REA vs UI Beats
A side-by-side look at the REA and UI Beats MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose REA for developer tools work; choose UI Beats for developer tools as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose REA when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
Choose UI Beats when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Quality signal | 45/100 · Fair | 49/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Not confirmed yet | Confirmed |
| Transport | — | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| 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 | 373,338 | 234 |
| Directory activity | 11 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View REA | View UI Beats |
Tools & capabilities
REA tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
UI Beats tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
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.
REA
No confirmed install command for REA yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
UI Beats
{
"mcpServers": {
"ui-beats": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"shadcn@latest"
]
}
}
}