Handwriting OCR vs Docling MCP
Handwriting OCR is an MCP server published by Handwriting-OCR. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Docling MCP is an MCP server published by docling-project. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-16. 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 |  Handwriting OCR |  Docling MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:141e2e00e706 Forks (GitHub): 7 Pulls (Docker Hub): 18 861 Stars (Docker Hub): 2 Stars (GitHub): 17 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 3.3.0 Downloads/month (PyPI): 20 338 Downloads/week (PyPI): 6 126 Forks (GitHub): 144 Stars (GitHub): 772 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 | Handwriting OCR | Docling MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 17 (worse) | 772 (better) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 18 861 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 7 (worse) | 144 (better) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/handwriting-ocr) | On your machine (docling-mcp) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 3 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 14, secrets among them: 1 |
| Licence | Not stated | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/handwriting-ocr/handwriting-ocr-mcp-server | github.com/docling-project/docling-mcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
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
Handwriting OCR
Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server for Handwriting OCR.
Docling MCP
Convert PDFs and other documents to structured formats via Docling, for AI applications.
How to run each
Handwriting OCR As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "API_TOKEN=<YOUR_API_TOKEN>" --transport stdio handwriting-ocr -- docker run -i --rm -e API_TOKEN mcp/handwriting-ocrRequires: API_TOKEN (secret)
Docling MCP As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "DOCLING_MCP_SERVICE_API_KEY=<YOUR_DOCLING_MCP_SERVICE_API_KEY>" --transport stdio docling-mcp -- uvx --from docling-mcp==3.3.0 docling-mcp-server --transport stdio docling-mcpRequires: DOCLING_MCP_SERVICE_API_KEY (secret)
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of Docling MCP publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Handwriting OCR asks for
API_TOKEN (secret)
Only Docling MCP asks for
DOCLING_MCP_CACHE_MAX_DOCUMENTSDOCLING_MCP_CONVERSION_MODEDOCLING_MCP_DO_OCRDOCLING_MCP_DO_PICTURE_DESCRIPTIONDOCLING_MCP_DO_TABLE_STRUCTUREDOCLING_MCP_FALLBACK_TO_LOCALDOCLING_MCP_IMAGES_SCALEDOCLING_MCP_IMAGE_EXPORT_MODEDOCLING_MCP_KEEP_IMAGESDOCLING_MCP_PICTURE_DESCRIPTION_PRESETDOCLING_MCP_SERVICE_API_KEY (secret)DOCLING_MCP_SERVICE_MAX_RETRIES
Show the remaining 2
DOCLING_MCP_SERVICE_TIMEOUTDOCLING_MCP_SERVICE_URL
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Handwriting OCR · What it can do: Docling MCP · 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.