Obsidian vs Zotero MCP
Obsidian is an MCP server published by MarkusPfundstein. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Zotero MCP is an MCP server published by 54yyyu. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, PyPI (MCP servers)). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-26. 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 |  Zotero MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:0eba4c05742a Forks (GitHub): 508 Pulls (Docker Hub): 146 500 Stars (Docker Hub): 31 Stars (GitHub): 4 493 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.15.1 Downloads/month (PyPI): 20 314 Downloads/week (PyPI): 7 107 Forks (GitHub): 446 Stars (GitHub): 5 579 Not marked · First seen |
| PyPI (MCP servers) | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.15.1 Downloads/month (PyPI): 20 314 Downloads/week (PyPI): 7 107 Forks (GitHub): 446 Stars (GitHub): 5 579 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 | Obsidian | Zotero MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 2 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 4 493 (worse) | 5 579 (better) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 146 500 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 508 (better) | 446 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-10-16 |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/obsidian) | On your machine (zotero-mcp-server) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 12 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 2, secrets among them: 1 | 5, secrets among them: 1 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | MIT AND AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/markuspfundstein/mcp-obsidian | github.com/54yyyu/zotero-mcp |
| 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
Obsidian
MCP server that interacts with Obsidian via the Obsidian rest API community plugin.
Zotero MCP
Search, read, annotate, and add to your Zotero research library, local or web.
How to run each
Obsidian As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_API_KEY>" --transport stdio obsidian -- docker run -i --rm -e OBSIDIAN_API_KEY mcp/obsidianRequires: OBSIDIAN_API_KEY (secret)
Zotero MCP As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "ZOTERO_API_KEY=<YOUR_ZOTERO_API_KEY>" --transport stdio zotero-mcp -- uvx zotero-mcp-server serveRequires: ZOTERO_API_KEY (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 Zotero MCP publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Obsidian asks for
OBSIDIAN_API_KEY (secret)OBSIDIAN_HOST
Only Zotero MCP asks for
ZOTERO_API_KEY (secret)ZOTERO_LIBRARY_IDZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPEZOTERO_LOCALZOTERO_MCP_TOOLSETS
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Obsidian · What it can do: Zotero 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. Package data comes from the Python Package Index (pypi.org). Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.