Comparison

ThingsBoard vs io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana

ThingsBoard is an MCP server published by thingsboard. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana is an MCP server published by grafana. Marketplaces we read that list it: 5 (Official MCP Registry, Claude Code: claude-plugins-official, Docker MCP Catalog, Claude Code: claude-plugins-community, Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-25. 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

Where each is published
Marketplace	ThingsBoard	io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana
Docker MCP Catalog	Listed Version: sha256:b6733d2cfbb9 Forks (GitHub): 28 Pulls (Docker Hub): 10 149 Stars (Docker Hub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 98 Not marked · First seen 2026-10-11	Listed Version: sha256:9362bcf6aa0e Forks (GitHub): 476 Pulls (Docker Hub): 1 105 086 Stars (Docker Hub): 22 Stars (GitHub): 3 599 Not marked · First seen 2026-10-11
Official MCP Registry	Not listed	Listed Version: v2.1.1 Forks (GitHub): 476 Stars (GitHub): 3 599 Not marked · First seen 2026-10-11
Claude Code: claude-plugins-official	Not listed	Listed Version: 0.2.0 Forks (GitHub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 19 Not marked · First seen 2026-10-11
Claude Code: claude-plugins-community	Not listed	Listed Version: 0.2.0 Forks (GitHub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 19 Not marked · First seen 2026-10-11

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

ThingsBoard vs io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana
Fact	ThingsBoard	io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana
Marketplaces that list it (differs)	1 (worse)	5 (better)
Stars (GitHub) (differs)	98 (worse)	3 599 (better)
Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs)	10 149 (worse)	1 105 086 (better)
Forks (GitHub) (differs)	28 (worse)	476 (better)
Last release (differs)	Not published	2026-10-20
Where it runs (differs)	On your machine (mcp/thingsboard)	Remote server or your machine
Transport (differs)	stdio	Streamable HTTP, stdio
Tools it declares (differs)	62	65
Environment variables it asks for (differs)	3, secrets among them: 2	7, secrets among them: 2
Parts of the bundle (differs)	Not a bundle	2
Licence	Apache-2.0	Apache-2.0
Repository (differs)	github.com/thingsboard/thingsboard-mcp	github.com/grafana/mcp-grafana
Changes in the last 7 days (differs)	0	4
First seen	2026-10-11	2026-10-11
Endpoint at the last check (differs)	no remote endpoint we check	Responded 29 h ago, requires a key

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

ThingsBoard

In its own words, on Docker MCP Catalog:

Connect your AI workflows to the ThingsBoard IoT Platform through this MCP server. Enables LLMs to query device telemetry, manage IoT entities (devices, assets, customers), and analyze sensor data - all through natural language. Perfect for building AI-powered IoT monitoring, predictive maintenance, and automated device management workflows. Supports both ThingsBoard Community Edition and Professional Edition.

io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana

In its own words, on Official MCP Registry:

An MCP server giving access to Grafana dashboards, data and more.

How to run each

ThingsBoard As a local MCP server: Docker image

Claude Code

claude mcp add --env "THINGSBOARD_PASSWORD=<YOUR_THINGSBOARD_PASSWORD>" --env "THINGSBOARD_USERNAME=<YOUR_THINGSBOARD_USERNAME>" --transport stdio thingsboard -- docker run -i --rm -e THINGSBOARD_PASSWORD -e THINGSBOARD_USERNAME mcp/thingsboard

Requires: THINGSBOARD_PASSWORD (secret), THINGSBOARD_USERNAME (secret)

io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana As a remote MCP server

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http mcp-grafana https://mcp.grafana.com/mcp

Requires: GRAFANA_PASSWORD (secret), GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN (secret), GRAFANA_URL

Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.

Only io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints

Tools each declares

Only ThingsBoard declares

findByFrom
findByFromWithRelationType
findByTo
findByToWithRelationType
findInfoByFrom
findInfoByTo
getAdminSettings
getAlarmById
getAlarmInfoById
getAlarmTypes
getAlarms
getAllAlarms

Show the remaining 50

getAllCustomerUsers
getAssetById
getAssetsByEntityGroupId
getAssetsByIds
getAttributeKeys
getAttributeKeysByScope
getAttributes
getAttributesByScope
getCustomerAssets
getCustomerById
getCustomerDevices
getCustomerUsers
getCustomers
getCustomersByEntityGroupId
getDeviceById
getDeviceCredentialsByDeviceId
getDevicesByEntityGroupId
getDevicesByIds
getEntityGroupById
getEntityGroupByOwnerAndNameAndType
getEntityGroupsByIds
getEntityGroupsByOwnerAndType
getEntityGroupsByType
getEntityGroupsForEntity
getHighestAlarmSeverity
getLatestTimeseries
getRelation
getSecuritySettings
getSystemInfo
getTenantAdmins
getTenantAsset
getTenantAssets
getTenantCustomer
getTenantDevice
getTenantDevices
getTimeseries
getTimeseriesKeys
getUsageInfo
getUserAssets
getUserById
getUserCustomers
getUserDevices
getUsers
getUsersByEntityGroupId
getUsersForAssign
saveDeviceAttributes
saveEntityAttributesV1
saveEntityAttributesV2
saveEntityTelemetry
saveEntityTelemetryWithTTL

Only io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana declares

add_activity_to_incident
alerting_manage_routing
alerting_manage_rules
analyze_loki_labels
check_datasources_health
create_annotation
create_datasource
create_folder
create_incident
create_snapshot
delete_snapshot
find_error_pattern_logs

Show the remaining 53

find_slow_requests
generate_deeplink
get_alert_group
get_annotation_tags
get_annotations
get_assertions
get_current_oncall_users
get_dashboard_by_uid
get_dashboard_panel_queries
get_dashboard_property
get_dashboard_summary
get_datasource
get_incident
get_oncall_shift
get_panel_image
get_plugin
get_sift_analysis
get_sift_investigation
get_snapshot
grafana_api_request
install_plugin
list_alert_groups
list_datasources
list_incidents
list_loki_label_names
list_loki_label_values
list_oncall_schedules
list_oncall_teams
list_oncall_users
list_prometheus_label_names
list_prometheus_label_values
list_prometheus_metric_metadata
list_prometheus_metric_names
list_provisioning_repositories
list_pyroscope_label_names
list_pyroscope_label_values
list_pyroscope_profile_types
list_sift_investigations
list_snapshots
query_loki_logs
query_loki_patterns
query_loki_stats
query_prometheus
query_prometheus_histogram
query_pyroscope
search_dashboards
search_folders
search_plugin_information
suggest_loki_alloy_label_config
update_annotation
update_dashboard
update_datasource
validate_provisioning_file

Both declare

None

Tool names as each marketplace publishes them. More tools is not better in itself: compare what each needs for the job.

Settings each asks for

Only ThingsBoard asks for

THINGSBOARD_PASSWORD (secret)
THINGSBOARD_URL
THINGSBOARD_USERNAME (secret)

Only io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana asks for

GRAFANA_API_KEY (secret)
GRAFANA_EXTRA_HEADERS
GRAFANA_FORWARD_HEADERS
GRAFANA_ORG_ID
GRAFANA_PASSWORD (secret)
GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN (secret)
GRAFANA_URL
GRAFANA_USERNAME

Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.

What it can do: ThingsBoard · What it can do: io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana · 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 the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. 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 2026-10-25. We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.