What is an MCP server?

It is a small program that gives an AI agent access to a tool or a product, such as GitHub, a browser or Stripe. Your agent app connects to it and can then call the tools it offers.

Which MCP server should I add first?

Context7 if your agent writes code against libraries that change, Playwright MCP if it needs to test web pages, and GitHub MCP Server if it works with issues and pull requests. All three are free to start.

Is MCP still the best way to give an agent a tool?

Not always. Microsoft’s Playwright MCP README says coding agents increasingly prefer command-line workflows because they use fewer tokens, and keeps MCP for loops that need persistent state. Hosted servers from Zapier, Stripe and Cloudflare are the strongest case for MCP, because they handle sign-in for you.

What do I need to change for Stripe’s MCP server?

Stripe says to move by November 30, 2026. From December its MCP server stops accepting full-access secret keys and restricted keys without the Agent tag. Use OAuth, or create new agent API keys.

How does Zapier MCP charge?

It is included in every Zapier plan. Each tool call uses two tasks from your plan’s task quota. The Free plan has 100 tasks a month; Professional starts at $19.99 a month and Team at $69.

What happened to the AWS MCP servers?

The AWS Labs README says the Agent Toolkit for AWS, announced in May 2026, is the successor, and that AWS recommends it for production software. The Labs servers still work, and several are marked deprecated.

Are MCP servers safe to connect?

Treat them like giving an agent your credentials. Supabase warns that connecting an LLM to your projects carries security risks. Stripe tells you to turn on your client’s tool approvals and to be careful mixing servers, because of prompt injection. Prefer read-only modes and scoped access where they exist.

Can I use the MCP reference servers in production?

Their README says they are educational examples for developers, not production-ready solutions. Use them to learn, and pick a vendor server for real work.

Shortlist

Which MCP servers to shortlist

Start with Context7 for current library docs, Playwright MCP for browser work and GitHub MCP Server for repos and pull requests. Add Zapier if you want one connection to thousands of business apps. Servers from AWS, Notion, Cloudflare, Supabase and Stripe let an agent work inside those products. Composio and FastMCP help you build your own, and the reference servers are teaching examples.

Quick pick

Best for current library docs
Context7
Gives your agent current, version-specific library docs.
Best for browser work
Playwright MCP
Lets an agent drive a real browser. Free and local.
Best for repos and pull requests
GitHub MCP Server
GitHub’s own server for repos, issues and pull requests.

Ordered shortlist

Stars show interest in an open-source repo, not users. Counts are from Nov 11, 2026.

01
Context7
Open source
MCP
Gives your agent current, version-specific library docs.
64,624 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- Gives your agent current, version-specific docs. Free for 1,000 calls a month; Pro is $10 a seat.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026. Stars show interest, not users.
02
Playwright MCP
Open source
MCP
Lets an agent drive a real browser. Free and local.
39,511 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- Lets an agent drive a real browser. Microsoft says many coding agents now prefer a command line for browser work.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026. Stars show interest, not users.
03
GitHub MCP Server
Open source
MCP
GitHub’s own server for repos, issues and pull requests.
34,392 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- GitHub’s own server, hosted or local, with toolsets you can switch off and a read-only mode.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026. Stars show interest, not users.
04
Zapier MCP
Commercial
MCP
One connection to 9,000+ apps, run through Zapier.
150,000+ people have run agent-led actionsReportedAs of Nov 11, 2026Zapier
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Reported.
- One connection to 9,000+ apps. Zapier says 150,000+ people have run agent actions. Each call uses two tasks.
- Zapier’s own statement on its MCP page. It has not been independently confirmed.
05
AWS MCP servers
Open source
MCP
AWS’s open-source servers. AWS now points to its Agent Toolkit.
9,906 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- AWS’s open-source servers. AWS now recommends its Agent Toolkit for production work.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026. Stars show interest, not users.
06
Notion MCP
Commercial
MCP
Notion’s hosted server for searching and editing your workspace.
4,704 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- Notion’s hosted server lets an agent search your workspace and edit pages and databases.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026 for the open-source server. Notion’s docs now cover its hosted server.
07
Cloudflare MCP servers
Commercial
MCP
Hosted servers that let an agent manage Cloudflare.
2,500+ API endpoints in one serverVerifiedAs of Nov 11, 2026Cloudflare docs
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Verified, primary.
- One server covers 2,500+ Cloudflare API endpoints, so an agent can manage DNS, Workers and R2.
- Coverage figure from Cloudflare’s documentation, not a usage figure.
08
Supabase MCP server
Commercial
MCP
Hosted server for querying and managing Supabase projects.
3,006 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- Hosted server for your Supabase projects, with a read-only option. Its docs warn about the security risks.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026. Stars show interest, not users.
09
Stripe MCP server
Commercial
MCP
Stripe’s hosted server for its API and docs. Public preview.
2,055 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- Stripe’s hosted server, in public preview. Move to OAuth or agent API keys by Nov 30, 2026.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026 for the stripe/ai repo, which also holds Stripe’s agent tools.
10
Composio
Open source
MCP
1,700+ apps with managed sign-in. Free for up to 3 members.
31,037 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- 1,700+ apps with managed sign-in. Free for up to 3 members and 10,000 tool calls a month.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026. Stars show interest, not users.
11
FastMCP
Open source
MCP
Python framework for writing your own MCP server.
28,392 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- The Python framework for writing your own MCP server. Free under Apache-2.0.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026. Stars show interest, not users.
12
MCP reference servers
Open source
MCP
The project’s example servers. Teaching examples, not production tools.
91,933 GitHub starsGitHubAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: GitHub snapshot.
- The MCP project’s example servers. Its README says they are not production-ready.
- GitHub star count on Nov 11, 2026. Stars show interest, not users.

Compare on

Brand	Runs	Cost	Sign-in	Headline figure
Context7	Hosted or local	Free; Pro $10 a seat	OAuth 2.0 listed	64,624 GitHub stars · GitHub
Playwright MCP	Local	Free	No key needed	39,511 GitHub stars · GitHub
GitHub MCP Server	Hosted or local	Free	OAuth or token	34,392 GitHub stars · GitHub
Zapier MCP	Hosted	In every Zapier plan	Zapier holds app credentials	150,000+ people have run agent-led actions · Reported
AWS MCP servers	Local, or AWS-hosted preview	Free; AWS usage billed	IAM	9,906 GitHub stars · GitHub
Notion MCP	Hosted	Unknown	Unknown	4,704 GitHub stars · GitHub
Cloudflare MCP servers	Hosted	Unknown	OAuth	2,500+ API endpoints in one server · Verified
Supabase MCP server	Hosted	Unknown	Unknown	3,006 GitHub stars · GitHub
Stripe MCP server	Hosted	Unknown	OAuth or agent keys	2,055 GitHub stars · GitHub
Composio	Hosted, with SDK	Free to 10,000 calls	Managed by Composio	31,037 GitHub stars · GitHub
FastMCP	Library you run	Free	You build it	28,392 GitHub stars · GitHub
MCP reference servers	Local	Free	Varies	91,933 GitHub stars · GitHub

Read from each vendor’s own docs on Nov 11, 2026. Unknown means the page we read did not say.

How we picked

Servers for products you already use come first, then the tools for building your own, then the reference examples.
Within the products, open-source servers are ordered by GitHub stars on Nov 11, 2026. Vendor-hosted servers follow Zapier, which is the one with a sourced usage claim.
Protocols such as A2A, AGENTS.md and Agent Skills, and gateways such as LiteLLM, are not servers, so they sit in the runners.
Every figure is dated and linked on the server’s page. We write unknown when a page did not say.

Questions and answers

What is an MCP server?: It is a small program that gives an AI agent access to a tool or a product, such as GitHub, a browser or Stripe. Your agent app connects to it and can then call the tools it offers.
Which MCP server should I add first?: Context7 if your agent writes code against libraries that change, Playwright MCP if it needs to test web pages, and GitHub MCP Server if it works with issues and pull requests. All three are free to start.
Is MCP still the best way to give an agent a tool?: Not always. Microsoft’s Playwright MCP README says coding agents increasingly prefer command-line workflows because they use fewer tokens, and keeps MCP for loops that need persistent state. Hosted servers from Zapier, Stripe and Cloudflare are the strongest case for MCP, because they handle sign-in for you.
What do I need to change for Stripe’s MCP server?: Stripe says to move by November 30, 2026. From December its MCP server stops accepting full-access secret keys and restricted keys without the Agent tag. Use OAuth, or create new agent API keys.
How does Zapier MCP charge?: It is included in every Zapier plan. Each tool call uses two tasks from your plan’s task quota. The Free plan has 100 tasks a month; Professional starts at $19.99 a month and Team at $69.
What happened to the AWS MCP servers?: The AWS Labs README says the Agent Toolkit for AWS, announced in May 2026, is the successor, and that AWS recommends it for production software. The Labs servers still work, and several are marked deprecated.
Are MCP servers safe to connect?: Treat them like giving an agent your credentials. Supabase warns that connecting an LLM to your projects carries security risks. Stripe tells you to turn on your client’s tool approvals and to be careful mixing servers, because of prompt injection. Prefer read-only modes and scoped access where they exist.
Can I use the MCP reference servers in production?: Their README says they are educational examples for developers, not production-ready solutions. Use them to learn, and pick a vendor server for real work.

Runners-up

LiteLLM
A gateway in front of many model providers, not a server. 62,997 stars on Nov 9, 2026.
A2A, AGENTS.md and Anthropic Agent Skills
Protocols and conventions rather than servers. Stars on Nov 9, 2026: A2A 26,467, AGENTS.md 25,412, Agent Skills 191,057.
Bifrost, Kong and other MCP gateways and registries
Named runners. No figure is attached here.

Neighbours

Coding agents
Coding agents change a repository. MCP is a way for an agent to call a tool.
App builders
App builders generate an application. An MCP server does not.

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