.json), and most also
expose a REST API you can call from an Ollama pipeline.
Why does web search overflow my local model?
Results or full pages exceed a small local window, so the model returns nothing or a truncation error. The fix is a token-capped pack sized to your window - see the overflow guide.