Magic MCP vs Actual Budget MCP Server

In-depth architectural comparison of the Magic MCP and Actual Budget MCP Server MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Magic MCP when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: API Key required (Paid Service).
• You have access to required keys: TWENTY_FIRST_API_KEY, API_KEY_21ST.
• Primary tools included: UI component generation, Component, theme, and template search, Design inspiration lookup.

Explore Magic MCP Details

A

Choose Actual Budget MCP Server when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Actual Budget MCP Server Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Magic MCP 21st-dev Developer Tools	A Actual Budget MCP Server Developer Tools
Summary	Create crafted UI components inspired by the best 21st.dev design engineers.	MCP server exposing Actual Budget accounts, transactions, budgets and reporting to LLM assistants.
Category & Scope	Developer Tools	Developer Tools

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "21st-dev-magic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@21st-dev/cli@latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TWENTY_FIRST_API_KEY": "YOUR_TWENTY_FIRST_API_KEY_HERE",
        "API_KEY_21ST": "YOUR_API_KEY_21ST_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "actual-budget-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "actual-budget-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Related MCP Server Comparisons