Paper Search vs Bio Research
Paper Search is an MCP server published by openags. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Bio Research is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Anthropic. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Claude: knowledge-work-plugins). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-14. 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:19d0af269a55 Forks (GitHub): 295 Pulls (Docker Hub): 45 223 Stars (Docker Hub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 2 819 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude: knowledge-work-plugins | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.2.0 Forks (GitHub): 3 345 Stars (GitHub): 29 497 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 | Bio Research |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 2 819 (worse) | 29 497 (better) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 45 223 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 295 (worse) | 3 345 (better) |
| 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 | 17 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/openags/paper-search-mcp | github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins |
| 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
Paper Search
MCP, CLI, Skills for searching and downloading academic papers from multiple sources like arXiv, PubMed, bioRxiv, etc.
Bio Research
Connect to preclinical research tools and databases (literature search, genomics analysis, target prioritization) to accelerate early-stage life sciences R&D
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-searchBio Research As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
/plugin install bio-research@knowledge-work-pluginsCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of Bio Research 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: Bio Research · 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/knowledge-work-plugins/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.