Needle Remote vs Obsidian Brain
Needle Remote is an MCP server published by docker. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Obsidian Brain is an MCP server published by sweir1. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-15. 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 |  Obsidian Brain | |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: not stated No figure published Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.7.24 Downloads/month (npm): 640 Downloads/week (npm): 117 Forks (GitHub): 3 Stars (GitHub): 12 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 | Obsidian Brain |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | No figure on GitHub | 12 |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | No figure on GitHub | 3 |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Remote server (mcp.needle.app/mcp) | On your machine (obsidian-brain) |
| Transport (differs) | Streamable HTTP | stdio |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 19, secrets among them: 0 |
| Licence (differs) | Apache-2.0 | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | Not stated | github.com/sweir1/obsidian-brain |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | not checked yet | 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.
Obsidian Brain
Obsidian MCP server: semantic search, knowledge graph, and vault editing. No plugin required.
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)
Obsidian Brain As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --env "VAULT_PATH=<YOUR_VAULT_PATH>" --transport stdio obsidian-brain -- npx -y obsidian-brain serverRequires: VAULT_PATH
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
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 Obsidian Brain asks for
DATA_DIREMBEDDING_MODELEMBEDDING_PRESETEMBEDDING_PROVIDEROBSIDIAN_BRAIN_COMMUNITY_DEBOUNCE_MSOBSIDIAN_BRAIN_CONFIG_DIROBSIDIAN_BRAIN_DEBUGOBSIDIAN_BRAIN_LOG_FORMATOBSIDIAN_BRAIN_MAX_CHUNK_TOKENSOBSIDIAN_BRAIN_NO_CATCHUPOBSIDIAN_BRAIN_NO_WATCHOBSIDIAN_BRAIN_OLLAMA_AUTO_PULL
Show the remaining 7
OBSIDIAN_BRAIN_OLLAMA_BYOM_AUTO_PULLOBSIDIAN_BRAIN_TOOL_TIMEOUT_MSOBSIDIAN_BRAIN_WATCH_DEBOUNCE_MSOLLAMA_BASE_URLOLLAMA_EMBEDDING_DIMOLLAMA_NUM_CTXVAULT_PATH
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Needle Remote · What it can do: Obsidian Brain · 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.