exa vs Paper Distill MCP
exa is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by exa-labs. Marketplaces we read that list it: 4 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-official, Official MCP Registry, Docker MCP Catalog, Claude: knowledge-work-plugins). Paper Distill MCP is an MCP server published by Eclipse-Cj. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-29. 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 |  exa |  Paper Distill MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-official | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 404 Stars (GitHub): 5 200 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 404 Stars (GitHub): 5 200 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: 0.2.4 Downloads/month (PyPI): 165 Downloads/week (PyPI): 44 Forks (GitHub): 4 Stars (GitHub): 68 Not marked · First seen |
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:d88edd571d98 Forks (GitHub): 404 Pulls (Docker Hub): 37 274 Stars (Docker Hub): 7 Stars (GitHub): 5 200 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude: knowledge-work-plugins | Listed Version: 3.4.1 Forks (GitHub): 404 Stars (GitHub): 5 200 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
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 | exa | Paper Distill MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 4 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 5 200 (better) | 68 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 37 274 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 404 (better) | 4 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Remote server or your machine | On your machine (paper-distill-mcp) |
| Transport (differs) | Streamable HTTP, stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 2 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 7, secrets among them: 4 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | 3 | Not a bundle |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server | github.com/eclipse-cj/paper-distill-mcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 1 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | Responded 6 days ago | no remote endpoint we check |
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
exa
Exa AI web search, deep research, and content extraction. Provides MCP tools and research skills for comprehensive web search, people discovery, company research, academic papers, and more.
Paper Distill MCP
Academic paper search across 11 sources with AI curation, ranked push, Zotero and Obsidian support.
How to run each
exa As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin install exa@claude-plugins-officialPaper Distill MCP As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "CORE_API_KEY=<YOUR_CORE_API_KEY>" --env "DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL=<YOUR_DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL>" --env "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=<YOUR_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN>" --env "ZOTERO_API_KEY=<YOUR_ZOTERO_API_KEY>" --transport stdio paper-distill-mcp -- uvx paper-distill-mcpRequires: CORE_API_KEY (secret), DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL (secret), TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN (secret), ZOTERO_API_KEY (secret)
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only exa has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of Paper Distill MCP publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only exa asks for
EXA_API_KEY (secret)
Only Paper Distill MCP asks for
CORE_API_KEY (secret)DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL (secret)OPENALEX_EMAILTELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN (secret)TELEGRAM_CHAT_IDZOTERO_API_KEY (secret)ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: exa · What it can do: Paper Distill MCP · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. 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/knowledge-work-plugins/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.