rag-mcp vs Desktop Commander
rag-mcp is an MCP server published by MasihMoafi. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). Desktop Commander is an MCP server published by wonderwhy-er. Marketplaces we read that list it: 7 (Official MCP Registry, Claude Code: claude-plugins-official, Docker MCP Catalog, Claude: knowledge-work-plugins, Claude Code: claude-plugins-community, Community GitHub marketplaces, npm registry (MCP servers)). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-11-14. 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 |  rag-mcp |   Desktop Commander |
|---|---|---|
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 0.3.0 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 9 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: 0.3.3 Downloads/month (npm): 3 307 796 Downloads/week (npm): 1 399 692 Forks (GitHub): 1 289 Stars (GitHub): 10 299 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-official | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.2.0 Forks (GitHub): 1 289 Stars (GitHub): 10 299 Not marked · First seen |
| Docker MCP Catalog | Not listed | Listed Version: sha256:5df787069e37 Forks (GitHub): 1 289 Pulls (Docker Hub): 245 377 Stars (Docker Hub): 23 Stars (GitHub): 10 299 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude: knowledge-work-plugins | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.2.0 Forks (GitHub): 1 289 Stars (GitHub): 10 299 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.2.0 Forks (GitHub): 1 289 Stars (GitHub): 10 299 Not marked · First seen |
| npm registry (MCP servers) | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.2.92 Downloads/month (npm): 1 864 Downloads/week (npm): 1 537 Forks (GitHub): 1 289 Stars (GitHub): 10 299 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 | rag-mcp | Desktop Commander |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 7 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 9 (worse) | 10 299 (better) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | No figure on Docker Hub | 245 377 |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 0 (worse) | 1 289 (better) |
| Last release (differs) | 2026-11-12 (worse) | 2026-11-12 (better) |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (ragmcp-cli) | On your machine (@wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | Not published | 26 |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 7 |
| Licence (differs) | Not stated | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/masihmoafi/rag-mcp | github.com/wonderwhy-er/desktopcommandermcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 3 | 4 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-11-11 | 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
rag-mcp
Scoped hybrid search (BM25, embeddings, reranking) and grounded answers over local files and folders
Desktop Commander
MCP server for terminal commands, file operations, and process management
How to run each
rag-mcp As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY>" --transport stdio rag-mcp -- uvx ragmcp-cli mcpRequires: OPENROUTER_API_KEY (secret)
Desktop Commander As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --transport stdio desktop-commander -- npx -y @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commanderCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of rag-mcp publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of Desktop Commander publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: rag-mcp · What it can do: Desktop Commander · Compare two other plugins
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/knowledge-work-plugins/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Package data comes from the public npm registry (registry.npmjs.org). Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.