Lm vs Modelmeter
A side-by-side look at the Lm and Modelmeter MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Lm for conversational ai work as a local process; choose Modelmeter for conversational ai over a hosted endpoint. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Lm when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Conversational AI domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
HOUTINI_LM_ENDPOINT_URL, HOUTINI_LM_API_KEY, HOUTINI_LM_MODEL, HOUTINI_LM_SERIALISE. - You want tools like
chat, custom_prompt, code_task.
Choose Modelmeter when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Conversational AI domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You want tools like
estimate_cost, get_model, list_models.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Conversational AI | Conversational AI |
| Quality signal | 61/100 · Good | 56/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Remote HTTP/SSE |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | HOUTINI_LM_ENDPOINT_URLHOUTINI_LM_API_KEYHOUTINI_LM_MODELHOUTINI_LM_SERIALISE | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 121 | 1 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 8 | 7 |
| Full listing | View Lm | View Modelmeter |
Tools & capabilities
Lm tools 8
chatThe workhorse. Send a task, get an answer. The description includes planning triggers that nudge Claude to identify offloadable work when it's starting a big task.custom_promptThree-part prompt: system, context, instruction. Keeping them separate prevents context bleed - consistently outperforms stuffing everything into one message, especially with local models. I tested this properly one weekend - took the same batch of review tasks and ran them both ways. Splitting thi…code_taskBuilt for code analysis. Pre-configured system prompt with temperature and output constraints tuned per model family via the routing layer.code_task_filesLike `code_task`, but the local LLM reads files directly from disk — source never passes through the MCP client's context window. Use this when reviewing multiple related files, or a single large file that's awkward to paste. Files are read in parallel with `Promise.allSettled`, so one unreadable f…embedGenerate text embeddings via the OpenAI-compatible `/v1/embeddings` endpoint. Requires an embedding model to be available - Nomic Embed is a solid choice. Returns the vector, dimension count, and usage stats.discoverHealth check and speed readout. Returns model name, context window, capability profile, connection latency (labelled explicitly — this is the `/v1/models` fetch round-trip, *not* inference speed), and the active model's measured tok/s and TTFT averaged over the session. Before any real call has run…list_modelsLists everything on the LLM server - loaded and downloaded - with full metadata: architecture, quantisation, context window, capabilities, and HuggingFace enrichment data. Shows capability profiles describing what each model is best at, so Claude can make informed delegation decisions.statsCompact markdown dump of your offload stats — session and lifetime totals, per-model performance history, reasoning-token overhead — without the model catalog that `discover` prints. Cheap to call repeatedly to watch the 💰 counter climb.
Modelmeter tools 7
estimate_costEstimate the USD cost of an LLM API call for a given model and token counts. Returns input/output/total cost, plus reseller markup vs. the upstream model when applicable.get_modelUnified card for one model in a single call: normalized pricing, capabilities (context window, vision, reasoning, tags), availability, reseller markup vs. upstream, and a price-history summary (launch vs. current price, percent change, last change date, all-time low/high).list_modelsList available models with their current pricing. Optionally filter by provider.get_price_historyHistorical pricing time-series for a model or provider. Each point is a dated snapshot of the per-Mtok rates.list_eventsThe changelog of record for the model layer: deprecations, price changes, launches, and the market events around them. Filter by severity to find what demands action: 'breaking' (model going away, ID changing), 'action_required' (price/rate-limit/context changes), 'informational' (releases, funding).check_model_dependenciesIs my stack okay? Check a list of model ids against the record: scheduled retirements with days-remaining countdowns and migration targets, past retirements, and other breaking/action-required changes. Id matching tolerates dots vs dashes, dated snapshot suffixes, and bare or provider-prefixed forms. Call this at startup or in CI with the models you depend on.list_deprecationsPer-model retirement rows from the record: which model dies when, with runway and migration target. Default shows scheduled (upcoming) retirements sorted by shutdown date.
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.
Lm
{
"mcpServers": {
"lm": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@houtini/lm"
],
"env": {
"HOUTINI_LM_ENDPOINT_URL": "YOUR_HOUTINI_LM_ENDPOINT_URL_HERE",
"HOUTINI_LM_API_KEY": "YOUR_HOUTINI_LM_API_KEY_HERE",
"HOUTINI_LM_MODEL": "YOUR_HOUTINI_LM_MODEL_HERE",
"HOUTINI_LM_SERIALISE": "YOUR_HOUTINI_LM_SERIALISE_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Modelmeter
{
"mcpServers": {
"modelmeter": {
"url": "https://modelmeter.xyz/mcp"
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Lm is categorized under Conversational AI and uses a local stdio subprocess. Modelmeter belongs to Conversational AI and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Pick Lm for conversational ai work and Modelmeter for conversational ai.
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.
Lm has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Modelmeter has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. 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 lm and modelmeter as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Lm has a quality signal of 61/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 121 GitHub stars. Modelmeter has 56/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars.