The two kinds
A MCP server gives an AI assistant tools it can call. For Search Console there are two common shapes. A self-hosted server is code you install and run yourself, usually on your own computer. A hosted server runs on someone else's infrastructure and you add its URL to your assistant. mowteng is the second kind: you add https://mowteng.app/mcp and sign in with Google.
This page compares the categories, not named products, because features of individual projects change.
Side by side
| Hosted (like mowteng) | Self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Add one URL and sign in with Google. No Google Cloud project, API key or OAuth client of your own. | Install and run the server, and usually create your own Google Cloud project and OAuth client first. |
| Where it runs | Remote. Works with web, desktop and mobile assistants that support remote MCP. | On your machine, so it is reachable mainly from clients on that machine. |
| Sources | Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, Yandex Webmaster and IndexNow, with ready-made analyses. | Many cover Google only. |
| Price | 7-day free trial, then $9 per month or $90 per year. | Many are free software, so there is no subscription. |
| Your credentials | mowteng stores encrypted refresh tokens, never your search data. | Stay on your own machine. |
| Changing it | You use what is offered. | You can read, modify and extend the code. |
When self-hosted is the better fit
- You want everything on your own machine, including the credentials, and no third party in the loop.
- You want to read or change the code, or add your own tools.
- You already have a Google Cloud project and are comfortable running a local process.
- You only need Google data, and a free tool is enough.
When a hosted server is the better fit
- You want it working in a few minutes, with no Google Cloud setup.
- You use an assistant on the web or on your phone, not only a desktop app.
- You want Bing, Yandex and IndexNow next to Google in one place, and ready-made analyses such as striking distance keywords and keyword cannibalization.
- You would rather not maintain a local server.
List my Search Console properties, then show which queries on the busiest one sit at positions 11 to 20.
A question like this works the same in either kind; the difference is what you set up first. See the Google Search Console MCP server page for what mowteng's tools return, and Search Console API vs an MCP server if you are weighing writing code instead.
What to check before you choose
Ask four things of any server: where it runs, whose Google Cloud project it uses, what it stores, and which sources it covers. The answers decide most of the trade-off. If you try mowteng and it is not for you, the trial ends without charge; see trial, subscription and billing.