What is the key difference between Atomic Mail and Expense?

Atomic Mail belongs to the Communication category with local stdio execution, while Expense belongs to the Communication category with cloud HTTP/SSE execution.

How do I install Atomic Mail or Expense 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 Atomic Mail and Expense free or paid?

Atomic Mail operates under a Free / Open Source model (No auth required). Expense operates under a Free / Open Source model (No auth required).

Which MCP server has more tools and community activity?

Atomic Mail lists 0 tools with 1 views and 262 GitHub stars. Expense lists 0 tools with 0 views and 6 GitHub stars.

Can I use both Atomic Mail and Expense 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

Atomic Mail vs Expense

In-depth architectural comparison of the Atomic Mail and Expense 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

Atomic Mail

Communication · Local stdio

Quality: 45/100 (Fair) | Auth: No auth required

Expense

Communication · Remote HTTP/SSE

Quality: 40/100 (Fair) | Auth: No auth required

Verdict Summary: Choose Atomic Mail if you need specialized Communication tools running via a local process. Choose Expense if your workspace requires Communication integration with remote web transport. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Atomic Mail when:

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

Explore Atomic Mail Details

Choose Expense when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Communication domain.
You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Expense Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Atomic Mail Communication	Expense Communication
Summary	Programmable email inbox for AI agents — JMAP, PoW auth, stdio MCP server.	Receipt tracker with no friction: receipts arrive by email and file themselves
Category & Scope	Communication	Communication
Quality signal

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Atomic Mail Tools (0)

No explicit tool names declared in metadata yet. Check project README on main listing page.

Expense Tools (0)

No explicit tool names declared in metadata yet. Check project README on main listing page.

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).

Atomic Mail Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "atomic-mail": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "--package=@atomicmail/agent-skill-github",
        "atomicmail"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Expense Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "expense": {
      "url": "https://expense.labnotes.org/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Frequently Asked Questions

Atomic Mail is categorized under Communication and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Expense belongs to Communication using remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport. Select Atomic Mail when you need capabilities focused on communication and Expense when you require tools for communication.

More alternatives to Atomic Mail More alternatives to Expense Communication category hub