MCP Registry (Official) is free, with no paid plan attached. Smithery is freemium — a usable free tier with paid plans above it. Both are listed under MCP Ecosystem, so this is a like-for-like comparison. Neither is ranked above the other — Flocci carries no sponsored placement.
MCP Registry (Official) is free, with no paid plan attached and is listed for the canonical open-source specification and docs for the Model Context Protocol. Smithery is freemium — a usable free tier with paid plans above it and is listed for marketplace of 14,000+ hosted MCP servers with one-click connect. Both sit in MCP Ecosystem.
MCP Registry (Official) is the cheaper starting point: it is free, with no paid plan attached, while Smithery is freemium — a usable free tier with paid plans above it. Pricing tiers here come from the catalog, not from a promotional page.
Choose MCP Registry (Official) if you need the canonical open-source specification and docs for the Model Context Protocol; choose Smithery if you need marketplace of 14,000+ hosted MCP servers with one-click connect. Flocci AI Tools does not rank one above the other — it shows both feature sets side by side and lets the requirement decide.
| MCP Registry (Official) | Smithery | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing tier | Free | Free tier + paid plans |
| Free to start | Yes | Yes |
| Category | AI Agents & Automation | AI Agents & Automation |
| Type | MCP Ecosystem | MCP Ecosystem |
| Listed capabilities |
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| Tags | model context protocol, mcp spec, official mcp docs, anthropic mcp, mcp registry, open standard | mcp registry, mcp marketplace, mcp hosting, tool connectors, mcp server directory, free |
| Website | modelcontextprotocol.io | smithery.ai |
| Full page | MCP Registry (Official) details → | Smithery details → |
| Alternatives | MCP Registry (Official) alternatives → | Smithery alternatives → |