Best Smithery alternatives in 2025

Smithery has become the go-to marketplace for discovering MCP servers, and it does that job pretty well. But depending on what you're building, you might need something different, more production-ready infrastructure, better hosting options, or a different approach to finding and deploying MCP servers.

I've been testing alternatives over the past few weeks, trying them in real projects instead of just reading documentation. Some turned out to be genuinely useful. Others? Not so much.

Here's what I found.

Alternatives for Smithery

• If you're building production systems, you'll likely need more than just discovery; you'll need infrastructure, authentication management, and reliability guarantees. That's where alternatives like Composio come in with enterprise-grade security and managed auth.

• If you're prototyping or learning, the community resources (Glama, MCP-Use, MCP.so, MCP Servers.org) combined with workflow tools like Pipedream give you flexibility without commitment.

If you're an enterprise team, the commercial options (MCP Market) or production platforms (Composio with SLAs) might be worth the investment.

Quick Comparison

1. Composio — Production-Ready MCP Integration Platform

Best for: Building AI agents and production systems that need reliable MCP integrations

Composio is a managed MCP integration platform with native MCP support built in from day one.

You get over 500 pre-built integrations (Slack, GitHub, Notion, Airtable, Stripe, all the usual suspects) that work out of the box with Claude, Cursor, VS Code, and any MCP-compatible client. The difference between Composio and Smithery is pretty straightforward: Smithery helps you discover servers, while Composio provides working integrations and the infrastructure to run them reliably.

What makes it different:

• Native MCP server implementation that actually integrates cleanly with MCP clients

• Handles OAuth, token refresh, rotation, and API key storage automatically

• Clean SDKs for Python and TypeScript, plus CLI tools

• Open-source core you can self-host, or managed service if you prefer

• Built for production with actual SLAs available

The authentication handling alone saves weeks of work. You set up OAuth once, and it keeps working—no more debugging expired tokens at 2 AM.

Pricing: Free open-source core; usage-based enterprise plans

Resources: Composio MCP Server | Docs | GitHub

2. Glama — Hosted MCP Servers with Gateway Access

Glama takes a different approach than Smithery. Instead of just listing servers for you to run yourself, they host and run MCP servers for you.

The main thing here is their API gateway. You don't run MCP servers locally or deal with server processes, you connect through Glama's gateway and access servers via API. That's useful if you're building web apps or services where running local MCP servers doesn't make sense.

What's good:

• Thousands of indexed MCP servers ranked by security and compatibility

• Clean ChatGPT-like UI for testing servers before committing

• Gateway abstracts away server management complexity

• Good for rapid prototyping and testing

The catch: You're dependent on their infrastructure. If the gateway goes down or hits rate limits, your integrations stop working. This is fine for prototyping, less ideal for critical production features.

Pricing: Freemium model; paid tiers for higher usage

Resources: Glama MCP | Server Directory

3. Pipedream — Workflow Automation That Supports MCP

Best for: Fast prototyping and internal automation

Pipedream isn't specifically an MCP platform, but it's ridiculously fast for building workflows that use MCP servers.

Their visual workflow builder lets you wire up MCP servers, AI models, APIs, databases, and SaaS tools, then drop into Node.js code when you need something custom. For testing MCP integrations quickly, nothing beats it.

Why it works:

• No-code + code hybrid that doesn't force you to choose

• Thousands of prebuilt actions and triggers

• Built-in OAuth handling for connected apps

• Great for MVPs and internal tools

The limitation: MCP support isn't native. You're using Pipedream's workflow engine to call MCP servers, which adds a layer of abstraction. Works well for automation, but if you need pure MCP-native workflows, look elsewhere.

Pricing: Generous free tier; pay as you scale

Resources: Pipedream Docs | Website

4. MCP-Use — Open-Source SDK for Building MCP Infrastructure

Best for: Learning MCP internals and building custom implementations

MCP-Use is a community-driven open-source project focused on making MCP adoption easier for developers.

It's not a marketplace like Smithery. Instead, it's a collection of SDKs and tools for building MCP servers and clients from scratch. If you want to understand how MCP works under the hood or need to build something custom, this is solid.

What it offers:

• MCP-compliant tool calling that works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code

• Reference implementations that show best practices

• Active community and surprisingly thorough documentation

• Good for educational purposes

The reality: MCP-Use is still early. Great for learning and experimentation, but I wouldn't recommend it for production unless you're prepared to build and maintain custom infrastructure yourself.

Pricing: Completely open-source and free

Resources: MCP-Use Website

5. MCP.so — Community Hub and Knowledge Base

Best for: Learning about MCP and staying updated on ecosystem developments

MCP.so is less of a platform and more of a community-driven resource hub for everything MCP-related.

They curate guides, tutorials, server lists, and news about the MCP ecosystem. If you're trying to understand what's happening in the MCP space or need recommendations on which servers to use, MCP.so is a good starting point.

What you'll find:

• Curated server recommendations with context

• Tutorials and best practices for MCP integration

• Ecosystem news and updates

• Community discussions

What it's not: An integration platform or deployment tool. It's the resource you check before choosing a platform, not the platform itself.

Pricing: Free community resource

Resources: MCP.so

6. MCP Servers.org — Official Community Registry

Best for: Finding officially recognized and community-vetted MCP servers

MCP Servers.org is connected to the official Model Context Protocol community registry efforts.

It's a directory of MCP servers similar to Smithery, but with the backing of the official MCP working group. Servers are listed with documentation, GitHub links, and installation instructions.

Why consider it:

• Community-governed with public moderation guidelines

• Official backing from the MCP working group

• Clear process for flagging problematic servers

• Permissively licensed

The limitation: It's discovery-only. The registry helps you find servers, but you're responsible for running them and handling everything else yourself. No hosting, no managed infrastructure, just a list.

Pricing: Free

Resources: MCP Registry GitHub

7. MCP Market — Emerging Commercial Marketplace

Best for: Enterprise teams needing commercial support and SLAs

MCP Market is positioning itself as the "premium" alternative to community registries.

The focus is on curated, production-ready servers with commercial support options. If you need MCP servers with SLAs and vendor backing, this is one of the few places offering it.

What's different:

• Smaller catalog but more polished, enterprise-focused servers

• Commercial support options available

• Better documentation and versioning than community projects

• Regular update schedules

The trade-off: It costs money. For internal tools or side projects, free alternatives make more sense. But for enterprise deployments where downtime is critical, the premium might be justified.

Pricing: Commercial marketplace with paid servers

My Take

After testing these platforms in real projects, here's what actually works:

For production AI systems, Composio is the most complete option. It's the only platform that gives you native MCP integration plus the infrastructure to run reliably at scale. The managed authentication and 500+ integrations make it practical for building actual products, not just prototypes.

For hosted infrastructure without ops work, Glama makes sense. The gateway approach works well for web apps where running local MCP servers isn't practical. Just be aware you're dependent on their infrastructure.

For rapid prototyping and internal tools, Pipedream is unbeatable for speed. You'll have working workflows in hours. Just know you're not getting pure MCP-native integration.

For learning how MCP works, MCP-Use is your best educational resource. The open-source code shows you exactly how things work under the hood.

For staying informed and finding community recommendations, MCP.so and MCP Servers.org are solid resources. Just don't expect deployment help.

For enterprise deployments needing SLAs, MCP Market is one of the few places offering commercial support, though the ecosystem is still young here.

Smithery does discovery well, but depending on what you're building, you might need the infrastructure, hosting, or production features these alternatives provide.

Bottom Line

Smithery pioneered the MCP marketplace concept and deserves credit for making server discovery accessible. But the ecosystem has evolved quickly.

The "best" alternative depends on where you are in your development journey and what problems you're actually trying to solve. Smithery is great for initial discovery, but once you move past "which servers exist" to "how do I run this reliably in production," you'll need one of these alternatives.

FAQ

Q: What is Smithery, and why look for alternatives?

A: Smithery is a marketplace/registry for discovering MCP-servers (servers compatible with the Model Context Protocol). But it lacks the servers required for building production-grade applications. Oauth handling, reliable and secure tools, and comprehensive monitoring for tool executions are essential for production use.

Q: What are the key areas where you might want alternatives to Smithery?

A: Some key areas:

• You might need stronger infrastructure (hosting, reliability, SLAs) rather than just a server registry.

• Authentication, enterprise-grade security, and integration management may be lacking in simpler registries.

• If you’re building for production (teams, scale) vs. just prototyping, the needs differ.

Q: What are the top alternatives does the article highlight?

A: The list of tools/registries/platforms, including:

• Composio — positioned for production AI systems with managed infrastructure.

• Glama — more community-/hosted-custom servers.

• MCP‑Use — open-source SDK style, good for learning/custom builds.

• MCP.so — community knowledge / educational only.

• MCP Servers.org — directory-only, for discovery rather than hosting.

• MCP Market — enterprise-focused commercial marketplace.