Paper Search vs cite2fn
Paper Search is an MCP server published by openags. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). cite2fn is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by anitasrinivasan. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-community). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-16. 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 |  Paper Search |  cite2fn |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:19d0af269a55 Forks (GitHub): 300 Pulls (Docker Hub): 45 348 Stars (Docker Hub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 2 843 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.1.0 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 | Paper Search | cite2fn |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 2 843 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 45 348 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 300 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/paper-search) | Installs as a plugin bundle |
| Transport (differs) | stdio | Not stated |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 57 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 1 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/openags/paper-search-mcp | github.com/anitasrinivasan/cite2fn |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 4 |
| 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
Paper Search
MCP, CLI, Skills for searching and downloading academic papers from multiple sources like arXiv, PubMed, bioRxiv, etc.
cite2fn
A Claude Code plugin that converts hyperlinked citations, parenthetical references, and inline author-date mentions in Word documents into properly formatted Bluebook footnotes or endnotes. Key features - Detects 5 citation patterns: external hyperlinks, internal anchor links, parentheticals, inline author-date, and existing footnotes - Handles split hyperlinks from Google Docs exports (where a single citation spans multiple XML elements) - Fetches bibliographic metadata from academic sources (arXiv, SSRN, DOI, ACM DL, and more) - Supports both footnotes and endnotes with arabic numeral numbering - Preserves author names that are grammatically part of a sentence - Tracks repeated sources for Id. and supra short forms - Adds Word comments to flag anything that needs manual attention - Removes the References section after its content has been moved to footnotes Interactive review — Claude shows you every citation before modifying the document
How to run each
Paper Search As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --transport stdio paper-search -- docker run -i --rm mcp/paper-searchcite2fn As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community
/plugin install cite2fn@claude-communityCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of cite2fn publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Neither one's marketplaces publish the settings it asks for.
What it can do: Paper Search · What it can do: cite2fn · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.