Ref - Up-To-Date Docs vs Orchestrator
Ref - Up-To-Date Docs is an MCP server published by ref-tools. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Orchestrator is an MCP server published by crAK1644. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-17. 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 |  Ref - Up-To-Date Docs |  Orchestrator |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:8b5fcfe3e4e1 Forks (GitHub): 73 Pulls (Docker Hub): 19 095 Stars (Docker Hub): 2 Stars (GitHub): 1 182 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.12.0 Downloads/month (PyPI): 6 410 Downloads/week (PyPI): 302 Forks (GitHub): 2 Stars (GitHub): 10 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 | Ref - Up-To-Date Docs | Orchestrator |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 2 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 1 182 (better) | 10 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 19 095 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 73 (better) | 2 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/ref-tools-mcp) | On your machine (orchestrator-mcp-server) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 2 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 2, secrets among them: 0 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 2 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/ref-tools/ref-tools-mcp | github.com/crak1644/orchestrator-mcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 2 |
| 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
Ref - Up-To-Date Docs
Ref powerful search tool connets your coding tools with documentation context. It includes an up-to-date index of public documentation and it can ingest your private documentation (eg. GitHub repos, PDFs) as well.
Orchestrator
Let one coding-agent CLI consult another: Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, Copilot or Antigravity.
How to run each
Ref - Up-To-Date Docs As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "REF_API_KEY=<YOUR_REF_API_KEY>" --transport stdio ref -- docker run -i --rm -e REF_API_KEY mcp/ref-tools-mcpRequires: REF_API_KEY (secret)
Orchestrator As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "ORCHESTRATOR_CONFIG=<YOUR_ORCHESTRATOR_CONFIG>" --env "ORCHESTRATOR_HOST_RUNTIME=<YOUR_ORCHESTRATOR_HOST_RUNTIME>" --transport stdio orchestrator-mcp -- uvx orchestrator-mcp-serverRequires: ORCHESTRATOR_CONFIG, ORCHESTRATOR_HOST_RUNTIME
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of Orchestrator publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Ref - Up-To-Date Docs asks for
REF_API_KEY (secret)
Only Orchestrator asks for
ORCHESTRATOR_CONFIGORCHESTRATOR_HOST_RUNTIME
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Ref - Up-To-Date Docs · What it can do: Orchestrator · 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. 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.