Zen vs skillmem
Zen is an MCP server published by BeehiveInnovations. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). skillmem is an MCP server published by liza-studio. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-14. 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 |  Zen |  skillmem |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:02cbe1d325db Forks (GitHub): 1 036 Pulls (Docker Hub): 34 874 Stars (Docker Hub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 11 778 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.12.1 Downloads/month (PyPI): 4 269 Downloads/week (PyPI): 112 Forks (GitHub): 4 Stars (GitHub): 9 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 | Zen | skillmem |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 2 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 11 778 (better) | 9 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 34 874 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 1 036 (better) | 4 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/zen) | On your machine (skillmem) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 18 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 4, secrets among them: 4 | 1, secrets among them: 0 |
| Hooks it runs (differs) | Not published | 8 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 7 |
| Licence (differs) | NOASSERTION | Apache-2.0 |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/beehiveinnovations/zen-mcp-server | github.com/liza-studio/skillmem |
| 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
Zen
Bridges multiple AI models and CLIs, enabling orchestrated workflows across Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex CLI, and other AI development tools.
skillmem
Skill memory for coding agents: learn, recall, reinforce, decay. Local SQLite, no API key.
How to run each
Zen As a local MCP server: Docker image
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/zenRequires: GEMINI_API_KEY (secret), OPENAI_API_KEY (secret), OPENROUTER_API_KEY (secret), XAI_API_KEY (secret)
skillmem As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --transport stdio skillmem -- uvx skillmem mcpCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of skillmem 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 skillmem asks for
SKILLMEM_DB
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Zen · What it can do: skillmem · 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.