Needle vs rag-mcp
Needle is an MCP server published by needle-ai. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Docker MCP Catalog, Official MCP Registry). rag-mcp is an MCP server published by MasihMoafi. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-11-14. 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 |  rag-mcp |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:d3fd314f40c3 Forks (GitHub): 24 Pulls (Docker Hub): 12 211 Stars (Docker Hub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 105 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 1.0.1 Forks (GitHub): 24 Stars (GitHub): 105 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: 0.3.0 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 9 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 | rag-mcp |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 2 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 105 (better) | 9 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 12 211 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 24 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | 2026-11-06 (worse) | 2026-11-12 (better) |
| Where it runs (differs) | Remote server or your machine | On your machine (ragmcp-cli) |
| Transport (differs) | stdio, Streamable HTTP | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 7 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 1, secrets among them: 1 |
| Licence | Not stated | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/needle-ai/needle-mcp | github.com/masihmoafi/rag-mcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 3 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-11 | 2026-11-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | Responded 19 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.
rag-mcp
Scoped hybrid search (BM25, embeddings, reranking) and grounded answers over local files and folders
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)
rag-mcp As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY>" --transport stdio rag-mcp -- uvx ragmcp-cli mcpRequires: OPENROUTER_API_KEY (secret)
Commands 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 rag-mcp publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Needle asks for
NEEDLE_API_KEY (secret)
Only rag-mcp asks for
OPENROUTER_API_KEY (secret)
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Needle · What it can do: rag-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.