Handwriting OCR vs Free the Tools
Handwriting OCR is an MCP server published by Handwriting-OCR. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Free the Tools is an MCP server published by sapience-design. 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 |   Free the Tools |
|---|---|---|
| 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: 0.1.2 Downloads/month (npm): 743 Downloads/week (npm): 743 Forks (GitHub): 1 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 | Handwriting OCR | Free the Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 17 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 18 861 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 7 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-10-11 |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/handwriting-ocr) | On your machine (freethetools) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 3 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 1, secrets among them: 0 |
| Licence (differs) | Not stated | AGPL-3.0-only |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/handwriting-ocr/handwriting-ocr-mcp-server | github.com/sapience-design/freethetools |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 5 |
| 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.
Free the Tools
Local PDF, image, data and text tools for AI assistants. Files stay on your computer.
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)
Free the Tools As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --transport stdio freethetools -- npx -y freethetools mcpCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of Free the Tools publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Handwriting OCR asks for
API_TOKEN (secret)
Only Free the Tools asks for
FREETHETOOLS_LIBRARY
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Handwriting OCR · What it can do: Free the Tools · 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. 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.