Chroma vs frugal-memory
Chroma is an MCP server published by chroma-core. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). frugal-memory is an MCP server published by komakeule57-maker. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-22. 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 |  Chroma |  frugal-memory |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:c050ca8e1d4e Forks (GitHub): 117 Pulls (Docker Hub): 60 810 Stars (Docker Hub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 601 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.1.5 Forks (GitHub): 0 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 | frugal-memory |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 601 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 60 810 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 117 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-10-22 |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/chroma) | On your machine (frugal-memory) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 13 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 2, secrets among them: 0 |
| Licence (differs) | Apache-2.0 | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/chroma-core/chroma-mcp | github.com/komakeule57-maker/frugal-memory |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 4 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-19 |
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.
frugal-memory
Memory for AI assistants in one SQLite file: full-text search, no vectors, no embeddings.
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)
frugal-memory As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --transport stdio frugal-memory -- uvx frugal-memoryCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of frugal-memory publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Chroma asks for
CHROMA_API_KEY (secret)
Only frugal-memory asks for
MEMORY_DBMEMORY_LANG
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Chroma · What it can do: frugal-memory · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.