Contendeo vs Spoken
A side-by-side look at the Contendeo and Spoken MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Contendeo for speech-to-text work over a hosted endpoint; choose Spoken for speech-to-text as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Contendeo when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Speech-to-Text domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You want tools like
quick_transcribe, deep_analyze, clip_context.
Choose Spoken when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Speech-to-Text domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: API key required.
- You want tools like
search_podcasts, get_transcript, list_episodes.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Speech-to-Text | Speech-to-Text |
| Quality signal | 45/100 · Fair | 65/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Remote HTTP/SSE | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Freemium |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 5 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 4 | 8 |
| Full listing | View Contendeo | View Spoken |
Tools & capabilities
Contendeo tools 4
quick_transcribeTimestamped transcript with speaker identification. Audio-only. Fast.deep_analyzeFull multimodal pipeline — transcript + keyframe vision + OCR, unified output.clip_contextAnalyze a specific timestamp range without paying for the full video.batch_analyzeProcess up to 10 videos in parallel with cross-video synthesis.
Spoken tools 8
search_podcastsSearch published podcast episodes by text query, or paste an episode URL (Spotify, YouTube, etc.). Returns matching episodes with their id, title, podcast, podcast_id, and date. Use the id with get_transcript, or the podcast_id with list_episodes to get the show's whole back-catalog. Does not consume credits.get_transcriptFetch a podcast episode's transcript as clean Markdown with real speaker names and timestamps. Pass an episode id from search_podcasts. Costs 1 credit on the first fetch of an episode; repeat fetches are free and errors are never charged.list_episodesList a podcast's entire back-catalog (every episode, newest first). Pass a podcast_id from a search_podcasts result. Returns each episode's id, title, and date — fetch any with get_transcript. Use this to transcribe a whole show. Does not consume credits itself; transcribing the returned episodes costs 1 credit each (repeat fetches are free), so make sure the key has enough credits before looping.get_balanceCheck the current Spoken credit balance, account email, and recent usage for the configured API key. Does not consume credits.list_followingThe shows this key is kept current on. Every charged fetch makes its show a follow: the five most-fetched shows from the last 180 days are followed automatically (source 'fetch'), and up to 25 more can be declared with follow_podcast (source 'explicit'). Muted shows are listed separately. Use list_new_episodes to see what is new on them. Does not consume credits; the demo key has nothing to follow with.follow_podcastDeclare a follow for a show, or clear a mute. Pass a podcast_id from search_podcasts. A declared follow stays until unfollow_podcast, regardless of fetch activity, and does not use one of the five automatic slots. For a show never fetched, what counts as new starts from its newest episode now. Does not consume credits.unfollow_podcastMute a show: it leaves the followed list and later fetches do not re-add it. follow_podcast reverses it. Pass a podcast_id from list_following. Does not consume credits.list_new_episodesWhat is new on the shows this key follows: for each show, the episodes released in the last 90 days that are newer than the newest one already fetched from it (up to 10 per show), each with a transcript_url. Episodes with no transcript are left out. Fetch any with get_transcript (1 credit each on first fetch); a fetch raises that show's floor, so the next call lists only what came after. Refreshed hourly, so a show followed moments ago may be empty until its first poll. Does not consume credits.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Contendeo
{
"mcpServers": {
"contendeo": {
"url": "https://contendeo.app/mcp/"
}
}
}
Spoken
{
"mcpServers": {
"spokenmd-spoken": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"spoken-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Contendeo is categorized under Speech-to-Text and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Spoken belongs to Speech-to-Text and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Contendeo for speech-to-text work and Spoken for speech-to-text.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Contendeo has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Spoken is listed as freemium — a free tier with paid plans. Auth: api key required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add contendeo and spokenmd-spoken as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Contendeo has a quality signal of 45/100 (Fair) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Spoken has 65/100 (Great) with 4 views, 0 installs and 5 GitHub stars.