Postgres MCP vs Postgres (read Only)

In-depth architectural comparison of the Postgres MCP and Postgres (read Only) 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?

Choose Postgres MCP when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Databases domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: API Key required (Free / Open Source).
• You have access to required keys: DATABASE_URI.
• Primary tools included: Database health checks including index, vacuum, replication, and cache analysis, Industrial-strength index tuning algorithms, EXPLAIN plan validation and hypothetical index simulation.

Explore Postgres MCP Details

P

Choose Postgres (read Only) when:

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

Explore Postgres (read Only) Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Postgres MCP crystaldba Databases	P Postgres (read Only) Databases
Summary	All-in-one MCP server for Postgres development and operations, with tools for performance analysis, tuning, and health checks	Read-only Postgres: drop-in for the archived server-postgres, with schema context.
Category & Scope	Databases	Databases

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": {
    "crystaldba-postgres-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "postgres-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URI": "YOUR_DATABASE_URI_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "postgres-read-only": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "postgres-read-only"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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