Needle vs commentkeyword
Needle is an MCP server published by needle-ai. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Docker MCP Catalog, Official MCP Registry). commentkeyword is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by commentkeyword. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-11-12. 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 |  Needle |  commentkeyword |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:d3fd314f40c3 Forks (GitHub): 24 Pulls (Docker Hub): 12 188 Stars (Docker Hub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 104 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 1.0.1 Forks (GitHub): 24 Stars (GitHub): 104 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Community marketplace davepoon/buildwithclaude | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.2.0 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 | Needle | commentkeyword |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 2 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 104 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 12 188 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 24 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | 2026-11-06 | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Remote server or your machine | Installs as a plugin bundle |
| Transport (differs) | stdio, Streamable HTTP | Not stated |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 7 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 1, secrets among them: 1 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 2 |
| Licence (differs) | Not stated | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/needle-ai/needle-mcp | github.com/commentkeyword/agent-toolkit |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 3 | 1 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-28 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | Responded 23 h ago, requires authentication | 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
Needle
Production-ready RAG service to search and retrieve data from your documents.
commentkeyword
Plan the "Comment KEYWORD" CTA of an Instagram Reel (keyword, on-screen text, caption, DM copy) and set up the automatic DM in CommentKeyword, which sends it through Instagram's official API. Adds the comment-to-dm-cta skill and a dependency-free local MCP server; nothing that messages people is created until the user confirms the keyword, DM text and target posts. Needs a CommentKeyword API token (API access is included on the Free plan).
How to run each
Needle As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "NEEDLE_API_KEY=<YOUR_NEEDLE_API_KEY>" --transport stdio needle-mcp -- docker run -i --rm -e NEEDLE_API_KEY mcp/needle-mcpRequires: NEEDLE_API_KEY (secret)
commentkeyword As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add davepoon/buildwithclaude
/plugin install commentkeyword@buildwithclaudeCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only Needle has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of commentkeyword publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Needle asks for
NEEDLE_API_KEY (secret)
Only commentkeyword asks for
COMMENTKEYWORD_API_TOKEN (secret)
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Needle · What it can do: commentkeyword · 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.