Paper Search vs xpay Academic Research
Paper Search is an MCP server published by openags. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). xpay Academic Research is an MCP server published by xpaysh. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-23. 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 |  xpay Academic Research |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:19d0af269a55 Forks (GitHub): 300 Pulls (Docker Hub): 45 762 Stars (Docker Hub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 2 896 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.0 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 | xpay Academic Research |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 2 896 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 45 762 | 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) | Remote server (research.mcp.xpay.sh/mcp) |
| Transport (differs) | stdio | Streamable HTTP |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 57 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/openags/paper-search-mcp | github.com/xpaysh/mcp-server |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | no remote endpoint we check | Responded 3 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.
xpay Academic Research
30+ academic research tools. Semantic Scholar, arXiv, PubMed, bioRxiv, CrossRef, IACR.
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-searchxpay Academic Research
No data for an automatic command: what its marketplaces declare does not say unambiguously how to connect it.
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only xpay Academic Research has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of xpay Academic 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: xpay Academic Research · 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.