Needle vs MCP Document Reader
Needle is an MCP server published by needle-ai. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). MCP Document Reader is an MCP server published by xt765. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-14. 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 |  MCP Document Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:d3fd314f40c3 Forks (GitHub): 24 Pulls (Docker Hub): 11 609 Stars (Docker Hub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 103 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.3.1 Downloads/month (PyPI): 486 Downloads/week (PyPI): 128 Forks (GitHub): 7 Stars (GitHub): 23 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 | MCP Document Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 103 (better) | 23 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 11 609 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 24 (better) | 7 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/needle-mcp) | On your machine (mcp-documents-reader) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 7 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | Not published |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/needle-ai/needle-mcp | github.com/xt765/mcp_documents_reader |
| 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.
MCP Document Reader
An MCP enabled multi-format document reader supporting DOCX, PDF, TXT, and Excel files
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)
MCP Document Reader As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --transport stdio mcp-documents-reader -- uvx mcp-documents-readerCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of MCP Document Reader publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of MCP Document Reader publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: Needle · What it can do: MCP Document Reader · 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.