excel-cli vs io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp
excel-cli is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by sbroenne. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Copilot CLI: github/awesome-copilot). io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp is an MCP server published by microsoft. Marketplaces we read that list it: 4 (Official MCP Registry, Claude Code: claude-plugins-official, Cursor: cursor/plugins, Docker MCP Catalog). 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 |  excel-cli |  io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot CLI: github/awesome-copilot | Listed Version: 2.3.11 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 2 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.0.82 Downloads/month (npm): 30 500 978 Downloads/week (npm): 6 524 222 Forks (GitHub): 3 244 Stars (GitHub): 38 101 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-official | Not listed | Listed Version: not stated Forks (GitHub): 4 260 Stars (GitHub): 37 786 Not marked · First seen |
| Cursor: cursor/plugins | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.0 Forks (GitHub): 1 086 Stars (GitHub): 11 186 Not marked · First seen |
| Docker MCP Catalog | Not listed | Listed Version: sha256:8771dc4666e7 Forks (GitHub): 3 244 Pulls (Docker Hub): 2 428 126 Stars (Docker Hub): 38 Stars (GitHub): 38 101 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 | excel-cli | io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 4 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 2 (worse) | 38 101 (better) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | No figure on Docker Hub | 2 428 126 |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 0 (worse) | 4 260 (better) |
| Last release (differs) | 2026-10-14 | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Installs as a plugin bundle | On your machine (@playwright/mcp) |
| Transport (differs) | Not stated | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | Not published | 23 |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not published | 1 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/sbroenne/mcp-server-excel-plugins | github.com/microsoft/playwright-mcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 6 | 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
excel-cli
Let your coding agent work with real Microsoft Excel workbooks from the terminal: formulas, Power Query, PivotTables, charts, and VBA. Same features as Excel MCP, usually with fewer AI tokens. Requires Windows, desktop Excel 2016 or later, and Node.js 18 or later.
io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp
Playwright Tools for MCP
How to run each
excel-cli
No data for an automatic command: what its marketplaces declare does not say unambiguously how to connect it.
io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --transport stdio playwright-mcp -- npx -y @playwright/mcpCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of excel-cli publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Neither one's marketplaces publish the settings it asks for.
What it can do: excel-cli · What it can do: io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/HEAD/.github/plugin/marketplace.json. 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 public marketplace file https://github.com/cursor/plugins/blob/HEAD/.cursor-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.