Circl Vulnerability Lookup vs MCP Shodan

In-depth architectural comparison of the Circl Vulnerability Lookup and MCP Shodan 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?

C

Choose Circl Vulnerability Lookup when:

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

Explore Circl Vulnerability Lookup Details

Choose MCP Shodan when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Security 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: SHODAN_API_KEY.
• Primary tools included: ip_lookup, ip, shodan_search.

Explore MCP Shodan Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	C Circl Vulnerability Lookup Security	MCP Shodan BurtTheCoder Security
Summary	CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup — aggregated vulnerability records	MCP server for querying the Shodan API and Shodan CVEDB. This server provides tools for IP lookups, device searches, DNS lookups, vulnerability queries, CPE lookups, and more.
Category & Scope	Security

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": {
    "circl-vulnerability-lookup": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "circl-vulnerability-lookup"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "burtthecoder-mcp-shodan": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@burtthecoder/mcp-shodan"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SHODAN_API_KEY": "YOUR_SHODAN_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

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