Obsidian vs Zotero Native MCP
Obsidian is an MCP server published by MarkusPfundstein. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Zotero Native MCP is an MCP server published by dvdsosa. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-28. 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 Native MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:0eba4c05742a Forks (GitHub): 507 Pulls (Docker Hub): 146 995 Stars (Docker Hub): 31 Stars (GitHub): 4 506 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.2 Downloads/month (npm): 763 Downloads/week (npm): 98 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 11 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 Native MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 4 506 (better) | 11 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 146 995 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 507 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/obsidian) | On your machine (zotero-native-mcp) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 12 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 2, secrets among them: 1 | 2, secrets among them: 0 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/markuspfundstein/mcp-obsidian | github.com/dvdsosa/zotero-native-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 Native MCP
Read and write your local Zotero 10 library. No plugin, no zotero.org API key, no cloud.
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 Native MCP As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --transport stdio zotero-native-mcp -- npx -y zotero-native-mcpCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of Zotero Native 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 Native MCP asks for
ZOTERO_LOCAL_APP_NAMEZOTERO_LOCAL_PORT
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Obsidian · What it can do: Zotero Native 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. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.