Hugging Face vs claude-scholar
Hugging Face is an MCP server published by docker. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). claude-scholar is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Galaxy-Dawn. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-20. 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 |  Hugging Face | |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: not stated No figure published Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Community marketplace galaxy-dawn/claude-scholar | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.0 Forks (GitHub): 476 Stars (GitHub): 5 835 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 | Hugging Face | claude-scholar |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | No figure on GitHub | 5 835 |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | No figure on GitHub | 476 |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Remote server (huggingface.co/mcp) | Installs as a plugin bundle |
| Transport (differs) | Streamable HTTP | Not stated |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 4 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Hooks it runs (differs) | Not published | 5 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 96 |
| Licence (differs) | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | Not stated | github.com/galaxy-dawn/claude-scholar |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 2 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-19 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | Responded 5 days ago | no remote endpoint we check |
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
Hugging Face
Tools for interacting with Hugging Face models, datasets, research papers, and more.
claude-scholar
Semi-automated research assistant with skills for literature review, experiments, analysis, writing, and project knowledge management
How to run each
Hugging Face As a remote MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http hugging-face https://huggingface.co/mcpclaude-scholar As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add galaxy-dawn/claude-scholar
/plugin install claude-scholar@claude-scholarCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only Hugging Face has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
Neither the marketplaces of claude-scholar nor its endpoint list any tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Neither one's marketplaces publish the settings it asks for.
What it can do: Hugging Face · What it can do: claude-scholar · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. 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.