station-agent vs io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana
station-agent is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by CloudShip AI. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). 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 2026-10-19. 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 |  io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana | |
|---|---|---|
| Community marketplace cloudshipai/station | Listed Version: 1.0.0 Forks (GitHub): 39 Stars (GitHub): 429 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: v2.0.2 Forks (GitHub): 468 Stars (GitHub): 3 570 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-official | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.2.0 Forks (GitHub): 4 Stars (GitHub): 19 Not marked · First seen |
| Docker MCP Catalog | Not listed | Listed Version: sha256:9362bcf6aa0e Forks (GitHub): 468 Pulls (Docker Hub): 1 071 892 Stars (Docker Hub): 22 Stars (GitHub): 3 570 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.2.0 Forks (GitHub): 4 Stars (GitHub): 19 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 | station-agent | io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 5 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 429 (worse) | 3 570 (better) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | No figure on Docker Hub | 1 071 892 |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 39 (worse) | 468 (better) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-10-16 |
| Where it runs (differs) | Installs as a plugin bundle | Remote server or your machine |
| Transport (differs) | Not stated | Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | Not published | 65 |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 0 | 7, secrets among them: 2 |
| Parts of the bundle | 2 | 2 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/cloudshipai/station | github.com/grafana/mcp-grafana |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 2 | 3 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-15 | 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
station-agent
Full Station integration with pre-configured subagent - autonomous Station operations via dedicated expert agent
io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana
An MCP server giving access to Grafana dashboards, data and more.
How to run each
station-agent As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add cloudshipai/station
/plugin install station-agent@cloudshipai-stationio.github.grafana/mcp-grafana As a remote MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http mcp-grafana https://mcp.grafana.com/mcpRequires: 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
The marketplaces of station-agent publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only station-agent asks for
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT
Only io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana asks for
GRAFANA_API_KEY (secret)GRAFANA_EXTRA_HEADERSGRAFANA_FORWARD_HEADERSGRAFANA_ORG_IDGRAFANA_PASSWORD (secret)GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN (secret)GRAFANA_URLGRAFANA_USERNAME
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: station-agent · What it can do: io.github.grafana/mcp-grafana · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. 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 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.