What is the key difference between Pepys MCP and MCP Transcribe?

Pepys MCP belongs to the Speech-to-Text category with local stdio execution, while MCP Transcribe belongs to the Speech-to-Text category with local stdio execution.

How do I install Pepys MCP or MCP Transcribe in Claude Desktop or Cursor?

Copy the mcpServers JSON configuration snippet provided on this page into your claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json file and restart your AI client.

Are Pepys MCP and MCP Transcribe free or paid?

Pepys MCP operates under a Freemium model (API Key required). MCP Transcribe operates under a BYOK (Pay Provider Direct) model (API Key required).

Which MCP server has more tools and community activity?

Pepys MCP lists 9 tools with 2 views and 0 GitHub stars. MCP Transcribe lists 6 tools with 2 views and 8 GitHub stars.

Can I use both Pepys MCP and MCP Transcribe together in the same MCP host?

Yes! MCP hosts like Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and VS Code support configuring multiple servers under the mcpServers object simultaneously.

Side-by-Side Model Context Protocol Comparison

Pepys MCP vs MCP Transcribe

In-depth architectural comparison of the Pepys MCP and MCP Transcribe 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.

At a Glance & Executive Verdict

Pepys MCP

Speech-to-Text · Local stdio

Quality: 61/100 (Good) | Auth: API Key required

MCP Transcribe

Speech-to-Text · Local stdio

Quality: 43/100 (Fair) | Auth: API Key required

Verdict Summary: Choose Pepys MCP if you need specialized Speech-to-Text tools running via a local process. Choose MCP Transcribe if your workspace requires Speech-to-Text integration with local subprocess execution. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Pepys MCP when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Speech-to-Text domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: API Key required (Freemium).
You have access to required keys: PEPYS_API_KEY.
Primary tools included: transcribe, get_transcription, upload_file.

Explore Pepys MCP Details

Choose MCP Transcribe when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Speech-to-Text domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: API Key required (BYOK (Pay Provider Direct)).
You have access to required keys: MCP_INTEGRATION_URL.
Primary tools included: Fast, lightweight transcription with no special ASR setup, Supports 100+ languages and noisy audio, Word-level timestamps and speaker separation.

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Pepys MCP ankurmans Speech-to-Text	MCP Transcribe transcribe-app Speech-to-Text
Summary	Pay-once transcription for audio, video, and whole podcast feeds via Pepys. Transcribe a file or a pasted YouTube/podcast link, get speaker diarization, export SRT/VTT, search a transcript, and check credit balance. Hosted connector (OAuth, no API key) or npx pepys-mcp. 99+ languages.	This service provides fast and reliable transcriptions for audio/video files and voice memos. It allows LLMs to interact with the text content of audio/video file.
Category & Scope

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Pepys MCP Tools (9)

transcribe

Transcribe hours-long audio or video into an accurate, speaker-labeled (diarized), timestamped transcript with correctly-timed SRT/VTT captions – work a general model can't do on a raw file. Accepts a file_ref from upload_file or a url (YouTube, podcast episode, RSS feed, Google Drive/Dropbox share). Audio is never used to train models. Returns { job_id, status }; fetch the result with get_transcription.

get_transcription

Fetch a transcription by job_id: full text, per-speaker timestamped segments, summary, duration_seconds, billed_minutes, and language. Set wait_ms (up to 25000) to long-poll so short clips come back in one call; otherwise poll until status is 'done'.

upload_file

Upload local audio/video the agent is holding (as base64 bytes or a file path) and get back a file_ref to pass to transcribe. Use this when the media has no public URL. Requires the Pepys R2 storage backend.

list_transcriptions

List this account's recent transcription jobs with their job_id, status, title, and duration, so you can resume, fetch, or export an earlier result instead of re-transcribing.

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).

Pepys MCP Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ankurmans-pepys-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "pepys-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PEPYS_API_KEY": "YOUR_PEPYS_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP Transcribe Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "transcribe-app-mcp-transcribe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "transcribe-app-mcp-transcribe"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MCP_INTEGRATION_URL": "YOUR_MCP_INTEGRATION_URL_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Frequently Asked Questions

Pepys MCP is categorized under Speech-to-Text and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, MCP Transcribe belongs to Speech-to-Text using local stdio subprocess. Select Pepys MCP when you need capabilities focused on speech-to-text and MCP Transcribe when you require tools for speech-to-text.

More alternatives to Pepys MCP More alternatives to MCP Transcribe Speech-to-Text category hub