A side-by-side look at the MCP File Tools and Google Drive MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose MCP File Tools for file systems work; choose Google Drive for file systems. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
read_text_file, read_multiple_files, write_file.get_account, get_file, list_folder.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Systems | File Systems |
| Quality signal | 48/100 · Fair | 45/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Not confirmed yet | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | — | — |
| Auth | No auth required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 24 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 20 | 35 |
| Full listing | View MCP File Tools | View Google Drive |
read_text_fileread_multiple_fileswrite_fileedit_filecopy_filedelete_filelist_directorytreesearch_filesgrep_text_filesdetect_encodingconvert_encodingget_accountWho is signed in, storage used, whether this account has shared drives, and which of this server's tools are registeredget_fileEverything about one file: kind, location, link, size, owner, who can see it, who cannot download it, and what you may do with itlist_folderOne page of a folder's contents, or a budgeted tree of everything below itsearch_filesFind files across My Drive, files shared with you, and every shared drive, or under one folder at any depthread_fileThe text of a file: a Doc as markdown, a Sheet as csv, a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file (or its OpenDocument counterpart) read here as text, a log or source file as itself, windowed with a continuationextract_textThe text in a PDF or an image, read by Google's OCR through a temporary Google Doc copy that is deleted againdownload_fileWrite a file to the local directory, converting a Google document on the way out, checksum-verifiedcreate_fileA new empty Google file, or one written from text you have here, with optional conversionupload_fileSend a local file, in one request or in chunks that survive a dropped connectionupdate_contentReplace what is inside a file, keeping its id, its place and everything that points at it, and refusing to lose the comments Google Docs keeps in a Markdown filecreate_folderA new folder, refusing a duplicate name unless you allow itupdate_fileRename, describe, star, color, set properties, restrict downloads and re-sharing, or give a folder limited accessPaste 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.
No confirmed install command for MCP File Tools yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
No confirmed install command for Google Drive yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.