Needle Remote vs PinRAG
Needle Remote is an MCP server published by docker. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). PinRAG is an MCP server published by ndjordjevic. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, Claude Code: claude-plugins-community). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-17. 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 |  PinRAG | |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: not stated No figure published Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.9.27 Downloads/month (PyPI): 239 Downloads/week (PyPI): 28 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 2 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.0 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 0 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 Remote | PinRAG |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 2 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | No figure on GitHub | 2 |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | No figure on GitHub | 0 |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Remote server (mcp.needle.app/mcp) | On your machine (pinrag) |
| Transport (differs) | Streamable HTTP | stdio |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 2, secrets among them: 1 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 2 |
| Licence (differs) | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | Not stated | github.com/ndjordjevic/pinrag |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | Answered with HTTP 301 (7 h ago) | 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 Remote
Production-ready RAG service to search and retrieve data from your documents.
PinRAG
MCP RAG: index PDFs, repos, YouTube, Discord, text; optional YouTube vision; query with citations.
How to run each
Needle Remote As a remote MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http needle https://mcp.needle.app/mcpRequires: NEEDLE_API_KEY (secret)
PinRAG As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY>" --transport stdio pinrag -- uvx --refresh pinrag pinragRequires: OPENROUTER_API_KEY (secret)
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only Needle Remote has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
Only Needle Remote asks for
NEEDLE_API_KEY (secret)
Only PinRAG asks for
OPENAI_API_KEY (secret)OPENROUTER_API_KEY (secret)PINRAG_PERSIST_DIR
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Needle Remote · What it can do: PinRAG · 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 the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.