Paper Search vs Semantic Scholar MCP Server
Paper Search is an MCP server published by openags. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Docker MCP Catalog, PyPI (MCP servers)). Semantic Scholar MCP Server is an MCP server published by smaniches. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, PyPI (MCP servers)). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-11-07. 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 |  Semantic Scholar MCP Server |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:19d0af269a55 Forks (GitHub): 304 Pulls (Docker Hub): 46 495 Stars (Docker Hub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 3 016 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| PyPI (MCP servers) | Listed Version: 0.1.4 Downloads/month (PyPI): 9 156 Downloads/week (PyPI): 2 967 Forks (GitHub): 304 Stars (GitHub): 3 016 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: 1.7.15 Downloads/month (PyPI): 2 126 Downloads/week (PyPI): 1 611 Forks (GitHub): 2 Stars (GitHub): 25 Not marked · First seen |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.7.15 Downloads/month (PyPI): 2 126 Downloads/week (PyPI): 1 611 Forks (GitHub): 2 Stars (GitHub): 25 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 | Semantic Scholar MCP Server |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 2 | 2 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 3 016 (better) | 25 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 46 495 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 304 (better) | 2 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-11-05 |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/paper-search) | On your machine (s2-mcp-server) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 57 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | Not published | 2, secrets among them: 1 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/openags/paper-search-mcp | github.com/smaniches/semantic-scholar-mcp |
| 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.
Semantic Scholar MCP Server
MCP server for the Semantic Scholar API: search 200M+ papers, citations, authors, recommendations.
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-searchSemantic Scholar MCP Server As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY=<YOUR_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY>" --transport stdio semantic-scholar-mcp -- uvx s2-mcp-serverRequires: SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_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 Semantic Scholar MCP Server publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
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: Semantic Scholar MCP Server · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Package data comes from the Python Package Index (pypi.org). 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.