Paper Search vs io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server
Paper Search is an MCP server published by openags. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server is an MCP server published by cyanheads. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, npm registry (MCP servers)). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-27. 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 |  io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:19d0af269a55 Forks (GitHub): 302 Pulls (Docker Hub): 45 975 Stars (Docker Hub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 2 914 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.10.1 Downloads/month (npm): 3 032 Downloads/week (npm): 603 Forks (GitHub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 16 Not marked · First seen |
| npm registry (MCP servers) | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.10.1 Downloads/month (npm): 3 032 Downloads/week (npm): 603 Forks (GitHub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 16 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 | io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 2 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 2 914 (better) | 16 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 45 975 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 302 (better) | 5 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-10-26 |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/paper-search) | Remote server or your machine |
| Transport (differs) | stdio | Streamable HTTP |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 57 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | Not published | 11, secrets among them: 0 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/openags/paper-search-mcp | github.com/cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 5 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | no remote endpoint we check | Responded 5 days ago |
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.
io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server
Access the OpenAlex academic research catalog — 270M+ publications.
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-searchio.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server As a remote MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http openalex-mcp-server https://openalex.caseyjhand.com/mcpCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
Only Paper Search has
download_arxivdownload_basedownload_biorxivdownload_citeseerxdownload_crossrefdownload_dblpdownload_doajdownload_haldownload_iacrdownload_medrxivdownload_openairedownload_openalex
Show the remaining 45
download_pubmeddownload_scihubdownload_semanticdownload_ssrndownload_with_fallbackdownload_zenodoget_crossref_paper_by_doiread_arxiv_paperread_base_paperread_biorxiv_paperread_citeseerx_paperread_crossref_paperread_dblp_paperread_doaj_paperread_hal_paperread_iacr_paperread_medrxiv_paperread_openaire_paperread_openalex_paperread_pubmed_paperread_semantic_paperread_ssrn_paperread_zenodo_papersearch_arxivsearch_basesearch_biorxivsearch_citeseerxsearch_coresearch_crossrefsearch_dblpsearch_doajsearch_europepmcsearch_google_scholarsearch_halsearch_iacrsearch_medrxivsearch_openairesearch_openalexsearch_paperssearch_pmcsearch_pubmedsearch_semanticsearch_ssrnsearch_unpaywallsearch_zenodo
Only io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server has
openalex_analyze_trendsopenalex_describe_fieldsopenalex_get_citation_graphopenalex_resolve_nameopenalex_search_entities
Both have
None
Tool names as the marketplaces declare them and as Ext Ops observed them on the endpoints (io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server as of 2026-10-22). More tools is not better in itself: compare what each needs for the job.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of Paper Search publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: Paper Search · What it can do: io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server · 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 public npm registry (registry.npmjs.org). Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.