Markitdown vs mcp-file-tools
Markitdown is an MCP server published by microsoft. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). mcp-file-tools is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Dimitar Grigorov. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-13. 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 |  Markitdown | |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:9cb5f26d30b6 Forks (GitHub): 14 119 Pulls (Docker Hub): 157 340 Stars (Docker Hub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 189 777 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Community marketplace dimitar-grigorov/mcp-file-tools | Not listed | Listed Version: 4.5.0 Forks (GitHub): 10 Stars (GitHub): 25 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 | Markitdown | mcp-file-tools |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 189 777 (better) | 25 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 157 340 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 14 119 (better) | 10 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/markitdown) | Installs as a plugin bundle |
| Transport (differs) | stdio | Not stated |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 1 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 2 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/microsoft/markitdown | github.com/dimitar-grigorov/mcp-file-tools |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 2 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-13 |
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
Markitdown
A lightweight MCP server for calling MarkItDown.
mcp-file-tools
Filesystem MCP server for non-UTF-8 text: reads and writes 45 encodings (CP1251, CP1252, KOI8-R, ISO-8859, DOS code pages, UTF-16/32, GBK/Big5/Shift_JIS), keeping each file's encoding, BOM and line endings intact.
How to run each
Markitdown As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --transport stdio markitdown -- docker run -i --rm mcp/markitdownmcp-file-tools As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add dimitar-grigorov/mcp-file-tools
/plugin install mcp-file-tools@mcp-file-toolsCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of mcp-file-tools publish no list of 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: Markitdown · What it can do: mcp-file-tools · 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.