Compare
Every MCP server directory, side by side.
There are six places most people look for an MCP server, and they are built differently: one is the protocol's own registry, some index servers themselves, some take submissions, one hosts the servers it lists. Which one to search depends on what you are trying to find. Below is how each works and what it lets you filter by, read from each site on 9 October 2026.
The six MCP directories
The size column is what each site printed about itself that day. The numbers count different things (packages, versions, hosted servers), so they do not add up to one ecosystem total, and a bigger catalog is not a better search.
| Directory | Size, as it states it | How a server gets in | What you can filter by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official MCP Registry | Prints no total. We counted 37,186 distinct servers through its API on 29 September 2026. | The maker publishes with the mcp-publisher CLI after proving they own the namespace. | Search by name, and a "Show only latest versions" switch. The API adds the same search, a version filter and an updated-since date. No categories and no popularity. |
| Glama | 97,619 servers | It indexes servers itself. A maker claims a listing by signing in with GitHub. | Hosting (Remote, Local, Hybrid), language, capabilities (tools, resources, prompts), author (Claimed, Official) and categories. Sorts by recent usage, npm and PyPI downloads, GitHub stars, or date added. |
| PulseMCP | 21,729 servers | It picks servers up from the official registry. Its own submit page was closed to new submissions when we read it on 29 September 2026. | A "Remote Available" switch, and who published it (Anthropic References, Official Providers, Community). Sorts by popularity this week, this month or all time, and by release date. |
| mcp.so | Prints no total on its front page. | The maker opens an issue in its GitHub repository. | Search by name, category, tag, runtime or integration. Featured, trending and new-arrival lists, and a separate Remote Servers section. |
| mcpservers.org | Prints no total on its front page. | A submit form: free listings are reviewed within 2 weeks, or $39 for review within 24 hours. | Search, category tabs (Official, Development, Productivity, Database and 12 more) and a separate Remote MCP Servers page. Its featured row mixes sponsored and official listings, each labelled. |
| Smithery | Its homepage said "25,785+"; its server list said 14,133 found, on the same day. | The maker publishes at smithery.ai/new with a public HTTPS URL or a .mcpb bundle. | Search, Verified, "Smithery managed", namespace and categories. Each card shows a use count. |
Every row was read from the linked site on 9 October 2026, except where it names another date. Directories change their filters and their counts often, and a feature may sit on a page we did not read.
Which MCP directory to use for which job
- You want what most people use
- Sort by usage. PulseMCP sorts by popularity this week, this month or all time; Glama sorts by recent usage, package downloads or GitHub stars; Smithery shows a use count on every card.
- You want a remote server you can connect to by URL
- Glama's Hosting filter (Remote), PulseMCP's "Remote Available" switch, or the remote sections on mcp.so and mcpservers.org. In the official registry, a remote server is one whose entry carries a remotes block, and how to find MCP servers shows the one-line filter for it.
- You want to know whether its tools are well described
- Glama grades each tool's description on the servers it indexes. A model picks tools by reading those descriptions, so this is the closest any directory gets to "will my client use it well". What each directory's badge means covers how that grade is computed.
- You want what is new
- mcp.so has a new-arrivals list, PulseMCP sorts by release date, and the registry's API takes an updated-since date. For launches rather than listings, there is this week's board, where makers put new MCP products up for a vote.
- You want to script the search
- Use the official registry's API: it is open, needs no key, and returns JSON. How to find MCP servers has the exact requests.
- You want it installed and hosted for you
- Smithery hosts and runs the servers it lists, and installs one into your client in a step.
Glama vs Smithery, PulseMCP vs Glama, mcp.so vs Glama
Glama vs Smithery. Glama leads as an index: it finds servers itself and grades their tool descriptions. Smithery is a platform: makers publish to it, and it hosts the server and installs it for you. Search Glama to compare many servers; use Smithery when you want one running without setting it up.
PulseMCP vs Glama. Both are large catalogs. PulseMCP leads with popularity, with an estimated weekly visitor count on each card and sorts by this week or this month. Glama leads with filters and its per-tool grade. Use PulseMCP to see what people are using, Glama to narrow down by hosting, language or capability.
mcp.so vs Glama. mcp.so is a community directory you browse by category, tag, trending and new arrivals, and makers add themselves through a GitHub issue. Glama indexes on its own and gives you more filters. mcp.so is the lighter browse; Glama is the deeper search.
Why a listing is not proof a server answers
Every directory above counts entries. None of those numbers says how many of the servers answer. We measured that in the one place it can be measured: we called 1,100 remote addresses from the official registry on 20 August 2026, once each, and 139 of them (12.6%) did not answer as an MCP server. Another 263 (23.9%) answered by asking for credentials, which is a working server guarding itself.
And 10,630 of the 23,828 servers in the registry (44.6%) had no address at all: they ship as a package you run on your own machine. The registry census has the method and every caveat. It describes the registry, not any directory's own catalog, and no single server. It is also not a security review, of the servers or of the directories.
Check a server before you install it
Found one? Paste its address into the MCP connection tester. It runs the same handshake your client would and tells you which protocol revision answered and which tools came back, or why it failed, with a dated link you can keep.
Listing your own server
Built an MCP server? The steps for getting onto each of these six are in where to list an MCP server. To launch it rather than just list it, put it on the weekly board: you get a permanent page with a dated record of what your server answered, and the week it launched in stays online at its own URL.
External claims on this page were read from the linked sites on 9 October 2026 unless a row names another date. Census figures are from one call per address on the date given and describe nothing about any server today.