mcp.so vs Smithery
A side-by-side comparison of mcp.so and Smithery, two MCP tools, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.
Compared from listings verified as of
At a glance
| Attribute | mcp.so | Smithery |
|---|---|---|
| Category | MCP | MCP |
| Pricing (differs) | FREE | FREEMIUM |
| License (differs) | Open source | Proprietary |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Platforms (differs) | Web, API | Web, CLI, API |
| Model support | Model-agnostic | Model-agnostic |
| Vendor (differs) | chatmcp | Smithery |
| Capabilities (differs) |
|
|
The honest brief
mcp.so
Ranks servers by real call volume via a "Call Ranking" leaderboard — discovery by actual usage, not just listings.
- Browse, share, and integrate servers
- Featured/Official/Hosted filters
- Free and community-driven
- Still in preview, may break
- Community submissions vary in quality
- Overlaps the official MCP registry
- Listing quality not fully vetted
Smithery
Largest MCP registry (6,000+ servers) with managed OAuth and hosting, so agents get authenticated tool access without config wrangling.
- Browse and install community servers
- CLI installs without editing JSON
- Persistent authenticated connections
- Deploy your own servers
- Only the CLI is open-source (AGPL)
- Registry/hosting is a closed platform
- Quality of community servers varies
When to pick which
Both cover MCP gateway / registry.
Pick Smithery if you need App / agent deployment.
- App / agent deployment (primary capability)
They also differ on:
- Pricing
- FREE · FREEMIUM
- License
- Open source · Proprietary
- Platforms
- Web, API · Web, CLI, API