# Altern vs mcp.so Altern records 20,753 monthly visits with -13.7% month-over-month growth and Free pricing. mcp.so records 286,704 monthly visits with -3% growth and Free pricing. | Metric | [Altern](https://openaitools.app/tool/altern) | [mcp.so](https://openaitools.app/tool/mcp-server) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Website URL | https://altern.ai | https://mcp.so | | Categories | Other | AI Tools Directory, Large Language Models (LLMs), AI Developer Tools | | Pricing Model | Free | Free | | Monthly Visits | 20,753 | 286,704 | | MoM Growth Rate | -13.7% | -3% | | Primary Market | United States | United States | | Direct Visits | 8,395 | 107,648 | | Review Score | 4 | 4.2 | | Saved Count | 5 | 0 | | Supported Platforms | Website | Website | ## Altern Altern positions itself as one place to explore the fast-moving AI landscape. Its core is a searchable index of AI products, each assigned to one or more categories, so a visitor hunting for, say, a background remover, a meeting assistant, or a vector database can browse by use case instead of relying on scattered social posts. The site reports more than 2,600 indexed tools and organizes them into an extensive taxonomy spanning marketing, development, health, legal, robotics, and hundreds of smaller niches. Beyond plain listings, Altern adds editorial and community layers. Curated lists bundle tools by scenario; a leaderboard ranks widely used products; and a "Buildboard" runs a weekly competition where new tools gather votes and the top entries are highlighted. A newsletter rounds out the offering, giving subscribers a periodic digest of new and noteworthy AI products. Altern is an independent third-party directory and is not affiliated with any of the vendors it lists. Listings are curated and can be submitted by makers, so pricing and feature details should always be confirmed on the vendor's own site before purchase. **Pricing & Plans:** Free to browse and use. The directory itself is free; submissions and newsletters involve no listed charge. Third-party tools listed on the site have their own pricing. - **Searchable AI tool index:** Thousands of AI tools and agents organized into a broad, browsable category taxonomy covering hundreds of use cases. - **Curated lists:** Hand-picked collections that group tools by scenario, such as beginner-friendly tools, free options, or data and productivity stacks. - **Community leaderboard and Buildboard:** A ranking of widely adopted AI products plus a weekly voting board where new launches compete for visibility. - **Weekly newsletter:** A periodic digest of new and trending AI tools delivered to subscribers. - **Category browsing:** Explore by vertical, from image and video generation to legal assistants, robotics, geospatial, and more. **Strengths:** Very broad category coverage, so niche verticals are represented rather than just headline products; Mixes a plain directory with editorial lists, rankings, and a newsletter for more guided discovery; Free to browse with no signup required for basic exploration **Limitations:** Listing quality varies because entries can be submitted by tool makers; Pricing and feature details live on vendor sites and are not always current in the directory; The sheer number of categories can be overwhelming for newcomers [Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/altern.md) ## mcp.so mcp.so organises the fast-growing Model Context Protocol ecosystem in one searchable place. You can browse servers by category (developer tools, AI and agents, cloud infrastructure, memory and knowledge, media and design), inspect remote endpoints, and read setup details before wiring a server into Claude, Cursor or another MCP-compatible client. Featured and trending sections surface popular or newly added servers, and rankings help you gauge what the community is adopting. Beyond raw server listings, the site collects MCP clients (apps, IDEs and frameworks that speak the protocol), official CLI tools such as Bun, Cloudflare Wrangler, DuckDB and FFmpeg, reusable agent loops and skills, and curated collections. A feed tracks new arrivals, and submit/claim flows let maintainers add or take ownership of their own listings. For anyone building with AI agents, mcp.so works as a discovery and reference layer: pick a capability, check how the server connects and authenticates, follow the setup guide, and keep an eye on what the community is installing each week. It is a directory, so it does not itself host or run the servers it lists. **Pricing & Plans:** Free to browse and use the directory. Advertising, featured placement and claiming listings are handled through the site; no subscription is required for normal browsing. - **Searchable MCP server directory:** Find servers by name, category, tag, runtime or integration, with featured, trending and newest sections that track community activity. - **Remote endpoints and setup guides:** Review hosted MCP endpoints, authentication requirements and per-client setup instructions before you connect anything. - **Clients, CLI tools and skills:** Discover MCP-compatible clients, official command-line tools, agent loops and reusable Claude/Codex skills in dedicated sections. - **Submit and claim listings:** Maintainers can publish new servers and claim existing listings so entries stay accurate and attributable. - **Categories, rankings and feed:** Browse top categories, compare curated selections and follow a live feed of newly added servers, tools and skills. **Strengths:** Broad, regularly updated coverage of MCP servers and clients; Setup and authentication details gathered together in one place; Free to use with no account needed for browsing; Includes CLI tools, agent skills and curated collections beyond raw listings **Limitations:** Listings are community-submitted, so quality and freshness can vary; It is a directory only, not a place to run or host MCP servers; Ad and featured placements can push less relevant results higher [Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/mcp-server.md) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How do Altern and mcp.so compare in monthly traffic? Altern has 20,753 monthly visits, while mcp.so has 286,704. Traffic estimates describe audience size, not product quality. ### How do their growth rates compare? Altern has a month-over-month growth rate of -13.7%; mcp.so has -3%. ### How does pricing compare? Altern: Free. Free to browse and use. The directory itself is free; submissions and newsletters involve no listed charge. Third-party tools listed on the site have their own pricing. mcp.so: Free. Free to browse and use the directory. Advertising, featured placement and claiming listings are handled through the site; no subscription is required for normal browsing. ## Alternatives | # | Tool Name | Monthly Visits | MoM Growth Rate | Pricing Model | Summary | Profile (Markdown) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 1 | [Dang.ai](https://openaitools.app/tool/dang-ai) | 552,907 | +17.5% | Free | Curated directory and search engine cataloging thousands of general AI products rather than MCP developer integrations. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/dang-ai.md) | | 2 | [Futurepedia](https://openaitools.app/tool/futurepedia-find-the-best-ai-tools-software) | 527,719 | +22.5% | Free | Massive general AI tools directory, offering broader software discovery but less focus on specific MCP servers. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/futurepedia-find-the-best-ai-tools-software.md) | | 3 | [SkillsMP — Agent Skills Marketplace](https://openaitools.app/tool/agent-skills-marketplace) | 470,744 | -3.7% | Free | Independent public directory indexing open-source agent skill files and MCP integrations for AI developers. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/agent-skills-marketplace.md) | | 4 | [Stork](https://openaitools.app/tool/stork) | 201,544 | +2.3% | Free | Developer-focused AI tools directory and pricing tracker, though less dedicated to community-contributed MCP server lists. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/stork.md) | | 5 | [AI Agent Store](https://openaitools.app/tool/ai-agent-store) | 169,388 | -5.4% | Freemium, Free Trial, Paid | Marketplace connecting users with ready-made AI agents and starter kits, but with fewer raw developer MCP tools. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/ai-agent-store.md) | | 6 | [Cursor Directory](https://openaitools.app/tool/cursor-directory) | 125,466 | +5.3% | Free | Community hub focused specifically on discovering and installing MCP servers and plugins for the Cursor IDE. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/cursor-directory.md) | | 7 | [Easy With AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/easywithai-com) | 119,734 | -2.7% | Freemium, Free Trial, Free | A hand-curated directory for discovering AI tools and resources | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/easywithai-com.md) | | 8 | [ToolCenter](https://openaitools.app/tool/toolcenter) | 66,647 | +3.2% | Free | Curated online directory cataloging productivity and AI software, lacking specialized categorization for MCP protocol servers. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/toolcenter.md) | | 9 | [InfraBase.ai](https://openaitools.app/tool/infrabase-ai) | 39,072 | -13.6% | Free | Hand-verified directory of AI infrastructure tools | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/infrabase-ai.md) | | 10 | [ToolDirectory.AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/tooldirectory-ai) | 30,123 | +64.9% | Freemium | An editor-reviewed directory of 2,888+ AI tools, dated and marked live or retired | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/tooldirectory-ai.md) | --- Source: https://openaitools.app/compare/altern-vs-mcp-server More Markdown: [Categories](https://openaitools.app/categories.md) · [Traffic rankings](https://openaitools.app/rankings.md) · [llms.txt](https://openaitools.app/llms.txt)