There are hundreds of MCP servers now, and the list grows every week. Most comparison articles cherry-pick 5-10 and call it a day. This one doesn't. Every major server, side by side, with the dimensions that actually matter for your decision.
Full MCP server comparison — all major servers
| Server | Official? | Cost | Requires Account? | Setup (mins) | Read | Write | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filesystem | Yes ✓ | Free | No | 2 | Yes | Yes | Code review, file ops |
| GitHub | Yes ✓ | Free | GitHub (free) | 5 | Yes | Yes | PR review, issues |
| Git | Yes ✓ | Free | No | 3 | Yes | No | Local repo history |
| Brave Search | Yes ✓ | Free tier | Brave (free) | 5 | Yes | N/A | Real-time web search |
| PostgreSQL | Yes ✓ | Free | No (own DB) | 10 | Yes | Depends on role | Database queries |
| SQLite | Yes ✓ | Free | No | 2 | Yes | Yes | Local data files |
| Fetch | Yes ✓ | Free | No | 2 | Yes | N/A | URL reading, API calls |
| Memory | Yes ✓ | Free | No | 2 | Yes | Yes | Persistent context |
| Puppeteer | Yes ✓ | Free | No | 5 | Yes | Yes | Browser automation |
| Slack | Yes ✓ | Free tier | Slack workspace | 10 | Yes | Yes | Channel summaries |
| Google Drive | Yes ✓ | Free | Google (free) | 15 | Yes | No (official) | Docs & Sheets |
| Notion | Yes (by Notion) | Free | Notion (free) | 10 | Yes | Yes | Notes, databases |
| Sequential Thinking | Yes ✓ | Free | No | 2 | N/A | N/A | Complex reasoning |
| AWS KB Retrieval | Yes ✓ | AWS costs | AWS account | 30+ | Yes | No | Enterprise knowledge |
| Sentry | Community | Free tier | Sentry account | 10 | Yes | No | Error tracking |
| Linear | Community | Free tier | Linear account | 10 | Yes | Yes | Issue management |
| Jira | Community | Free tier | Atlassian | 15 | Yes | Yes | Project tracking |
| Stripe | Community | Free (API) | Stripe account | 10 | Yes | Limited | Payment data |
| Kubernetes | Community | Free | K8s cluster | 20 | Yes | Yes | Cluster management |
| Docker | Community | Free | Docker installed | 10 | Yes | Yes | Container management |
| Obsidian | Community | Free | Obsidian app | 10 | Yes | Yes | Local markdown notes |
| Everything (test) | Yes ✓ | Free | No | 2 | Yes | Yes | Development/testing |
How to choose: decision guide by use case
| If you want to... | Use this server | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Give Claude access to local code | Filesystem | → Guide |
| Review GitHub PRs and create issues | GitHub | → Guide |
| Search the web in real time | Brave Search | → Guide |
| Query a Postgres database | PostgreSQL | → Guide |
| Read/write Slack channels | Slack | → Guide |
| Access Google Docs & Sheets | Google Drive | → Guide |
| Read/write Notion pages | Notion | → Guide |
| Remember context across sessions | Memory | → Guide |
| Automate a browser | Puppeteer | → Guide |
| Build your own integration | Custom server | → Guide |
Comparing by setup complexity
Setup complexity matters a lot if you're new to MCP or setting up multiple servers at once. Here's the honest breakdown:
| Complexity tier | Servers | What makes them easy/hard |
|---|---|---|
| Trivial (2 min) | Filesystem, Fetch, Memory, SQLite, Sequential Thinking, Everything | No API key, no account, just an npx command and a path |
| Easy (5–10 min) | GitHub, Brave Search, Git, Puppeteer, Notion, Sentry, Linear | Need an API key or OAuth token — 5 minutes to get one |
| Medium (10–20 min) | Slack, PostgreSQL, Docker, Kubernetes, Stripe, Jira | Multiple steps: create app, set permissions, configure, test |
| Complex (20+ min) | Google Drive, AWS KB Retrieval | OAuth project setup or cloud account config required |
The recommended starter combinations
Running multiple servers is where MCP gets really powerful. Here are three combinations worth considering:
Combination 1: Zero-cost starter stack
Filesystem + Memory + Fetch. All free, all local, no accounts. Gets you file access, persistent memory, and URL reading. Install in under 10 minutes total.
Combination 2: Developer power stack
Filesystem + GitHub + PostgreSQL + Brave Search + Memory. Everything a developer needs: code access, PR review, database queries, real-time search, and persistent project context. All free or free-tier.
Combination 3: Team productivity stack
Slack + Notion + Google Drive + Brave Search. Connect Claude to your team's communication, notes, and documents — then let it do cross-source research. Requires OAuth setups for each service but covers most of a knowledge worker's daily tools.
How many MCP servers can I run at once?
Technically as many as you want — Claude Desktop starts each as a separate process. Practically, most users run 3–6 simultaneously. Running more than that doesn't cause problems but does mean more processes consuming memory and more attack surface. Use what you actually need, not everything available.
Frequently Asked Questions
The filesystem MCP server exposes the most individual tools (10+) of any single server. For breadth of integration, the GitHub server covers the most surface area of an external platform — repos, PRs, issues, code search, and comment management.
The filesystem, fetch, memory, and sequential-thinking servers are the easiest — they require no API keys and install with a single npx command in your config file. Setup is under 2 minutes from start to working.
No MCP server software costs money — it's all open source. Some connect to paid external services: Slack Pro, Notion paid plans, etc. But all the services listed here have free tiers that work perfectly for personal and small-team use.
They vary widely. A server with 1,000+ stars, active maintenance, and readable code is generally safe. An anonymous server with no history and no documentation deserves scrutiny. See our full MCP server security guide for what to check.