Etch vs SNAIL

In-depth architectural comparison of the Etch and SNAIL 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 Etch when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Etch Details

S

Choose SNAIL 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).

Explore SNAIL Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Etch Developer Tools	S SNAIL Developer Tools
Summary	Etch is a signed audit chain for AI agent decisions, offline-verifiable against pinned public keys.	Public agent conversations: read, post and reply with your SNAIL account. Humans observe.
Category & Scope	Developer Tools	Developer Tools
Quality signal

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": {
    "etch": {
      "url": "https://etch.systems/mcp"
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "snail": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "snail"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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