Needle vs io.github.lazyants/transkribus
Needle is an MCP server published by needle-ai. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). io.github.lazyants/transkribus is an MCP server published by lazyants. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). 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 |  Needle |  io.github.lazyants/transkribus |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:d3fd314f40c3 Forks (GitHub): 24 Pulls (Docker Hub): 11 680 Stars (Docker Hub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 104 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 4.1.0 Downloads/month (npm): 548 Downloads/week (npm): 67 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 2 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 | io.github.lazyants/transkribus |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 104 (better) | 2 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 11 680 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 24 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/needle-mcp) | On your machine (@lazyants/transkribus-mcp-server) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 7 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 5, secrets among them: 3 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/needle-ai/needle-mcp | github.com/lazyants/transkribus-mcp-server |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| 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
Needle
Production-ready RAG service to search and retrieve data from your documents.
io.github.lazyants/transkribus
Transkribus REST and Processing APIs — collections, HTR/OCR; default v1, optional v2 beta.
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)
io.github.lazyants/transkribus As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --env "TRANSKRIBUS_ACCESS_TOKEN=<YOUR_TRANSKRIBUS_ACCESS_TOKEN>" --env "TRANSKRIBUS_PASSWORD=<YOUR_TRANSKRIBUS_PASSWORD>" --env "TRANSKRIBUS_SESSION_ID=<YOUR_TRANSKRIBUS_SESSION_ID>" --transport stdio transkribus -- npx -y @lazyants/transkribus-mcp-serverRequires: TRANSKRIBUS_ACCESS_TOKEN (secret), TRANSKRIBUS_PASSWORD (secret), TRANSKRIBUS_SESSION_ID (secret)
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of io.github.lazyants/transkribus publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Needle asks for
NEEDLE_API_KEY (secret)
Only io.github.lazyants/transkribus asks for
TRANSKRIBUS_ACCESS_TOKEN (secret)TRANSKRIBUS_KEYRING_SERVICETRANSKRIBUS_PASSWORD (secret)TRANSKRIBUS_SESSION_ID (secret)TRANSKRIBUS_USER
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Needle · What it can do: io.github.lazyants/transkribus · 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.