imessage vs Apple Tools (Unified)
imessage is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by njerschow. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). Apple Tools (Unified) is an MCP server published by JonathanRReed. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, PyPI (MCP servers)). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-11-08. 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 |  Apple Tools (Unified) | |
|---|---|---|
| Community marketplace njerschow/textme | Listed Version: 1.1.0 Forks (GitHub): 8 Stars (GitHub): 92 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.1.6 Downloads/month (PyPI): 547 Downloads/week (PyPI): 308 Forks (GitHub): 4 Stars (GitHub): 34 Not marked · First seen |
| PyPI (MCP servers) | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.1.6 Downloads/month (PyPI): 547 Downloads/week (PyPI): 308 Forks (GitHub): 4 Stars (GitHub): 34 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 | imessage | Apple Tools (Unified) |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 2 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 92 (better) | 34 (worse) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 8 (better) | 4 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-11-06 |
| Where it runs (differs) | Installs as a plugin bundle | On your machine (apple-tools-mcp) |
| Transport (differs) | Not stated | stdio |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 5, secrets among them: 2 | 14, secrets among them: 0 |
| Hooks it runs (differs) | 1 | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | 5 | Not a bundle |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/njerschow/textme | github.com/jonathanrreed/apple-mcps |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 5 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-30 | 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
imessage
Send and receive iMessages via Claude Code using Sendblue
Apple Tools (Unified)
Unified Apple ecosystem MCP server for macOS: Mail, Calendar, Notes, Files, Messages, and more.
How to run each
imessage As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add njerschow/textme
/plugin install imessage@imessage-marketplaceApple Tools (Unified) As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --transport stdio apple-tools-mcp -- uvx apple-tools-mcpCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
Only imessage asks for
IMESSAGE_POLL_INTERVAL_MSIMESSAGE_WHITELISTSENDBLUE_API_KEY (secret)SENDBLUE_API_SECRET (secret)SENDBLUE_PHONE_NUMBER
Only Apple Tools (Unified) asks for
APPLE_CALENDAR_MCP_SAFETY_MODEAPPLE_CONTACTS_MCP_SAFETY_MODEAPPLE_FILES_MCP_ALLOWED_ROOTSAPPLE_FILES_MCP_SAFETY_MODEAPPLE_MAIL_MCP_ALLOWED_ATTACHMENT_ROOTAPPLE_MAIL_MCP_SAFETY_PROFILEAPPLE_MESSAGES_MCP_ALLOWED_ROOTSAPPLE_MESSAGES_MCP_SAFETY_MODEAPPLE_NOTES_MCP_SAFETY_MODEAPPLE_REMINDERS_MCP_SAFETY_MODEAPPLE_SHORTCUTS_MCP_ALLOWED_ROOTSAPPLE_SHORTCUTS_MCP_SAFETY_MODE
Show the remaining 2
APPLE_SYSTEM_MCP_GUI_ALLOWED_APPSAPPLE_SYSTEM_MCP_SAFETY_MODE
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: imessage · What it can do: Apple Tools (Unified) · 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. Package data comes from the Python Package Index (pypi.org). Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.