--- title: "firecrawl-mcp-server vs search_with_lepton" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server-vs-leptonai-search-with-lepton" tools: ["firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server", "leptonai-search-with-lepton"] --- # firecrawl-mcp-server vs search_with_lepton *GraphCanon updated Aug 26, 2026* ## Verdict Pick firecrawl-mcp-server if firecrawl MCP Server is designed to integrate powerful web scraping and content extraction functionalities for LLM clients such as Cursor and Claude under the MIT License; pick search_with_lepton if **search_with_lepton** is a TypeScript-based conversational search demo integrating Lepton AI's LLM and offering flexible backend options like Bing, Google SearchAPI, Serper, or Programmable Search Engine. [firecrawl-mcp-server](https://firecrawl.dev) reports 7.3k GitHub stars, 862 forks, and 157 open issues, last pushed Aug 26, 2026. [search_with_lepton](https://search.lepton.run) has 8.1k stars, 998 forks, and 44 open issues, last pushed Dec 2, 2025. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [firecrawl-mcp-server's repository](https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl-mcp-server) and [search_with_lepton's repository](https://github.com/leptonai/search_with_lepton). | | [firecrawl-mcp-server](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server.md) | [search_with_lepton](/tools/leptonai-search-with-lepton.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Adding web scraping and search capabilities to LLM clients like Cursor and Claude | Building a quick conversation-based search demo with Lepton AI. | | Stars | 7,318 | 8,081 | | Forks | 862 | 998 | | Open issues | 157 | 44 | | Language | JavaScript | TypeScript | | Adopt for | Firecrawl MCP Server is designed to integrate powerful web scraping and content extraction functionalities for LLM clients such as Cursor and Claude under the MIT License. | **search_with_lepton** is a TypeScript-based conversational search demo integrating Lepton AI's LLM and offering flexible backend options like Bing, Google SearchAPI, Serper, or Programmable Search Engine. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | MIT | Apache-2.0 license, providing freedom to use, modify and distribute the software while requiring preservation of copyright notices. | | Categories | Data & Retrieval, LLM Frameworks | Data & Retrieval, LLM Frameworks | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [firecrawl-mcp-server](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server.md) | [search_with_lepton](/tools/leptonai-search-with-lepton.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Very active (96%) | Archived (8%) | | Days since push | 0d | 248d | | Archived on GitHub | No | Yes | | Open issues (now) | 157 | 44 | | Stars delta | +271 (30d) | Unknown | | Open issues delta | -1 (30d) | Unknown | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/leptonai-search-with-lepton/trust.md) | ## Shared compatibility - **Node.js**: [firecrawl-mcp-server](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server.md) - Node.js runtime; [search_with_lepton](/tools/leptonai-search-with-lepton.md) - Node.js runtime ## Decision facts: firecrawl-mcp-server - **Adopt for:** Firecrawl MCP Server is designed to integrate powerful web scraping and content extraction functionalities for LLM clients such as Cursor and Claude under the MIT License. ## Decision facts: search_with_lepton - **Adopt for:** **search_with_lepton** is a TypeScript-based conversational search demo integrating Lepton AI's LLM and offering flexible backend options like Bing, Google SearchAPI, Serper, or Programmable Search Engine. - **License detail:** Apache-2.0 license, providing freedom to use, modify and distribute the software while requiring preservation of copyright notices. ## Choose when ### Choose firecrawl-mcp-server if… - firecrawl-mcp-server is primarily JavaScript; search_with_lepton is TypeScript. - License: firecrawl-mcp-server is MIT, search_with_lepton is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to firecrawl-mcp-server: batch-processing, content-extraction, data-collection, javascript-rendering. - firecrawl-mcp-server ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - When you need JavaScript-based rendering capabilities for more accurate content extraction from the web ### Choose search_with_lepton if… - search_with_lepton is primarily TypeScript; firecrawl-mcp-server is JavaScript. - License: search_with_lepton is Apache-2.0, firecrawl-mcp-server is MIT. - Tags unique to search_with_lepton: ai-applications, bing-api, conversational-search, google-search. - - When you need a quick prototype of a conversation-driven search engine leveraging Lepton AI. ## When NOT to use firecrawl-mcp-server - If your project requires a server-side solution in languages other than JavaScript, as Firecrawl MCP Server is written in JavaScript only - When you are not looking to integrate or extend functionalities for Cursor and Claude LLM clients ## When NOT to use search_with_lepton - - Avoid if your project strictly requires only native integration with other LLMs besides Lepton AI as this tool is tightly coupled with it. - - Not recommended if you aim to build a large-scale production system as the demo focuses on rapid development rather than high throughput or enterprise-level robustness. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between firecrawl-mcp-server and search_with_lepton? firecrawl-mcp-server: Adding web scraping and search capabilities to LLM clients like Cursor and Claude. search_with_lepton: Building a quick conversation-based search demo with Lepton AI.. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose firecrawl-mcp-server over search_with_lepton? Choose firecrawl-mcp-server over search_with_lepton when firecrawl-mcp-server is primarily JavaScript; search_with_lepton is TypeScript; License: firecrawl-mcp-server is MIT, search_with_lepton is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to firecrawl-mcp-server: batch-processing, content-extraction, data-collection, javascript-rendering; firecrawl-mcp-server ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; When you need JavaScript-based rendering capabilities for more accurate content extraction from the web. ### When should I choose search_with_lepton over firecrawl-mcp-server? Choose search_with_lepton over firecrawl-mcp-server when search_with_lepton is primarily TypeScript; firecrawl-mcp-server is JavaScript; License: search_with_lepton is Apache-2.0, firecrawl-mcp-server is MIT; Tags unique to search_with_lepton: ai-applications, bing-api, conversational-search, google-search; - When you need a quick prototype of a conversation-driven search engine leveraging Lepton AI. ### When should I avoid firecrawl-mcp-server? If your project requires a server-side solution in languages other than JavaScript, as Firecrawl MCP Server is written in JavaScript only When you are not looking to integrate or extend functionalities for Cursor and Claude LLM clients ### When should I avoid search_with_lepton? - Avoid if your project strictly requires only native integration with other LLMs besides Lepton AI as this tool is tightly coupled with it. - Not recommended if you aim to build a large-scale production system as the demo focuses on rapid development rather than high throughput or enterprise-level robustness. ### Is firecrawl-mcp-server or search_with_lepton more popular on GitHub? search_with_lepton has more GitHub stars (8,081 vs 7,318). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are firecrawl-mcp-server and search_with_lepton open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (firecrawl-mcp-server: MIT, search_with_lepton: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to firecrawl-mcp-server or search_with_lepton? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [firecrawl-mcp-server alternatives](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server/alternatives) and [search_with_lepton alternatives](/tools/leptonai-search-with-lepton/alternatives) ([firecrawl-mcp-server markdown twin](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server/alternatives.md), [search_with_lepton markdown twin](/tools/leptonai-search-with-lepton/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server-vs-leptonai-search-with-lepton.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, firecrawl-mcp-server or search_with_lepton? firecrawl-mcp-server: Very active. search_with_lepton: Archived. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for firecrawl-mcp-server and search_with_lepton? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [firecrawl-mcp-server trust report](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server/trust); [search_with_lepton trust report](/tools/leptonai-search-with-lepton/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=firecrawl-firecrawl-mcp-server) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_