Comparison

Zen vs Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk)

Zen is an MCP server published by BeehiveInnovations. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk) is an MCP server published by eaisdevelopment. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-15. 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	Zen	Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk)
Docker MCP Catalog	Listed Version: sha256:02cbe1d325db Forks (GitHub): 1 036 Pulls (Docker Hub): 34 879 Stars (Docker Hub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 11 784 Not marked · First seen 2026-10-11	Not listed
Official MCP Registry	Not listed	Listed Version: 0.3.0 Downloads/month (npm): 232 Downloads/week (npm): 61 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

Zen vs Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk)
Fact	Zen	Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk)
Marketplaces that list it	1	1
Stars (GitHub) (differs)	11 784	No figure on GitHub
Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs)	34 879	No figure on Docker Hub
Forks (GitHub) (differs)	1 036	No figure on GitHub
Last release	Not published	Not published
Where it runs (differs)	On your machine (mcp/zen)	On your machine (@essentialai/cc-bridge-mcp-server)
Transport	stdio	stdio
Tools it declares (differs)	18	Not published
Environment variables it asks for (differs)	4, secrets among them: 4	6, secrets among them: 0
Licence (differs)	NOASSERTION	Not stated
Repository (differs)	github.com/beehiveinnovations/zen-mcp-server	github.com/eaisdevelopment/cc-bridge-mcp-server
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.

What each says it does

Zen

In its own words, on Docker MCP Catalog:

Bridges multiple AI models and CLIs, enabling orchestrated workflows across Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex CLI, and other AI development tools.

Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk)

In its own words, on Official MCP Registry:

MCP bridge for inter-session communication between Claude Code instances

How to run each

Zen As a local MCP server: Docker image

Claude Code

claude mcp add --env "GEMINI_API_KEY=<YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY>" --env "OPENAI_API_KEY=<YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY>" --env "OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY>" --env "XAI_API_KEY=<YOUR_XAI_API_KEY>" --transport stdio zen -- docker run -i --rm -e GEMINI_API_KEY -e OPENAI_API_KEY -e OPENROUTER_API_KEY -e XAI_API_KEY mcp/zen

Requires: GEMINI_API_KEY (secret), OPENAI_API_KEY (secret), OPENROUTER_API_KEY (secret), XAI_API_KEY (secret)

Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk) As a local MCP server: npm package

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport stdio cc-bridge-mcp-server -- npx -y @essentialai/cc-bridge-mcp-server

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

Tools each declares

The marketplaces of Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk) publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.

Settings each asks for

Only Zen asks for

GEMINI_API_KEY (secret)
OPENAI_API_KEY (secret)
OPENROUTER_API_KEY (secret)
XAI_API_KEY (secret)

Only Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk) asks for

CC_BRIDGE_CHAR_LIMIT
CC_BRIDGE_CLAUDE_PATH
CC_BRIDGE_LOG_LEVEL
CC_BRIDGE_STALE_TIMEOUT_MS
CC_BRIDGE_STATE_PATH
CC_BRIDGE_TIMEOUT_MS

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

What it can do: Zen · What it can do: Claude Code Bridge from Essential AI Solutions (essentialai.uk) · 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 2026-10-15. We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.