Chroma vs aiven
Chroma is an MCP server published by chroma-core. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). aiven is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by aiven. Marketplaces we read that list it: 3 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-official, Claude Code: claude-plugins-community, Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-12. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  aiven | |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:c050ca8e1d4e Forks (GitHub): 117 Pulls (Docker Hub): 59 179 Stars (Docker Hub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 600 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-official | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.6 Forks (GitHub): 3 Stars (GitHub): 1 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.6 Forks (GitHub): 3 Stars (GitHub): 1 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | Chroma | aiven |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 3 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 600 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 59 179 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 117 (better) | 3 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/chroma) | Remote server (mcp.aiven.live/mcp) |
| Transport (differs) | stdio | Streamable HTTP |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 13 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 2 |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/chroma-core/chroma-mcp | github.com/aiven/aiven-ai-plugins |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | no remote endpoint we check | not checked yet |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
Chroma
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation that provides database capabilities for Chroma.
aiven
Easily deploy managed PostgreSQL (pg), Kafka, OpenSearch, Clickhouse and other databases, streaming and apps. Free tier available, up and running in minutes.
How to run each
Chroma As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "CHROMA_API_KEY=<YOUR_CHROMA_API_KEY>" --transport stdio chroma -- docker run -i --rm -e CHROMA_API_KEY mcp/chromaRequires: CHROMA_API_KEY (secret)
aiven As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin install aiven@claude-plugins-officialCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of aiven publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of aiven publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: Chroma · What it can do: aiven · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.