Official MCP Registry vs Glama
Agent-native side-by-side. Scores are curated estimates on a 0–10 scale. Lock-in: higher = worse. Prefer JTBD picks via /api/decide when choosing for a job.
| Dimension | Official MCP Registry | Glama |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 8.2 | 7.6 |
| Capability fit | 7.0 | 7.8 |
| Price / performance | 9.8 | 8.5 |
| Latency / reliability | 8.5 | 7.2 |
| Developer & agent DX | 7.5 | 8.2 |
| Privacy / data retention | 9.0 | 7.0 |
| Lock-in risk (higher = worse) | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Maturity / track record | 7.5 | 6.5 |
| Pricing | As of 2026-10-24 (https://modelcontextprotocol.io/registry/registry-aggregators; https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry/blob/main/docs/reference/api/official-registry-api.md): 'The MCP Registry provides an unau… | As of 2026-09-14: Official glama.ai/pricing publishes Free + Starter $9/mo ($9 AI credits, 3 hosted MCP servers, 100k logs/30d), Pro $26/mo ($26 credits, 10 servers, 90d logs), Business $80/mo ($80 credits, 30 servers, 1… |
| Tagline | Source of truth for MCP server metadata and the Depot pick for mcp-discovery since 2026-10-24… | Directory/hosting MCP peer. The Official MCP Registry is the Depot pick for mcp-discovery since… |
Official MCP Registry
Source of truth for MCP server metadata and the Depot pick for mcp-discovery since 2026-10-24 (replacing Smithery, whose connection services end 2026-10-31). Not a hosting runtime; see mcp-server-hosting. Strengths: Canonical metadata source of truth; Unauthenticated read-only REST API for agent discovery; Vendor-neutr
Strengths
- Canonical metadata source of truth
- Unauthenticated read-only REST API for agent discovery
- Vendor-neutral
Weaknesses
- Not a turnkey hosting/OAuth product
- Sparse UX vs Glama/PulseMCP directories
- Quality signals limited vs commercial indexes
Glama
Directory/hosting MCP peer. The Official MCP Registry is the Depot pick for mcp-discovery since 2026-10-24 (Smithery's connection services end 2026-10-31); Glama when you want gateway+hosted MCP slots with a public Free/$9/$26/$80 ladder. Strengths: Strong MCP directory/inspector UX and gateway; Free path to host/brows
Strengths
- Strong MCP directory/inspector UX and gateway
- Free path to host/browse OSS MCP servers
- Useful catalog peer so Smithery is not a monopoly
Weaknesses
- SPA/bot scrapes of /pricing still flaky (409) even though tiers are published
- Not a full tool-auth router like Composio/Nango
- Younger than the official registry as a source of truth
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