Tailscale MCP Server vs Tailscale
Tailscale MCP Server is an MCP server published by itunified-io. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). Tailscale is an MCP server published by tailscale-mcp. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-23. 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 |  Tailscale | |
|---|---|---|
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 2026.3.16 Downloads/month (npm): 518 Downloads/week (npm): 79 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: 2.0.3 Downloads/month (npm): 1 193 Downloads/week (npm): 499 Forks (GitHub): 3 Stars (GitHub): 14 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 | Tailscale MCP Server | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | No figure on GitHub | 14 |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | No figure on GitHub | 3 |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (tailscale-mcp) | On your machine (@tailscale-mcp/tailscale-mcp) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 4, secrets among them: 0 | 7, secrets among them: 2 |
| Licence | Not stated | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/itunified-io/mcp-tailscale | github.com/tailscale-mcp/tailscale-mcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 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
Tailscale MCP Server
Secure MCP access for private infrastructure over Tailscale — 48 tools across 9 domains
Tailscale
Drive a Tailscale node and its tailnet through the CLI and the control-plane API
How to run each
Tailscale MCP Server As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --transport stdio tailscale -- npx -y tailscale-mcpTailscale As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --env "TAILSCALE_API_KEY=<YOUR_TAILSCALE_API_KEY>" --env "TAILSCALE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=<YOUR_TAILSCALE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET>" --transport stdio tailscale-mcp -- npx -y @tailscale-mcp/tailscale-mcpRequires: TAILSCALE_API_KEY (secret), TAILSCALE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET (secret)
Commands 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 Tailscale MCP Server asks for
None
Only Tailscale asks for
TAILSCALE_MCP_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVETAILSCALE_MCP_ALLOW_WRITETAILSCALE_MCP_PRESET
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Tailscale MCP Server · What it can do: Tailscale · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.