Time (Reference) vs background-timer
Time (Reference) is an MCP server published by modelcontextprotocol. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). background-timer is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by culminationAI. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-community). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-12. 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 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:9c46a918633f Forks (GitHub): 11 778 Pulls (Docker Hub): 1 002 015 Stars (Docker Hub): 9 Stars (GitHub): 91 146 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.1.0 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 | Time (Reference) | background-timer |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 91 146 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 1 002 015 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 11 778 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/time) | Installs as a plugin bundle |
| Transport (differs) | stdio | Not stated |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 2 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 1 |
| Licence (differs) | NOASSERTION | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers | github.com/culminationai/background-timer |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| 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.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of background-timer 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: Time (Reference) · What it can do: background-timer · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.