# Agent Search MCP vs crw

> Two self-hosted [Tavily alternatives](https://selfhost.directory/alternative-to/tavily), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Agent Search MCP | crw |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 46/100 | 58/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #132 of 209 in AI Agents | #10 of 16 in Web Scraping |
| GitHub stars | 111 | 1 192 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +-1 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 22 ✓ |
| Latest release | v3.2.1 · 11 Aug 2026 | v0.39.0 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

crw scores 58/100 against 46/100 for Agent Search MCP, so it is the safer default.

crw ships more often: 22 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for Agent Search MCP.

If you want the quickest setup, Agent Search MCP is easier to run; crw needs more configuration.

## Details

- [Agent Search MCP](https://selfhost.directory/project/agent-search-mcp) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/agent-search-mcp.md)
- [crw](https://selfhost.directory/project/crw) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/crw.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/agent-search-mcp-vs-crw