In-depth architectural comparison of the Catalog and Yelp 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
Catalog
Developer Tools · Local stdio
Quality: 52/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Yelp
Developer Tools · Local stdio
Quality: 43/100 (Fair) | Auth: No auth required
Verdict Summary: Choose Catalog if you need specialized Developer Tools tools running via a local process. Choose Yelp if your workspace requires Developer Tools integration with local subprocess execution. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.
Which MCP Server Should You Choose?
Choose Catalog 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).
All MFOs with borrower rating, quick terms and canonical card URLs, ordered by rating position.
get_mfo
Full MFO card: terms for new/repeat clients (amount, term, rate, full cost of credit), borrower requirements, fees, legal entity, OGRN, Bank of Russia registry number, 4-criteria rating, record update date. Empty fields are omitted.
Catalog is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Yelp belongs to Developer Tools using local stdio subprocess. Select Catalog when you need capabilities focused on developer tools and Yelp when you require tools for developer tools.
Latest borrower reviews for an MFO: rating, date, text.
get_market_rules
Legal context of microlending in Russia (0.8%/day rate cap under Art. 6.1 of Law 353-FZ, 100% total-cost cap since 2026-04-01, self-ban via Gosuslugi, cooling-off periods, debt collection rules under Law 230-FZ) with last-review date.
Yelp Tools (3)
search_businesses
Search for local businesses and restaurants on Yelp by term and location. Returns matching businesses with star ratings, review counts, price, categories, address, and phone. Example: search_businesses({ term: "pizza", location: "San Francisco, CA" }).
get_business
Get full details for a single Yelp business by its id or alias. Returns rating, review count, price, categories, address, phone, hours, photos, and coordinates. Example: get_business({ id: "garaje-san-francisco" }).
get_reviews
⚠️ UPSTREAM-UNRELIABLE — Yelp Fusion's /reviews endpoint has been 404-ing on most ids since mid-2026 even for valid businesses. PREFER `get_business` (which sometimes inlines a snippet) or `search_businesses` for review-context queries. If you must call get_reviews: pass the ENCRYPTED business id (…